When I was little me and my siblings would occasionally sleep over at my Nana and Papa's house. They had a VCR and about three movies, and one of those was Hercules. So every time I stayed the night I would watch Hercules and it became one of my favorite movies.
I went a long time without watching it but a couple years ago I finally watched it again and have been obsessed ever since.
1. It has an amazing soundtrack
From "Zero to Hero" to "Go The Distance" to "One Last Hope" there is not one single song on this soundtrack that I do not like. I will go to my grave arguing that in terms of the whole soundtrack, this one is the best of any disney movie. I will always dance to these songs.
2. You learn about Greek mythology
If you put this movie on for your kids not only do you get a couple hours of free time, you get the satisfaction of knowing that your children are learning about Greek mythology! Not only do they use the Gods, but they mention nymphs, titans, and satyrs as well.
3. This muse
Okay, all the muses are incredible, but this one is by far the best. We've all identified with this muse whether it be the short one next to all your tall and beautiful friends, saying exactly what you're thinking, or being attacked for the littlest thing (like how you pronounce vase). This muse is my spirit animal, and I know I'm not alone with this feeling.
4. The jokes are hilarious
The jokes in Hercules are so funny, and each time I watch I discover a new joke I hadn't realized before. Some of my favorites are "somebody call IXII!" (get it, like 911), "I haven't seen this much love in a room since Narcissus discovered himself" and "That Oedipus thing? Man, I thought I had problems!"
5. Meg is a feminist and it's great
Some people think that Elsa is Disney's first feminist, but they're very mistaken. Then people are like "uh it was obviously Mulan." Well they're also wrong because while Mulan came out in 1998, Meg was already a feminist since '97. She liked to take care of herself and didn't want to wait around for a man to save her, which is not something you could say about many other disney movies.
6. Hades is potentially the greatest villain of all time
Hades is both hilarious and relatable, which are not often traits you'll find in a Disney villain. I mean, look at this GIF, we've all related to that. Hades is sarcastic and tells it like it is (like when Meg tells him that Hercules is different and he says "HE'S A GUY!") but also even though he's a villain he kept his word when he promised to keep Meg safe which is pretty admirable. Honestly I can't do Hades justice so just watch the movie and see for yourself.
7. We get this wonderful line
Most uncultured people think that this phrase was first used in a vine. Wrong. The person to coin the phrase "WHAT ARE THOSE?" is Hades himself, the viner was just quoting the ruler of the underworld. But we have to thank Hercules for giving us this wonderful line.
8. The characters are amazing and all go through character development
Meg realizes that it's more important to be truthful with Hercules than to keep her deal with Hades. Phil realizes that it's okay for his hero to take a break and have some fun. Hercules realizes that there are more important things than being a god, and that just because he's a hero doesn't mean he can treat people badly. Even Pegasus goes through some character development when he realizes that Meg isn't such a bad person after all.
9. The love interest has a ballad
In a fair amount of Disney movies the love interest is barely in the movie. And for the others, none of the love interests have a ballad quite like Meg's. Overall Hercules is good at giving songs to people other than the main character.
10. The ending
This quote is a really amazing sentiment and also when *spoiler alert* he chooses being human to be with Meg over being a god we are shown that sacrifices need to be made in order to get what's most important and that what's most important might not have been the thing we thought it was.
Overall Hercules is an excellent movie and you should all go on Netflix and watch it right now!
