Hercules (1998 TV series)
| Hercules | |
|---|---|
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| Also known as | 'Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series' |
| Genre |
Action/Adventure Comedy Fantasy |
| Created by | Walt Disney Television |
| Directed by | Phil Weinstein |
| Starring |
Tate Donovan Robert Costanzo French Stewart Sandra Bernhard James Woods Bobcat Goldthwait Matt Frewer Corey Burton Frank Welker Paul Shaffer Diedrich Bader Jodi Benson Robert Stack Linda Hamilton Will Ferrell |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 67 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Tad Stones |
| Producer(s) |
Mark McCorkle Robert Schooley |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Walt Disney Television Walt Disney Television Animation Pattyson/Meadows Productions
Animation production:
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| Distributor | Buena Vista Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC, Syndication, Disney Junior |
| Original release | August 31, 1998 – March 1, 1999 |
Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series is an American animated television series based on the 1997 film of the same name and the Greek myth, The television series served as the pilot direct-to-video episode Hercules: Zero to Hero. The series premiered in syndication on August 31, 1998, and on Disney's One Saturday Morning on September 12, 1998. The syndicated series ran 52 episodes, while the Saturday morning run ran 13.
The series follows Hercules, as a teenager, training as a hero, as well as trying to adjust to life. With his free-spirited friend Icarus, his future-seeing friend Cassandra, and his teacher Philoctetes ("Phil"), he battles his evil uncle Hades. Like all teenagers though, Hercules has to worry about peer pressure when the snobbish prince Adonis ridicules him. The series notably contradicts several events in the original film.
The series was produced by Tad Stones, who had previously done Aladdin. The directors of Hercules, John Musker and Ron Clements, jokingly said to him while the film was being produced: "Hey, Tad, we're doing a pilot for a series". All animation production work was done by Slightly Offbeat Productions NZ Ltd a new studio based in New Zealand. The producers decided that the irreverence of the movie would be captured more easily by setting it within the events of the movie, with Stones declaring that "by ignoring continuity and trying to stay true to the elements of humor and adventure in the film, we came up with a much stronger series that really stands on its own". Since James Woods signed to voice Hades again, along with most of the cast of the film, many big-name actors were interested in taking part on the show. Over 150 celebrities took a part in the series, some self-lampooning: Merv Griffin played a griffin talk show host, game show host Wink Martindale played a riddle-expert sphinx and Mike Connors, famous for Mannix, played Athenian policeman Chipacles (named after CHiPs).
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