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Disney's Hercules - Lightning Strikes
Hercules
44 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1998
21 people want to read
About the author
Walt Disney Company
40.6k books2,906 followersNote: The decision was made to consolidate all Disney publications under the name Walt Disney Company. This profile is for Walt Disney, the characters he created, and the company he founded. Any questions, please ask in the Librarian's Group.
Walter Elias “Walt” Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O. Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation he co-founded, now known as The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.
Disney is particularly noted for being a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created some of the world's most famous fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, a character for which Disney himself was the original voice. He has been awarded four honorary Academy Awards and has won twenty-two competitive Academy Awards out of fifty-nine nominations, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He also won seven Emmy Awards. He is the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the United States, as well as the international resorts Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland Hong Kong.
Disney died of lung cancer in Burbank, California, on December 15, 1966. The following year, construction began on Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. His brother Roy Disney inaugurated the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971.
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) (commonly referred to as Disney) is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was reincorporated as Walt Disney Productions in 1929. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.
The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 11 theme parks around the world. On January 23, 2006, it was announced that Disney would purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. The deal was finalized on May 5. On December 31, 2009, Disney Company acquired the Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for $4.24 billion. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.
--from Wikipedia
Walter Elias “Walt” Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O. Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation he co-founded, now known as The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.
Disney is particularly noted for being a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created some of the world's most famous fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, a character for which Disney himself was the original voice. He has been awarded four honorary Academy Awards and has won twenty-two competitive Academy Awards out of fifty-nine nominations, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He also won seven Emmy Awards. He is the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the United States, as well as the international resorts Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland Hong Kong.
Disney died of lung cancer in Burbank, California, on December 15, 1966. The following year, construction began on Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. His brother Roy Disney inaugurated the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971.
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) (commonly referred to as Disney) is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was reincorporated as Walt Disney Productions in 1929. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.
The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 11 theme parks around the world. On January 23, 2006, it was announced that Disney would purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. The deal was finalized on May 5. On December 31, 2009, Disney Company acquired the Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for $4.24 billion. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.
--from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 22, 2012
In spite of its flaws, I adore Disney's Hercules. This book constitutes a bitter insult to that memory.
First and foremost, Hercules threw a discus into a cloud and "caus[ed] a torrential downpour". Let's ignore the fact that I suspect most four year olds won't understand the word "torrential". Instead, I want to take a moment to marvel at the fact that Hercules is so strong, he somehow bent nature to his will and caused rain... with a discus. Alright then. Moving on.
Or not. Because a few pages later, Hercules flies Pegasus into a storm cloud for no reason other than that both of then were too oblivious to notice the storm. (How do you not notice a storm when you're literally right beside the cloud? I have no idea.)
And then--I shit you not--Hercules plucks a lightning bolt from the sky. Because sheer inhuman strength somehow lets him. Because that makes perfect sense.
Of course, Herc is an idiot and managed to start a forest fire; Daddy Zeus quickly cleans up his mess, warns him with a cliche about what makes a true hero, and sends him in his way.
Next day, Mercury/Hermes shows up to get Herc's help in protecting Corinth from an invading army. Don't ask me why. Just because.
And of course he only makes things worse. He accidentally throws boulders at the citizens he's supposed to be protecting. He floods the town. And when he finally manages to get rid of the invaders, how does he do it? He offers to help them, which they find so terrifying that they flee immediately.
All in all, this book was simply nonsensical. As a midquel to the movie, it flies in the face of canon (as I've been told the midquel t.v. show did, as well). Hercules is the same bumbling idiot as in the movie, but that's where the comparisons stop. Phil has insta-confidence in Hercules, totally out of character and in a scene directly contradicting the corresponding movie scene. Hercules has powers he most definitely shouldn't, with no explanation of why he suddenly had them.
But I think the worst of it all is Hermes. Before Herc's training even really begins--in a totally different way than in the movie, might I add--Hernes wants him to save Corinth.
Uh, why? A) You don't even know him. B) Isn't the army, you know, a little more qualified than some teenager? C) He hasn't even been to Thebes yet, so he's never even tried anything like this before. D) Even the gods know he ruins everything he touches.
This plan is bad all around. It's contrived, and it's stupid... but then again, so is the rest of the book. *sigh*
Wanna teach you kids a moral using Hercules? Turn on the movie. It's funny and smart, even if the mythology's wrong. This, in the other hand...
First and foremost, Hercules threw a discus into a cloud and "caus[ed] a torrential downpour". Let's ignore the fact that I suspect most four year olds won't understand the word "torrential". Instead, I want to take a moment to marvel at the fact that Hercules is so strong, he somehow bent nature to his will and caused rain... with a discus. Alright then. Moving on.
Or not. Because a few pages later, Hercules flies Pegasus into a storm cloud for no reason other than that both of then were too oblivious to notice the storm. (How do you not notice a storm when you're literally right beside the cloud? I have no idea.)
And then--I shit you not--Hercules plucks a lightning bolt from the sky. Because sheer inhuman strength somehow lets him. Because that makes perfect sense.
Of course, Herc is an idiot and managed to start a forest fire; Daddy Zeus quickly cleans up his mess, warns him with a cliche about what makes a true hero, and sends him in his way.
Next day, Mercury/Hermes shows up to get Herc's help in protecting Corinth from an invading army. Don't ask me why. Just because.
And of course he only makes things worse. He accidentally throws boulders at the citizens he's supposed to be protecting. He floods the town. And when he finally manages to get rid of the invaders, how does he do it? He offers to help them, which they find so terrifying that they flee immediately.
All in all, this book was simply nonsensical. As a midquel to the movie, it flies in the face of canon (as I've been told the midquel t.v. show did, as well). Hercules is the same bumbling idiot as in the movie, but that's where the comparisons stop. Phil has insta-confidence in Hercules, totally out of character and in a scene directly contradicting the corresponding movie scene. Hercules has powers he most definitely shouldn't, with no explanation of why he suddenly had them.
But I think the worst of it all is Hermes. Before Herc's training even really begins--in a totally different way than in the movie, might I add--Hernes wants him to save Corinth.
Uh, why? A) You don't even know him. B) Isn't the army, you know, a little more qualified than some teenager? C) He hasn't even been to Thebes yet, so he's never even tried anything like this before. D) Even the gods know he ruins everything he touches.
This plan is bad all around. It's contrived, and it's stupid... but then again, so is the rest of the book. *sigh*
Wanna teach you kids a moral using Hercules? Turn on the movie. It's funny and smart, even if the mythology's wrong. This, in the other hand...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 24, 2016
A fun read for the little ones. I enjoyed reading it to a younger cousin. I think she enjoyed it too.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews