Tom and Jerry: Hercules

Tom and Jerry: Hercules is a 1997 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, the film was directed by Rob Minkoff. The film is loosely based on the legendary hero Heracles (known in the film by his Roman name, Hercules), the son of Zeus, in Greek mythology.

Development of Tom and Jerry: Hercules began in 1991 following a pitch adaptation of the Heracles mythological stories by animator Joe Haidar. Meanwhile, Ron Clements and John Musker re-developed their idea for Scooby-Doo and the Treasure Planet following the critical and commercial success of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. Their project was removed from development in 1993, and Musker and Clements joined Hercules later that same year. Following an unused treatment by Haidar, Clements and Musker studied multiple interpretations of Greek mythology before abandoning Zeus's adulterous affair with Alcmene. The project underwent multiple story treatments and a first script draft was inspired by the screwball comedy films of the classic Hollywood era and popular culture of the 1990s. Donald McEnery, Bob Shaw, and Irene Mecchi were brought on board to shorten the script. British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe was recruited as production designer and produced over seven hundred visualization designs of the characters. Research trips to Greece and Turkey provided inspiration for the background designs. Animation for the film was done in California and Paris. Computer animation was utilized in several scenes, predominantly in the Hydra battle sequence.

Tom and Jerry: Hercules was released on November 27, 1997 to positive reviews from film reviewers who praised James Woods's portrayal of Hades. Despite the positive critical reception, the film under-performed in its theatrical release notably in comparison to its predecessors before ultimately earning $252.7 million in box office revenue worldwide. Hercules was later followed by the direct-to-video prequel Tom and Jerry, Hercules: Zero to Hero, which served as the pilot to Tom and Jerry, Hercules: The Animated Series, a syndicated Kids WB TV series focusing on Hercules during his time at the Prometheus academy.

Cast

 * Michael Jordan as himself
 * Wayne Knight as Stanley "Stan" Podolak, a publicist and assistant who helps Jordan.
 * Bill Murray as himself, an actor and Jordan's friend.

Voices

 * Jeff Glen Bennett as Tom Cat. Bennett does the additional roles as Droopy and Joey in the uncredited.
 * Michael J. Fox as Stuart Little
 * Tate Donovan as Hercules, based on the mythological deity Heracles. Supervising animator Andreas Deja described Hercules as "...not a smart aleck, not streetwise, he's just a naive kid trapped in a big body", and that Donovan "had a charming yet innocent quality in his readings". Donovan had not done any voice-over work prior to Hercules. Deja integrated Donovan's "charming yet innocent quality" into Hercules' expressions. Ricky Martin provided both the voice and singing voice for the Latin American Spanish-language dub edition.
 * Josh Keaton provided the speaking voice of Hercules as a teenager, while Roger Bart provided his singing voice. Originally, Keaton provided also his singing voice, but his singing was re-recorded by Bart. Randy Haycock served as the supervising animator for Hercules as an infant and teenager.
 * John Goodman as Boog, a 900-pound, suave grizzly bear.
 * Robin Williams as Elliot, a hyperactive and clumsy, but quick witted mule deer.
 * Danny DeVito as Philoctetes/Phil. Eric Goldberg, the supervising animator for Philoctetes, cited Grumpy in Tom and Jerry: Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow White and Bacchus in Fantasia as the inspirations for the character's design. Goldberg mentioned that they discovered that Danny DeVito "has really different mouth shapes" when they videotaped his recordings and that they used these shapes in animating Phil.
 * Gary Sinise as Shaw, the nastiest hunter in Timberline and Beth's arch-rival.
 * Debra Messing as Beth, a park ranger who raised Boog as a cub.
 * Billy Connolly as McSquizzy, a grumpy old Scottish-accented Eastern gray squirrel.
 * Jon Favreau as Reilly, a hard working North American beaver.
 * Georgia Engel as Bobbie, an obese woman who is Bob's wife and Mr. Weenie's owner.
 * Jane Krakowski as Giselle, a beautiful mule deer doe and Elliot's love interest.
 * Gordon Tootoosis as Gordy, Timberline's sheriff and Beth's friend.
 * Patrick Warburton as Ian, a mean spirited mule deer stag and the alpha leader of his herd.
 * Cody Cameron as Mr. Weenie, Bob and Bobbie's domesticated, German-accented dachshund.
 * Danny Mann as Serge, a French-accented mallard duck.
 * Matthew W. Taylor as Deni, a mute, somewhat insane and courageous mallard duck and Serge's brother, and Buddy, a blue North American porcupine who searches for friends.
 * Nika Futterman as Rosie, a Mexican accented striped skunk.
 * Michelle Murdocca as Maria, a striped skunk who is Rosie's identical twin sister.
 * Fergal Reilly as O'Toole, a North American beaver and one of Reilly's men.
 * James Woods as Hades. Producer Alice Dewey mentioned that Hades "was supposed to talk in a slow and be menacing in a quiet, spooky way", but thought that James Woods' manner of speaking "a mile a minute" would be a "great take" for a villain. Woods did a lot of ad-libbing in his recordings, especially in Hades' dialogues with Megara. Nik Ranieri, the supervising animator for Hades, mentioned that the character was "based on a Hollywood agent, a car salesman type", and that a lot came from James Woods' ad-libbed dialogue. He went on to say that the hardest part in animating Hades was that he talks too much and too fast, so much so that "it took [him] two weeks to animate a one-second scene". Ranieri watched James Woods' other films and used what he saw as the basis for Hades' sneer.
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Mr. Swackhammer, the proprietor of the intergalactic theme park "Moron Mountain" who seeks new attractions to save his failing business. He is the main antagonist of the film.
 * Susan Egan as Megara. Supervising animator Ken Duncan stated that she was "based on a '40s screwball comedienne" and that he used Greek shapes for her hair ("Her head is in sort of a vase shape and she's got a Greek curl in the back.").
 * Frank Welker as Pegasus. Ellen Woodbury served as the supervising animator for Pegasus.
 * Rip Torn and Samantha Eggar as Zeus and Hera, Hercules' birth-parents. Anthony DeRosa served as the supervising animator for both characters. In the Swedish dub Max von Sydow provided the voice for Zeus.
 * Lillias White, Cheryl Freeman, LaChanze, Roz Ryan and Vanéese Y. Thomas as the Muses (Calliope, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Thalia and Clio respectively), the narrators of the film's story. Michael Show served as the supervising animator for the Muses.
 * Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer as Pain and Panic, Hades' henchmen. James Lopez and Brian Ferguson respectively served as the supervising animators for Pain and Panic.
 * Patrick Pinney as the Cyclops. Dominique Monfrey served as the supervising animator for the Cyclops.
 * Hal Holbrook and Barbara Barrie as Amphitryon and Alcmene, Hercules' adoptive parents. Richard Bazley served as the supervising animator for both characters.
 * Amanda Plummer, Carole Shelley and Paddi Edwards as Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos, the three Fates who predict Hades' failed attempt to conquer Olympus. Nancy Beiman served as the supervising animator for the three characters.
 * Paul Shaffer as Hermes. Michael Swofford served as the animator for Hermes.
 * Billy West as Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Daffy Duck, Tasmanian Devil and Toro
 * Bob Bergen as Marvin the Martian, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Hubie and Bertie
 * Bruno Kirby as Reginald Stout
 * Jennifer Tilly as Camille Stout
 * Bill Farmer as Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam and Sylvester the Cat
 * Maurice LaMarche as Pepé Le Pew
 * June Foray as Granny
 * Kath Soucie as Lola Bunny, a female rabbit who plays for the Tune Squad. Lola is a new character introduced in this film.
 * Frank W. Welker as Jerry Mouse, Farley Wink, a human agent for animals and Sawyer's boss, who is a blabber-mouth and talks fast. He thinks Sawyer is cute despite the fact that she dislikes him., Charles, Michael's pet bulldog who menaces both Bugs and Daffy when they are in Michael's house.
 * Jim Cummings as Butch and Nessus. Chris Bailey served as the animator for Nessus. Cummings also voiced the Tall Theban and the Elderly Theban.
 * Wayne Knight as Demetrius
 * Keith David as Apollo
 * Charlton Heston has a cameo role as the opening narrator.
 * Scott Bakula as Danny, an ambitious, optimistically naïve Orange tabby from Kokomo, Indiana who wishes to become a famous Hollywood star. Matthew Broderick was cast to play Danny but it went to Bakula.
 * Jasmine Guy as Sawyer, a beautiful, but disenchanted sarcastic white cat secretary of Farley Wink and Danny's love interest, later girlfriend. Renee Zellweger was cast to play Sawyer but it went to Guy.
 * Natalie Cole as Sawyer’s singing voice.
 * Matthew Herried as Peabo "Pudge" Pudgemyer, a little penguin and Danny's first friend who looks up to him as a big brother.
 * Ashley Peldon as Darla Dimple, the evil and psychotic adorable human child star of Hollywood. She conceals her anger and sinister nature from her fans and superiors through a facade of sweetness and innocence. She is referred to as "America's sweetheart, lover of children and animals!" Darla is a parody of the late Shirley Temple.
 * Lindsay Ridgeway provides Darla Dimple's singing voice.
 * Kathy Najimy as Tillie Hippo, a happy-go-lucky hippopotamus who tries to find the best in every situation. She is a hilarious hippopotamus as hinted out by her giggling and snorting, and by how quickly she introduces lots of people (and fellow animals).
 * John Rhys-Davies as Woolie the Mammoth, the aging Indian elephant who portrays the mammoth mascot for Mammoth Pictures. He originally came to Hollywood to write and perform music where he acts as a mentor to Danny upon befriending him. Woolie is an obvious parody of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's mascot Leo the Lion, as he wears mammoth tusks made of marble and a wig, which are placed on him with doing the Mammoth Pictures icon.
 * Betty Lou Gerson as Frances Albacore, a sassy, rude fish who dances with Cranston Goat and always holds a cigarette holder.
 * Hal Holbrook as Cranston Goat, a cranky elderly old goat who surprisingly loves to dance. He is always seen with Frances and they always dance with each other, implying they have feelings towards each other.
 * Don Knotts as T.W. Turtle, a nervous and superstitious turtle who always relies on fortune cookie fortunes. He originally came to Hollywood hoping to be an Errol Flynn-type star.
 * Rick Logan provides T.W.'s singing voice.
 * George Kennedy as L.B. Mammoth, the human head of Mammoth Studios. His secret of success when asked by anyone is "Simple, it's Dimple!" The name and character of L.B. Mammoth is a parody of Louis B. Mayer, former studio head of MGM.
 * René Auberjonois as Flanagan, the human film director of "Li'l Ark Angel" who is constantly kissing up to both Darla and L.B.
 * Mark Dindal as Max, Darla's enormous valet who obeys Darla's every command and will not hesitate to punish anyone who crosses her. He serves as the direct force that Darla physically lacks as a child.
 * Colleen Wainwright as Sniffles, a tiny mouse.
 * Pound, the orange leader of the Nerdlucks, is voiced by Jocelyn Blue as a Nerdluck and Darnell Suttles as a Monstar.
 * Bang, the belligerent green Nerdluck, is voiced by June Melby as a Nerdluck and Joey Camen as a Monstar.
 * Bupkus, the giggly and crazy purple Nerdluck, is voiced by Catherine Reitman as a Nerdluck and Dorian Harewood as a Monstar.
 * Blanko, the dim-witted and gangly blue Nerdluck, is voiced by Charity James as a Nerdluck and Steve Kehela as a Monstar.
 * Nawt, the diminutive and clever red Nerdluck, is voiced by Colleen Wainwright as a Nerdluck and T. K. Carter as a Monstar.

Home media
Tom and Jerry: Hercules got its first home video release on VHS and LaserDisc on September 19, 1998 by Warner Home Video.

The film saw its first DVD releases on August 19, 1997 and September 3, 2002, as a 4:3 pan-and-scan DVD with bonus features. A re-release of the same DVD, but bundled with Quest for Camelot, was released on May 2, 2006. Internationally, in July 2008, Cats Don't Dance was released on DVD in widescreen in Germany, Spain, and the Benelux countries (Belgium/the Netherlands/Luxembourg). A widescreen DVD was released for the first time in North America on November 1, 2016 via the Warner Archive Collection. The original widescreen presentation is also available digitally for rental or purchase through Google Play and also through Amazon Video. Currently, a Blu-ray version of the film has yet to be announced.