I was originally going to space out the Disney reviews, but I remembered how much I disliked Hunchback as a kid, so I thought if I delayed just after sitting through Pocahontas I would get way to behind. That being said, I still don't like it, but I find myself being a lot kinder to this movie than my memory would have me believe.
Let's start with what the movie is about. Frollo, our movie's antagonist, ambushes a bunch of Gypsies trying to run from his men and kills one of them in the process, though he kills her on the steps of Notre Dame. He views himself as a very pious man who does all that is just, but for the first time, he begins to feel fear for his soul as he is about to throw the woman's baby, which is hideously deformed, into a well. This fear drives him to instead raise the child. Naming him Quasimodo, he keeps the hunchback hidden away in the church as the bell ringer of Notre Damn.
Disney here is continuing its habit with a complete lack of subtlety with the opening song, The Bells of Notre Dame. It asks the question of 'Who is the Monster and Who is the Man?' directly in the lyrics, and the show, even at this early stage, isn't trying to hide the fact Frollo is the monster. That said, this is where I will give the show some fantastic praise, Judge Claude Frollo is the greatest of all the Disney villains. The show always knows how to make him feel like an intimidating presence, one who feels like he would be willing to strike you down at any moment. His inability to accept his flaws as a human causes him to react violently when he starts to think, for the first time in his life, he may not be the pure man he always thought himself to be. And considering he is dealing with lust, it gets dark and uncomfortable for a Disney movie.
This feeling is at its height when you are introduced to the greatest song Disney has ever put out, Hellfire. It starts off soft and pious sounding, quickly becoming tainted by Frollo's arrogance and disdain for anyone he see's as beneath him. It's constantly going back and forth between his fear, and his lust and anger towards Esmerelda, trying to pin the blame for his negative thoughts on anyone or anything besides himself. If I am being honest, the entirety of this movie is justified purely based on the existence of Frollo and this song.
I will comment on the rest of the songs of the movie in one go because quite frankly they are all able to be put in the same category. They are all pretty forgettable. Having watched this movie just a couple of days ago, I have forgotten almost every song. I only remember Bells of Notre Dame because of a fantastic metal cover of it, which makes it so much better (Jonathan Young did the Metal Cover, he also does a fantastic Hellfire cover). It's almost ridiculous how much better Hellfire is than every other track, they are barely above the songs from Pocahontas.
The movie also does a better job of making you feel for Quasimodo than I remember when I was younger. He has a lot of charm to him. What I like that they did is they never have to tell you about how much he yearns to be part of the outside world, you get to see it in the things he crafts and all the incredible detail of his creations. I'm not saying the topic doesn't come up, but it doesn't have to beat you over the head with it at every possible moment to get the point across as strongly as they do.
How well the show did Quasimodo was what started to turn my opinion on the movie around, because I always remembered how amazing Frollo was, but that wasn't enough to completely salvage the movie for me. The biggest problem this movie has is all the comedy relief. We contrast all the dark themes of the movie with a bunch of low-brow fart jokes. I know there is more than just that, but those gargoyles are constant strings of terribly unfunny lines. And it feels like there is more humor jammed into this movie than many other Disney films. I know that statement can't be right, but it stands out so much because of how badly it fits the movie. It's so bad and distracting the movie suffers as a result, especially when the gargoyles become involved in the climax of the movie.
The cast beyond Frollo and Quasimodo is also pretty boring, which is a shame because Esmarelda and Pheobus are both vital to the plot and story. It's not that they are bad, it's just nothing about them stands out and they just leave no impression. I don't even remember if the jester-looking guy was ever given a name in the movie. And these other characters take up enough screen time that much of the movie is either entirely forgettable or remembered for all the wrong reasons.
I really want to like this movie. Disney took a risk with this by dealing with the dark themes and imagery, but they had the same problem here they did with Black Cauldron. It just never feels like Disney can commit to a movie like this in the way they need to. They try too hard to balance out the dark tone with comedy and just end up over-correcting. In the end, I think it's worth watching if only for Frollo, but on a whole, I still can't walk away from this and call it a good movie.