Disney has established a strong history of bringing its animated films to the theatrical stage. With “Disney Hercules” on Disney Destiny, the Disney Live Entertainment creative team has crafted a production that in many ways exceeds its animated inspiration.
The 1997 animated film “Hercules,” like many Disney animated films, retains a core audience of dedicated fans. But unlike the Disney Renaissance films that preceded in the 1990s, Hercules failed to connect with a broader audience beyond that core base of Disney fans. The decision to adopt a visual style that evoked the art on Grecian urns did not pay off as creators had hoped – leading to animation that looked beneath Disney’s high standards rather than providing a visual design that transcended that standard.
The script also left potential on the table, with a romance that fell a little flat given the lofty – literally god-like – stakes in the story. But “Disney Hercules” on the Destiny avoids those traps, delivering a 55-minute production that’s all muscle.
The production design offers some modern touches that complement rather than distract from the myth, while the book focuses the story. That helped the team find time to add a new song, “Shooting Star,” that helps sell the romance between innocent Hercules and the conflicted Megara.
None of this would work with a star to carry the weight of the show. But in Corey J. Bradford, Disney has found its Hercules – a triple threat star who looks the part of a Greek god while singing with a vocal range that defies the mortal plane. I spoke with Corey (who appeared previously as Kristoff in DCL’s production of “Frozen”) this morning about his “hero’s journey” to bring Hercules to life.
A classic hero needs death-defying challenges, of course. And with an assist from Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney Hercules delivers them. We get not one but two of WDI’s “Project Exo” animated characters portraying Titans summoned by Hades to bring down Zeus and the gods of Olympus. Hercules also takes on a multi-headed Hydra, brought to life more of WDI’s puppets in a stunning battle where one of the Hydra consumes Hercules before our hero slices his way to freedom.
WDI’s Jeff Conover with Disney’s Hydra puppets
Disney used CGI to animate that scene in the otherwise hand-drawn 1997 film, so its fun to see Disney go in the opposite technical direction here, using an old-school practical tool – puppetry – to bring the scene to life… albeit with some of the nifty new tech that WDI loves to develop and deploy. WDI’s Jeff Conover talked with me about the development of the puppets in Disney Hercules.
There’s much more that makes this production well worth circling, including a dynamic quintet of muses who tell the story in gospel song, accompanied by one show-stopping scene that incorporates projection mapping on the muses themselves. And the show’s Meg and Hades are more than great matches for our hero, too – completing a cast that is as strong as Hercules, all down the call sheet.
For more on Disney Destiny, we which are sailing on this week for Disney’s hosted media preview cruise, please see Everything you need to know about Disney’s new cruise ship.
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