The Mighty Hercules

Johnny Nash died today. After all these years of torment I have revenge for one of the most common earworms I get.

Of course to celebrate I watched about 3 hours of episodes on Youtube. It took me right back to being 8 and sitting too close to our old HMV. I always thought Newton was pretty bloodthirsty deep down, he just likes Herc to do the dirty work. Speaking of which I wonder if Daedalus was driven mad by the death of Icarus and his mistreatment by Midas long before Prince Dorian showed up. He should settle down with Wilamene and they could start a refuge for lost and abandoned familiars. At least now, after all these years I know what it is he shouts as he goes back up to Olympus. Despite the less than astounding animation I am still excited by the character design which has a slight Jack Kirby flavour.

In the end though is that theme. Mr Nash sure put his heart into it making it instantly memorable and something to tickle the memory of a (getting) old man. Softness in his eyes, Iron in his thighs, Virtue in his heart, Fire in every part, Of the Mighty Hercules.

So, a few years back, I was watching an Hercules-movie-a-thon on AMC before they became totally crappy. In between films (and, yes, Mickey Hargitay is my favorite) they showed AMC cultural filler. At one point, I was suddenly gobsmacked by the theme song from The Mighty Hercules, a 1963 cartoon offering which I watched regularly. You know, the one with the lyrics, "softness in his eyes, iron in his thighs." The one where Daedalus, the villain, has a big, fluffy cat. Where Hercules transform by the power of his jewelry. The one where Herc can't spend time with his beard, I mean girlfriend Helena, because he's gallivanting around Greece with a gay, jailbait centaur with echolalia. At any rate, I had a very demanding physical reaction within seconds. I felt like Data meeting Dr. Soong. I found the source of my programming. How many members of my tribe have this show as their first erotic memory?

I didn't realize it was a Canadian production, that makes me so damn proud (and explains why it's been rerun on Canadian TV for almost 50 years).

You can't really rate or review something like this, you either love it and it's a 10 or you don't and it's a 1.

I remember watching it when I was five and it first came out. They interrupted an episode to bring the breaking news that JFK had been assassinated. I watched it with my kids when they we babies. I expect to watch it with my grandkids.

As has been pointed out, it was unbelievably cheap and cheesy. The stories were pathetic and the art childish. And they recycled the same 5 stories over and over and over. But when all is said and done, I just love it. I don't know why. I don't know why.

A fun cartoon series in the early Sixties. I was probably a little older than the target audience by a couple of years, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. At the time I was in love with mythology, and this was about the only cartoon that spoke to that enthusiasm, though, of course, I realized many liberties had been taken by the producers. Fifty years on, I find the series still has an enduring innocent charm.

Granted it doesn't have the detail of Disney nor escape the cyclical backgrounds a la' Hanna-Barbara and many others. But there is no call to pick on The Mighty Hercules like it was the only limited animation, low cell-count animated cartoon around at the time.

As for comparison to any of the bland H&B fare of the day, the Pixie & Dixie & Wally & Yogi & Huckleberry..shall I go on? As a young boy I would pick One Episode of Mighty Hercules over a Full Hour of any of them! How exciting can seeing animals chase each other back and forth get? But Hercules had plenty of fast action, plenty of thrills - and could be quite scary to a five or six year old. But that wasn't the only thing that made it great. Hercules was a wonderful role model for youngsters, and this cartoon always promoted good moral values. Yes, where good always triumphed over evil and taught kids right from wrong.

Cartoons used to do that sort of thing, rather than just gross you out like most are designed to do so today.

True...Newton was a bumbling sidekick, but he was as loyal and devoted to Herc as they come. Addressing stupid comments about his "sexuality" is pointless (he is a cartoon, okay?) Also, ignorance can be attributed to not knowing that Newton's voice changed in mid-episode (actually it was right at the end of one) because Jack Mercer had left the production who had been doing most of the voices. If that person had really been observant they would have noticed other changes, some minor and then a major change when Jimmy Tapp joined the voice talent lineup and everything sounded different to the end of the series.

If Newton (he is a centaur) repeated himself, it was a gimmick, a hook to make him stand out and it certainly did. Oh, and Tewt's (not "toot" and he is a satyr ) little musical instrument.. those are called "panpipes". One of the cutest things you'll see on a Hercules cartoon is little Tewt playing his pipes riding on Newton's back as he sings his signature song... "I'm glad, I'm glad to have a friend, to have a friend...like Hercules, like Hercules...

Wow! I can think of quite of few other cartoons where the "action" is taking place out of sight of the camera, and puff of smoke and stars are all you see - but Hercules didn't pioneer this technique by any means.

The writers were actually professional comic book writers. That's right and I think they did an above average job. The narration is just right, not too wordy - and the dialog is consistent making the characters have their own unique personalities through out the series. What else do you want? Shakespeare? Misinformed "Gen-Xers" may want to try to discourage you from enjoying this cartoon, but if you were a Child of the Sixites or 70's then you know better. The Mighty Hercules made a tremendous impact in it's time. And it's still just as good today too!

Also try to remember thirty & under 21st century adults...this may come as a shock to you... but alas, Mighty Hercules was not produced with YOU in mind. The Mighty Hercules was produced for young children of an era where values were quite different, and frankly I am glad I was part of the original target audience.