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

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

Director:

Lynne Naylor

Writer:

John Loy (screenplay)

Stars:

Kevin Sorbo, Lucy Lawless, Michael Hurst

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

Mighty Zeus brings Hercules' mother, Alcmene, to Mount Olympus, and Hercules, believing she has been kidnapped, leads a rescue mission to save her. Zeus' jealous wife, Hera, decides that it should now be her time to rule the universe. Hera steals the Chronos Stone, source of the God's power, and unleashes the four Titans from their eons of imprisonment. With these angry behemoths on the loose, only the combined forces of Hercules and Xena, together with their trusty sidekicks Iolaus and Gabrielle, can save Mount Olympus.

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Plot Keywords:

greek woman | ancient greece | greece | mount olympus | olympus | 

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for animated combat scenes and suggestive images

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was originally set for a Fall 1997 video release before being pushed to January of 1998.

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Connections

Featured in The Know's Top 10s: Top 10 Shows Netflix Should Revive (2018)

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Soundtracks

Across the Sea of Time
Written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom
Performed by Shelby Flint, Ali Olmo and Syreeta

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 January 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Cartoon Studios, Renaissance Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1