'Hercules' has you 'humming'

Arizona Summer Wildcat Photo Courtesy Disney Enterprises, Inc. After completing his training as a hero, Hercules arrives in trouble plagued Thebes with his entourage- his coach Phil and the flying horse, Pegasus.

After two summers of boring, politically correct movies, the house of Disney is back with what is usually expected from them, a fun and memorable story. This summer, their 35th animated movie "Hercules" brings back the fun not seen since "Aladdin." Maybe because the same people responsible for "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin" are behind "Hercules."

In this summer of lackadaisical event movies, it is surprising that the only worthwhile film happens to be a cartoon without overpriced actors and extensive, unnecessary explosions. And with a plot.

The story skips the politically correct crap and tells the Disney-fied version of the ancient demi-god hero from birth to his rising to hero status. This is not the story you learned in mythology class.

The main characters bring forth every great characteristic they can find. James Woods as the brilliant villain Hades, who ranks up there with Cruella DeVille, brings to his role a delicious, deadpan vaudeville sensibility. Watching him will remind you of the stereotypical greasy used car salesman.

Meg (voiced by Susan Egan) is a refreshingly sassy maiden with big, flowing hair, a small waist and a husky voice. She's Belle, but more butch. Meg lets it be known that she doesn't need a man to save her.

Last, but not least, is the trollish satyr and hero trainer Phil (voiced by Danny DeVito). Phil is like the Greek Yoda, wanting Hercules to use his head, not his muscles.

Then, there's Hercules. He is the Grecian precursor to other mythic messiahs - he's Jesus working out three to four days per week at the local gym. He's a buffed Buddha. He's does, though, have his flaws. His major flaw is that he succumbs to singing a so ng so cheesy, Boston or Styx never sang it. The movie also suffers from a cheesy song by cheesy singer Michael Bolton. Out of all the songs performed in this movie, only this early number is annoying and sleep-inducing. The rest will have you humming out of the theater.

When Hercules arrives in the troubled city of Thebes, his journey to perform superhuman feats begins. His rise to celebrity status becomes a caricature of the usual - obsessive merchandising tie-ins and stores dedicated to him (a la Disney), with Hercules slapped on everything from Greek slurpees to action figures. He soon learns that fame is not what he must achieve to become a hero. Instead, he must do the conventional Disney thing, and find what's within in order to join his parents, Zeus and Hera, at Mount Olympus.

Aside from the impressive characters, one of the more enjoyable things about "Hercules" is there is always something different being thrown at the viewer.

There are Pain and Panic (voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer, respectively) who keep popping up in tricky disguises. There's also a slinky computer animated beast, the Hydra, whose abundant heads erupt with blinding rapidity.

And then, there are the movie's narrators, five lively and lovely (for cartoons) muses who turn up the addictive church gospel beat for a new form of narration.

Unlike the parade of hyped movies that have been released this summer, "Hercules" lives up. It is a movie for children and adults and is well worth your hard earned money.