THEY MADE A RECORD ALBUM?

 

I thought there was only one song.

 

The Mighty Hercules was an animated series that ran from 1963-1966.

I remember a time when Canadian TV had only 13 channels. It reduced our choices so our tolerance for anything animated was much higher than it may be today when there are dozens of good animated programs on the satellite. Then there were few fun cartoons. This one was one of my favorites for many reasons.

The opening theme is terrific and memorable and the entire caste of characters have no clue how ridiculous they are. All this happens is what pretends to be a version of ancient Greece. The characters are colorful and the music and vocal acting is top notch for the time. It's just all so goofy.

 

Hercules hangs out with these two gay centaurs and a boy prince who clearly is in love with him. There is also a girl called Helena who is suppose to be Hercules' love interest but she is just there for show. Of course Helena the Beard has to be saved from a monster or a villain in most every episode so she is of little use to the Centaur/Demigod love story that is going on here. How this show ever got by the television censors at the time is beyond me. The whole situation is perverse and the less said about the little fawn named TOOT the better.

 

 

To bad they didn't make more toys from this cartoon.

 

 

The magical ring of Hercules. More on this thing later.

 

 

 

I personally would love to have one of these beauties in my collection of memorable pop culture rings. No Hercules cartoon was complete until he reached into his belt and pulled out his ring and put it on this finer to the thunder and lightning of Olympus. At anytime the villain should hit him with a stick but no, they all allow this ritual to pass so that Hercules now can be much stronger and much more about to foil their stupid schemes. It's insane but it happens every damn time. Speaking of two of the 'villains' they give Herc to face, Dadilus and the The Mask are the two lamest.

 

Then there are the villains. Daedalus is exactly the model of the evil wizard who is always his own worst enemy. His plans are stupid and he makes the mistake of telling someone how his brilliant plan can be foiled each and every time. Why have Hercules use his brain when others can do the work for him. I liked Daedalus' evil cat Dido, however. He never did much but angrily meow at everyone around him or save Daedalus from jail by smuggling in a key. This cartoon has most of the cast of characters we can expect.

 

The MASK is the greatest bad guy this show produced. He wears a metal helmet on his head that he calls the MASK OF VULCAN. It's not a mask but more like a bucket with eye holes. The mask makes him invulnerable or as he would proclaim - "Nothing can harm me while I wear the MASK OF VULCAN".

 

Of course, this genius neglects to put a simple strap on his bucket that would prevent Hercules from using a stick to pop it off his melon. The Mask is always tricked into removing the one thing that makes him invincible. These bad guys never learn from their mistakes.

The Mask once made a hundred or so Masks of Vulcan to put on a herd of cows. I wish I could remember why he did that or what he hoped to achieve from cows who were immune to injury. I guess you could stampede them through the kingdom of Calydon.

 

http://comiclists.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/making-the-grade-the-mighty-hercules/