At the start of the film the town is getting ready for the celebration of love. Obviously a few years have passed since the first film. Esmeralda and Phoebus are married and now have a son (got to have the kid) named Zephyr. He, of course, is big pals with Quasimodo, who is now affectionately referred throughout the story simply as Quasi. Everyone is entranced with the singing and dancing as a traveling circus rolls into town.

Everything is not as it seems with this circus. It's owner Sarousch is plotting to steal the jeweled bell that Quasi watches over. To do this he will use his beautiful servant Madellaine to distract him and steal the jewels from the bell.

Madellaine is enchanted by Quasi until she sees his face and runs away. She later warms up to him after she is forced by Sarousch to be with him. It's obvious that Madellaine is meant to be his opposite. She thinks her job as magician's assistant with the circus is to just look pretty and do nothing. She wishes that people would look past her good looks and let her try to do something exciting for a change, like walking a tightrope in the circus.

The more time they spend together, the more Quasi and Madellaine begin to like each other. So much so that she doesn't want to help Sarousch anymore despite his threats. He plays his last card and Quasi feels betrayed and Phoebus and Esmeralda feel helpless as Sarousch takes Zephyr from them to hold off the guards trying to capture him.

In the end all is well and everyone lives happily ever after, it is a fairy tale. The best thing about the film is the lack of compromise that is given to the relationship between Quasi and Madellaine. She loves him despite his appearance and freely admits this. This is usually not the case in most fairy tales. The couple must match, so to speak. The Beast must become human for his and Belle's relationship to be true. The biggest fault I found with Shrek was this fact as well. We are supposed to believe the princess loves Shrek despite his appearances, but in the end she turns out to be an ogre just like him. Thankfully that is not the case here.

Overall, it's a more kid friendly rehash of a misfit love story. Every attempt is made to get the point of ignoring outward appearances across. The animation suffers from the low production values, but the vocal talent and storyline more than make up for it.

The Video: Surprisingly the film is presented in an Anamorphic 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio. Despite the lack of theatrical release, it is a wide-screen format. The video looks nice and suffers from none of the problems that normally plague a DVD. There are no print flaws and such, but the colors seem muted and washed out at times.

The Audio: The audio is a beautiful Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS mix. The score is bright and vivid and audio is easily understandable. There are a few low quality songs, but still sound amazingly good. It's an active mix as well with the audio moving from left to right and front to rear quite frequently.

Extras: There are several kid themed extras on the disc that most adults will want to pass on. There are remote controlled puppet theaters and bell ringing classes that work exceptionally well and would entertain young children. A Gargoyle's Life is a chance for Jason Alexander to show off as a gargoyle, something that got buried slightly in the bust plot of the film. Last, there is a short behind-the-scenes feature with Jennifer Love Hewitt that details the work she put into the character of Madellaine and the song she sings at the end of the movie. Nothing amazing, but nicely done as well.

Overall: As much as I wanted to dislike this, I wound up enjoying it. It's definitely aimed at younger audiences, especially when compared to the very adult and frightening themes that were present in the original animated film. I would definitely recommend it to all parents and to anyone who generally enjoys animated films.