Summary
The Disney adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel.
My Thoughts
For this Disney series I decided to go with “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, primarily because it was just announced that it will be the next Disney animated film to get a live action remake, supposedly with Josh Gad (“Frozen”) as the titular character. With that being said, Hunchback is easily one of Disney's darkest animated films, and while it skips most of the disturbing factors from Victor Hugo's novel, it still bleeds Victorian Gothic, from the streets filled with gypsies, to gargoyles looming from old castles, to a villain that is as intriguing as he is evil, Hunchback is a rare Disney animated film that appeals to children and adults alike with a universal message of tolerance and acceptance. If you watched this one a lot growing up like me, chances are you have a soft spot for the real life Quasimodos in this world. And while I'm not the biggest fan of the musical genre, any Disney film of this nature is immune because these movies rely heavily on the musical numbers. And in Hunchback, despite my preconceived bias, the songs are just delightful.
Getting right into it the opening scene of Hunchback sets the mood as pessimistically as I've seen in a Disney opener. We see Quasimodo (Tom Hulce, “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”) as an infant baby being held over a well after his mother was murdered by our villain Claude Frollo (Tony Jay, “Beauty and the Beast (1991)”), and is being convinced by the Archdeacon to keep and protect the child, to which he agrees and says he "may have use for this disformed creature someday" and then locking him in the Bell tower if Notre Dame to live out his life, and so our main story begins. The tone changes to that of a lighter one after the first scene, we see Quasimodo in a terrible condition of Stockholm syndrome, acting as if his living conditions are a form of Grace from his captor who he refers to as master. But despite the situation Quasimodo makes the best of it, making friends with three stone gargoyles (who provide most of the movies comic relief in a strange fashion), crafting dolls out of whatever material he can find, and looking forward to masters visits of food, a really solid save the cat moment for our otherwise diabolical bad guy. Quasimodo though begins to long for something new, and with the gargoyles echoing persuasion into his ears, he decides to sneak out to the festival of gypsies despites Frollos warnings not to, and if there's one thing his master hates more than anything, it's gypsies.
It's a really great set up for our two main characters, we see that Quasimodo is just a normal person wanting to do normal things, but his master is blinded by his own arrogance and insolence that he believe he's doing Quasimodo a favor. It's after Quasimodo sneaks out to the festival that we find out there are many cruel people in this world, not just Frollo, we see this in the iconic scene where Quasimodo is locked up and pelted with fruits and vegetables (a far bit less disturbing than the novel), we see how terrible people can be treated without ever even knowing who they are, it's a poignant message especially in today's world. But even in the darkest of moments there's light, we meet Esmarelda (Demi Moore, “G.I. Jane”), a gracious gypsie with an even bigger heart who rescues Quasimodo from the torment and in turn makes a friend with the Hunchback and an enemy with Frollo.
This movie follows the ethos of good vs evil in a wonderfully simple way, no matter how much evil there may be in this world, or how evil one person can be, all it takes is a few people who are good and not morally skewed to change the course of history. There's a mean streak to our villain, he abuses Quasimodo, he murders innocent gypsies in the name of God, and he's the definition of narcissism, but it all comes to a head when the final confrontation between our gypsie heroin and our Hunchback hero versus Frollo, and it's a glorious finale, one that will surely be grandiose and epic in the live action remake as it's just about the most epic final battle I've seen in an animated film since "Princess Mononoke." The gypsies battle the ignorant townfolk below in a firey chaos, while our main characters battle above in the cathedral, and of course our gargoyle friends break some of the tension as they are also, humorously, part of the battle.
The adaptation of such a dark source material is done with meticulous care and craft for Hugo's novel, and while it's really just a brief, much lighter retelling of the tale, it's still a very effective watch. I found myself constantly relating to things happening on screen, comparing it to today's world, its message still resonates today and will continue for a long time. The animation is beautiful, as is any Disney hand drawn animated film, but the detail of old Victorian London is still a fantastic thing to see, the colors are dark, cold and ominous which are juxtaposed with the colorful wear of the gypsies, and the warm personalities of Quasimodo and Esmeralda. The songs are some of my favorites from the Disney sing-along catalog, most of the tunes are dark and brooding, fitting nicely with the time and setting, and of course there's a few cheerful ones like 'friend like you' which of course brings me to my next point; my main bother of two from this film, we see our hero save Esmarelda multiple times, yet she still chooses the tall, handsome warrior Pheobus as her lover, and puts Quasimodo directly in the friendzone, it's just a weird message to those who aren't as fortunate looking as others, but I suppose it's still lighter than the novel where Quasimodo cries over Esmarelda's dead corpse, lesser of two evils I guess, good on you Disney. My other gripe is with the gargoyles, I found them funny at times, but for the most part they are out of place, and feel forced for comic relief. It's obvious these characters are here to keep the kids watching interested, but as an adult I found their antics just too out of place for such a setting.
Overall The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a great and often overlooked Disney animated film, people don't usually go out of their way to sing the songs, or reference any lines from this film, which is a real shame because the quality is up there with some of the best. The creators took their time to make a difficult and ugly story into a relatable and fun one, all while keeping some of the dark themes and spirit of Victor Hugo's source material. Claude Frollo is a fantastic villain with truly terrible motives, such as giving Esmarelda the ultimatum of being with him, or burning alive, it's definitely darker and more brooding than other Disney animated films, but I believe that works for its benefit. It's a classic story of good versus evil, even when there's an overwhelming amount of evil, good can still prevail. It's also a message of acceptance and tolerance, the gypsies aren't bad people, they're not evil, they are just doing things in a different way that upset the established order. Before Esmarelda Quasimodo believed what the others said about him, including his master, that he's just a hideous creature, but she makes him and others see that just because he's different on the outside, he's vulnerable human being through and through like the rest. And besides the silliness of the gargoyles, and some weird writing choices, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is an epic little film that should not be forgotten.
I give the Hunchback of Notre Dame 4.5 stars out of 5.
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