THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME: 2-movie Blu-ray (Walt Disney 1996) Disney Home Video

Undeniably, the most ambitious animated feature from Disney’s renaissance period, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) suffered from bad timing and bad press, even though it went on to be a real ‘bell-ringer’ for the studio. Co-directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, responsible for the runaway success of 1991’s Beauty & the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame struggles, comparatively speaking, from its story, neither derived of the fairy-tale ilk, nor even intended as a children’s bedtime story; certainly not by its French author, Victor Hugo, on whose immortal literary shoulders this movie attempted to balance and stand on its own merits. The picture possesses so many stellar qualities, it seems near sacrilege to criticize its transparent failings. The real problem with ‘Hunchback’ is that it remains the tale of a disfigured misanthrope, shuttered in a bell tower, summarily tortured and humiliated by the ‘normal’ inhabitants of Paris, almost to the point of breaking. Hugo’s morality tale plumbs the heart of its true outcast, drawing out our empathy for this hideously misshapen dreamer, who temporarily finds his kindred spirit in a gypsy girl. Alas, Hugo’s novel is a tragedy – something the movie could not aspire to comprehend and survive at the box office. And thus, without even a brush stroke committed, ‘Hunchback’ was certain to alienate purists of Hugo’s masterpiece.

The project was first pitched by executive, David Stainton in 1993. Immediately following Beauty & The Beast, Gary Trousdale had taken a break from directing, and was, at that time, heavily involved on storyboards for The Lion King. After The Lion King’s release, Trousdale again reunited with Wise for an ambitious, but inflexible high-concept based on Orpheus, to have emerged as A Song of the Sea. In the meantime, Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had initially showed little interest in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, did an about-face, hiring Trousdale and Wise to begin anew on the project.  By October, Trousdale, Wise, and their art directors, David Goetz, Roy Conli, Ed Ghertner, Will Finn, and composers, Alan Menken, and Stephen Schwartz were making their pilgrimage in Paris - ten days, soaking up the culture and atmosphere of the city of light. Meanwhile, screenwriter, Tab Murphy was hired to completely re-envision the tale, with Quasimodo as its centerpiece. Somewhere along the way, it was decided Phoebus – not Quasimodo – should become the love interest; the original plan to have a gorgeous woman accept the hunchback for himself (a la very Belle and Beast concept) shelved. While many key characters in the novel were completely expunged from the movie, Trousdale and Wise concocted a trio of stone gargoyles as comic relief, originally named after the three actors who had previously immortalized ‘Hunchback’ on the screen – (Lon) Chaney, (Charles) Laughton, and (Anthony) Quinn. However, as this could have led to complications over intellectual rights, the gargoyles were eventually renamed.

To sidestep religious sensibilities, the villainous, Claude Frollo was transformed from an archdeacon of the Catholic church to a magistrate. In keeping with past Disney features, it was decided to open the picture with a lengthy prologue ‘song’ to convey a brief history of the main characters, thus providing context to the story without belaboring any of the finer points. French animators, Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi storyboarded this sequence to Menken and Schwartz's The Bells of Notre Dame. Alas, the ending of the picture presented Murphy with his biggest problem. The novel’s finale ends tragically for all. This being a Disney feature, such could not be the case. And thus, a new finale was envisioned. While Frollo succumbed to a villain’s death, Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Phoebus were spared similar fates and afforded their ‘happily ever after’. And Disney itself was on solid ground here, as a similar revision had been attributed to Victor Hugo's libretto to the ‘Hunchback’ opera, in which Phoebus does, in fact, rescue Esmeralda from execution. As the studio’s ambitions to prepare ‘Hunchback’ simultaneously with another Disney project, Pocahontas (1995), even as work on the, as yet unfinished The Lion King neared completion, this triumvirate of projects put a strain on the studio’s human resources, resulting in a dearth of homegrown talent. As such, more animators were brought in from Canada and Britain, perhaps contributing the ‘Hunchback’s authentically European touches. Meanwhile, Kiran Joshi’s CGI department developed new software to accommodate the vast crowd scenes that were Hunchback’s tour de force. Discarding three original songs written by Menkin and Schwartz, Trousdale and Wise elected instead to keep the picture’s third act virtually free of any musical accompaniment to concentrate on its climactic clash of wills.

For Disney Inc., a company ostensibly meant to appeal to children, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a remarkably adult, touching upon such topics as racism, infanticide, envy, damnation and, a level of moral turpitude as yet not experienced in a Disney movie. Its strong religious slant, faithful to pre-Reformation Catholicism, also represents a break with the company’s traditions. Repeated concerns from executives regarding ‘Hunchback’s controversial religious content reached their critical impasse over some of the songs, that borrowed heavily from Latin prayers and chants. As a point of interest, ‘Hunchback’ was criticized for its emasculated and Disney-fied view of religion as both an ‘impotent’ and ‘irrelevant’ caricature. Ironically, Hugo’s novel had faced similar criticisms when it was first published in 1831. To temper the matter, a point was made to infer that although Frollo ‘represented’ a crusade against evil, the complexities of his own skewed perspective made it impossible for him to recognize it from within. And thus, Quasimodo’s hideously deformed outward appearance was erroneously made to bear the brunt of Frollo’s contempt as God’s blatant manifestation of these abominations against nature.

In tone and theme, the central narrative of the Disney version generally followed Hugo’s novel, at the outset; an undesirable – Quasimodo (voiced by Tom Hulce) sent forth into the ruthless humanity of an inhumane world, a theme, vaguely reminiscent of Walt’s own Pinocchio (1940). Because 'Hunchback' is not a fairytale, the original source material failed to provide the necessary trappings for a more straight-forward/Disney-fied translation. Nevertheless, ‘Hunchback’ remains the most technically proficient of the company’s renaissance pictures – its animation refined, its backgrounds nearing, though not surpassing, a level of artistry unseen since Sleeping Beauty (1959). The tale begins with Quasimodo, a misshapen outcast confined to the bell tower of Notre Dame by his cruel master, Frollo (Tony Jay). Quasi is befriend by a trio of mischievous stone gargoyles, Hugo (Jason Alexander), Victor (Charles Kimbrough) and Laverne (Mary Wickes) who encourage him to partake in Topsy-Turvy Day – a festival where the socially inept and disfigured are made over as an acceptable spectacle. Unfortunately for Quasi, he is found out and chained to a torture wheel in front of the cathedral for the amusement of the crowd under Frollo’s watchful eye. The gypsy girl, Esmeralda (speaking voice, Demi Moore/singing Heidi Mollenhauer) takes pity and frees him against Frollo’s direct orders, thereby forcing her to seek sanctuary inside the cathedral to avoid persecution. Frollo assigns his Captain of the Guard, Phoebus (Kevin Kline) to keep a watchful eye out and arrest Esmeralda if she tries to escape. Though Phoebus’ heart is clearly not in his work, he complies with Frollo’s edict. But Quasi knows of a secret corridor and affords Esmeralda her chance to steal away into the night.

Entrusting Quasimodo with a pendant containing a map to the gypsy camp, Esmeralda’s memory continues to haunt Frollo, who is bewitched and lusts after her. When Frollo realizes Esmeralda has escaped, he instigates a citywide manhunt. Phoebus is appalled and Frollo sentences him to death. While fleeing, Phoebus is struck by an arrow, but saved by Esmeralda, who drags him into the cathedral to heal. The gargoyles encourage Quasimodo to confess his feelings for Esmeralda. Alas, Quasi is heartbroken to discover she has already formed an attachment to the ailing Captain of the Guard. Now, Frollo sets his trap, preying upon Quasi’s conflicted emotions. He lies to the hunchback, telling him he already knows the whereabouts of the gypsy camp and has already sent a small army to vanquish them at dawn. Returning to Esmeralda and Phoebus with this news, Quasi hopes to reach the camp in time to warn the gypsies to flee, only to discover Frollo has followed him there. However, as Frollo prepares to burn Esmeralda at the stake, Quasimodo rescues her. Phoebus releases the gypsies and rallies the citizens of Paris against Frollo and his men, who are trying to break into the cathedral. Quasimodo and the gargoyles rain caldrons of molten lead from the balconies of Notre Dame onto the streets, ensuring no one will enter the cathedral. But Frollo still manages to sneak inside. In pursuing Quasimodo and Esmeralda into the bell tower, Frollo slips and plummets to his death. Accepting that Phoebus and Esmeralda are in love, Quasimodo gives them his blessing and they, support him in his desire to leave the cathedral and live in harmony with the people of Paris, who have since accepted him into their society.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a far richer and intensely wrought character study than any of the critics give it credit. The Menkin/Schwartz ballads, particularly, ‘God Help The Outcast’ and ‘Heaven’s Light’ are weighty tomes, enlightened by their gentle pop-tune structure, and neatly inserted into the action to briskly – if poignantly evolve each characterization. Better still, the artists who lend their voices here are supremely engaged in the drama of the piece, particularly Tom Hulce’s star turn as Quasimodo. Hulce’s soothing voice can express so much with just a quiet ripple or subtle intonation. He adds immense expressive touches to this deformed outcast whose soul is as towering and as pure as the heavens his character aspires to touch. This lends the picture an emotional core, few Disney animated movies of any generation possess. The animation itself is exquisite. By far, this is one of the studio’s most sumptuous offerings. And yet, The Hunchback of Notre Dame was something of a disappointment, despite its gross of $325.3 million, making it the fifth highest-grossing movie of the year. Perhaps due in part to its pre-sold expectation for a more kid-friendly romp through familiar Disney territory, Hunchback, while visually impressive, received mixed reviews. Despite Trousdale and Wise’s subtle attempts to infuse the picture with comedy, much of the action remains perilously dark, while the songs are not of the bouncy hit-tune ilk. Dramatically, the picture scores. Regrettably, theater - however skillfully attenuated to include an all-pervading sense of religious persecution, racial inequality and mob fury – is likely not what parents of younger tots had in mind.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame arrives on Blu-ray from Disney Home Video, accompanied by its direct-to-video sequel, which is not even worth mentioning. Made on the cheap, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II is 66-minutes of disposable fluff, with Quasimodo influencing a circus girl, Madeline (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who is predictably shocked by his disfigurement. The circus’ leader, Sarousch (Michael McKean) orders Madeline to pursue the bell ringer in the hopes of stealing Notre Dame’s most sacred bell. More of a calculated business venture and far less of an artistic achievement, Part II is forgettable in the extreme – just one of Disney Inc.’s cash grabs to shore up their mounting losses at the box office. Quality wise: both features are about on par. On the main feature, we get a few issues, including color banding, artifacting and aliasing, plus some added black crush during darker scenes. If all this sounds a little disheartening – relax. The image, while not perfect, is far from a disaster. In fact, colors are appropriately bold and enveloping. At times, the visuals can be quite stunning, exhibiting the crisp lines, subtle brushstrokes and textures of hand-painted backgrounds. Macro-blocking and other anomalies are kept to a bare minimum. Contrast is excellent. The DTS 5.1 audio is excellent, with precisely rendered dialogue and subtly nuanced SFX. The songs and underscore sound incredible. Extras include a very brief featurette on the original movie and a theatrical trailer. Bottom line: recommended, for the first movie only. The Blu-ray offers an adequate, though hardly exemplary viewing experience. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

4.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

3.5

EXTRAS

2.5