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Hunchback of Notre Dame
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // G // March 19, 2002
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of those movies that is just plain underrated. This is a Disney animated movie that came out after such arguable greats as Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. The negative is that it also came out a year after Disney's worst modern effort, Pocahontas, and was the shining light in Disney's slow time until Tarzan came out. I think the slow time for Disney and the change of pace from usual Disney fare really hurt this movie. This movie arguably stands right up there with the best Disney has ever made, but is more mature in nature and started the ball rolling for Disney's current venture into mature storytelling in movies like Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Loosely based on the book by Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a movie that really stradles the line between both adults and children liking it. Most Disney animated movies play on both sides of the fence, but this was the first one to really push a more adult feeling to it while still maintaining a G rating. The hero is the deformed Quasimodo (voiced by Tom Hulce), or Quasi as most people call him. Judge Frollo ran down and killed Quasi's mother. He then picked the baby up and decided he was a devil child because of his deformities. The priest at Notre Dame stopped him from doing that and Quasi was given sanctuary in the Cathedral. He grows up calling Frollo master.
Not allowed to go outside of the top of the Cathedral, Quasi grew up alone. Then one day the Festival of Fools, run by gypsies, starts and Quasi decides he can easily fit in at the festival with everyone. So he slides down the Cathedral and into the city of Paris itself. Soon enough he is given the title "King of Fools", but when they go to take off his mask they find that there is no mask, but that it is Quasi's real face.
The gypsy Esmeralda (voiced by Demi Moore) saves Quasi from the torture and in turn Quasi saves Esmeralda from the soldiers. He takes her up to the top of the Cathedral and introduces her to his world. He starts to fall in love with her. Problem is that Judge Frollo wants to drive the gypsies out of Paris and has sent his best man, Phoebus (voiced by Kevin Kline), to do the job. Phoebus is also smitten with Esmeralda. He is the one that makes Esmeralda take sanctuary in the Cathedral, which is when Quasi shows her his world. Phoebus decides that the Judge does not have a good idea in driving the gypsies out of Paris and turns on him.
There is even a slightly sick scene where the Judge sings about his lustful ideas towards Esmeralda. Back when I saw this in the theater I felt it did not need to be in the movie. I feel the same way today that I did back then. This scene makes the movie way too dark and mature for the children and pushes the G rating to its limit. This is the biggest minus in this movie. I understand the need to show that the Judge has feelings for Esmeralda too, but did we really need to delve that much into it?
The key story here is that Quasi figures out that there are more people out there that feel like outcasts. The gypsies are considered outcasts as well and even though the leader is at first astonished by Quasi's looks, they start to realize that Quasi is very much like them with being shunned by the general public. It is also interesting in that there are two characters that are in love with Esmeralda. It is obvious that one will ultimately lose in the battle for love and it is easy to become sympathetic with all the characters.
There are layers of ideas in the writing and this is what makes this movie stand out with the best Disney has to offer. On the surface it is a movie that is interesting to children, but if you delve father into it there is a lot of more mature subject matter such as abuse, love, lust, friendship and awakening. Sure, you may be ugly or beautiful on the outside, but it is what is on the inside that counts.
The DVD
Video: This film is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. It is always wonderful to watch animated features on DVD as they bring out the vibrant colors more than a live-action movie does. There is a slight bit of grain in a few spots in this movie and it is a bit easier to see where hand drawn and CGI graphics differ in this movie much like Atlantis. Overall a great presentation by Disney as always.
Sound: Presented in both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 sound. Directionality is used brilliantly on this feature. The LFE even gets a little workout in this movie. The DTS version is slightly cleaner and has a little more LFE punch than the Dolby Digital version. Both versions are great though.
Menus: Simple menus with music in the background.
Extras:
Audio Commentary: Done by directors Kirk Wise and Gary Tousdale along with producer Don Hahn. Much like other Disney Animated releases with commentary on them this is also enjoyable to listen to. This group is getting quite good at doing commentary. This is their second commentary on a DVD so far this year after Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
The Making of Hunchback of Notre Dame: Hosted by Jason Alexander, who voices one of the gargoyles. This is a basic behind-the-scenes feature and really does not get into the creation of this movie. Since this is a Gold Collection DVD, it does not have the massive amounts of behind-the-scenes features of the Platinum line.
Topsy Turvy Underground game: A little game to play, I have not played it yet though.
Multi-language reel - "A Guy Like You": Gives you Quasi in over 40 languages in about 5 minutes. It is neat to watch, but nothing special.
Sing-Along song - "Topsy Turvy": Standard Disney fare here for the children.
Final Thoughts: Hunchback of Notre Dame still stands up quite well to the best of the modern Disney animated films. It does not have the musical force of the others, but it has a powerful story. If you ever overlooked this movie, do yourself a favor and pick it up. It is one of those hidden treasures during the slow time for Disney in the middle 90s. I highly recommend this disc and cannot wait to see what Disney does with its next disc.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of those movies that is just plain underrated. This is a Disney animated movie that came out after such arguable greats as Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. The negative is that it also came out a year after Disney's worst modern effort, Pocahontas, and was the shining light in Disney's slow time until Tarzan came out. I think the slow time for Disney and the change of pace from usual Disney fare really hurt this movie. This movie arguably stands right up there with the best Disney has ever made, but is more mature in nature and started the ball rolling for Disney's current venture into mature storytelling in movies like Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Loosely based on the book by Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a movie that really stradles the line between both adults and children liking it. Most Disney animated movies play on both sides of the fence, but this was the first one to really push a more adult feeling to it while still maintaining a G rating. The hero is the deformed Quasimodo (voiced by Tom Hulce), or Quasi as most people call him. Judge Frollo ran down and killed Quasi's mother. He then picked the baby up and decided he was a devil child because of his deformities. The priest at Notre Dame stopped him from doing that and Quasi was given sanctuary in the Cathedral. He grows up calling Frollo master.
Not allowed to go outside of the top of the Cathedral, Quasi grew up alone. Then one day the Festival of Fools, run by gypsies, starts and Quasi decides he can easily fit in at the festival with everyone. So he slides down the Cathedral and into the city of Paris itself. Soon enough he is given the title "King of Fools", but when they go to take off his mask they find that there is no mask, but that it is Quasi's real face.
The gypsy Esmeralda (voiced by Demi Moore) saves Quasi from the torture and in turn Quasi saves Esmeralda from the soldiers. He takes her up to the top of the Cathedral and introduces her to his world. He starts to fall in love with her. Problem is that Judge Frollo wants to drive the gypsies out of Paris and has sent his best man, Phoebus (voiced by Kevin Kline), to do the job. Phoebus is also smitten with Esmeralda. He is the one that makes Esmeralda take sanctuary in the Cathedral, which is when Quasi shows her his world. Phoebus decides that the Judge does not have a good idea in driving the gypsies out of Paris and turns on him.
There is even a slightly sick scene where the Judge sings about his lustful ideas towards Esmeralda. Back when I saw this in the theater I felt it did not need to be in the movie. I feel the same way today that I did back then. This scene makes the movie way too dark and mature for the children and pushes the G rating to its limit. This is the biggest minus in this movie. I understand the need to show that the Judge has feelings for Esmeralda too, but did we really need to delve that much into it?
The key story here is that Quasi figures out that there are more people out there that feel like outcasts. The gypsies are considered outcasts as well and even though the leader is at first astonished by Quasi's looks, they start to realize that Quasi is very much like them with being shunned by the general public. It is also interesting in that there are two characters that are in love with Esmeralda. It is obvious that one will ultimately lose in the battle for love and it is easy to become sympathetic with all the characters.
There are layers of ideas in the writing and this is what makes this movie stand out with the best Disney has to offer. On the surface it is a movie that is interesting to children, but if you delve father into it there is a lot of more mature subject matter such as abuse, love, lust, friendship and awakening. Sure, you may be ugly or beautiful on the outside, but it is what is on the inside that counts.
The DVD
Video: This film is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. It is always wonderful to watch animated features on DVD as they bring out the vibrant colors more than a live-action movie does. There is a slight bit of grain in a few spots in this movie and it is a bit easier to see where hand drawn and CGI graphics differ in this movie much like Atlantis. Overall a great presentation by Disney as always.
Sound: Presented in both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 sound. Directionality is used brilliantly on this feature. The LFE even gets a little workout in this movie. The DTS version is slightly cleaner and has a little more LFE punch than the Dolby Digital version. Both versions are great though.
Menus: Simple menus with music in the background.
Extras:
Audio Commentary: Done by directors Kirk Wise and Gary Tousdale along with producer Don Hahn. Much like other Disney Animated releases with commentary on them this is also enjoyable to listen to. This group is getting quite good at doing commentary. This is their second commentary on a DVD so far this year after Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
The Making of Hunchback of Notre Dame: Hosted by Jason Alexander, who voices one of the gargoyles. This is a basic behind-the-scenes feature and really does not get into the creation of this movie. Since this is a Gold Collection DVD, it does not have the massive amounts of behind-the-scenes features of the Platinum line.
Topsy Turvy Underground game: A little game to play, I have not played it yet though.
Multi-language reel - "A Guy Like You": Gives you Quasi in over 40 languages in about 5 minutes. It is neat to watch, but nothing special.
Sing-Along song - "Topsy Turvy": Standard Disney fare here for the children.
Final Thoughts: Hunchback of Notre Dame still stands up quite well to the best of the modern Disney animated films. It does not have the musical force of the others, but it has a powerful story. If you ever overlooked this movie, do yourself a favor and pick it up. It is one of those hidden treasures during the slow time for Disney in the middle 90s. I highly recommend this disc and cannot wait to see what Disney does with its next disc.
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