Hercules

Just like in the books he is in, Cerberus is not a character that shows a lot in the movies he is in. Although when he does show in the Disney movie Hercules he is Shown as very vicious. He appears his giant three headed version. When I say giant I mean that the average person in the movie is about the size of one of his teeth. His character design does not hide that the movie creators must have wanted him to be seen as dangerous and terrifying. The first time he is shown is just a glimpse, but it shows that he is no little puppy. This appearance is near the beginning of the movie when Hades is being introduced, and when Hades goes through the gate to get into his underworld the audience sees six large, red eyes in the darkness and three large heads quickly jet out of the darkness to show the vicious guardian. Hades proceeds to toss a stake at Cerberus which Cerberus begins to tear apart. Obviously the scene is more focused on Hades but it uses Cerberus to show the kind of power that Hades has. If he has this monster tamed what else does he have?

-Cerberus near the beginning of the movie.

Also the way they placed the heads in the above picture so that they seem a large distance from each other shows how large he must be and it also may be playing on the interpretation that his heads represent past, present, and future, with fog hiding what the future holds (note that the furthest head is the only one that seems like it might be in the way).

The second time that Cerberus appears is a point when Hercules is in a fit of rage due to Megara’s death. In this scene Cerberus bursts through the wall of Hades’s chamber with Hercules riding on the middle head. At this part Cerberus is used to show that Hercules is in a state where he should not be messed with. Cerberus was portrayed as being a big, scary, and vicious monster, but Hercules turned him into an over-sized steed. The interesting part is when Hercules dismounts and suddenly Cerberus is looking like a scared puppy. This difference from his earlier portrayal is supposed to show how strong and angry Hercules is. Overall in this movie he was a tool used to show the power of others in comparison to his own that is implied to be great by his appearance.

-Cerberus just after bursting into Hades’s chamber with Hercules. So this is what the fog for the future was hiding..

-Cerberus when Hercules is about to dismount to talk to Hades. This is a large contrast from the other pictures, right? What could Hercules have done to scare this underworld-hound into being some scared puppy? I guess since every monster tells a lesson this one right here says not to mess with a hero’s loved ones.