After the critical and commercial success of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, the Walt Disney Pictures animation studio embarked on their most serious and ambitious animated feature to date with this adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel Notre Dame de Paris. Quasimodo (voice of Tom Hulce) is a grotesquely deformed but kind-hearted young man who was abandoned by his parents as an infant and thrown down a well; he was rescued by the priests of Notre Dame, the massive cathedral in the heart of Paris, and he lives there, earning his keep as a bell ringer. Quasimodo has become the ward of Judge Frollo (voice of Tony Jay), an outwardly pious but deeply hateful man who treats Quasimodio with indifference and violently loathes the Gypsies who spend their days in the cathedral's courtyard. Frollo hopes to clear the Gypsies out of Paris with the help of Phoebus (voice of Kevin Kline), leader of the troops under Frollo's command. However, Phoebus does not share Frollo's racist views and harbors no ill will against the Gypsies. When Quasimodo is crowned King of the Fools after leaving Notre Dame during the annual festival of Topsy Turvy Day, the hunchback is ordered beaten by the guards as punishment, but Esmerelda (voice of Demi Moore), a hot-blooded but compassionate gypsy beauty, shows pity on him and helps free him from his chains. The lovely Esmerelda is the first woman to show kindness to the unfortunate Quasimodo, and the hunchback soon falls in love with her. However, the dashing Phoebus is also infatuated with her, and Esmerelda is attracted to Phoebus as well, though she feels a motherly affection for the hunchback. Judge Frollo finds that he also desires Esmerelda, which only inflames his hatred for the Gypsies when she refuses his proposals. Darker and less outwardly comic than most of Disney's features, The Hunchback of Notre Dame does feature comic relief in the form of Victor (voice of Charles Kimbrough) and Hugo (voice of Jason Alexander), a pair of gargoyles who befriend Quasimodo, as well as several songs from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The Hunchback of Notre Dame may not be as cheerful as many of its Disney forebears, but it features the most sophisticated animation the studio had ever produced and enough twists to please those insulted by the familiarity of the Disney format. When the villain, Judge Frollo, breaks into a seething song that's part religious dogma, part lust for the heroine, his face blanketed by the silhouette of flames, it's clear that Disney has finally furnished a more adult product. No doubt this hampered its profitability -- the film barely staggered over $100 million domestically, ranking it among the lowest-grossing Disney animated features of the modern era. Nonetheless, this is a visual feast, its star a grand and intricately detailed cathedral, captured from all angles with a lively "moving camera" effect. Thematically, it revisits Beauty and the Beast's idea that an unfortunate-looking, misunderstood outsider can indeed have a heart of gold. However, it's a much more stark treatment of that theme, with fewer fairy tale concessions and less certainty that the hero will end up with the girl. Some scenes may disturb the youngest viewers, including the gross mishandling of the hunchback at the Topsy Turvy festival, but these should be viewed more as a compliment to children's abilities to process these issues than as a misstep by Disney. Tom Hulce stands out among the vocal performers, while Kevin Kline and Demi Moore also fill their roles more than adequately. The talking gargoyles, voiced by Charles Kimbrough and Jason Alexander, make creative additions to Disney's time-honored legacy of sidekick comic relief. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Jason Alexander - Hugo; Jack Angel - Additional Voices; Mary Kay Bergman - Quasimodo's Mother; Susan Blu - Additional Voices; Rodger Bumpass - Additional Voices; Corey Burton - Brutish Guard; Philip L. Clarke - Additional Voices; Jennifer Darling - Additional Voices; Bill Fagerbakke - Oafish Guard; Dana Hill - Additional Voices; Tony Jay - Frollo; Judy Kaye - Additional Voices; Charles Kimbrough - Victor; Eddie Korbich - Additional Voices; Sherry Lynn - Additional Voices; Mickie T. McGowan - Additional Voices; Tim Pigott-Smith - Pierre Gringoire; Patrick Pinney - Misc. Guards and Gypsies; Philip Proctor - Additional Voices; Kath Soucie - Additional Voices; David Ogden Stiers - Archdeacon; Mary Wickes - Laverne; Jane Withers - Laverne in additional dialogue; Gary Trousdale - The Old Heretic; Frank Welker - Baby Bird; Jim Cummings - Misc. Guards and Gypsies; Mona Marshall - Additional Voices; Jan Rabson - Additional Voices; Bill Farmer - Additional Voices; Bob Bergen - Additional Voices; Howard McGillin - Additional Voices; Marcelo Tubert - Additional Voices; Jonathan Dokuchitz - Additional Voices; Debi Derryberry - Additional Voices; Mary Stout - Additional Voices; Michael Lindsay - Additional Voices; Victoria Clark - Additional Voices; Paul Kandel - Clopin; Alix Korey - Additional Voices; Joan Barber - Additional Voices; Scott Barnes - Additional Voices; Maureen Brennan - Additional Voices; Laurie Faso - Additional Voices; Merwin Foard - Additional Voices; Anna McNeely - Additional Voices; Bruce Moore - Additional Voices; Denise Pickering - Additional Voices; Peter Samuel - Additional Voices; Gordon Stanley - Additional Voices
Credit
David Goetz - Art Director, Phil Lofaro - Associate Producer, Ruth Lambert - Casting, Roy Conli - Co-producer, Gary Trousdale - Director, Kirk Wise - Director, Ellen Keneshea - Editor, Stephen Schwartz - Composer (Music Score), Alan Menken - Composer (Music Score), Stephen Schwartz - Songwriter, Alan Menken - Songwriter, Don Hahn - Producer, Bob Tzudiker - Screenwriter, Tab Murphy - Screenwriter, Jonathan Roberts - Screenwriter, Noni White - Screenwriter, Victor Hugo - Book Author
