Revisiting Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Poster Description: Through a hexagonal gap, blue, purple, and orange light reveals a horizon above the town of Paris. A bird flies from Quasimodo’s hand. He sits upon a ledge, looking out on the world below him. The bells of Notre Dame cluster above and around him.

I’ve discovered a bizarre trend from the Disney films I remember clearest from childhood: I empathised with red-haired underdogs. The Little Mermaid’s Ariel’s desire to walk was close to my own as a disabled tween, but my first viewing was quite positive.

The same could not be said of The Hunchback of Notre Dame: A family friend had it on video, but I only saw the moment where poor Quasimodo is humiliated the festival. No other context beyond their laughter and his cries for help. I was so horrified I did not stay to find out what happened next, until many years later. According to my review nearly ten years ago, I considered The Hunchback…to be “one of my all-time favourites.”

(As ever with my revisits, my previous thoughts will be highlighted in blue).

Quasimodo is the hunchback and bellringer of Notre Dame (Tom Hulce – NOT Jason Alexander, as I said in my previous review, whoops). As proof of his kind heart, we meet Quasi encouraging a fledgling bird to fly its nest; it’s ironic, given the young man has been manipulated to stay put his whole life. Quasi’s pious master, Frollo (Tony Jay, Beauty and the Beast), taught our sweet boy that, due to his disfigurements, people would shun him for being a monster.

2012: Nonetheless…with the help of his gargoyle friends – [Quasimodo] finds the courage to leave his bell tower to celebrate…the Feast of Fools. There, he meets the beautiful gypsy, Esmeralda (Demi Moore), who is compassionate enough to come to his aid after... [being] humiliated by the villagers.

Image Description: As Notre Dame looms high in an eerie, yellow sky, Quasimodo is tied onto a wooden wheel. His shirt is torn, baring his back and part of his chest, covered in rotten fruit. The rope snags on his hump, just shy of his bent crown. Two men turn the wheel, one smirking, and another’s face is partially hidden by a blue hood. Quasi’s pain and confusion are plain for all to see.

Even though I didn’t understand what was going on during that fateful first viewing, I still felt his plight. The scene is painful to watch, through a combination of colour-change, mocking laughter, and Quasi’s cries for help. If you weren’t rooting for him before, you would be now.

2012: Frollo…is enraged, demanding that Esmeralda…be arrested, but she escapes using a magic trick. In the middle of this is Captain Phoebus (Kevin Kline), whose heart is stolen by her, as is Quasimodo’s… and maybe even Frollo’s too.

Directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, it’s almost shocking how boldly they chose to tackle the adaptation. Both directed Beauty and the Beast and gave us a villainous product of extremely toxic masculinity to hate (I cannot wait to revisit that). In Hunchback, Frollo is the result of the bleaker side of religion. By scorning everyone around him, we have a man who believes he is better than all because he is such a devout, Puritan Christian.

2012: …the message “who is the monster and who is the man?” rings loud and clear throughout.

Jay provides a sublime performance, and his character design is iconic. Yes, it’s all dark colours, which is clichéd, but it works because Puritans hated sin and/or happiness.

2012: There is a particular song in the film, called ‘Hellfire,’ which truly expresses Frollo’s feelings for Esmeralda, and it has always been considered one of the darker Disney moments. In the song, he vows that, if Esmeralda does not give herself to him, he will have her burnt at the stake for being a witch.

My theatre group wrote a play over lockdown about the Witch-Finder General, who was the epitome of Puritanical dogma in action. Therefore, I think Matthew Hopkins and Claude Frollo would have got on famously, which is frankly terrifying.

During the film’s early development, it was identified that hand-drawn people would not work for large crowds around Notre Dame. Like the wildebeest scene in The Lion King, computer animation was needed, and the CGI department for The Hunchback… created new software for the job. Its name? Crowd.

As with Beauty and the Beast, Alan Menken supplies The Hunchback of Notre Dame with its score and musical numbers. In case you were in any doubt about how stirring it is, the film begins with the ominous toll of church bells. I should also mention that it is one of the more upsetting openings. Gypsy puppeteer Clopin (Paul Kandel, Jesus Christ Superstar) tells Quasimodo’s story to the children of Paris – and how Frollo came to “care” for him. All I can say is, I’m glad I didn’t see that scene as a kid. It grips you in your seat, and the choir accompanying the action is spine-tingling.

There is an “I wish…” song in most Disney films – in fact, The Hunchback...has three. The first is “Out There,” a rare example of a duet between an antagonist and the protagonist. Frollo is at the height of his power, gaslighting Quasi into staying in his tower:

The world is cruel

The world is wicked

It’s I alone whom you can trust in this whole city.

This is followed by an exchange between them:

FROLLO: You are deformed.

QUASIMODO: I am deformed

FROLLO: And you are ugly

QUASIMODO: And I am ugly.

But as soon as Frollo leaves him, Quasi sings his reprise. Hulce’s voice is beautiful here, full of warmth and hope, which is almost a staple in “I wish” songs.

In contrast, Esmeralda’s “God Help The Outcasts” is desperate, even hopeless in her wishing.

2012: Having been trapped…by Frollo and his men, she prays for help – not for her, but her gypsy kin who are targeted as ‘thieves’ by the rest of society.

I ask for wealth, sing the other church-goers.

I ask for fame

I ask for glory to shine on my name

I ask for love I can possess

I ask for God and His Angels to bless me

To which Esmeralda replies:

I ask for nothing

I can get by

But I know so many

Less lucky than I

It is achingly beautiful, and actually one of the few Disney songs that will leave you with a trembling lip…

Yup. That hasn’t changed. While the over-sexualisation of Esmeralda is troublesome, Demi Moore’s performance is underrated. How many female Disney characters have shouted “JUSTICE!” in response to “Silence!” like a woman at a protest rally?

GIF Description: With a defiantly raised fist, Esmeralda shouts for justice. Gold bangles clink on her wrist, her black hair bounces, and her face is taut with anger.

Did they really name Phoebus’s horse Achilles for that one pun? Kevin Kline’s character has Marvel protagonist-levels of one-liners. With all that said, Frollo’s “I wish…”song is nothing short of disturbing.

2012: In [“Hellfire”], he vows that, if Esmeralda does not give herself to him, he will have her burnt at the stake for being a witch. Now, that is dark.

It’s punctuated by some incredible religious imagery, with a smoke-Esmeralda emerging from Frollo’s fireplace, embracing him like a lovelorn ghost. It’s gorgeous, but I hate it.

Image Description: Dressed in a high white collar and black robes, Frollo’s arms are partially raised, drowned in long, drooping sleeves. He looks frightened, surrounded by red-cowled figures with empty holes where faces should be. The contrast between them and the blue light is striking.

2012: But with all the trouble and strife…there is plenty of comic relief to be had. Esmeralda’s pet goat, Djali keeps the kids amused, while Quasimodo’s gargoyle friends, Hugo, Victor, and Laverne play the important (often very funny) role of his conscience, guiding him along the right path.

I bet whoever came up with the reference really patted themselves on the back when they named Victor and Hugo. Both they and Laverne are rather divisive characters, similar to the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. My younger self enjoyed their antics, and their song, “A Guy Like You,” but Hugo in particular is inexplicably obnoxious. Djali, on the other hand, remains my favourite animated goat of all time.

2012: In conclusion, [Hunchback of Notre Dame] has to be one of the (many) quietly wonderful Disney films that definitely needs more recognition.

For reasons I have yet to discover, The Hunchback… gets lost amongst the gems of Disney’s renaissance. Given how it tackles mature topics like racism, sin, and the concept of damnation, it deserves the same love as Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. Is it still one of my all-time favourites? Yes, it is.

The Verdict:

2012: 4 STARS OUT OF 5

2022: 3 STARS OUT OF 5

My Sources:

The Hunchback of Notre Dame poster - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116583/

Image: Quasimodo is crowned king at the Feast of Fools - https://filmmusiccentral.com/2018/08/20/disturbing-disney-20-quasimodo-is-crowned-king-of-fools-1996/

Tony Jay filmography - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0419645/?ref_=tt_cl_t_8

Who provides the voice of Clopin? / How were crowds animated?/ Who wrote the music for the film? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunchback_of_Notre_Dame_(1996_film)

Lyrics for “Out There” - https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Out_There

Lyrics for “God Help The Outcasts” - https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/God_Help_the_Outcasts

GIF: Esmeralda confronts Frollo - https://tenor.com/search/esmeralda-justice-gifs

Image: Frollo fears for his immortal soul - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/21/movies/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame.html