Andrea Wright

Classical myths and legendary journeys: Hercules, landscape, identity and New Zealand

In 1994, five made for television movies – Hercules and the Amazon Women by Bill L. Norton, Hercules and the Lost Kingdom by Harley Cokeliss, Hercules and the Circle of Fire by Doug Lefler, Hercules in the Underworld by Bill L. Norton and Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur by Josh Becker – became the forerunners of two popular, even cult, series screened from the mid-1990s: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Various, 1995–1999) and its spin-off Xena: Warrior Princess (Various, 1995–2001). Despite being set in a mythical Ancient Greece, the movies and the subsequent programmes were filmed on location in New Zealand. Indeed, New Zealand has become a frequent site for fantasy cinema and television production, perhaps most notably through the work of Peter Jackson, and Film New Zealand have actively promoted the country’s potential to be ‘many worlds’. The varied and dramatic topography has played a significant role in encouraging filmmakers to base their productions in the country, but New Zealand’s own mythology as a land of Edenic, untouched beauty and its relative ‘youth’ are also integral to understanding its appeal. This article, which primarily focuses on the five Hercules films, will explore the unique relationship and the dynamic interaction between the classical/fantasy narrative and New Zealand.

A sheep in wolf's clothing? The problematic representation of women and the female body in 1980s sword and sorcery cinema

The muscled, independent woman found in action-orientated cinema is a problematic figure that confronts customary perceptions of masculine and feminine representation and gender roles. The regularly applied active/passive dichotomy is challenged by the agency and skill of these women, but, simultaneously, their position is undermined by an emphasis on the body, relationships with male characters, and the demands of patriarchy. Indeed, Jeffrey A. Brown (1996) argues that a female in an action role is simply a ‘sheep in wolfs clothing’. This paper will explore Browns claim by focusing on the 1980s sword and sorcery cycle, in particular the often critically overlooked Conan the Destroyer (1984) and Red Sonja (1985). In these narratives, women are seemingly elevated from subsidiary roles to become action heroines or formidable villains. Moreover, the films facilitate discussions of the women as warriors, women as powerful malevolent forces, but also engage with broader issues surrounding the representation of gender, sexuality, race, and the female body.

Selling the Fantastic: The Marketing and Merchandising of the British Fairytale Film in the 1980s

The 1980s are characterised by a number of notable sub-genres that had a significant impact on British cinema content. One sub-genre, the slasher horror, has been much discussed, but in comparison the screen fairytale has often been overlooked, perhaps, largely, due to the difficult-to-place nature of children’s fiction and overt fantasy. Yet, when considered as a whole, the screen fairytales stand out as an identifiable group of fantasy films distinct from their closest generic neighbours, horror and science fiction.1 As a body of films the 1980s fairytales include: The Dark Crystal (1982), Legend (1984), The Company of Wolves (1984), The NeverEnding Story (1984), The Black Cauldron (1985), Ladyhawke (1985), Labyrinth (1986), The Princess Bride (1987) and Willow (1988). These films are an important part of cinema in the 1980s as they provided a showcase for the then latest technological advances and achievements in special effects, the challenge being to seduce the audience with screen magic at a time before the real dominance of Computer Generated Images (CGI). Furthermore, many of these movies were released into a film culture in the shadow of the merchandising frenzy created by Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), and Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and this inspired them to compete rigorously in arresting the imagination of audiences outside the screen space through promotional tie-ins and related products. Two British films, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, both productions of the Henson Company, provide insightful case studies into this neglected sub-genre and emphasise its value for understanding decisions made in the marketing of family-oriented films. Moreover, as Jack Zipes argues, Henson productions as examples of fairytales are ‘[m]ore daring and stimulating than the Disney films’ (Zipes 1995: