Film Review: Disney’s Hercules (1997) - The Hero’s Journey
Figure 1. Hercules (1997) The mythical wonder that is Disney’s ‘ Hercules (1997) ’, titled after the main character himself, has graced our screens for all these years, and yet, it still manages to dazzle our eyes with extreme colour and filled our ears with musical joy. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, it’s a perfect example of how to describe Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, The Hero’s Journey. The story begins with the birth of the Hero, Hercules, son of Zeus. With immense strength and cheerful disposition, the realm of Gods seemed tranquil for a moment with the new arrival to the godly line-up. However, that happiness would be short lived, when the ever jealous Hades, lord of the underworld, would turn the small child in to a mortal. Despite what the original Greek mythology states about the main hero himself, Hercules is a happy-go-lucky chap with high hopes and not much clue about the hero business at the beginning. After becoming mortal and being adopted by two...
OGR 05/03/2015
ReplyDeleteMorning Chels,
Okay, yes - so I can see how creating a retro side-scroller will most definitely appeal, but I have a question for you; is there an argument for going the whole hog and actually thinking about cycle as an actual game - with actual game play? I'm not suggesting that you design a truly interactive experience, but rather you seek to simulate one. It seems to me that if you're going to give people the semblance of game, then why not think about creative ways in which you can 'gameify' the life-cycle; this would mean deciding who or what you are playing 'as' - are you the mosquito, are you the medicine, are you the blood cell? How, in the logic of the actual scientific facts, can you meet and beat challenges? How can you power-up? The problem with creating an animation that is 'only' the appearance of a game is that it might be considered a bit boring, because of the urge to get in there and interact. Perhaps you could think of each phase of the life-cycle being it's own 'level' which gets completed as the section completes - and each level having different kinds of challenge as aligned with the cycle? Like I said, you'd be 'faking' the experience of someone playing it - rather like someone's footage uploaded to youtube? Anyway, think about the potential of choosing 'game' as a visual concept - could and should it be more than just art direction? Something to think about...