Heracles: From the Myth to a Disney Movie

1617 Words4 Pages

Since the days of mythological origin to the origin of pop culture, various mythological stories have been adopted and presented to newer generations. Some of these presented adaptations of mythological stories have significantly been modified in order to be deemed entertaining by audiences in a pop culture generation. Thus, my study will seek to compare mythological hero's during their time to how they have been depicted in modern day. Moreover, my study will analyze the similarities and differences between the Greek hero Heracles and his replica character, Hercules, depicted in Disney's adaptation of this myth. Although there are few similarities between the two versions, the differences between Heracles and Disney's Hercules are prominent. These differences help modern day audiences relate more easily to the characters in the story. Furthermore, the alterations have enabled a new aspect of heroism to emerge since Disney tailors it's movies towards youth who can seek valuable lessons from animated movies. Disney's choices through these alterations will be determined by focusing on the main plot, characters presented in the movie, peripheral details, and the notion of being a "true hero" that Disney presents. Disney's version of Hercules revolves around a plot of paramount importance because it contrasts significantly with the original myth. To begin with, the Disney movie is named "Hercules" because it was based on the Roman version of the myth, rather than the Greek version. In addition, the original myth and animated movie are tailored towards very different audiences, therefore, the two versions contrast in quite a few ways. The first prominent difference is that the original myth of Heracles focuses on his great achieveme... ... middle of paper ... ...the two versions have significant differences and very few similarities, but this is understandable due to the two versions being tailored for very contrasting audiences. The Greek gods valued physical strength over love whereas modern society today values love over physical strength which has become an essential element of pop culture. Thus, this evolution serves as the foundation of why Disney had to make alterations to their plot, characters, peripheral details, and the notion of being a true hero. Without such alterations, younger audiences would not be able to relate to the story and therefore, not be able to gain a valuable lesson from it. In addition, these alterations allow for the movie to blend in smoothly with pop culture, where "love" is one of the most abundant aspects of entertainment. Works Cited http://disney-vs-mythical-hercules.wikispaces.com/#

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