This garden that Meg walks through while singing about LOVE, of all things, is a ‘Garden of RAPE’!!!!! Each of these statues are different versions of rape in Greek mythology. Disney, how dare you!
*Deep breath* Sorry, but ever since I did the trivia for this movie and noticed this it’s been bothering the hell out of me. :/
Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Phil admonishes Hercules, “Don’t let your guard down because of a pair of big goo-goo eyes,” he’s clearly mouthing the word “blue” instead of “goo-goo.” Originally, Meg’s eyes were originally going to be blue, but later on they were changed to purple to match her dress.
The “Air Herc” sandals brand is a reference to the Nike Air footwear line. Moreover, the Hercules mosaic showing Hercules running resembles an actual Nike print ad. Nike was the Greek goddess who personified triumph.
In the music video for “Zero to Hero” it shows Hercules riding Pegasus through the nighttime sky with constellations looking at him, and it shows a woman in a dress that flies up and she holds it down. This is a reference to a famous scene from ‘The Seven Year Itch’ starring Marilyn Monroe.
At one point during Meg’s musical scene “I Won’t Say I’m In Love,” the Muses sing while appearing as marble busts. The busts are in the same arrangement as the singing busts in the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.
The movie makes many references to the epic poem of the 12 Labors of Hercules including the mid-movie battle with the Lernaean Hydra (2nd Labor). The Nemean Lion (1st Labor), Erymanthian Boar (4th Labor), Stymphalian Bird (6th Labor) are featured in the ‘Zero to Hero’ scene, and the capturing of Cerberus (12th Labor) at the end of the film. Phil also mentions the task of cleaning Augean’s stables (5th Labor) and retrieving a Girdle from ‘some Amazons’ (9th Labor) while Hercules was posing for the painter.
When Hermes delivers the flowers to Hera, he says, “I had Orpheus do the arrangement. Isn’t that too nutty?” The joke here is in the double use for the word “arrangement” - as in “floral arrangement” and “musical arrangement”. The voice for Hermes is bandleader Paul Shaffer, and in Greek mythology, Orpheus is known as “the father of songs”, so he would be the perfect choice to do an “arrangement”.
The role of Hades is one of James Woods’ all-time favorite characters. So much so, any time Disney needs him to reprise the character for any cartoon show (including “Hercules: The Series”) and video game (The “Kingdom Hearts” series), he has agreed to do so.
The wall painting in Alcmene and Amphitryon’s bedroom is the famous “Spring Fresco” from the Greek island of Thera and can be seen at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
In the scene where two kids were trapped under a boulder, they said “someone call I, X, I, I”. Though pronounced as letters, this is a reference to the Roman numerals IX, I, I, or 911 - the emergency phone number in the United States.
Hermes, the Messeneger, is shown during the ending of the film playing the keyboard. Paul Shaffer, who provides the voice for Hermes, plays the keyboard as his primary instrument on the ”Late Show with David Letterman” (1993).