The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)


Keeping in the Disney Renaissance, let's look at one of their darkest films, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The Movie:

 The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the 34th film in the Disney Animated Canon and the 7th of the Disney Renaissance.  This was the follow-up film for Beauty and the Beast directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise.  The movie was met with generally positive reviews and performed well at the box-office, though it did face some criticism for the darker tones and from fans of the book for the changes made.  Notably, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the only movie in the Disney Animated Canon to ever be nominated for a Razzie (in the one-off category "Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million.")

 The Hunchback of Notre Dame is (somewhat loosely) based off the novel by Victor Hugo.  Set in Medieval France, the movie opens with Judge Claude Frollo capturing a group of gypsies.  A mother tries to escape to save her baby and dies.  The baby is deformed, and Frollo wishes to kill it, but the Archdeacon stops him.  Instead, Frollo raises the child, names him Quasimodo, and hides him the the cathedral.  After 20 years in Notre Dame, Quasimodo wishes to be free, but Frollo forbids it.  Wanting to attend the Festival of Fools, Quasimodo sneaks out.   There he meets the gypsy girl Esmeralda.  When Esmeralda stands up for Quasimodo, Frollo orders the captain of the guard Phoebus to arrest her, but Esmeralda hides in Notre Dame, where Phoebus convinces her to take sanctuary.  Quasimodo decides to protect Esmeralda, while Frollo secretly lusts for her and will stop at nothing to get her.

 The Hunchback of Notre Dame is simply epic, perhaps the most of any of the Disney Renaissance movies.  The beautiful grand animation of Notre Dame and the city of Paris coupled with the soaring music makes this movie hard to beat when it works.  I'm actually disappointed that this is the only Renaissance movie that I didn't see in theaters growing up, because it would be amazing on a big screen.  And although it can be a bit heavy-handed at times, it is interesting how the messages of this movie are so very relevant in today's political climate.  The downside is that the movie really doesn't work whenever the gargoyles appear.  They are so out of tone with the rest of the movie.  If they had been toned down a little and more clearly depicted as a product of Quasimodo's imagination, they would have actually been a very creative addition.  But since they interact with other characters, we know they aren't just imaginary friends.  The stage version corrects this by replacing them with saints that counsel Quasimodo and really are all in his head.

 The music in The Hunchback of Notre Dame is some of Alan Menken's best work and really underrated.  The score is filled with recurring leitmotifs and various Latin chants, and it was fittingly nominated for an Oscar.  Notably, this is Menken's only Disney musical of the Renaissance that was nominated for any of its songs, which is a shame, because there are several great ones.  "The Bells of Notre Dame" provides one of the most epic openings of any Disney movie.  "Out There" is another grand ballad, while "God Help the Outcasts" is the heart of the movie.  But if you want goosebumps, listen to "Hellfire," Frollo's haunting lament as he fights lust and descends into madness.

 Presence in the Parks:

 When the movie was first released, The Hunchback of Notre Dame had a significant presence in the parks.  Each coast got a different Hunchback stage show.  Disneyland in California had Hunchback take over Big Thunder Ranch from 1996 until 1998, with the log cabin becoming Esmeralda's Cottage and a show called the Festival of Fools.  Florida's show was called The Hunchback of Notre Dame: A Musical Adventure, and it ran at the Backlot Theater at MGM Studios from 1996 to 2002, upon which the theater was mostly unused until Frozen came along.

 Currently, the park with the most love for Hunchback is Disneyland Paris, but references can still be found in the US.  Disneyland has Clopin's Music Box tucked away in Fantasy Faire.  Frollo is one of the villains during the montage in Fantasmic!, while Quasimodo gets a card in the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.  "Out There" is also used prominently in the Magic Kingdom fireworks show Happily Ever After. 

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