The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

recommended

How sad is this?

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

While looking like a standard Disney film this is actually surprisingly dark (despite making many changes to the source material to make it suitable for kids), but that doesn't stop it from being a good film that fully deserves to be included in the list of 'Classics'.With good songs, and a 'I know that voice' voice cast, this was an enjoyable film I hadn't seen as a kid. Seeing how dark it is I know why! It's well worth a look.

Despite being an approved family film with a G rating, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is profoundly mature and deeply religious. But that is exactly why I love it. The very first frames are a beautiful indicator of the nature of this story. A black screen with real Gregorian chants being sung alongside the haunting echoing of church bells. It sets up the film's tone perfectly. As if to warn parents and families that this is not the usual Disney fan fare that they're used to. Indeed, Hunchback delves into deeper and darker territory than any Disney film ever had before. And they are not likely to ever return to this dark place again. During the prologue of the film, we are given a riddle by one of the film's chief characters: "Who is the monster and who is the man?" This of course refers to the opposing personalities of the hero and the villain of the story. However, it's possible as children that the answer was not immediately obvious to us. I know it certainly wasn't for me. But to be fair, this is a very complicated question for a supposed "children's film" to be asking it's audience: what makes morality? Is it the face you wear? Or the deeds you do?Speaking of complexity, I've found that the more I re-watch Hunchback, the more I begin to suspect that this film was not made for children at all. Or at least I would believe this if not for the film's very appalling tone problem. Scenes vary between extreme highs and lows of Disney-esque wonder and excitement and then completely reverse into scenes of depravity and danger at the drop of a hat. Comedy is injected at inopportune moments, causing shifts in mood that are almost bi-polar and hard to ignore. However, this is the film's only glaring flaw. In it's entirety, it's a well written and well executed story that delivers glorious emotional moments that feel just as real and raw as any sequence from a live action film.The voice acting therein is some of Disney's best. Tom Hulce, Tony Jay, Demi Moore and Kevin Kline are all so genuine they seem to completely disappear into their characters. It is this that makes them feel all the more human and so tragically real. Visually, the characters are compelling and well designed. It becomes very enjoyable to catch the little micro-expressions and small facial quirks of the characters as they move and speak. This is without a doubt some of Disney's finest hand drawn work. In addition to it's visual majesty, Hunchback also has one of the best soundtracks of any Disney film, if not the best. The loud, Latin choirs are intense, epic and chill inducing. The strength the music alone lends to the film is phenomenally powerful. It is sinful that Alan Menken did not win an Oscar for the score. It would have been more than well deserved. Overall, the film is magnificent. It is a grand and exciting tale that feels just as huge and gargantuan as Notre Dame herself. Nearly every frame could be a painting. The craft and artistry that went into this film is without equal. Even with all of it's mature themes of religious symbolism, sexual desire and corruption of the church, it still manages to be a wholesome film of the Disney brand. At it's core, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a story about heroism, justice and self-acceptance. Children and adults alike would greatly benefit from the messages and morals it has to tell.

This film tells the story of Quasimodo, the bell-ringer of Notre Dame in Paris, who lives hidden because of his deformity and an oppressive tutor, who is also the chief judge of the city. Based on the Victor Hugo's novel, this animated film has direction of Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, a script by Tab Murphy and a competent cast of voice actors led by Demi Moore, Tom Hulce and Tony Jay. The music was done by Alan Menken and was nominated for an Oscar in the correspondent category.We're facing an animated film, of the Disney Studios, probably one of the best of this genre in the nineties. The animations are excellent, in vivid colors that look good on the screen and shining properly, without exaggeration. The script is also good and makes an adaptation, light and well thought out, of the story in the original novel, thought to adult readers and, therefore, very different from the story that this movie brings us, looking to pass simple messages like acceptance of differences of others, courage and honesty in defense of ideals, sincere love "versus" profane love. Religion and faith are also addressed, with the cathedral serving as a symbol of faith and protection, but also hope. The two main characters (Frollo and Quasimodo) were also very well thought: Quasimodo is the living proof of the popular saying "to see a face isn't to see a heart", because his disturbing appearance hides a noble heart and great generosity; Frollo is the complete opposite: its a apparently righteous man occupying a public office that requires moral rectitude, but he has a truly sinister heart, bad character and is totally hypocrite. Undoubtedly one of the best villains that Disney has ever created.The work of the voice actors was very well done and does not deserve negative criticisms. The same can be said of the powerful and profound musical moments. The major exception is the song "A Guy Like You" because it doesn't fit the rest of the film, coming at a point of increasing dramatic tension and cutting it in half. In short, its a great film for the whole family, will please both children and adults and endure in the memory of viewers.

If not for some attempts typical of Disney at that time to make it more friendly for children, this could have been one of their best films; a dark drama documenting corruption within the Roman Catholic church in 1502 France. While it does execute that very well with Frollo, and does feature some of the darkest moments in Disney films (Hellfire is my favorite Disney villain song), I did take off points for the gargoyles, which failed pretty hard as comic reliefs (even more than Dinky and Boomer from The Fox and The Hound), and I was disappointed at how they made Frollo seem not highly devout (which you'd think they'd do for a religious judge), but the latter was less impacting of my score than the former. Of course they made some bad decisions, but it was FAR from deserving a Razzie nomination for Worst Written Film Grossing over $100 Million. Was 1996 a year for absolutely awesome movies that all happened to have formidably stellar writing, or were the people at the Razzies more ticked off about the comic reliefs than I was? Regardless, you might not enjoy the gargoyles, but you will appreciate the messages and themes it has. As I said in the title, I knew that I was going to be secular for the rest of my life, so that I could pass myself off as religiously tolerant, and so I wouldn't be the gypsy or gypsy hunter.