I’m of the frame of mind that Disney has never made a bad movie. There are only degrees of good. And while Hercules may not be in the majority of people’s Top 10’s — it’s one of my favorites.
So to celebrate what an incredible, underrated masterpiece this movie really is, I’ve managed to put together a list of some of the things that got missed.
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Have a look and check out these 10+ mistakes from Disney’s Hercules that fans didn’t notice.
1. Where did that mosaic come from?
Early on in the film, Hercules is feeling lost and alone. He seeks out the temple of Zeus to pray to the King of the gods.
As you can see, he’s kneeling on a blank concrete floor.
But when the camera changes angles, all of a sudden there’s tile?!
That’s a pretty interesting bit of movie magic, don’t you agree?
I know we were looking at a side view in the previous frame but even at that angle we still should have been able to see something on the floor.
2. The branch Hercules strips over disappears.
When Hercules first begins his training with Phil, he trips over a small branch on a log while rescuing a ‘damsel in distress’.
When the log collapses and falls into the river, the branch is nowhere to be seen.
3. Those aren’t Greek letters!
When Pain and Panic are disguising themselves as little boys, trapped beneath the rock, they yell for help to call IXII — an ancient way of writing 9-1-1.
But Hercules is set in Greece, so why are Pain and Panic using Roman Numerals?
4. Take a close look at Athena’s owl.
This happens right after Hades announces himself in the Hall of Olympus. You can see from this shot that Athena’s owl is perched on her left hand.
She, Aphrodite, and Dionysus are also standing close together.
But then as soon as the camera cuts to the wide-angle, all of a sudden her bird has switched hands?
Also, Aphrodite is significantly further away then she was just a moment ago.
I know these are supposed to be gods but that’s a stretch if you ask me.
5. What happened to the lamp on Pegasus’ head?
Watch during the scene where Phil and Pegasus descend upon Hercules and Megara. As you can see, Pegasus has a lamp fashioned to his head to help them see.
Don’t take your eyes off that flying horse!
As Phil drags Hercules away — no more lamp!
Pegasus may be a flying horse but he’s still a horse. That means he doesn’t have hands or opposable thumbs.
He definitely couldn’t have taken it off himself, so where did it go?
6. Hercules isn’t Greek.
Hercules is the Romanized version of the name. In the original Greek myth, our legendary hero’s name is Heracles.
I do think that this was a conscious choice, rather than a mistake. Hercules has a way better ring to the name.
7. How does Hercules’ medal come untucked?
You get a nice clear shot of Hercules’ medal tucked in his toga, right as Zeus first comes to life.
Make sure to keep a close eye on it as the scene plays out.
Right as Hercules turns to run, the medal is somehow showing on the outside of his shirt?
I know what you’re thinking — “it came untucked while he ran.”
Sorry, but no. The medal was already on the outside of the toga even before Herc started to sprint.
8. What happened to the pillar?
As Phil and Hercules begin their journey home, Phil is knocked off by a low-hanging branch.
He’s knocked unconscious and falls behind a stone pillar. But when he wakes up, the pillar is gone!
9. Phil shouldn’t be so hard on himself.
When Phil first meets Hercules, he tells him the tales of all the fallen heroes he’s trained in the past. Phil says that his dream is to have one of his heroes find their place in the stars.
But if Phil did in fact train Perseus , as he so claimed, then mission accomplished! Perseus has his own constellation.
10. Where did those chains come from?
Near the end of the movie, Phil tries in vain to tell Hercules the truth about Megara. In a rage, Hercules hits Phil into the wheel-crate of weights.
Keep watching because something strange is about to happen…
How did Phil manage to wrap himself up in all those chains?
Did the force of the throw somehow result in chains being wrapped around Phil, almost as if he had been tied up? What do you think?
Leave a comment and let us know!