Although opening weekend for the movie is ongoing, reviews of The Odyssey and early Rotten Tomatoes scores—which are currently a staggering 95% with critics and 97% with audiences—suggest that this movie will be a smashing box office success and is a stellar film all around. That success is a feat unto itself, considering that The Odyssey is a classic tale, not only in the sense that it is based on Homer's ancient Greek epic poem of the same name, which are certainly massive shoes to fill, but also because it ties into the sweeping history of Greek mythology overall.
While The Odyssey has, therefore, undoubtedly earned its flowers, all the attention on this Greek mythology-based story should be a reminder that (perhaps rather surprisingly) the House of Mouse itself put out a brilliant mythology movie of its own, nearly 30 years ago. Namely, in 1997, Disney released the animated movie Hercules, based on the Roman god of the same name—called Heracles in Greek mythology—and it is unquestionably the best mythology movie Disney has ever put out and one of the franchise's greatest films overall.
Disney's Hercules Is A Legitimately Great Mythology Movie
Hercules is among the ranks of Disney movies that have been unfairly forgotten by many over the years, alongside other '90s and early '00s installments like Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet. However, as with those titles, Hercules deserves so much more attention; in fact, this really is one of Disney's best movies, and it's also simply a great mythology movie in general. No, Hercules is not the most accurate mythology movie ever made. However, the movie implements various mythological gods and actual stories from these myths in a way that is sincerely entertaining and compelling.
In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that, for kids in the '90s, this was the perfect segue into an interest in legitimate mythology. Hercules also offers a truly unique Disney story (perhaps aided considerably because it was borrowing from mythology), with characters who still stand out decades later. This applies to Hercules himself, who is a great example of a protagonist who has to actually work to become a hero, but it's honestly even truer of Megara.
While there were many wonderful Disney princesses in this era, Meg was sarcastic, opinionated, and traumatized, and she brought something dynamic that many other characters, especially the princesses, often did not. That is actually high on the list of reasons that Hercules should not be forgotten among other Disney movies, as this is an issue the larger franchise has run into. Disney movies over the last several years have seemed to become less and less original—Hercules is a reminder that the franchise can (and should) do so much better.
It's hardly a hot take to say that Disney has been struggling of late, in large part due to the bewildering choice to keep putting out live-action movies when they are consistently met with intense backlash, criticism, and terrible box office results. This is even true of the latest addition to this long list of remakes, Moana, which remains in theaters now. Like some of its remake counterparts, such as Lilo & Stitch and Snow White, live-action Moana has failed to live up to its source material and has only frustrated fans who want new stories.
Hercules should therefore serve as an example to Disney of the type of story that brings genuine originality to the larger franchise and would, presumably, land much better with audiences than yet another live-action remake. Perhaps the popularity of The Odyssey is exactly the nudge the media giant needs.
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Release Date
July 17, 2026
Runtime
172 Minutes
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Release Date
June 13, 1997
Runtime
93 Minutes
Credit: MovieStillsDB
English (US) ·