THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
While the first half of Disney's Renaissance Era showed the studio at its prime. But even after the decade is looked at as a landmark, there are still films that don't get similar recognition as The Lion King. One in particular is arguably the darkest of the said era.
PLOT
The Hunchback of Notre Dame takes place in Paris and follows the infamous story of Quasimodo. He was born deformed and at the time of his life, his gypsy mother attempted to sneak into Paris illegally, but was stopped by the Minister of Justice, Judge Claude Frollo. As she attempted to run away, she is killed by Frollo himself outside the Notre Dame cathedral. He attempts to drown the baby when disgusted of his deformity, but is stopped by an archdeacon. Because of the death of his mother, the judge must look after him. He chooses to do so only if he lives the cathedral's bell tower, hoping he'd be useful for him one day. 20 years later, Quasimodo (Tom Hulce) lived as the bell ringer. His only friends are three gargoyles: Victor (Jason Alexander), Hugo (Charles Kimbrough) and Laverne (Mary Wickes). Within his entire life, he has not left the tower and despite being warned by Frollo not to do so, he finally goes to see an annual festival. As he attends the 'Feast of Fools', he is handpicked from the crowd as 'King of Fools', but is quickly humiliated by the crowd when seeing that his physical appearance is not a costume, tying him down in the process. They stop when a gypsy woman named Esmerelda (Demi Moore) stands up for him, frees him from his restraints and publicly defies Frollo. The judge demands for her arrest but she is able to escape into the cathedral. The new captain of the guard known as Phoebus (Kevin Kline), uncomfortable with his new boss' methods, follows Esmeralda to the cathedral and has her claim 'sanctuary' in order to prevent being arrested within cathedral grounds. Because of this, Frollo has guards watch over incase she escapes. She does find Quasimodo in the bell tower and quickly befriends him. Because of her defense, he helps her escape and she leaves him a necklace incase he were to ever leave again. He meets Phoebus afterwards who explains to him that he never intended to trap her. Frollo, who grows lustful feelings for Esmeralda, is distraught when discovering she escaped, causing him to begin a manhunt for him. When Phoebus sees him lose his mind, he defies him when saving an innocent family. When he flees from him, he is wounded in the process as he was shot by arrows. When the gypsy finds him, she takes him to Notre Dame so Quasimodo could look after him. When Frollo visits him, he bluffs with a claim that he is going after Esmeralda and will attack at dawn. Quasi and Phoebus do find the Court of Miracles, due to the given necklace actually being the map to the location. Little did they know that Frollo was following them, capturing them all in the process. The next day, he plans to burn Esmeralda alive but Quasi breaks from his chained captivity to save her from death. Phoebus is able to ignite a rebellion by rallying Paris' citizens against Frollo's army. With help of the gargoyles, Quasi pours a cauldron of molten copper onto the streets to prevent others from entering the cathedral. Frollo however is able to get through the front door and continue his manhunt. Upon reaching the top, he attempts to stab Quasi with a dagger, but the hunchback defends himself and disarms him. He and Esmeralda flee from him, but he continues his pursuit onto the balcony. Before he could draw a sword on either of them, he falls to his death. Quasi falls as well but thankfully, Phoebus catches him. As the town celebrates victory over Frollo, the films ends with Quasimodo being accepted by everyone, hailed as a hero. THOUGHTS
Growing up watching this with the array of animated films from the Renaissance Era, you think that these movies are meant for children to be the sole audience. Little did I know that this can be for adults. As a kid, I thought little of the tone that would be set and enjoy the ideal story of whatever hero, but this is different. Directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise made the one movie from Walt Disney that is basically meant for adults because it had the darkest tone since the Wartime era. You would think that this decision would be unnecessary but in the end, it was the opposite because it was the only way to tell it right and I think it worked. Yes there is comedic relief in this movie, but that was definitely meant for the kids in order for both perspectives to be entertained. I find satisfaction with this movie because I learn so much from it that I don't many kids wouldn't get at their childhoods: You cannot let life pass you by, never judge people based on appearance, the most unlikely hero can be found in all of us, and your differentiation of man & monster depends on your point of view. Quasimodo has grown to be a special character because he is the embodiment of those lessons, along with being the kindest, most harmless soul. I was happy that he never held grudges on others like how he gets over Esmeralda preferring Phoebus over him. At first he was sad of this discovery because he had a crush on her, but he chooses to accept it because he knows that grudging over it wouldn't change anything. I even enjoyed his song 'Out There' because you feel his desire to be an equal. It warmed my heart when the little girl at the end was the first one from the crowd to accept him with a hug because to me it means that acceptance is possible, it just takes time. Although this movie is pretty good for being arguably being ahead of its time, there were still stuff I wasn't into. First off, the gargoyles are special characters that were the first to treat Quasimodo as an equal and encourage him to be himself. I respect their presence but they feel misplaced for me. I wasn't laughing to their song 'A Guy Like You' because it felt odd to have a musical number as Paris is burning. The one scene that was funnier than them was where an old man celebrates being free from imprisonment, only to walk into a trap and get imprisoned again. I mean it's random but it worked. I can buy that the town is surprised of how Quasi appears, but how did one deduce he's the same bell ringer of Notre Dame? They have never met him before because he's been in that bell tower for 20 years, so I have hard time believing that guy would call it right than and there. It was a surprise that Frollo followed Quasi to find the Court of Miracles, but how did no one turn around to check if they were being followed anyway? Quasi would be gullible enough to not do so, but it felt out of character for Phoebus to put his guard down. And lastly, I don't mind a happy ending but how did the lava get taken care of? Maybe Frollo's army died offscreen because of it, but I'm confused on how the rest of the town recovered from that chaos and it becomes more distracting every time I check this out. Nevertheless, this movie is still entertaining for what it is. Getting back to the goods, I believe that the other characters in the movie are able to make their own mark like the lead had. Esmeralda is more impactful than one would remember because it is her passionate, kind hearted approach that had viewers realize it takes one person to lead the way and start a trend of standing up against immoralities. Seeing how brave she is, you'd likely share the same reaction as Phoebus, "What a woman". Speaking of Phoebus, he was a good character because he was a selfless person and was not afraid to call out what he finds wrong. With that in mind, it defends why he and Esmeralda are into each other, because she saw that in him as he saw in her. While I always find myself impressed of Frank Welker's voice acting, especially here with the role of the goat Djali, the praise this time goes to Tony Jay. Here, he is easily successful at portraying Frollo as the most despicable villain Disney could ever produce. We normally see where some villains would come from, as in hope they can change, but he is one who is far from it. Almost drowning a baby? Yeah, we're gonna despise you until our dying breath. What really makes him one of the most terrifying figures to this day is that he believes what he's doing is right. A motive like that arguably makes you the most dangerous. He is easily an example of those who do wrong and are hypocritical will pay the price in the end, and boy he did. Hearing his song 'Hellfire' is so creepy yet intriguing to hear because we see him at his most conflicted. It's crazy to see someone fall for something he's supposed to hate in his mind, making it one of the boldest songs to be written. Overall, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of Disney's bolder films that pay off in the long run. If you enjoy the original 1831 story, I believe you'll have a soft spot for this adaptation.
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