Disney Marathon: 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'
Having arrived at the tail end of the Disney Renaissance, this movie was skipped over by me on release. At that point the Disney Animation studios were desperately chasing a Best Picture Oscar by making increasingly earnest Big Important Movies. Although Pocahontas was the most brazen of these attempts, Hunchback was in the same ballpark.
For those just joining us, this is a movie marathon with a twist. Myself (cranky 40 year old blogger), my son Josh (10 year old Nintendo obsessive) and my daughter Amelia (drama llama 8 year old princess) are watching Disney movies in a random order and ranking them. We hope to see interesting differences in how we organise our lists.
Film: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Released: 1996
Director: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
Cast: Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, Kevin Kline, Paul Kandel, Charles Kimbrough, Jason Alexander, Mary Wickes, Mary Kay Bergman
Plot: A misshapen man is kept isolated in the bell towers of Notre Dame Cathedral during the 15th century. He becomes drawn in political and social turmoil involving his guardian Judge Frollo, Gypsy performer Esmeralda and captain and of the guard Phoebus.
Review: Since this movie was released it has been mired in controversy and derision. Taking on a dark, very adult orientated story involving torture, genocide and the Catholic church cast as villains seemed like a choice that jarred the Disney style of animation. The first thing that people note is the happier ending. The original Victor Hugo novel describes Quasimodo murdering Archdeacon Frollo, Esmeralda being hanged and Quasimodo clutching to her corpse in a mass grave until dying himself...not something that will sit well with family audiences. Disney may have over-corrected though, as Frollo falls of his own violation and Quasimodo is carried away on the shoulders of the Parisians.
Although it's the most glaring change in the adaptation is the ending, major themes and story beats are dulled to the point of confusion by Disney. This could be the ultimate example of design-by-committee, because rather than having anything real to say The Hunchback of Notre Dame tries to appeal to every marketable group imaginable. It pendulums between whacky cartoon antics to dramatic social upheaval, operatic declarations and bouncy action scenes. We get Frollo (Jay) threatening rape on Esmeralda (Moore) in the same scene as an animated gargoyle doing Jason Alexander's comedy schtick. It doesn't need to be pointed out that these two things don't go well together.
This is a movie that doesn't know what it wants to be. Frollo is changed from an Archdeacon to a judge to avoid controversy with a negative depiction of church leaders, but someone managed to draw him in religious looking garments anyway. Themes of racism and marginalised communities are brought to the forefront, but Gypsies are portrayed as con-men, grifters, thieves and tricksters. The only member of the group portrayed in a positive manner is the hyper-sexualised Esmeralda. Even title character Quasimodo (Hulce) is not portrayed as deaf in this version...no big impact on the story, but another example of the novel's sharp edges being carefully rounded down let someone be offended. Literary nerds don't count.
Three solid paragraphs complaining about the misguided approach to adapting the story for families...does this aspect of the film actually matter? It could be perceived as its own thing inspired by a classic for a modern audience. It will always feel disingenuous when they stray this far from the message and theme in the pursuit of creating a marketable product. It leaves a bad taste. That, and this is the version that appears first when you google the title. The original novel comes second. It's naive to say that Disney doesn't have a cultural impact, even when it comes to the perception of historical figures. Looking at you, Pocahontas.
Stepping away from the weird version of the story and the process of adapting it, this is a stunning looking movie. The 1990s were peak Disney Animation, and this could well be to the best looking entry. The landscapes and architecture provides some serious eye-candy. Shots tracking through the bell towers with the dawn light peering around the swinging bells is genuinely fantastic. There's a rich colour scheme with the browns and greys of the city set against the bright primary coloured costumes of the Gypsies.
Unfortunately the experiments in computer graphics hasn't all aged especially well. Some of the crowd shots appear to be populated by the characters in the background of Street Fighter 2 levels.
On par with the animation and visuals is the voice talent. Tony Jay and Tom Hulce are in the lead roles of Frollo and Quasimodo and both bring an impassioned performance to the film. In spite of the bombastic and powerful score many of the songs sink into the back of your mind and quickly fade away. I can't tell you a single line from the song sung by the gargoyles, or hazard a guess of what it is called. Numbers performed by Jay and Hulce are exceptional though, with the 'Heaven's Light/Hellfire' combo hitting especially well and giving us the one genuinely powerful moment of the film.
It took me a while to get round to seeing this movie. I needed have worried. Jason Alexander is a gargoyle who fetishises a goat.
Best Song: Sing it with me now...
Coolest Easter Egg: During the 'Out There' song number you can spot Beauty and the Beasts Belle walking the streets of Paris with her nose in a book. On this viewing I also spotted a peasant shaking out the flying carpet from Aladdin. I've also heard that Pumba is on a spit in this shot but I didn't see him.
Weirdest Trivia: It has been claimed, but not confirmed, that Esmeralda's sexuality was a bit much for the MPAA. They insisted that Esmeralda's fire appearance in Frollo's fire needed better defined clothes lest she appear nude.
Rating: THREE out of TEN
THE RANKING MEAs much as I love the animation, I can't imagine watching this again. I'm just going to look up the 'Hellfire' sequence on Youtube.
Click those titles if you want to see what we said about the other movies.
AMELIAworse than remembered
goat is the goat
- Raya and the Last Dragon
- Frozen
- Moana
- Tangled
- The Little Mermaid
- The Rescuers
- Emperor's New Groove
- Zootopia
- Lilo & Stitch
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire
- The Great Mouse Detective
- Home on the Range
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Mulan
- Hercules
- Alice in Wonderland
- Cinderella
- Wreck-It Ralph
- Bolt
- Pocahontas
- Enchanted
- Dinosaur
- The Aristocats
- The Princess and the Frog
- Robin Hood
- The Jungle Book
- Fantasia 2000
- The Lion King
- Beauty and the Beast
- The Three Caballeros
- The Fox and the Hound
- The Sword in the Stone
- Saludos Amigos
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Tarzan
- Oliver & Company
- Aladdin
- Treasure Planet
- Big Hero 6
- Fun and Fancy Free
- Sleeping Beauty
- A Goofy Movie
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
- Meet the Robinsons
- Chicken Little
- Fantasia
- Zootopia
- Big Hero 6
- Raya and the Last Dragon
- Aladdin
- Emperor's New Groove
- Treasure Planet
- Moana
- Ralph Breaks the Internet
- The Three Caballeros
- Saludos Amigos
- Wreck-It Ralph
- The Rescuers
- Frozen
- Mulan
- The Princess and the Frog
- The Lion King
- Lilo & Stitch
- The Jungle Book
- Robin Hood
- Bolt
- The Sword in the Stone
- Beauty and the Beast
- Oliver & Company
- Sleeping Beauty
- Tangled
- The Great Mouse Detective
- Cinderella
- The Little Mermaid
- Meet The Robinsons
- Enchanted
- The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
- Home on the Range
- Pocahontas
- A Goofy Movie
- The Aristocats
- Fantasia
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire
- Fun and Fancy Free
- The Fox and the Hound
- Fantasia 2000
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Dinosaur
- Hercules
- Tarzan
- Alice in Wonderland
- The Wild
- Chicken Little
