The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Release Date: June 21, 1996
Watch Date: April 5 - April 6, 2023
This movie is probably the closest that Disney animation will ever get to a classic piece of literature - and it is a masterpiece.
Now, is this movie pretty much forgotten to the annals of time? Yes, and it's unfortunate. It comes from the era after Pocahontas, when Disney had lost a bit of it's spark, and before movies like 'Tangled' brought it back, so I think it's fairly easy to dismiss. But this is the time that Disney was trying new things, takes on Greek myth, on historical figures, on classic literature, and I think there are a lot of beautiful, important films that people dismiss out of hand.
For example, how many Disney films start off with a death in the first five minutes? How many animated Disney films deal so heavily with religious themes, of the questions of what makes you a sinner or a saint, of true morality, the difference between doing good or evil in your thoughts. How many of them talk about a city wide genocide? How many feature a woman tied to the stake, or a purportedly pious man's struggles with lust?
Just one.
Notre Dame's music, like the cathedral itself is soaring and majestic, and near constant. Themes reoccur, with slight modifications, returning again and again to reestablish important points or underline moments. 'God Help the Outcasts' is a song I've turned to many times in my life when I have felt compelled to pray and haven't had the words. 'Hellfire' is one of, if not the most, underrated Disney villain songs of all time, it is intimidating, epic, and dark. 'The Bells of Notre Dame' was played on loop for about twenty-four hours when I cried over the burning of the great Paris cathedral, all that history, all those hours spent, those events, burned up and nearly lost to time. They leave an impression, they echo in your brain for days.
The backgrounds are gorgeous. The cathedral, the stain glass, the shots of Paris. It is artists creating art to the best of their abilities, and taking full advantage of the fact that they are trying to represent one of the most gorgeous buildings human hands have ever made. The only part that falls a little bit short is the slightly clunky 3D animation in the larger group scenes, but it was 1996, it is very minimal, and I will cut it some slack.
This movie is, of course, nowhere near as dark as the novel. There is no death of our main characters, no tragic flinging of bodies into open graves. It is still dark. There is still a family attempted to be burned alive in their own cottage. Their are skeletons. There is an epic fight scene at the gates of the cathedral with hot oil and fire. There is a man being shot while he, hopefully to Frollo, drowns under the weight of his own armor.
But there is lightheartedness and comedy too. The main point of the gargoyle trio, who do feel incredibly out of place, is to lighten up the otherwise dark story. They almost feel like a misstep, if you don't remember that this film is meant to be enjoyed by children and without them it probably wouldn't be very palatable. The relationship between Phoebus and Esmeralda is star-crossed and believable, and you don't weep for Quasi not getting his happy ending because his happy ending is freedom and acceptance for who he is by the population of the city he has loved from afar for so long.
I cannot say enough good things about this film. It's one of the best pieces of art Disney has ever put out, and I wish more people could see it in the same light that I do. I am only grateful that Bob did, so that the next time I want to watch it, I won't worry that he won't see in it the exact same beauty that I do.
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