furienna

Sure, it takes a lot of liberties with Greek mythology and Greek history. It's not even totally faithful to the 1997 movie with the same name, to which it's supposed to be a "midquel". But still, "Hercules" is rather educational (there are facts about mythology and history in it, if you only care to look for them) and really funny. It must be one of Disney's most underrated TV shows ever!

It follows the adventures of the young demigod Hercules, who's not only a hero in training (he lives with his trainer Philoctetes), so it's often up to him to stop the plans of his evil uncle Hades, the lord of the Underworld, or to solve other problems. But he also has to go to High School, just like any other teenager, and face typical teenage issues. He's got two best friends, Icarus and Cassandra, but he's often taunted by Adonis, the arrogant prince of Thrace, who considers him "a loser".

The ancient Greek gods, like Zeus, Hera, Ares, Athena, Apollon, Artemis, Demeter, Bacchus, Aphrodite, Poseidon, the Muses and Hermes, all make appearances, and so do many heroes and monsters from Greek mythology. And like other reviewers have said, this show also have an impressive cast list, even for guest roles. So if you can, check it out!

I first watched this show back in 1991 and 1992, when I was only seven years old. This was only season 2 though, you know, the episodes with Bubba and Fenton/Gizmoduck. I've never gotten that much into season 1, and for many years, I didn't even know, that an earlier season even existed, because that season was shown on a different channel, which I didn't even have until years later. But even as a little girl, I really liked season 2. The boys in my class must have liked it too, because I remember them building Gizmoduck figurines out of some kind of building kit. And they must have re-enacted the episodes from TV too, because I specifically remember them quoting Mrs Crackshell "But Fenton, we never spend any time together", except they did it in Swedish, of course.

Fortunately, I taped a lot of episodes (though in hindsight, I wish I would have taped even more of them, especially those with Fenton), and I watched them now and then throughout the 90s. And then in early 2002, ten years after these episodes had last been shown on Swedish TV, I watched my old tapes again. And as I now was seventeen years old, going on eighteen, I could see them in a more mature light. And I started thinking "Isn't Fenton cute?" I somehow forgot about it over the summer though, until I watched those tapes again in the fall. And soon enough, it became obvious, that Fenton Crackshell had become one of my cartoon crushes. (Yep, I've had my fair share of those.) I soon managed to get all episodes with him in English, and in 2004, half of these episodes were once again shown on Swedish TV, which allowed to finally tape some of the episodes, that I hadn't had in Swedish before.

And even if I disregard Fenton for a moment (okay, that's hard for me, but I'll try), this must be one of the best Disney shows ever. I must agree with the general consensus here. Especially season 2 shows so much quality, that it can entertain adults and children alike. I haven't seen much of season 1, but from the little I've seen of it, it comes across as more childish to me. But of course, since children was the main target group, there's no harm in that.

I rate this show (or really, season 2, since I haven't seen much of season 1) 9 out of 10. It could have been a perfect 10, if it hadn't been for two details, which just bother me. One is that Gandra Dee, Fenton's girlfriend, is so wrong for him, that I won't even get started on it here. And the other one is that Webby was so marginalized in season 2. Maybe there were so many characters in the end, that there wasn't much space left for her. But she still lived at the McDuck mansion, right? So they should have shown her more, even if it only had been her playing with Huey, Dewie and Louie, and given her more lines.

Once again, I check out the user comments for a great Disney TV show only to be surprised at the many negative reviews. This is one of my favorite TV shows ever from Disney. It's full of adventure and humor, and I don't think Aladdin and Jasmine are as two-dimensional as many other reviewers here have claimed. Okay, I have to admit, that Genie, Jago and sometimes Abu are the funny characters, not Aladdin and Jasmine, but that doesn't make them two-dimensional. This show is a classic of the 90s, and it deserves every praise it can get. Many Disney shows are ones, that I used to watch back in the day, but now, I don't like them anymore. But "Aladdin" will never get too childish or too disgusting or too annoying for me.