50 free Hercules trivia questions with answers. Hercules is three stories at once: a Greek demigod who wrestled his way through twelve impossible labours, a 1997 Disney musical with a gospel chorus and a wisecracking Hades, and half a century of muscle-bound movie strongmen. This quiz covers all of it. Roughly half the questions are about the Disney film: the voice cast and the actors who almost played Hades, Gerald Scarfe's designs, the Menken and Zippel songs, the thirty-headed CGI Hydra, the box office, the animated series and the Kingdom Hearts and stage-musical afterlife. The rest heads back to the myth (Alcmene and Zeus, Hera's grudge, the labours from the Nemean lion to Cerberus, the shirt of Nessus) and out to the other screen versions: Kevin Sorbo's Legendary Journeys, Ryan Gosling's Young Hercules, Dwayne Johnson in 2014, Steve Reeves in 1958 and Schwarzenegger's dubbed debut. Easy questions ask who voices Hades; the hard ones want the Greek release title and the boy band on the soundtrack. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the film, the myth and the adaptations, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which directing duo made Disney's animated Hercules (1997)?
Ron Clements and John Musker
The pair had just come off a huge hit and took Hercules on partly as a deal to get their passion project Treasure Planet greenlit.
Q 02Who voices Hades, the fast-talking lord of the Underworld?
James Woods
He was hired in October 1995 after a string of other actors read for the part, and he ad-libbed much of his dialogue.
Q 03Who voices Phil, the grumpy satyr who trains heroes?
Danny DeVito
The part was written with him in mind; he finally signed on at a pasta lunch during the filming of Matilda.
Q 04Tate Donovan speaks for the adult Hercules, but who provides his singing voice?
Roger Bart
Josh Keaton voiced the teenage Hercules but his singing was re-recorded, so the same singer covers both ages.
Q 05Before voicing Megara, Susan Egan had played which Disney heroine on Broadway?
Belle
Alan Menken initially blocked her from auditioning, arguing that a cynical Meg should sound nothing like her sweet stage role.
Q 06Which actor was cast as Hades in 1994 and let go after nine months of trying to make the character work?
John Lithgow
After his exit, a parade of actors including Ron Silver, James Coburn and even producer Robert Evans read for the role.
Q 07Which star agreed to play Hades in Hercules but left after demanding half the merchandise profits?
Jack Nicholson
He toured the animation studio with his daughter dressed as Snow White before talks collapsed over the money.
Q 08Which British cartoonist served as the film's production designer, giving it its angular look?
Gerald Scarfe
The directors remembered his Time magazine cover of the Beatles, and he ended up producing more than 700 drawings from his London home.
Q 09Alan Menken composed the songs with which lyricist?
David Zippel
It was the last film of the Disney Renaissance to feature Menken's music, and the score leans on gospel and Broadway styles.
Q 10How many Muses narrate the film in gospel style?
Five
Greek myth counts nine Muses; Disney kept Calliope, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Thalia and Clio.
Q 11"Go the Distance" lost the Academy Award for Best Original Song to which track?
"My Heart Will Go On"
The Titanic ballad also beat it at the Golden Globes the same season.
Q 12Which singer recorded the pop version of "Go the Distance" heard over the end credits?
Michael Bolton
His single peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks atop the Adult Contemporary chart.
Q 13A song cut from the film, "Shooting Star", appears on the soundtrack CD sung by which boy band?
Boyzone
It was one of two songs written for the hero; only one made the final cut.
Q 21What was the film's production budget?
$85 million
It grossed about $253 million worldwide, a disappointment next to the previous Disney hits.
Q 22On its wide-release weekend in June 1997, Hercules finished second at the box office behind which film?
Face/Off
The action thriller took $23.3 million to Hercules' $21.5 million, and Disney's stock dipped nearly 10 percent as the numbers came in.
Q 23Under what title was the film released in Greece after local backlash?
Beyond the Myth of Heracles
The Greek government also declined Disney's plan for an open-air premiere on Pnyx hill.
Q 14What are the names of Hades' two shape-shifting imp henchmen?
Pain and Panic
Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer voice the pair, who quietly decide not to tell their boss they botched the job on baby Hercules.
Q 15Why does the infant Hercules keep his god-like strength after being fed the mortality potion?
He missed the final drop
A passing farmer couple scared off the imps mid-feeding, then adopted the baby.
Q 16The Fates tell Hades that a planetary alignment will free the Titans in how many years?
Eighteen
The catch is that the plan only works if Hercules does not interfere, which is why the baby has to go.
Q 17Hercules regains his godhood by leaping into which river of the Underworld to rescue Meg's soul?
Styx
The act of risking his life for her is what finally makes him a 'true hero'.
Q 18The computer-animated Hydra in the film was designed with how many heads?
Thirty
Thirteen animators and technical directors spent about a year and a half on the four-minute battle.
Q 19Which supervising animator, previously known for Gaston, Jafar and Scar, drew the adult Hercules?
Andreas Deja
He was offered Hades first but asked for the hero instead, wanting a non-villain in his repertoire.
Q 20The directors modeled Meg on which classic Hollywood actress?
Barbara Stanwyck
They drew on 1930s screwball comedies, casting Hercules as a young Jimmy Stewart type.
Q 24Which screen legend has a cameo as the film's opening narrator before the Muses take over?
Charlton Heston
The Muses cut him off, complaining that he is making the story sound like a Greek tragedy.
Q 25In Hercules: The Animated Series, the teenage hero attends which high school?
Prometheus Academy
The syndicated prequel ran 52 episodes, with 13 more airing on ABC's One Saturday Morning block.
Q 26One episode of the animated series was a crossover with which other Disney film?
Aladdin
The episode is titled "Hercules and the Arabian Night"; the series was produced by Tad Stones, who had run that film's own TV spin-off.
Q 27In the Kingdom Hearts video games, Hercules' home world is called what?
Olympus Coliseum
It hosts optional fighting tournaments, and Hades proved so popular that Kingdom Hearts II added the Underworld beneath it.
Q 28Which director signed on in 2022 to helm Disney's live-action Hercules remake?
Guy Ritchie
The Russo brothers are producing through their AGBO banner and have described it as a modern musical inspired by TikTok.
Q 29The stage musical of Hercules premiered in 2019 at which venue?
Central Park's Delacorte Theater
It ran as part of Shakespeare in the Park; a revised version later played New Jersey in 2023 and the West End in 2025.
Q 30In Greek myth, who was Heracles' mortal mother?
Alcmene
Zeus disguised himself as her husband and, by one account, ordered the sun not to rise so the night would last three times as long.