Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus
Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus is a 1998 animated action/adventure film starring the voices of Kevin Sorbo, Lucy Lawless, Michael Hurst, Renée O'Connor and Kevin Smith, all reprising their roles from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess.
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| Directed by | Lynne Naylor |
| Written by | John Loy and Jaedyn Dudley |
| Produced by |
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| Cinematography | |
| Music by | Joseph LoDuca |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios Home Video |
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Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Hercules and Xena
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The movie begins with the Sirens blaring Across The Sea of Time, a song about how Zeus took the Cronus stone from the Titans, had an affair with Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon (stepfather of Heracles), and had a son named Hercules, who goes on to defeat a Lernaean Hydra at an early age and become a hero.[1]
As the song ends, a giant sea serpent emerges from the sea. Hercules attempts to kill it, finally throwing a giant rock into its mouth. The creature then jumps to the shore and lands on Hercules. Being out of the water, the serpent suffocates and dies. Hercules triumphantly climbs out of its nostrils. While the villagers are thanking Hercules, lolaus climbs out of a rest chair and joins Hercules, who is rewarded by the villagers with a large fish.
Hercules and lolaus head to Thebes to see Alcmene, but Lolaus is upset because Hercules received all the credit. On the way there, they defeat a group of highwaymen and continue their journey unscathed.
Some Satyrs who stole gold from helpless people are in a bar so Xena and Gabrielle come to beat them up and take the money back. Ares shows up after Gabrielle throws wine at a Satyr and beats him up with her fighting stick. He tells Xena to stop Hercules from going to Thebes because there is a trap set up for him there; however, Xena would like Hercules to go since there is trouble and he needs to help. After a while, Xena becomes frustrated with Ares' unwillingness to give up. She and Gabrielle argue about his intentions. There is no rift between them in this movie.
Hercules is pulling a plow at his mother's house. Both of them then see Thor come from the heavens in his chariot pulled by winged horses like Pegasus driving the chariot down. He takes Alcmene to Mr. Olympus, causing Hercules to become disappointed.
Lolaus thinks Alcmene went on her own since she put up no fight but Alcmene disagrees and pushes Lolaus against a wall in his anger. Hercules apologizes and the two head off to go and rescue Alcmene.
Zeus talks to Ares and wonders why he did not stop Hercules. He says that he tried to get a mortal named Xena to do it, and becomes angry when Ares persistently yearns for Xena. Afterward, Hera appears and yells at Zeus for bringing Alcmene to Mt. Olympus. She leaves and steals the Kronos stone while doing so.
Hera summons the titans while Zeus checks up on Alcmene, who has been shrunk and placed in a small Arabian dollhouse to protect her from Hera.
Aphrodite surfs down a mountain, which makes Lolaus very happy, and who hugs Hercules. She tells Hercules that Hera is angry, and not to go to Mt. Olympus for his good. He decides to go anyway. Iolaus stays behind to entertain Aphrodite but leaves as an earthquake starts.
Meanwhile, a small boy has fallen into a lava pit. Hercules holds the colliding ends together while Lolaus pulls the boy up, to the gratitude of the boy's mother, who then takes him to safety,
Xena and Gabrielle, in a nearby town, are battling three thugs. Xena is tasked with stopping a rolling giant rock from falling upon one of them. When she completes the task, both Xena and Gabrielle are shown Hercules meeting the titan Porphyion.
The leader of the titans says that Hera can go free because he is not defending the gods. Zeus calls Artemis, Aphrodite, and Ares together to fight the titans, all while hoping that Hercules will join them.
Xena and Gabrielle are helping wounded people. Artemis decides to ask for Xena's help, promptly turning Gabrielle into a giant bird. Xena rides on Gabrielle to the Gods' home while Hercules is climbing up. Xena explains to Artemis that all she had to do was ask for help from Xena and that she didn't need to turn Gabrielle into a giant bird.
The four titans come to battle; Poprhyrion, Tethys, Crius, and Mnemosyne. Hercules shows up and greets Xena, promptly rescuing Alcmene while leaving everybody else to fight the titans. Hera turns all of the gods into animals; Lolaus and Xena escape by riding on Gabrielle, who is still a bird, to Alcmene's' house. This upsets everybody, as Hera did nothing to help Alcmene. The gods are all small animals until Zeus can get the stone back. Ares is a goat, Aphrodite is a cow, Artemis is a rabbit, and Zeus is a mouse.
Hercules finds out that Alcmene was sick, and Zeus offers to make up for hard times by giving her immortality and taking her to live with him on Mt Olympus.
The titans sing "Titan's Song", and back on earth, we see Xena and Hercules making up with each other. They both agree to help the gods get their home and the Kronos stone back. The Titans get the stone from Hera and turn her into a small doll, then place her inside a dollhouse. In the meantime, Alcmene has been restored into her normal human form.
The heroes ride Gabrielle to the mountain and fight the Titans. Hercules gets the stone and can destroy it. He lifts the seal of the underworld which causes the lava pits to appear. Hercules and Xena flip the Titan Crius into the lava, and Lolaus gets the water and fire. Female Titans fall into and dissolve within the fiery pits.
Gabrielle scoops up Porpyron, who grabbed Hercules. Hercules tries to reach and jump onto Gabrielle's back, where Xena and Lolaus are sitting, but fails. Gabrielle drops the titan into the cavern and catches the falling Hercules. She then can take him to the Gods' mountain, in time to close the stone which locks the titans away. Zeus and Alcmene go back to Mt. Olympus and Zeus encourages Hercules to visit sometime. Hercules then leaves, going with Lolaus, Gabrielle, and Xena on their way to Corinth, to return a bag of gold and seek more adventure.
Theme music
changeThe songs "Across the Sea of Time", "Titan's Song", and "Xena's Song" were written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom.
Awards
change- Nominated to Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production, in Annie Awards, in 1998
References
change- ↑ David, Mullich. "Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-04-22.