Tim: Back during Januray of this year, I put up a contest for someone to either to do their own A Look at disney or to collab with me. Sadly only one person entered but back then I was not well known. I must say I'm glad that this person entered the contest because from that grew a freindship and even a partnership as he is now a member of the A Look at Disney family. I give you my freind, Zach, who is better known as Gomu69 to you, guys. Since Zach has chosen to use his real name, I will do the same and today you can refer to me as Tim. Now this review will be set up like one of my typical reviews but it will be broken down with Zach covering the basic plot and the music. While I talk about the characters and the villian. What don't I let Zach tell you what the movie is
Zach: Today, Tim and I shall take a look at a personal favorite film of mine from Walt Disney Pictures.
Zach: Right off the bat we begin with the first of my two big complaints regarding this film, Disney is not being honest with their work in a sense that this is giving the target audience the wrong idea about what to expect when going into HoND. This trailer doesn't show much of the darker tones and leans toward the "fun" parts from HoND which might seem to be an outdated notion to point out, but I feel that I should at least address because the film knows what it is and Disney knows this as well
The Plot
Zach: The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the story of Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer who yearns to live among the "normal" people of Paris and assert his independence from his Stepfather Judge Claude Frollo. He befriends a gypsy dancer Esmeralda and must protect her from Frollo with the help from Phoebus.
In a nutshell, this doesn't entirely follow what happens in the original novel from Victor Hugo. It's not supposed to since this is Disney taking classic literature and telling their version of HoND to provide entertainment for the whole family. With that, I find my second complaint that everyone should understand. There seems to be 2 sides of criticism regarding the plot/tone, one that feels Disney made it too dark for children to enjoy and the other which finds that everything about the story/characters is pandering to lose the complex nature of Victor Hugo's original work. The first side pretty much deals with what I said about my earlier complaint. My best answer that I can give is to leave it up to the child's parents to decide when they're ready to watch it (even though it's rated G so go figure). For the other side, all I can say is that it's a kids movie first and to leave the faithful retelling of "Notre Dame de Paris" to the 1939 film.
With that I'll hand it off to Tim to bring us the characters.
The Characters
Tim: Excellent description of the plot, Zach, Well I already expalined how I will be breaking down the characters but just as a reminder. I'll start with Important Characters, Supporting Characters. Then I'll take a brreak to let Zach talk about the music and then I will close it out by talking about the villian.
The Important Characters
Quasimodo voiced by Tom Hulce
Tim: Quasimodo, how do I describe this character. Well I think the best way to describe this character would be by saying that is someone that suffered abuse and neglect from his caretaker. Sure, we never see Frollo physically harm Quasimodo but Frollo does mentall abuse him by telling him that he is a monster. That is perhaps part of the reason he is so shy in the beginning. However Esemerdla helps him to come out of his and hie mistakes that for she actually loves him which leads to him having a crush on her. He has a diffcult time understanding people because has rarely been around them. A bit off-topic that kind reminds of some the traits of autism with misreading body language and such.
Esmeralda voiced by Demi Moore
Tim: Esmerdala is the beautiful gyspy girl that Frollo wishes to be killed. Her character is one that is very outspoken and willing to stand up for her people. That's part of the reason why I beleive Frollo went after her because to me it seems as though he was not used to having a woman stand up to him and he did not like that. As I said earlier, she helped Quasimodo to break out of his shell becasue she showed him that it is okay to have a life outside the walls of the bell tower.
Phoebus voiced by Kevin Kline
Tim: Phoebus is a cpatian who works for Frollo. Even though he works Frollo he does not agree with Frollo's actions as he is an idealist and he beleives there are others ways around things. Basically, he beleives that you don't need to go to extreme measures to work things out. Phoebus enters what you could call a forbidden romance as he falls in love with Esemeradala. Even though he was hired to capture her.
Supporting Characters
Tim: Now I move on to the supporting characters. In this section, I will cover the gargoyles and Clopin. First up the Gargoyles.
Victor, Laverne, & Hugo voiced repectively by Charles Kimbrough, Jason Alexander & Mary Wickes
Tim: Normally, I would not group characters together but since there is so much that Zach and myself wish to cover. I think this is the best route. I have found for most fans that these characters are either love 'em or hate 'em. Personally I think they are okay. Yes comic releif has been done better beofre with such examples as The Genie because he added to the story. That is one complaint people tend to make that these characters add nothing to the story. I'd like beg to differ, correct me if I'm wrong but weren't they the ones the encouraged Quasimodo to attend the Festival of Fools that set all the events of this film in motion.
Clopin voiced by Paul Kandel
Tim: Clopin is the narrator of the story but he also plays a part in the story as he is the leader of the gyspies. While his outfit may look fun. Don't let it decevie as he will defend his people at all costs even attempting to kill trespassers. He isn't a bad guy per se. He is just ver protective of the gyspies because of what they are being put through.
Tim: That's all I have to say about the characters for now. I'll be taking a short break while Zack covers the music
Zach: Well said, and with that we go to the next element of HoND
The Music
Out There
Zach: Frollo starts off by reminding Quasimodo just what he's been teaching him for 20 years, that he is a monster and belongs in the bell tower to be protected from the dark, cruel world outside Notre Dame. After apologizing to Frollo for suggesting to leave, Quasimodo proceeds to look below at the city and tells about how wonderful it would be to live among them even for just one day. This leaves Quasimodo more confident and sure about going to the festival.
Topsy Turvy
Zach: It is here that we learn how the people of Paris celebrate the Feast of Fools, by replacing common sense with topsy turvy logic into everything done and presented. In the mess of it all, Quasimodo meets Esmeralda and is welcomed by his appearances. Before the finale of the festival begins, Esmeralda begins a dance which catches Frollo's attention as she teases him with a kiss and leaves behind a veil. To close the festival, the crowning of the King of fools leads to Quasimodo being picked for having the ugliest face in Paris.
God Help the Outcasts
Zach: After realizing no one out there will take a stand and do something about Frollo's oppression, Esmeralda is left to ask for help from God in order to protect the Gypsies. The religious aspects of this don't overshadow the somber tone of what is gotten out of the song. While everyone else is seen praying to better themselves, Esmeralda could care less about what happens to her and only wishes for a better future for those less fortunate than herself. Quasimodo walks in on this to find just how caring and warm-hearted she is.
Hellfire
Zach: I think it goes without saying we all know what this song did for this movie, it defined Frollo's lust for Esmeralda with every instant the visuals and music provides. This is where Frollo confesses what he feels from Esmeralda is not something of his own fault, but that of the devil himself. He is self aware of the conflicting emotions boiled up inside him but uses Esmeralda as the scapegoat of his turning to sin. Pleading for help from Maria, Frollo's conclusion as what should be done about this is to have Esmeralda to satisfy his lust, or have her taste the fires of hell, even if it means burning down all of Paris to do so.
Tim: Thank you for these words on these awesome songs and that was some pretty solid insight as well. Well looks like it is up to me to close this thing out with the villian.
The Villian
Frollo voiced by Tony Jay
Tim: Frollo is one of the more intresting villians from the Disney Rouges gallery as his goals are niether power or greed as he already has power and money is of little intrest to him. If I had to use one word to describe his goal, it would be purity. He wishes to exterminate the gyspies because they are different. He is ruthless, cruel and dark. His presence certianly makes it known that he is evil.
Tim: Well with that said, I would like to close this post with my final thoughts as usual. Also a very nice Hunchback poster Zach found as well.
My Final Thoughts
Tim: The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a film that every Disney fan should watch at least once. The music is great, the characters are awesome and this is defiently one of the more mature movies that Disney has ever done. I certianly beleive this film gets oversahadowed by other Disney films from the '90s such as The Lion King, which is great in its own right but this film is just as good if not better than The Lion King. Anyways here is that poster.
Zach: Right off the bat we begin with the first of my two big complaints regarding this film, Disney is not being honest with their work in a sense that this is giving the target audience the wrong idea about what to expect when going into HoND. This trailer doesn't show much of the darker tones and leans toward the "fun" parts from HoND which might seem to be an outdated notion to point out, but I feel that I should at least address because the film knows what it is and Disney knows this as well
The Plot
Zach: The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the story of Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer who yearns to live among the "normal" people of Paris and assert his independence from his Stepfather Judge Claude Frollo. He befriends a gypsy dancer Esmeralda and must protect her from Frollo with the help from Phoebus.
In a nutshell, this doesn't entirely follow what happens in the original novel from Victor Hugo. It's not supposed to since this is Disney taking classic literature and telling their version of HoND to provide entertainment for the whole family. With that, I find my second complaint that everyone should understand. There seems to be 2 sides of criticism regarding the plot/tone, one that feels Disney made it too dark for children to enjoy and the other which finds that everything about the story/characters is pandering to lose the complex nature of Victor Hugo's original work. The first side pretty much deals with what I said about my earlier complaint. My best answer that I can give is to leave it up to the child's parents to decide when they're ready to watch it (even though it's rated G so go figure). For the other side, all I can say is that it's a kids movie first and to leave the faithful retelling of "Notre Dame de Paris" to the 1939 film.
With that I'll hand it off to Tim to bring us the characters.
The Characters
Tim: Excellent description of the plot, Zach, Well I already expalined how I will be breaking down the characters but just as a reminder. I'll start with Important Characters, Supporting Characters. Then I'll take a brreak to let Zach talk about the music and then I will close it out by talking about the villian.
The Important Characters
Quasimodo voiced by Tom Hulce
Tim: Quasimodo, how do I describe this character. Well I think the best way to describe this character would be by saying that is someone that suffered abuse and neglect from his caretaker. Sure, we never see Frollo physically harm Quasimodo but Frollo does mentall abuse him by telling him that he is a monster. That is perhaps part of the reason he is so shy in the beginning. However Esemerdla helps him to come out of his and hie mistakes that for she actually loves him which leads to him having a crush on her. He has a diffcult time understanding people because has rarely been around them. A bit off-topic that kind reminds of some the traits of autism with misreading body language and such.
Esmeralda voiced by Demi Moore
Tim: Esmerdala is the beautiful gyspy girl that Frollo wishes to be killed. Her character is one that is very outspoken and willing to stand up for her people. That's part of the reason why I beleive Frollo went after her because to me it seems as though he was not used to having a woman stand up to him and he did not like that. As I said earlier, she helped Quasimodo to break out of his shell becasue she showed him that it is okay to have a life outside the walls of the bell tower.
Phoebus voiced by Kevin Kline
Tim: Phoebus is a cpatian who works for Frollo. Even though he works Frollo he does not agree with Frollo's actions as he is an idealist and he beleives there are others ways around things. Basically, he beleives that you don't need to go to extreme measures to work things out. Phoebus enters what you could call a forbidden romance as he falls in love with Esemeradala. Even though he was hired to capture her.
Supporting Characters
Tim: Now I move on to the supporting characters. In this section, I will cover the gargoyles and Clopin. First up the Gargoyles.
Victor, Laverne, & Hugo voiced repectively by Charles Kimbrough, Jason Alexander & Mary Wickes
Tim: Normally, I would not group characters together but since there is so much that Zach and myself wish to cover. I think this is the best route. I have found for most fans that these characters are either love 'em or hate 'em. Personally I think they are okay. Yes comic releif has been done better beofre with such examples as The Genie because he added to the story. That is one complaint people tend to make that these characters add nothing to the story. I'd like beg to differ, correct me if I'm wrong but weren't they the ones the encouraged Quasimodo to attend the Festival of Fools that set all the events of this film in motion.
Clopin voiced by Paul Kandel
Tim: Clopin is the narrator of the story but he also plays a part in the story as he is the leader of the gyspies. While his outfit may look fun. Don't let it decevie as he will defend his people at all costs even attempting to kill trespassers. He isn't a bad guy per se. He is just ver protective of the gyspies because of what they are being put through.
Tim: That's all I have to say about the characters for now. I'll be taking a short break while Zack covers the music
Zach: Well said, and with that we go to the next element of HoND
The Music
Out There
Zach: Frollo starts off by reminding Quasimodo just what he's been teaching him for 20 years, that he is a monster and belongs in the bell tower to be protected from the dark, cruel world outside Notre Dame. After apologizing to Frollo for suggesting to leave, Quasimodo proceeds to look below at the city and tells about how wonderful it would be to live among them even for just one day. This leaves Quasimodo more confident and sure about going to the festival.
Topsy Turvy
Zach: It is here that we learn how the people of Paris celebrate the Feast of Fools, by replacing common sense with topsy turvy logic into everything done and presented. In the mess of it all, Quasimodo meets Esmeralda and is welcomed by his appearances. Before the finale of the festival begins, Esmeralda begins a dance which catches Frollo's attention as she teases him with a kiss and leaves behind a veil. To close the festival, the crowning of the King of fools leads to Quasimodo being picked for having the ugliest face in Paris.
God Help the Outcasts
Zach: After realizing no one out there will take a stand and do something about Frollo's oppression, Esmeralda is left to ask for help from God in order to protect the Gypsies. The religious aspects of this don't overshadow the somber tone of what is gotten out of the song. While everyone else is seen praying to better themselves, Esmeralda could care less about what happens to her and only wishes for a better future for those less fortunate than herself. Quasimodo walks in on this to find just how caring and warm-hearted she is.
Hellfire
Zach: I think it goes without saying we all know what this song did for this movie, it defined Frollo's lust for Esmeralda with every instant the visuals and music provides. This is where Frollo confesses what he feels from Esmeralda is not something of his own fault, but that of the devil himself. He is self aware of the conflicting emotions boiled up inside him but uses Esmeralda as the scapegoat of his turning to sin. Pleading for help from Maria, Frollo's conclusion as what should be done about this is to have Esmeralda to satisfy his lust, or have her taste the fires of hell, even if it means burning down all of Paris to do so.
Tim: Thank you for these words on these awesome songs and that was some pretty solid insight as well. Well looks like it is up to me to close this thing out with the villian.
The Villian
Frollo voiced by Tony Jay
Tim: Frollo is one of the more intresting villians from the Disney Rouges gallery as his goals are niether power or greed as he already has power and money is of little intrest to him. If I had to use one word to describe his goal, it would be purity. He wishes to exterminate the gyspies because they are different. He is ruthless, cruel and dark. His presence certianly makes it known that he is evil.
Tim: Well with that said, I would like to close this post with my final thoughts as usual. Also a very nice Hunchback poster Zach found as well.
My Final Thoughts
Tim: The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a film that every Disney fan should watch at least once. The music is great, the characters are awesome and this is defiently one of the more mature movies that Disney has ever done. I certianly beleive this film gets oversahadowed by other Disney films from the '90s such as The Lion King, which is great in its own right but this film is just as good if not better than The Lion King. Anyways here is that poster.
I hope you enjoyed this special reveiw.
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I'm happy that you enjoyed this review. You are more than welcome to add to my site to your feed. Thanks, again.
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