The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Just by listening to people pronounce the title will tell you if they're fans of the Victor Hugo story or of a certain football team. The Walt Disney version, released in 1996, was unique because it was re-imagined as a musical, with a rich score by Alan Menken and wonderful lyrics by Stephen Schwartz.
Menken, who wrote the scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, had recently collaborated on Pocahontas with Schwartz, who would go on to write Wicked. These are two of the best writers in musical theater for the last twenty-five years. Their work in Hunchback sets a high standard.
You wouldn’t think that a deformed hunchback could gain your affection, but Quasimodo (voice by Tom Hulce) is a winner from the very beginning. His looks and body language invite pity, but he wins us over with personality and heart. It’s a wonder that Quasimodo is so nice and innocent, having been raised, hidden from view, by the corrupt Judge Frollo (voice by Tony Jay). Quasi, as he’s called in the film, is forever banned from venturing outside the walls of Notre Dame. Frollo has tried to raise him in fear of the outside world, but Quasimodo’s curiosity has only grown through a life spent as an observer.
Among those to be observed is Esmeralda (voice by Demi Moore), a beautiful gypsy. She attracts the attention of all three male leads in the story: Quasimodo, Frollo, and Phoebus (voice by Kevin Kline), the captain of the guard who is ordered by Frollo to hunt down and exterminate the gypsies.
What’s interesting about this is the “love triangle” formed by Quasimodo, Esmeralda, and Phoebus. Quasi is clearly meant to be the hero of the story, but we like Phoebus a lot, too. We can tell from his entrance that he’s a good man and soldier who begins to have second thoughts about his recent assignment, especially when he becomes attracted to Esmeralda. So we have two characters that we like, both in love with the girl. Which one will she choose? Someone’s heart is inevitably going to be broken. How often does that happen in a Disney movie?
It’s easy to see why the men are so enchanted by Esmeralda. She’s beautiful, smart, kind, and tough. And watch out for her goat. In one inspiring scene, she sings “God Help the Outcasts,” which is surprisingly spiritual in nature. The lyrics in some of the songs are more thoughtful that we expect, and more honest. (As a neat bit of trivia, even the Latin sung by a chorus as part of the score was adapted by Stephen Schwartz to reflect what we are seeing.) Because of the discrimination she has faced all of her life, Esmeralda is able to connect with Quasimodo and help him see that he is facing the same thing. She helps Phoebus to see the gypsies as people and set aside any racism.
Frollo is an entirely different matter. He is evil in the guise of good, acting as a righteous judge of the people and even, in the song “Hellfire,” trying to invoke divine powers to help him destroy Esmeralda and her kind if she will not choose to be with him. He is corrupt to the core. The lies he tells Quasimodo about the outside world are twisted and subtle, able to inspire guilt and confusion. His lust for Esmeralda is disturbing. Frollo is extremely effective because he’s one of the most realistic villains to ever appear in a Disney film.
This story has deep meaning, and stirs issues that parents could use as teaching opportunities for their children. I think it’s probably one of the most underrated of the Disney films because people didn’t expect it to cut so deep. As much as I love and admire the other movies in the Disney canon, I find it hard to identify with mermaids, transformed beasts, African lions, and half-humans/half-gods like Hercules. (Maybe I’m over-simplifying, but I’m trying to make a point.) I find it much easier to identify with characters that are discriminated against because of physical appearance, race, religion, social status, or any other difference. For me, this story is endlessly compelling.
There are three more characters I’ve neglected to mention. These are the gargoyles that keep Quasi company in the upper towers of the cathedral. Victor (voice by Charles Kimbrough), Hugo (voice by Jason Alexander), and Laverne (voice by Mary Wickes) are unique to this version of the story. They act as a sort of cheerleading group for Quasi, helping him gain strength and confidence, and bring plenty of comic relief to their scenes. (Laverne gets what is probably the biggest laugh in the movie with a reference to The Wizard of Oz.)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a pre-cursor to much of the computer-generated special effects we enjoy today. The CGI-enhanced crowd scenes were among the first of their kind. The camera was able to move in ways that were impossible in live-action films at the time, especially in the “Sanctuary” scene near the end. Nowadays the camera can go wherever a filmmaker can imagine, but no matter how good the special effects, in the back of our minds we still know that it’s a special effect.
I feel like maybe I’ve made it sound dark and depressing, and it is one of the darker Disney films. But it has a sweep and excitement and intensity to it, with scenes of adventure balanced by scenes about human nature. It was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, who also directed the equally wonderful Beauty and the Beast.
The movie is narrated by the gypsy Clopin (voice by Paul Kandel), who sings “The Bells of Notre Dame” at the beginning and the end. By the end of the story the words of his song have taken on new meaning. And the song we hear during the end credits, “Someday,” is not about romantic love, but about hope for a better world.
I love this movie.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Monster House (2006)
Most of us have seen movies with monsters in the basement, but how would you like to see one where the house is the monster? What if the executive producers were Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg? What if it was shot using motion-capture? And the voice talent included Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kevin James, Nick Cannon, Jason Lee, Fred Willard, Jon Heder, Catherine O’Hara and Kathleen Turner? Yes, please!
I’m a sucker for movies with friendship at the center, and Monster House (2006) falls in that category. DJ and Chowder share one of the more realistic movie friendships I can recall. They act like a pair of real boys. While DJ (Mitchel Musso) attempts to convince the adults around him that he is “practically a grownup,” Chowder (Sam Lerner), with his little red cape, seems determined to bask in the glow of childhood forever. Their friendship gets temporarily strained when they both crush on the same girl, but they’re able to move beyond such distractions.
The adult figures featured in the story are all seen from the perspective of the boys, generally as unreasonable and lacking in understanding. DJ says that monster houses are “too much for the adult mind to comprehend,” which seems true when the boys’ warnings of danger are largely ignored. His parents (Fred Willard and Catherine O’Hara), who conveniently leave for a couple of days, seem a bit flighty and unconcerned. Even DJ’s babysitter Zee (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is focused only on her own wants and her creepy boyfriend Bones (Jason Lee).
As the movie opens, DJ is spying on his neighbor across the street, Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi). Nebbercracker is a piece of work, instantly enraged when any child sets foot on his lawn. DJ and Chowder have a close encounter with the old crank, but he appears to have a heart attack and collapses on poor DJ. As an ambulance drives away from the scene, the two boys assume that Nebbercracker has died.
Through events I won’t describe, DJ and Chowder come to the conclusion that Mr. Nebbercracker’s house is possessed by none other than Mr. Nebbercracker’s spirit. They barely succeed in rescuing Jenny (Spencer Locke) from being eaten by the house as she sells Halloween candy door to door. Since adversity seems to breed camaraderie, Jenny teams up with the boys to find a way to bring down the house (no pun intended).
After the kids call the cops (Kevin James and Nick Cannon) and are met with major skepticism, they decide to go to an “expert”: Skull (Jon Heder), the pizza delivery nerd who’s hooked on an arcade game. With his counsel they decide to infiltrate the house and strike at its “source of life,” which they figure is the furnace. The way they plan to do this has to be seen to be believed.
Much of the enjoyment of Monster House comes from a lot of clever little surprises and moments of humor. For me to describe any more of the story would spoil the fun, but I can describe the experience and characters.
Steve Buscemi is wonderful as Mr. Nebbercracker. His character reveals unexpected layers when we learn the reasons behind his behavior. His is probably the most well-rounded performance in the movie. Maggie Gyllenhaal has fun with Zee, the babysitter with sass, and Jason Lee’s work as her boyfriend Bones is completely different from his work as Syndrome in Pixar’s The Incredibles. Some of the biggest laughs come from Kevin James and Nick Cannon, the dynamic duo of policemen. They never quite realize what they’re up against.
What’s really at the heart of the story is the friendship between the three kids, who at all times act like kids. They are never, at any point in the story, too clever. They figure things out gradually. Part of the humor of their first attack on the house is the way the plan sounds like something a group of kids would concoct. And the way they stick together, then fight and bicker, and then get over it, is just the way real kids behave.
Like The Polar Express, this film looks animated but actually uses motion-capture. This brings a lot of realism to the performances. Gil Kenan’s direction and Ed Verreaux’s production design give the movie a fresh look we haven’t quite seen before. The design of the house in particular is very effective, especially near the end when we see what it can really do. And the music by Douglas Pipes is at times appropriately scary (but not too scary), and at other times lends the story the right amount of adventure.
The animated look of the movie makes a lot of people think it’s just a show made for kids, but adults who enjoyed Halloween when they were young probably get a bigger kick out of it. In fact, watching Monster House has become a Halloween tradition in my family.
I’m a sucker for movies with friendship at the center, and Monster House (2006) falls in that category. DJ and Chowder share one of the more realistic movie friendships I can recall. They act like a pair of real boys. While DJ (Mitchel Musso) attempts to convince the adults around him that he is “practically a grownup,” Chowder (Sam Lerner), with his little red cape, seems determined to bask in the glow of childhood forever. Their friendship gets temporarily strained when they both crush on the same girl, but they’re able to move beyond such distractions.
The adult figures featured in the story are all seen from the perspective of the boys, generally as unreasonable and lacking in understanding. DJ says that monster houses are “too much for the adult mind to comprehend,” which seems true when the boys’ warnings of danger are largely ignored. His parents (Fred Willard and Catherine O’Hara), who conveniently leave for a couple of days, seem a bit flighty and unconcerned. Even DJ’s babysitter Zee (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is focused only on her own wants and her creepy boyfriend Bones (Jason Lee).
As the movie opens, DJ is spying on his neighbor across the street, Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi). Nebbercracker is a piece of work, instantly enraged when any child sets foot on his lawn. DJ and Chowder have a close encounter with the old crank, but he appears to have a heart attack and collapses on poor DJ. As an ambulance drives away from the scene, the two boys assume that Nebbercracker has died.
Through events I won’t describe, DJ and Chowder come to the conclusion that Mr. Nebbercracker’s house is possessed by none other than Mr. Nebbercracker’s spirit. They barely succeed in rescuing Jenny (Spencer Locke) from being eaten by the house as she sells Halloween candy door to door. Since adversity seems to breed camaraderie, Jenny teams up with the boys to find a way to bring down the house (no pun intended).
After the kids call the cops (Kevin James and Nick Cannon) and are met with major skepticism, they decide to go to an “expert”: Skull (Jon Heder), the pizza delivery nerd who’s hooked on an arcade game. With his counsel they decide to infiltrate the house and strike at its “source of life,” which they figure is the furnace. The way they plan to do this has to be seen to be believed.
Much of the enjoyment of Monster House comes from a lot of clever little surprises and moments of humor. For me to describe any more of the story would spoil the fun, but I can describe the experience and characters.
Steve Buscemi is wonderful as Mr. Nebbercracker. His character reveals unexpected layers when we learn the reasons behind his behavior. His is probably the most well-rounded performance in the movie. Maggie Gyllenhaal has fun with Zee, the babysitter with sass, and Jason Lee’s work as her boyfriend Bones is completely different from his work as Syndrome in Pixar’s The Incredibles. Some of the biggest laughs come from Kevin James and Nick Cannon, the dynamic duo of policemen. They never quite realize what they’re up against.
What’s really at the heart of the story is the friendship between the three kids, who at all times act like kids. They are never, at any point in the story, too clever. They figure things out gradually. Part of the humor of their first attack on the house is the way the plan sounds like something a group of kids would concoct. And the way they stick together, then fight and bicker, and then get over it, is just the way real kids behave.
Like The Polar Express, this film looks animated but actually uses motion-capture. This brings a lot of realism to the performances. Gil Kenan’s direction and Ed Verreaux’s production design give the movie a fresh look we haven’t quite seen before. The design of the house in particular is very effective, especially near the end when we see what it can really do. And the music by Douglas Pipes is at times appropriately scary (but not too scary), and at other times lends the story the right amount of adventure.
The animated look of the movie makes a lot of people think it’s just a show made for kids, but adults who enjoyed Halloween when they were young probably get a bigger kick out of it. In fact, watching Monster House has become a Halloween tradition in my family.
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