Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus (1998) (V)

Director:

Lynne Naylor

Writer:

John Loy (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 January 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Animation | Fantasy

Plot:

Hercules and Xena join forces to save the Gods of Olympus from the all-powerful Titans.

Plot Keywords:

God Woman Relationship | Legend | Chakram | Beautiful Woman | Mythology

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kevin Sorbo	...	Hercules (voice)
Lucy Lawless	...	Xena (voice)
Michael Hurst	...	Iolaus (voice)
Renée O'Connor	...	Gabrielle (voice)
Kevin Smith	...	Ares (voice)
Alexandra Tydings	...	Aphrodite (voice)
Josephine Davison	...	Alcmene / Artemis (voice)
Joy Watson	...	Hera (voice)
Peter Rowley	...	Zeus (voice)
David Mackie	...	Porphyrion (voice)
Alison Wall	...	Tethys / Mnemosyne (voice)
Ted Raimi	...	Crius (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG for animated combat scenes and suggestive images.

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Denmark:11 | Germany:12 | USA:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario)

Company:

Universal Cartoon Studios

Movie Connections:

Spin off from "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Across the Sea of Time

It's an episode of the TV series - what did you expect?

Well, okay, maybe we didn't expect musical numbers, of which one, "We're the Titans," is exceedingly bad (We're the Titans - boom chucka lucka lucka - boom chucka lucka") although the others are okay.

Basically it's a big-budget version of a Hercules episode (even the CGI of the show couldn't sustain these monstrous fights). The problem is, they didn't want to seem to spend _any_ budget on the animation. Minimalist backgrounds and crudely drawn figures might be some kind of stylistic statement. Then again, it might just be cheap animation. The characters themselves are rather grotesque: Xena has a odd reddish streak in her hair, while Herc is grotesque: one scenes has his veins literally bulging out of his arms during a moment of extreme exertion. As Aphrodite would put it, "Gross!"

Even the plot is pretty minimalistic: doesn't Olympus have more than 5 gods?? It's nice that they got Kevin Smith for the always sneaky Ares (and Alexandra Tydings as Aphrodite, although her character has nothing to do), and there are some funny kid-type moments (the Olympians being turned into farm animals). Generally, though, it's a lot grimmer than the Hercules series: closer in tone to a Xena "serious" episode. Of course, there's no real continuity with the series, either, which has never had Alcmene head off to live with Zeus before her series death.

Basically, H&X ain't bad as a kiddy flick, and die-hard fans of the series, which the movie apparently caters to, probably won't be disappointed. But other than that, there's not much to recommend it.