Cartoons centered around Greek Mythology

[J. A. Boschen]

Here is a theme, that has probably not been brainstormed before at these forums. I was trying to think the other day of what classic theatrical cartoons were centered around Greek mythology, and took place in that era. Here are two that I can think of:

"Its a Greek Life": "RAinbow Parade": Van Beuren/RKO Radio Pictures
and
Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony" segment from Fantasia.
Surely there had to be other cartoons. CAn anyone else help? Thanks:)

[cpdavison]

I think there's a Popeye (Famous-era) called "Greek Mirthology."

Craig D.

[PeppeRaskell1]

Porky's Hero Service (Porky Pig dreams he's in ancient Greece as the hero Porkyakarkus, saving the kingdom from the Gorgon.)

And who could ever forget The Mighty Hercules from 60's TV?

[Marty26]

I think there's a Popeye (Famous-era) called "Greek Mirthology."

Craig D.

Do you mean Popeye, We Myth You (http://www.starlingfilmsdvd.com/prod/ViewDetails.asp?pid=37&fromhome=1&defaultSt=342?) :tweety:

[cpdavison]

Do you mean Popeye, We Myth You (http://www.starlingfilmsdvd.com/prod/ViewDetails.asp?pid=37&fromhome=1&defaultSt=342?) :tweety:

Yeth.

Craig D.

[Matt the Y]

But there IS a Popeye cartoon called "Greek Mirthology" [1954]. That's the one where Popeye tries to convince his four nephews to eat their spinach by telling of how his ancestor ("Hoicules") defeated an ancient Greek bully who challenged him once "Hoicules" discovered that spinach was ultimately a better and longer-lasting source of brute strength than his previous source, garlic. It proved to be a very entertaining story... but not a successful one because in the end, Popeye's nephews still refuse to eat spinach having run off to join the ice cream vendor.

There's also another Popeye cartoon that deals with Greek mythology, "Popeye Meets Hercules" [1948]; this is actually one of my personal favorites. This one actually puts Popeye IN the times of ancient Greece (rather than having the whole present times "flashback" wraparound set-up) in which our hero actually faces losing his girl (Olive Oyl as usual) to the famous Greek strongman, Hercules, unless he can prove he's better than ol' Hurk by beating him in a contest of strength. Naturally, he triumphs. ;) I should also mention that this cartoon contains many other refs to classic Greek mythology elements as well such as Greek gods and goddesses (such as Popeye's praying to the Greek goddess Spinichia, who actually looks like Popeye in drag, to deliver spinach to him to give him the ultimate power to finally conquer Hercules once and for all) as well as those old ancient Greek favorites, the centaurs (one great gag in this short involves one human spectator getting really excited over the sparring match and slapping the behind of another person in the crowd... only for him to discover that the "human" behind actually belongs to a centaur who indignantly kicks him into next week!).

[Alf]

It´s Greek to Me-Ow (1961), one of the Gene Deitch Tom & Jerrys.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

The Pastoral Symphony segment of Fantasia deals with Greek Mythology -- but that's only one segment of an entire feature, so technically it's not a "cartoon centered around Greek Mythology". (*EDIT* I just noticed that Fantasia was already mentioned by the poster of this thread. Sorry.)

The 90's Disney film Hercules, on the other hand, is a feature centered around Greek Mythology.

[grundle]

Hanna Barbera's 1970s Godzilla cartoon had a few episodes with Greek mythology. "The Horror Of Forgotten Island" and "Island Of Lost Ships" were two of them. Here (http://www.angelfire.com/ego/g_saga/hanna-barberagodzilla.html) is an episode guide.

[Bobby Bickert]

But there IS a Popeye cartoon called "Greek Mirthology" [1954]. That's the one where Popeye tries to convince his four nephews to eat their spinach by telling of how his ancestor ("Hoicules") defeated an ancient Greek bully who challenged him once "Hoicules" discovered that spinach was ultimately a better and longer-lasting source of brute strength than his previous source, garlic. It proved to be a very entertaining story... but not a successful one because in the end, Popeye's nephews still refuse to eat spinach having run off to join the ice cream vendor.

This was loosely remade as "Hair Cut-Ups", one of Kneitel's TV Popeyes, with Popeye as Samson and Brutus (in drag) as Delilah.

[J. A. Boschen]

I knew there had to be other cartoons, those Popeye cartoons and That Tom and Jerry cartoon had completely escaped my attention (I even remember seeing those or some on Cartoon Network). Thanks a lot to everyone for bringing them to my attention:)

[Sogturtle]

I knew there had to be other cartoons, those Popeye cartoons and That Tom and Jerry cartoon had completely escaped my attention (I even remember seeing those or some on Cartoon Network). Thanks a lot to everyone for bringing them to my attention:)

Hmmmm...
Back in my files in a color storyboard drawing from Deitch's Tom and Jerry "It's Greek To Me-ow".:tomcat: :jerry:

There is also one that nobody has mentioned but it only loosely falls in the realm of "classic" theatrical animation (due to its late date). I speak of the 1978 mixed Japanese-American theatrical feature film "Winds of Change" (aka "Metamorphosis").
It was directed by Takashi BUT the credits feature as I recall mostly golden age American animators (one name that jumps to mind is Rudy Zamora). It was released under the two different titles, the first time with no dialogue, the second go-round as "Winds of Change" featured narration by Peter Ustinov. [I don't personally like most of the character designs but the animation was good:cool: ].

[The Spectre]

But there IS a Popeye cartoon called "Greek Mirthology" [1954].

Yes, but Starling Films always releases public domain cartoons under their own titles - so "Popeye, We Myth You" is their name for "Greek Mirthology" (or "Popeye Meets Hercules"?) Marty26 was joking that the Starling Films title was the real one.

[wundermild]

Searching for Greek myth characters might yield further results. I think of Centaurs (Winsor McCay's "The Centaurs"), Cupids ("The Stupid Cupid" to name an obvious one), the Trojan Horse (the Terrytoons Mighty Mouse short), etc. etc.