The Hunchback of Notre Dame 720p - (1996 Lang: English)

Disney adapts the famous novel by Victor Hugo into their 34th animated feature, telling the story of the lonely, deformed Quasimodo, the secluded bellringer of Notre Dame, who lives by himself in Notre Dame's church towers, with only three stone gargoyles named Victor, Hugo (get it?), and Laverne for company. At the gargoyles' playful urging, Quasi sneaks away from the church one day to attend the Festival Of Fools, and makes his first real human friend in the beautiful gypsy girl, Esmeralda. But soon, after Quasimodo is ridiculed by the crowd for his appearance, he and Esmeralda find themselves in trouble with Quasimodo's wicked stepfather, Frollo, the ruler of Notre Dame. With help from his three gargoyle friends, as well as the kind soldier Captain Phoebus (who has fallen in love with Esmeralda), it's up to Quasimodo to save Esmeralda and the town of Notre Dame itself from Frollo's evil control....

If you've been reading some of my other reviews, then you know by now that I'm a big fan of Disney animated features: "Snow White," "Fantasia," "Tarzan," and "Atlantis," to name but a few (and I do plan on reviewing more Disney films in the future). But now that I've just gotten reacquainted with Disney's 1996 film, "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame," finally released on DVD, I know now beyond the shadow of a doubt that this beautiful animated film is indeed my favorite Disney feature of them all (okay, so "Fantasia" arguably remains the best *animated* of the lot, but it certainly didn't have an actual plot). I don't think I've ever cried so much during a Disney movie. "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" is, quite simply, a glorious triumph for Walt Disney Productions.

Granted, the Disney team have "Disney-ized" Hugo's original novel, such as turning it into a musical, including sidekick stone gargoyles that come to life, as well as the obligatory happy ending, but no matter. This is a truly wonderful animated film through and through that will touch you right down to your very soul. It's very well-written, surprisingly dark at times, gorgeously animated, very funny AND very dramatic at turns, with a first-rate voice cast including Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Kevin Kline, Tony Jay & Jason Alexander, and beautiful, memorable songs by Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz. And I promise you, there won't be a dry eye in the house at the film's end, mark my words.

HOW, in Heaven's name, did the Academy overlook "Hunchback Of Notre Dame" altogether in 1997? Not even any nominations for the music! Absolutely outrageous. Perhaps with the five previous Disney films in a row being honored by the Academy, from "The Little Mermaid" through "Pocahontas," the Academy simply wanted to take a break from nominating Disney films, not realizing how truly brilliant "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" was. How very unfortunate that "Hunchback" had to fall victim to the Academy's ignorance that year.

Still, it takes nothing away from the remarkable achievement that this Disney film is. Against all the odds, the Disney team transformed Victor Hugo's novel into a truly lovely tale for all ages to enjoy. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll enjoy the music, you'll be moved. Step aside, "Beauty And The Beast"---"The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" is the REAL Disney masterpiece from the last few years.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 34th Disney animated feature film, the film is based on Victor Hugo's novel of the same name. The plot centers on Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer of Notre Dame, and his struggle to gain acceptance into society.

Directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale and produced by Don Hahn, the film's voice cast features Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, Kevin Kline, Paul Kandel, Jason Alexander, Charles Kimbrough, David Ogden Stiers, and Mary Wickes in her final film role. Produced during a period known as the Disney Renaissance, the film is considered to be one of Disney's darkest animated films as its narrative explores such mature themes as infanticide, lust, damnation, genocide, and sin, despite the changes made from the original source material in order to ensure a G rating received by the MPAA. The musical score was written by Alan Menken, with songs written by Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, who had previously collaborated on Pocahontas, released the year before.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released on June 21, 1996 to largely positive reviews and was a commercial success, grossing over $325 million worldwide and becoming the fifth highest-grossing release of 1996. The film received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Menken's musical score. A darker, more Gothic stage adaptation of the film, was rewritten and directed by James Lapine and produced by Walt Disney Theatrical in Berlin, Germany, as Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, and ran from 1999 to 2002. A direct-to-video sequel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, was released in 2002.

In 1482 Paris, Clopin, a gypsy puppeteer, narrates the origin of the titular hunchback. A group of gypsies sneak illegally into Paris, but are ambushed by Judge Claude Frollo, the Minister of Justice of Paris, and his soldiers. A gypsy woman in the group attempts to flee with her deformed baby, but Frollo chases and kills her outside Notre Dame. He tries to kill the baby as well, but the cathedral's archdeacon intervenes and accuses Frollo of murdering an innocent woman. To atone for his sin, Frollo reluctantly agrees to raise the deformed child in Notre Dame as his son, naming him Quasimodo.

Twenty years later, Quasimodo develops into a kind yet isolated young man who has lived inside the cathedral his entire life. A trio of living stone gargoyles—Victor, Hugo, and Laverne—serve as Quasimodo's only company, and encourage him to attend the annually-held Festival of Fools. Despite Frollo's warnings that he would be shunned for his deformity, Quasimodo attends the festival and is celebrated for his awkward appearance, only to be humiliated by the crowd after Frollo's men start a riot. Frollo refuses to help Quasimodo, but Esmeralda, a kind gypsy, intervenes by freeing the hunchback, and uses a magic trick to evade arrest. Frollo confronts Quasimodo and sends him back inside the cathedral.

Esmeralda follows Quasimodo inside, only to be followed herself by Captain Phoebus of Frollo's guard. Phoebus refuses to arrest her for alleged witchcraft inside Notre Dame and instead has her confined to the cathedral. Esmeralda finds and befriends Quasimodo, who helps her escape Notre Dame out of gratitude for defending him. She entrusts Quasimodo a pendant containing a map to the gypsies' hideout, the Court of Miracles. Frollo soon develops lustful feelings for Esmeralda and, upon realizing them, begs the Virgin Mary to save him from her "spell" to avoid eternal damnation. When Frollo discovers that she escaped, he instigates a citywide manhunt for her which involves setting fire to countless houses in his way. Phoebus is appalled by Frollo's evil and defies him, and Frollo sentences him to death. While fleeing, Phoebus is struck by an arrow and falls into the River Seine, but Esmeralda rescues him and takes him to Notre Dame for refuge. The gargoyles encourage Quasimodo to confess his feelings for Esmeralda, but he is heartbroken to discover she and Phoebus have fallen in love.

Frollo returns to Notre Dame later that night and discovers that Quasimodo helped Esmeralda escape. He bluffs to Quasimodo saying that he knows about the Court of Miracles and that he intends to attack at dawn. Using the map Esmeralda gave him, Quasimodo and Phoebus find the court to warn the gypsies, only for Frollo to follow them and capture all the gypsies present. Frollo prepares to burn Esmeralda at the stake after she rejects his advances, but Quasimodo rescues her and brings her to the cathedral. Phoebus releases the gypsies and rallies the citizens of Paris against Frollo and his men, who try to break into the cathedral. Quasimodo and the gargoyles pour molten lead onto the streets to ensure no one enters, but Frollo successfully manages to get inside. He pursues Quasimodo and Esmeralda to the balcony where he and Quasimodo both fall over the edge. Frollo falls to his death in the molten lead, while Quasimodo is caught by Phoebus on a lower floor. Afterward, Quasimodo comes to accept that Phoebus and Esmeralda are in love, and he gives them his blessing. The two encourage him to leave the cathedral into the outside world, where the citizens hail him as a hero and accept him into society.

I was so impressed by this movie. The animation is gorgeous and a lot of the subject matter profound. Many critics have complained about the talking gargoyles messing up the movie and taking it further away from Hugo's original novel, but the only problem I have with them is their song (A Guy Like You), which attempts "Be Our Guest" and "Under the Sea" status, but really does lack the melody. Other than that, they fit right in with Hugo, who told in his novel that Quasimodo would sit for hours holding solitary converse with the statues. Of course, this was all in his mind, but hello, so are the gargoyles in the movie. No one else ever sees them talking or moving (with the exception of Djali), and they are animated to give Quasimodo some friends, just as he did on his own in the book. Of course, there are many other parts of the movie that are WAY different from the book, but not as many people complain about them, so I won't mention them. The main reason I love this movie is the villain, Frollo, played to perfection by Tony Jay. His sinister atmosphere and lust for Esmerelda are elements of the like we have never seen in any other Disney movie, prior to or after Hunchback. The song "Hellfire" is the crown jewel of the movie, and makes the entire thing worth watching. I was so surprised by the graphic lyrics and animation of this scene, and could do nothing but yell "THIS IS Disney!!!!!!!!!!" But it was a good surprise, not a bad one. Frollo is decidedly the deepest, and most evil of all Disney villains, and is definitely my favorite.

The music in this movie is also the best that Disney has ever produced. Though the songs are not as catchy as those found in other memorable Disney movies, they are nonetheless the most powerful. In this movie, we find large-scale choral music in Latin, huge orchestral works, religious themes, and Broadway/Classical style arrangements that put most of the other Disney movies to shame. It truly is magnificent.

I definitely recommend this movie to all audiences, and I give it a 10/10. This is the Disney movie that deserved an Oscar nomination more than any other, and it is a shame that it has been so underplayed and all but disowned by Disney since its release. SEE THIS MOVIE.