''The Mighty Hercules'' is an animated television series based loosely on the

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

character of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

, under his Roman name

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

. It debuted on television in 1963. The show ran until 1966, coinciding with the

sword-and-sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget H ...

genre of films popular between 1958 and 1965. Each stand-alone episode runs 5½ minutes, and in syndication was aired either as part of a block with other cartoons, or with several episodes airing consecutively to fill 30-minute time slots.''The Mighty Hercules''
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on January 27, 2016.

Summary

The cartoon features Hercules, the legendary hero, who dwells on

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...

. Villains threaten the people of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

, often in the kingdom of

Calydon Calydon (; grc, Καλυδών, ) was a Greek city in ancient Aetolia, situated on the west bank of the river Evenus, 7.5 Roman miles (approx. 11 km) from the sea. Its name is most famous today for the Calydonian boar that had to be ov ...

, and Hercules comes to the rescue. When in serious danger, he puts on a magic ring which gives him superpowers. Once he puts the ring on and raises his fist, flashes of lightning (referred to as the Thunder of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

in several episodes) strike the ring, and Hercules is then endowed with super-strength. He does battle with nemeses such as

Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, an ...

, an evil wizard who is the chief villain (sometimes accompanied by his pet cat Dydo). Other villains include Wilhelmine the Sea Witch (accompanied by her pet bird Elvira) and Murtis, who is invulnerable because he wears an iron helmet known as the Mask of

Vulcan Vulcan may refer to: Mythology * Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...

. Hercules's friends and allies are: *Newton, his main sidekick, a helpful boy

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

who calls Hercules "Herc" and has a habit of repeating himself every time he speaks *Helena, Hercules's girlfriend *Prince (later King) Dorian of Calydon *Tewt, a small

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, :wikt:σάτυρος, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, :wikt:Σειληνός, σειληνός ), is a male List of nature deities, nature spirit with ears ...

who vocalizes only by playing his

syrinx In classical Greek mythology, Syrinx (Greek Σύριγξ) was a nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Pursued by the amorous god Pan, she ran to a river's edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, sh ...

*Timon, a young human from Calydon *

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

, Hercules's winged steed. 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 Calydon or deep in the Lernaean Forest. The original episode has relatively lavish animation by

John Gentilella John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

. In it, Hercules beats his friend

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...

in a

footrace Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

and a

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

match, and for his victory Zeus rewards him by promising to grant any request Hercules makes. 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 access to his godly strength while on Earth. The rest of the episode involves Hercules meeting Helena and fighting a

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

named Cacus and the giant's pet

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

. None of the other familiar characters make an appearance in the episode, and it features different character designs for Hercules and Helena. The show generally used real Greek myths as the inspiration for its episodes, but used the influences oddly. Daedalus is the evil wizard who is Hercules's most frequent foe in the cartoon, but in

was a skilled

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

who was not a villain at all. Cacus, the giant of the first episode, is based on the mythological monster

Cacus In Roman mythology, Cacus ( grc, Κάκος, derived from κακός, meaning bad) was a fire-breathing giant and the son of Vulcan (Plutarch called him son of Hephaestus). He was killed by Hercules after terrorizing the Aventine Hill before the ...

. Other recurring creatures – such as the Nemean lion, the

Lernaean Hydra The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna ( grc-gre, Λερναῖα Ὕδρα, ''Lernaîa Hýdra''), more often known simply as the Hydra, is a serpentine water monster in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, whi ...

, the

Erymanthian Boar In Greek mythology, the Erymanthian boar (Greek: ὁ Ἐρυμάνθιος κάπρος; Latin: ''aper Erymanthius'') was a mythical creature that took the form of a "shaggy and wild" "tameless" "boar" "of vast weight" "and foaming jaws". It was a ...

, and the Stymphalian birds — were taken directly from the Twelve Labors of Hercules but, unlike in the Twelve Labors, most of the creatures are not presented in the cartoon as trials for Hercules to overcome. In addition to the ring, later episodes added new equipment for Hercules and his friends to use, such as a " moonstone beam" in his belt and an invulnerable

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

and

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

. Episodes invariably ended with Hercules racing towards Mount Olympus and shouting "Olympia!" after defeating the villain.

Production

Adventure Cartoon Productions Adventure Cartoon Productions was a production company that created the cartoon series ''The Mighty Hercules'', created in 1962 and distributed by Trans-Lux Television, it then debuted on TV in 1963 and ran until 1966. Joe Oriolo, who produced ...

made ''The Mighty Hercules'' in connection with Trans-Lux Television, the same company that later brought the Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series ''

Speed Racer ''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese media franchise about Auto racing, automobile racing. ''Mach GoGoGo'' was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in tankōbon book form by Sun W ...

'' to audiences in the United States. The company produced 128 episodes of ''The Mighty Hercules'', each approximately 5 minutes in length.

Joe Oriolo Joseph Oriolo (February 21, 1913 – December 25, 1985) was an American cartoon animator, writer, director and producer, known as the co-creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost and the creator of the ''Felix the Cat'' TV series. He provided the vo ...

was the producer and director, and many of the animators were veterans of the New York City animation scene, including

Grim Natwick Myron "Grim" Natwick (' Nordveig; August 16, 1890 – October 7, 1990) was an American artist, animator, and film director. Natwick is best known for drawing the Fleischer Studios' most popular character, Betty Boop. Background Born in Wis ...

, Frank Endres, John Gentilella, George Germanetti, Reuben Grossman, and George Rufle. The show featured two different sets of voices for the characters. The most noticeably different voice was that of Newton: his original voice sounds as if he has just hit

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...

, with his voice constantly cracking, while the later episodes give him a high-pitched

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

-like voice. There is no gradual change in the voices. Most of the early episodes have the first set of voices, and the rest have the second set, and in the seventh episode during the first season, "Double Trouble," the voices actually change during the episode, with Newton near the end of the episode speaking a line in his original cracking voice and in his very next line switching to his second, high-pitched voice, while Hercules speaks in his first voice until his final two lines of the episode, which are in Hercules's second voice. In early episodes of the first season, voice actor

David Hartman David Hartman is the name of: *David Hartman (rabbi) (1931–2013), American-Israeli rabbi *David Hartman (TV personality) David Downs Hartman (born May 19, 1935) is an American journalist and media host who began his media career as an actor. He ...

, who later hosted the television show ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', voices Hercules before a different actor takes over for the remainder of the series's run; ''The Mighty Hercules'' always credits

Jimmy Tapp James Anthony Tapp (April 18, 1918 – November 20, 2004) was a Canadian broadcaster. He began his career with closed-circuit radio broadcasts aboard in World War II. He later became a radio announcer in Montreal. He went on to host a number of ...

as the voice of Hercules despite Hartman's early portrayal of the character. The series credits Daedalus's voice, depending on the episode, to

Jack Mercer Winfield B. Mercer (January 31, 1910 – December 7, 1984), professionally known as Jack Mercer, was a prolific American voice actor, animator and TV screenwriter. He is best known as the voice of cartoon characters Popeye the Sailor Man and ...

or Gerry Bascombe. Early episodes also feature Mercer voicing Newton and other incidental characters. The voice actress for all the female voices is Helene Nickerson. The animation for the sequence of Hercules putting on and charging up his magic ring also changed subtly along with the voices. The episodes "The

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...

" and "The Chair of Forgetfulness" provide good examples of the first set of voices and the first version of the ring sequence, while the episodes "The Nemean Lion" and "The

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

Creature" are good examples of the second set of voices and later ring sequence.

Music

''The Mighty Hercules'' features a

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

sung by

Johnny Nash John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940October 6, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit " I Can See Clearly Now". Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican artists ...

, the American

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

singer-songwriter best known for 1956's "A Very Special Love" and 1972's "

I Can See Clearly Now "I Can See Clearly Now" is a song written and recorded by American singer Johnny Nash. It was the lead single from his album I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash album), ''I Can See Clearly Now'' and achieved success in the United States and the U ...

". The theme music is credited to

Winston Sharples Winston Singleton Sharples (March 1, 1909 – April 3, 1978) was an American composer known for his work with animated short subjects, especially those created by the animation department at Paramount Pictures. In his 35-year career, Sharples s ...

(as "Win Sharples"), who in more than two decades at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

had composed background music for the ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

'' (1941) and

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

, while the theme's lyrics were written by Sharples's son Winston Sharples, Jr., under the pseudonym "Win Singleton" (his first and middle names). The transformative "ring anthem" frequently used as Hercules slips on his magic ring, along with several bridges of music used throughout the episodes, were taken from the 1954 film ''

The Black Shield of Falworth ''The Black Shield of Falworth'' is a 1954 American Technicolor film from Universal-International, produced by Robert Arthur and Melville Tucker and directed by Rudolph Maté. It stars Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, David Farrar, Herbert Marshall, an ...

'', with the music credited to Joseph Gershenson but actually composed by

Hans J. Salter Hans J. Salter (January 14, 1896 in Vienna – July 23, 1994 in Studio City, Cal.) was an Austrian- American film composer. Biography Salter gained his education from the Vienna Academy of Music and studied composition with Alban Berg, Franz S ...

Herman Stein Herman Stein (August 19, 1915 – March 15, 2007) was an American composer who wrote music for many of the 1950s science-fiction and horror films from Universal Studios. "Herman Stein was one of the architects of the sound of 1950s science-fict ...

, and

Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), professionally known as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...

, the longtime in-house film composer for

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. In 2005, ''The Mighty Hercules'' was re-issued to television in a newly remastered version and was reformatted, with new title music performed by an unidentified singer replacing the familiar theme music. The version that aired on the Canadian network

Teletoon Retro Teletoon Retro was a Canadian specialty channel that was owned by Corus Entertainment that was based on the Teletoon programming block. The service was dedicated to broadcasting classic animated television programs as well as some live-action se ...

, however, used the original Nash theme music.

Episode list

Audio recording

In 1963,

Golden Records Golden Records was a Simon & Schuster record label based in New York City. It was conceived and founded in 1948 by the Grammy Award-winning children's music producer, Arthur Shimkin, then a new recruit in the S&S business department. Shimkin ...

released a tie-in

long-playing record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

for children entitled ''The Mighty Hercules'' (LP-108), with words and music by

In popular culture

In 2009, the Canadian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician

John Stetch John Stechishin, better known as John Stetch (born 1966 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian jazz pianist. Stetch's family was ethnically Ukrainian, and as a boy, Stetch played in ensembles at Ukrainian weddings and sang in community choirs. He stu ...

covered the theme song from ''The Mighty Hercules'' on his album ''TV Trio''. When doing '' Superman: The Animated Series'',

Bruce Timm Bruce Walter Timm (born February 5, 1961) is an American artist, animator, writer, and producer. He has contributed to building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995) and the subseque ...

was inspired by the design of Hercules in what became the design for

in the show.

DVD release

On October 4, 2011,

Classic Media Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as 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.

References

External links

Lyrics to the ''Mighty Hercules'' theme song
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mighty Hercules, The 1960s American animated television series 1960s Canadian animated television series 1963 American television series debuts 1963 Canadian television series debuts 1966 American television series endings 1966 Canadian television series endings American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated fantasy television series Canadian children's animated action television series Canadian children's animated adventure television series Canadian children's animated fantasy television series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States English-language television shows Pegasus in popular culture Minotaur DreamWorks Classics Television series about Heracles Television series based on classical mythology Television series by Universal Television Television series set in ancient Greece