The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Based on the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.
Intro song (“The Bells of Notre Dame”). The story is narrated by Clopin, a Romani puppeteer, to a group of children.
A group of Roma immigrating to Paris are ambushed by Judge Claude Frollo, Paris' Minister of Justice, and his soldiers. One woman attempts to flee with her baby, reaching the doors of Notre Dame pleading for sanctuary. Frollo chases her down and knocks her onto the cathedral's steps, where she dies. Seeing her baby's appearance, Frollo believes it to be a demon and tries to drown the child but is interrupted by the archdeacon, who scolds Frollo for murdering an innocent woman. Afraid for his soul, Frollo reluctantly agrees to raise the child as his own, naming him "Quasimodo" (meaning 'half-formed') and hiding him away in the cathedral's bell tower.
Twenty years later, Quasimodo has grown into a kind yet isolated young man, now with a pronounced hunchback caused by kyphosis. He has lived his entire life in the cathedral with his only company being a trio of living stone gargoyles Victor, Hugo, and Laverne. The gargoyles encourage him to attend the annual Festival of Fools but Frollo forbids it, warning that he would be shunned for his appearance (“Out There”).
Captain Phoebus arrives in Paris and briefly encountered Esmeralda, a street dancer, and her goat companion Djali. Phoebus was summoned by Claude Frollo, who intends to commit genocide against Romani people living in Paris.
Despite Frollo’s warnings, Quasimodo attends the Festival of Fools (“Topsy Turvy”) and is celebrated for his appearance but then, prompted by Frollo's guards, is humiliated by the crowd. Frollo refuses Quasimodo's pleas for help, but he is rescued by Esmeralda. Frollo orders her arrest but Esmeralda escapes using a magic trick.
Quasimodo retreats back into the cathedral, followed by Esmeralda and Captain Phoebus. Phoebus refuses to arrest her for witchcraft inside Notre Dame and instead tells Frollo that she has claimed sanctuary. Esmeralda sings (“God Help the Outcasts”). Esmeralda finds and befriends Quasimodo, who helps her escape Notre Dame out of gratitude for defending him. She entrusts Quasimodo with a pendant containing a map to the Roma hideout called the Court of Miracles. Quasimodo sings (“Heaven’s Light”). Frollo develops an obsessive lust for Esmeralda and, upon realizing this, begs the Virgin Mary to save him from her "spell" and avoid eternal damnation (“Hellfire”).
When Frollo discovers that Esmeralda escaped, he searches for her, bribing and arresting Travellers and setting fire to houses while trying to find her. Phoebus defies Frollo when ordered to burn down a house with a family inside and Frollo orders him executed. Phoebus flees but is struck by an arrow and falls into the River Seine, where he is found by Esmeralda. The gargoyles cheer Quasimodo up by singing (“A Guy Like You”). Esmeralda brings Phoebus to Notre Dame for refuge. The gargoyles encourage Quasimodo to confess his feelings for Esmeralda, but he is heartbroken to discover she and Phoebus have fallen in love. Realizing that Quasimodo helped Esmeralda escape, Frollo tells him he knows about the Court of Miracles and plans to attack it at dawn. Using the map Esmeralda gave him, Quasimodo and Phoebus find the court to warn the Roma but are ambushed by the Gypsies ("The Court of Miracles”). Esmeralda saves them from execution only for Frollo to arrive, after following Quasimodo and Phoebus, and capture all the Travellers present.
When Esmeralda again rejects Frollo's advances, he attempts to burn her at the stake at Place du Parvis, but Quasimodo swoops down and carries her to the cathedral tower, crying "Sanctuary!" from the ledge. When Frollo attempts to seize the cathedral, Phoebus releases the Roma and rallies the Paris citizens against Frollo's guards. Quasimodo and the gargoyles pour molten lead onto the streets to prevent anyone entering, but Frollo himself manages to break into the cathedral beforehand. Violating the tradition of sanctuary, he pursues Quasimodo and Esmeralda to the bell tower with the intent of killing them both. He and Quasimodo fight, eventually both falling from a ledge. Frollo plummets to his death in the molten lead while Quasimodo is saved by Phoebus. Quasimodo accepts Phoebus and Esmeralda's love and they encourage him to leave the cathedral; when he does so, the people of Paris hail him as a hero (“The Bells of Notre Dame”).
TRIVIA
Visual Style
The team took a trip to Paris, France for ten days; three days were devoted to exploring Notre Dame including a private tour of rarely glimpsed sites as actual passageways, stairwells, towers, and hidden room within which Victor Hugo set his novel in. Also included were visits to the Palace of Justice and an original location of the Court of Miracles.
Technology
To achieve large-scale crowd scenes, particularly for the Feast of Fools sequence and the film's climax, computer animation was used to create six types of characters - males and females either average in weight, fat, or thin - which were programmed and assigned 72 specific movements ranging from jumping and clapping. This also allowed the animators to change the color of the clothes and add props to some of the characters so each one would look unique.
Easter Egg(s)
In the opening scene, Belle from Beauty and the Beast can be seen walking on the streets of Paris from the top of Notre Dame.
In the same scene, a merchant appears to be dusting off Aladdin’s carpet from Aladdin.
Music
Features music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
Notable Scene(s)
“Feast of Fools”