Le Bossu de Notre-Dame

Going into the theater to see this movie, my friend and I (who are "cynical" teenage movie critics) honestly expected to be disappointed, especially after the relatively blah Pocahontas. When the movie was over 90 min. later, we both ran frantically to go buy the CD and read the book (which, actually, was rather different than the movie, but hey.).

I am 17 years old; I grew up watching The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. When Disney released this movie, which dealt with extremely heavy subject matter in an extremely tasteful manner, I jumped for joy. During the entire movie, I was amazed and spellbound. The music was also fantastic, by the way, as was the cinematography (although those crowd scenes begin to look really fake after a while). That scene where Quasimodo holds Esmerelda up in front of the rose window and yells, "Sanctuary!" still gives me chills.

This is not a movie for children in any way, shape or form. I think the only problem with Hunchback is the fact that Disney refused to accept that this is a serious, relatively adult motion picture and would not make any animated movie, no matter how serious, without obnoxiously cute little critters (i.e., the gargoyles) bouncing around to entertain the kiddies, or huge marketing campaigns at McDonald's, etc. As some others have written on here, it's pretty obvious this movie isn't for kiddies from its subject matter.

But anyone over 13 who's willing to think as well as be entertained when watching a Disney movie would probably love Hunchback.

Well... No. Not quite. It's not the 'conventional classic' that everyone loves and adores (see: Aladdin, The Lion King) and will show their children and their children's children. But that's just it. How anybody can deny that this is a fantastic film is beyond me.

Okay, it's in no way true to the story. But who cares? This is a Disney FILM. It's hardly setting out to be a serious piece of literature-to-film.

It's just... breathtaking. Not just the animation (which is some of the most accomplished from Disney to date, whilst we're on the subject), but the characterisation and pace of story. Frollo is, arguably, the most evil Disney villain ever committed to celluloid. Here, Disney touches on dark themes never before explored in their animated feature lengths; the main one being lust. The scene with 'Hellfire' is truly chilling.

Quasimodo is a brilliant Disney hero. His alienation is easy to relate to, and yet he's still alien enough for one to feel so sorry for him. He's just so tragic. His unrequited love for Esmerelda as she runs off with someone cooler and better looking is something we can all relate to. I quite like how the ending is part conventional for Disney and part not. Yes, the pretty heroine gets the knight in shining armour, but at the same time the real leading man doesn't have to be paired off with a beautiful leading girl in order to end up happy.

The voices are really talented- the notable standout for me being Kevin Kleine as Phebus, and Esmerelda is arguably one of the best things Demi Moore has ever done. I also adore, against most people's opinions, the gargoyles. Yes, they're a bit OTT, but that's what Disney sidekicks are all about, and they provide essential comedy balance for the darkness of the film.

The Hunchback Of The Notre Dame may not be the most authentic film storyline-wise, but it is dark, touching, scary, poignant, funny, chilling, moving (it never fails to leave me in floods of tears) and is one of the few Disney films that can stand alone from Disney as a wonderful piece of cinematography in it's own right.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a surprise of a pleasant Disney film, in my opinion this is the last real great (hand drawn)animated Disney movie. I was eleven when this film was release and I saw it in the theater, I was just absolutely in love with this film. Still to this day I like watching it. It has such a beautiful story, a bit different from the original Hunchback of Notre Dame book, but they had to make it family friendly. Not to mention that the soundtrack to The Hunchback of Notre Dame is just so beautiful and awesome, the best since The Lion King. This is just such a charming and magical film, I can't see someone not falling in love with it.

Quasimodo is a disfigured man who was raised by the evil and cruel Frodo who only keeps him to save himself from eternal damnation. One day Quasimodo goes down to the big fair and bumps into a beautiful gypsy, Esmeralda, who doesn't judge him by his looks but by his charming and kind personality. But when she saves him from the crowd's cruelty, she is a fugitive on the run now, but Quasimodo helps her and falls in love with her. But a new soldier, Phoebus, has also fallen for her and she has for him too, but they all must stick together in order to survive the cruel flames of Notre Dame.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is just such a great film to watch, it's a great family movie for the afternoon. It's such a touching story, it could even bring a few tears to your eyes, and some fun comedy to uplif the story. I loved the old man who is constantly in a trap of some sort and his line every time he gets free "I'm free! I'm free!", then he gets back in the same situation "Dangit!", that was funny. The cast was perfect and seemed to have a lot of fun with their characters. I highly recommend this film, it's a great Disney treasure.

9/10

Granted, Disney's animated, musical rendering of Victor Hugo's classic story "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" isn't a kid-pleaser like "Beauty and the Beast", and yet it is just about in that class. This lovely film doesn't have "Beauty"'s humor or a centerpiece ballad, but I actually found "Hunchback" preferable. Tale of Quasimodo, disfigured outcast in medieval Paris who becomes a hero, lends itself surprisingly well to the animated format, with flashy, active drawings and a handsome production. The direction from Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise is tight, though their pacing is just a bit frantic, not helped by the choppy editing (were they afraid a slower pace would turn children off?). Although the songs aren't hummable, the Oscar-nominated score from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz is hardly a washout, compensating for the overall lack of jokes (the gargoyle sidekicks not withstanding). The celebrity voices (de rigeur these days) are expressive, and the movie tells a captivating, timeless story that should thrill smart-thinking younger audiences. *** from ****

I've just read a comment that this movie has a lot of bad songs. I absolutely disagree - there may be some weak parts of script or so, but music is indeed very, very good. Alan Menken made a masterpiece, as usual! The orchestration, score, everything, not to mention good voices of characters. But it is true that maybe this story isn't exactly meant for children, although Disney tried to make it closer to a child's ear and eye. I also think that the animation was really good - much more expressive than some of newer Disney's movies that were made almost entirely by computers. It's a pity that Hunchback wasn't more successful - it certainly deserved it.