The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
By the time The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released in 1996, it was clear that the Disney Renaissance was in its downhill climb. While the studio was still making money and was overall getting solid enough reviews, the magic and iconic impact that defined the reaction to films like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King was rapidly becoming a thing of the past. As Disney had done before, the studio looked to hopefully turn things around with an adaptation of a known classic story, this time an adaptation of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Taking a rather dark and adult story and finding a new telling through a perspective that was digestible for children did hold the potential for strong results, but the film fails to reach this potential as it simply isn't that good.
Immediately there is a problem of perspective within The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Per usual for the story, Quasimodo (Tom Hulce) is portrayed as the main protagonist of the story with much of the story being spent on him alone in Notre Dame trying to express his feelings and pick a side between his master, Judge Claude Frollo (Tony Jay), and his love, Esmeralda (Demi Moore). Especially in this version of the story, this perspective is frustratingly misguided as nearly all the action and drama takes place around Quasimodo who really plays the role of a side-character when one looks at the overall story being told. It is clear that this narrative is one that belongs to Esmeralda with the character having all the makings of your traditional Disney lead protagonist. She has the biggest moments of drama from the film as she has to hide from Judge Claude Frollo and come to terms with the consequences of her actions which are being placed on others. She has the expected love story that sees an actual conclusion unlike the romantic desires of Quasimodo that are left unfulfilled. It is frustrating to continuously return to Quasimodo and be stuck with him trying to figure out rather basic emotions when there is a story of real weight and excitement happening elsewhere at the same time.
Quasimodo himself is a strange character in terms of this adaptation. While one might expect the film to play into the expected narrative beats from this character that shows the worth of a man is defined by what he is on the inside rather than the outside, the film is strangely mean to the character with the characters and story often laughing at him and presenting a far different perspective than it ultimately should. Rather than expressing an opinion that Quasimodo is not ugly as proven by his heart of gold, the film consistently reinforces that Quasimodo has a heart of gold despite his physical appearance which is a far dirtier conclusion to draw. His story is also just an incredibly slow narrative that often drags with forgettable songs and truly awful sequences with gargoyles which he has befriended. It doesn't help that Tom Hulce is beyond bland when it comes to performance with no sense of passion or personality being expressed. Nearly every other character in the film is more interesting and entertaining with Quasimodo failing in the role of protagonist.
This is sad as the movie around Quasimodo is quite strong at times. While there are pacing issues and a general ignorance towards logic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of the more grand Disney films in the best of ways. The visuals are undeniable as Paris burns in shocking fashion. The deeper roots from the story when it comes to examining the abuse of religion might be put more in the background, but there remains a compelling heart when it comes to these ideas. Judge Claude Frollo is also one of the most brutal villains in Disney history with a real sense of evilness that is wonderfully put into context with his blind belief that he is doing the right thing. These are compelling points of drama and stakes that are consistently undercut by the film retreating to Quasimodo.
The film also at times suffers from its identity within the Disney filmography that requires certain elements like songs and comedic moments that feel out of place and unneeded. Rather than really working their way into the story, many of these moments feel forced and ultimately forgettable with even more padding being given to a film already struggling to find a real focus. It is hard to think of even a handful of jokes or even a single song that is truly memorable or worthwhile which is a shame as normally these are some of the strongest parts of even the weaker Disney outings. If Disney was going to truly give an adaptation like this the best effort they could, they needed to have a fundamentally unique approach to how they would handle such a task. Simply trying to shove the original story into a Disney mold fails to work.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a bold effort with some of the strongest uses of size and scale in Disney history. The entire film, however, fails to land with a distracted and ineffective voice tanking many of the key moments that would otherwise be a success. Not only does the film fail to find itself against the standard Disney formula, but Quasimodo is completely mishandled with much of the film grinding to a boring crawl because of the continued investment the film puts into him. There is a clear worth to this character, but there needs to be a balance as seen in many of the other cinematic tellings of this story.
Immediately there is a problem of perspective within The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Per usual for the story, Quasimodo (Tom Hulce) is portrayed as the main protagonist of the story with much of the story being spent on him alone in Notre Dame trying to express his feelings and pick a side between his master, Judge Claude Frollo (Tony Jay), and his love, Esmeralda (Demi Moore). Especially in this version of the story, this perspective is frustratingly misguided as nearly all the action and drama takes place around Quasimodo who really plays the role of a side-character when one looks at the overall story being told. It is clear that this narrative is one that belongs to Esmeralda with the character having all the makings of your traditional Disney lead protagonist. She has the biggest moments of drama from the film as she has to hide from Judge Claude Frollo and come to terms with the consequences of her actions which are being placed on others. She has the expected love story that sees an actual conclusion unlike the romantic desires of Quasimodo that are left unfulfilled. It is frustrating to continuously return to Quasimodo and be stuck with him trying to figure out rather basic emotions when there is a story of real weight and excitement happening elsewhere at the same time.
Quasimodo himself is a strange character in terms of this adaptation. While one might expect the film to play into the expected narrative beats from this character that shows the worth of a man is defined by what he is on the inside rather than the outside, the film is strangely mean to the character with the characters and story often laughing at him and presenting a far different perspective than it ultimately should. Rather than expressing an opinion that Quasimodo is not ugly as proven by his heart of gold, the film consistently reinforces that Quasimodo has a heart of gold despite his physical appearance which is a far dirtier conclusion to draw. His story is also just an incredibly slow narrative that often drags with forgettable songs and truly awful sequences with gargoyles which he has befriended. It doesn't help that Tom Hulce is beyond bland when it comes to performance with no sense of passion or personality being expressed. Nearly every other character in the film is more interesting and entertaining with Quasimodo failing in the role of protagonist.
This is sad as the movie around Quasimodo is quite strong at times. While there are pacing issues and a general ignorance towards logic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of the more grand Disney films in the best of ways. The visuals are undeniable as Paris burns in shocking fashion. The deeper roots from the story when it comes to examining the abuse of religion might be put more in the background, but there remains a compelling heart when it comes to these ideas. Judge Claude Frollo is also one of the most brutal villains in Disney history with a real sense of evilness that is wonderfully put into context with his blind belief that he is doing the right thing. These are compelling points of drama and stakes that are consistently undercut by the film retreating to Quasimodo.
The film also at times suffers from its identity within the Disney filmography that requires certain elements like songs and comedic moments that feel out of place and unneeded. Rather than really working their way into the story, many of these moments feel forced and ultimately forgettable with even more padding being given to a film already struggling to find a real focus. It is hard to think of even a handful of jokes or even a single song that is truly memorable or worthwhile which is a shame as normally these are some of the strongest parts of even the weaker Disney outings. If Disney was going to truly give an adaptation like this the best effort they could, they needed to have a fundamentally unique approach to how they would handle such a task. Simply trying to shove the original story into a Disney mold fails to work.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a bold effort with some of the strongest uses of size and scale in Disney history. The entire film, however, fails to land with a distracted and ineffective voice tanking many of the key moments that would otherwise be a success. Not only does the film fail to find itself against the standard Disney formula, but Quasimodo is completely mishandled with much of the film grinding to a boring crawl because of the continued investment the film puts into him. There is a clear worth to this character, but there needs to be a balance as seen in many of the other cinematic tellings of this story.