The Hunchback of Notre Dame Review by Beth Ann Griese

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Starring	Voices of Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, Kevin Kline
Director	Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
Year	1996
What it's worth		Second run * (See it as part of a double-feature or at a dollar house. * - with caveat)

If you know the original story of the Hunchback like the back of your hand, if you love the story and believe it's a crime to change a classic, you should not see this movie. Period, end of review. This is a drastic departure from the original. I don't think it's any more startling a change than The Little Mermaid, but since more people probably know Hunchback then the Mermaid, this will probably be more of an issue.

For people not as concerned with faithfulness to original material, though, Hunchback turns out to be a surprisingly entertaining movie. The plot, in a nutshell, is that the beautiful gypsy woman, Esmerelda, has come to Paris, and she attracts more attention than she'd care for. The town's over-righteous lawmaker, Frollo, and the new captain of the guards, Phoebus, both fall for her. So, too, does Quasimodo, the misshapen man who lives in the bell towers of the Notre Dame cathedral, who also yearns to mix with townsfolk as a normal person.

Already, this has gotten a bit more complex than the typical Disney fare. Three men want the same woman, with varying degrees of simple sexual lust guiding their motivations. We've set up a story with more adult complications than usual, and a guarantee that not everyone is going to get everything they want.

The music in Hunchback is more adult-oriented, too. It's more opera than musical, more like Beauty and the Beast was instead of Lion King. (Which isn't surprising, since this is the directorial team from Beauty.) With the exception of one forgettable tune featuring Quasimodo's gargoyle pals, the musical numbers aren't catchy sing-a-longs, but they have more emotion and power behind them, and advance the plot instead of providing pauses in it. There's a bit more meat to this picture than most people will expect.

And therein lies the movie's main problem, I think. I'm not sure how well the film is going to do. Kids may very well get bored; other than the talking gargoyles, it's a bit on the sophisticated side for children. On the other hand, it's not entirely an adult's film, either, since it still has the cuteness aspect - even Quasimodo has baby-face eyes and sweet demeanor. It will have a hard time finding its audience.

I really hope it succeeds in doing so, though. Hunchback does have well-done moments, and it's good to see Disney taking a step towards the more mature side of animation. It has some subtle humor, dark motivations, and good morals-of-the-story about acceptance, diversity, and false religious piety. I enjoyed the movie greatly, and I think others will, too, once they get past the deformed hunchback singing with golden pipes.

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