The Mighty Hercules

Summary

The cartoon features Hercules, the legendary hero, who dwells on Mount Olympus. When villains threaten the people of ancient Greece, often in the fictional kingdom of Caledon, Hercules comes to the rescue of the Kingdom or whomever may be in trouble. When in serious danger, Hercules puts on his magic ring from which he gets his superpowers. Once wearing the ring and raising his fist, the ring is struck by flashes of lightning (referred to as the Thunder of Zeus in several episodes). Hercules is then endowed with super-strength, and goes forth for several brief episodes to do battle with nemeses such as Daedalus, an evil wizard who is the chief villain (sometimes accompanied by his pet cat Dydo); as well as others such as Wilhemine the Sea Witch (accompanied by her pet bird Elvira); and Murtis (aka The Mask of Vulcan), who was invulnerable due to his wearing of an iron helmet, itself known as the Mask of Vulcan.

Hercules's friends and allies are:

Also featured atop Mount Olympus are Hercules's father Zeus and Dodonis with his crystal rock of seeing. Both often warn Hercules of the troubles going on down below in and around the Kingdom of Caledon or deep in the Lernaean Forest.

In the original episode, Hercules beats his friend Theseus in a footrace and a wrestling match, and for his victory is granted any request by Zeus as a reward. Hercules wishes to go to Earth to fight evil and injustice, but Zeus reminds him that going to Earth would cause him to lose his godly powers and become a mortal. Zeus then creates a magic ring that allows Hercules to access his godly strength while on Earth. The rest of the cartoon involves Hercules meeting Helena and fighting a giant named Cacus and the giant's pet dragon. None of the other familiar characters make an appearance in this episode, and it features different character designs for Hercules (who in this one short has a yellow belt and wristbands, with a black H in block lettering on the belt; the ring is of similar design, large and yellow, with a black H in a giant sunburst) and Helena (who has a different hairstyle, a silver necklace, and more makeup than her later versions).

The show generally used real Greek myths for their inspiration, but used the influences oddly. Daedalus, the evil wizard who is Hercules's most frequent foe, is named for Daedalus, mythological artificer who wasn't a villain at all, and Cacus, the giant in the first episode, is based on the mythological monster Cacus. Other recurring creatures like the Nemean Lion, the Lernaean Hydra, the Erymanthian Boar, and the Stymphalian Birds were taken directly from Hercules's Twelve Labors, but most weren't presented as trials for him to overcome. (For example, Hercules defeats the Lion in one punch before Murtis gives it a Mask of Vulcan to help it; the Boar is already bound by a silver chain, and Hercules first stops Murtis and later Daedalus from freeing it).

In addition to the ring, later episodes added new equipment for Hercules and his friends to use: a "moon stone" beam in his belt (and a matching belt that Newton frequently wore) that could be used to summon him from Mount Olympus, an invulnerable sword and shield (both with the same "H" symbol as his ring and belt), and a set of pipes to summon Pegasus, his winged steed. (Hercules was not paired with Pegasus in the original myths, but this concept of the two together was also included thirty years later in Disney's animated version of Hercules).

Episodes invariably ended with Hercules, having defeated the villain, racing towards Mount Olympus (usually with the villain in tow), shouting "Olympia!"

Background

128 episodes of approximately 5 minutes each were produced. Adventure Cartoon Productions made the series in connection with Trans-Lux Television, the same people who later brought the anime series Speed Racer to U.S. audiences. Joe Oriolo was producer-director, and many of the animators were veterans of the New York animation scene, including Grim Natwick, Frank Endres, John Gentilella, George Germanetti, Reuben Grossman, and George Rufle.

The theme music is credited to Winston Sharples (as Win Sharples) who spent more than two decades at Paramount Pictures composing background music for the Superman and Popeye theatrical cartoons produced by the Fleischer brothers. However, the transformative "ring anthem" frequently used as Hercules slips on the ring given him by Zeus, along with several bridges of music used throughout episodes, are taken from the 1954 film ''The Black Shield of Falworth, the music credited to Joseph Gershenson but really composed by Hans Salter, Herman Stein and Frank Skinner, the long time in-house film composer for Universal Studios.

The show also featured two different sets of voices for the characters. There was no gradual change - most of the early episodes had one set of voices, the rest have the second set. The most noticeably different voice was Newton: his original voice sounds as if he has just hit puberty, with his voice constantly cracking, while the later episodes give him a high-pitched Mickey Mouse-like voice. The animation for the "putting on and charging up the ring" sequence also subtly changed with the voices. For an example of the former style and voices, see the episodes "The Minotaur" or "The Chair of Forgetfulness"; for an example of the latter, see "The Nemean Lion" or "The Chameleon Creature". In "Double Trouble", the voices actually change right near the end of the episode, with Newton speaking a line in his original cracking voice, and the very next line in his second high-pitched voice. Hercules's final two lines of the short are likewise in his second voice.

Although there are two voices, Hercules's voice actor is always credited as Jimmy Tapp. Daedalus' voice actor, depending on the episode, is Jack Mercer or Gerry Bascombe. Early episodes feature Jack Mercer voicing Newton and other incidental characters. The series also features a theme song sung by singer Johnny Nash, the American reggae singer-songwriter best known for 1956's "A Very Special Love" and 1972's "I Can See Clearly Now." The theme's lyrics were written by Winston Sharples's son Winston Sharples, Jr. under the pseudonym "Win Singleton" (his first and middle names). The voice actress for all the female voices is Helene Nickerson. The theme song was covered in 2009 by Canadian jazz musician John Stetch on his album TV Trio.

In 2005, the series was re-issued to television in a newly remastered version and was reformatted, and in the process, replacing the familiar theme music with new title music by an unknown singer. The version airing as of 2015 on the Canadian network Teletoon Retro, however, uses the original Nash theme music.

DVD release

On October 4, 2011, Classic Media (now DreamWorks Classics) brought the series to DVD for the first time with a single-disc selection entitled The Mighty Hercules, in Region 1. All 20 episodes are from season 1, the last one being episode 40.