Setting
The settings in the movie are very interesting and whimsical and show a clear divide between the three worlds represented. Mount Olympus is shown with light pink and cream or orangish tones, the cities and areas that show mortals are neutral-toned, and the Underworld is black, grey, and sickly green. The style of animation that Disney uses for this movie is unlike any other film of theirs.
As noted earlier the godly setting is all shown as pink, light cream orange, and baby blue. According to “Color Wheel Pro”, the color pink represents intuition and insight, it also represents compassion, love, and childhood, all of which are things that Hercules thinks of when he imagines the Gods on Mount Olympus. The light orangish hues represent enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, and determination which are all characteristics that Hercules has or strives for with his family. Lastly, light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness. But more generally blue represents loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Throughout the movie, Mount Olympus is seen as Heaven as the bible describes it, with white fluffy clouds surrounding it and big golden gates at the entrance. Since we see Mount Olympus portrayed as heaven we also have hell.
The Underworld in this movie is the polar opposite of where the gods live. It’s dark and dull and the film shows how extensive it is with a whirlpool of passed souls and monsters such as Cerberus, the three-headed dog. The underworld is also quite obviously a representation of hell accept in this universe all people, good or bad, go to the underworld.
The middle ground, which is Greece, is shown in neutral and earth tones. These are also transitional colors as all of the colors shown on earth is either darkened and then represent the underworld or they are lightened and represent Mount Olympus. Hercules is as well in a transitional period on Earth and is where he is able to prove himself to transition to god.
