The Hunchback of Notre Dame

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.