Golden Films have done some animations I've loved like Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio, The Christmas Elves, The Night Before Christmas and Princess Castle, but also have done some I've not liked like Tarzan of the Apes, The Jungle King and Anastasia. Sadly, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one that I didn't like as well. It is not completely terrible, the classical music was great, the Toreador Song was fitting as the villainous-looking character makes his very "look at me and pay attention" sort of entrance, the bats were cool and Esmeralda is a nice, sympathetic character. However, the animation is terrible, the character design lack any kind of fluidity in their movements and the colours are often over-saturated. The songs are forgettable at best and I didn't care for Esmeralda's singing voice, very breathy and sometimes out of tune, there is one very unexpected note that she completely misses and the orchestration that doubles her makes that all too obvious. The writing is cheesy and doesn't flow very well from one line to the next, the story constantly feels rushed and is too much of a love story with little genuine sense of conflict. The talking instruments add absolutely nothing to the story either. Of the characters, only Esmeralda and the bats have any sense of likability. Quasimodo is never grotesque or poignant enough and sounds too much like a playboy, while the villain is stereotypical both in appearance and voice, complete with a very unidiomatic accent, and is a blatant rip-off of Gaston but with a moustache. In conclusion, Golden Films have made some worthwhile stuff, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is not one of them. Stick with the Burbank Films Australia or Disney versions instead. 3/10 Bethany Cox
