8 Overlooked Animated Disney Films That Are Better Than You Think

5. Hercules

After the heights of the Disney renaissance came a run of films that, while not as eye-rolling as The Emperor's New Groove or Home On The Range, didn't quite live up to what the Mouse House had done in the early-nineties. There's things to like - The Hunchback Of Notre Dame has a villain who raises strikingly adult themes and Tarzan's tree-swinging makes Johnny Weissmuller look like a slouch - but among all these, Hercules often gets a ignored.

A very strange film, adapting Greek myths by way of Vegas with some very stylised animation, Hercules was seemingly attempting to repeat Aladdin's success; pop culture-referencing, ancient locations with a modern twist, celebrity voice casting. Audiences were engaged, but not bowled over, and the film sits in many eyes as lower-draw Disney, which is totally unfair.

A film this daring isn't always going to get everything right, but there's enough good stuff here; James Woods' Hades matches the character's design in all the right ways, making Ralph Fiennes by-the-numbers version in Clash/Wrath Of The Titans feel insipid, while the visual jokes come by so fast that fatigue never sets in. What's most remarkable is that it has everything necessary to succeed today with families; despite its modernisation of B.C. times, fifteen years passing hasn't dated it (much).