[FOUND] 'Enchanted Tales: Hercules'

After searching on and off for multiple years, I finally discovered a film that teased the edges of my memory. Although Disney's Hercules was prominent in my VHS-filled childhood, there was another Hercules that I vaguely remembered - a Hera with rollers in her hair, a two headed hydra, and many of the legendary Twelve Labors. Up against an internet that seemed to have little recollection of the film, I finally stumbled upon a full list of Hercules characters on IMDB. What I discovered, along with the lost Hercules, was an entire production company of films based on very familiar stories from other animation studios.

Alternatively called Golden Films or Sony Wonder or Enchanted Tales, the series included King Arthur, Anastasia, Snow White, and many more popular movie characters. More importantly, this production company, founded by Diane Eskenazi, created the Hercules film I had forever been searching for. The general story concerns Hera's jealousy, the Twelve Labors, and a romance with a princess. Released the same year as Disney's Hercules, there is no comparison.

The story is coherent, but the dialogue is corny and so are the songs. The animation is entirely basic, repeated, but with interesting character designs. While I'm glad I found it and I was marginally entertained, I found myself wondering how this could be a successful production company - but I supposed the business model doesn't require a stellar product. For parents, it's age-appropriate, clean, and will keep your kids marginally entertained; for kids and the young at heart, do your research and find some high-quality animated entertainment.

Did you ever watch Golden Films movies?