An opening sequence zooms in on the cathedral of Notre Dame, glowering over the rustic houses of 19th century Paris while a chorus sings Latin to glorious heights. At its steps a gypsy puppeteer narrates the prologue of our story where a man riding a black steed murders a woman in cold blood on the steps of the church for being a gypsy. He takes her goods and finds it is nothing more than a baby, hideously misshapen. A snowy well provides him an answer to this biological mistake, but at the last moment a priest saves the child. The rider fears for his soul and agrees to raise the child as his own. There has never been a darker or more powerful scene in Disney's history and this opening certainly reveals that the film will be a departure to deeper and uglier paths.
Disney's Second Golden Age heralded in great loves like "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King", all of which stem in one way or another from darker source material made accessible for children. Never, though, has the studio decided to take on something as dark, sexual or with such blatant religious themes as "Hunchback". Victor Hugo's novel of the deformed bell ringer of Paris's most beloved church is brought to malevolently vivid life in one of the most underrated films of this prolific age.
Raised in a bell tower under the guardianship of one of the most hideous of all cartoon villains, Archdeacon Claude Frollo, the monstrous-looking Quasimodo has lived his life in solitude. A lack of companionship has led him to hallucinating friendships with three gargoyles, but this isolation has not made him bitter. Always told he was an abomination by his "savior", Quasimodo both fears and is strangely attracted to the outside world, until rule breaking and a devastating scene of humiliation and cruelty brings him into contact with the beautiful gypsy girl, Esmeralda.
Esmeralda slights Frollo, who also heads the Palace the Justice, as a neglectful and corrupt individual who dismisses those who need him most. Angered by her insolence as well as conflicted by lust and God over this gypsy, Frollo heads a campaign to eradicate the girl and her people. Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Frollo's Captain of the Guard, Phoebus, must combat his tyranny.
As a child this was one of my favorite animated films, though I did not recognize any of the significant themes that paint a dark and sinister portrait of Paris. I was, however, drawn to this figure of Frollo, a symbol of power, draped in black with a quest to make his city beautiful. Now I watch him singing into a pit of fire while the flames dance a seductive dance as he feels the sting of impure thoughts. Hugo's God and Frollo's God are two different entities and this image of a man who has so wrongfully misinterpreted the word of God that he would try to eradicate an entire people because of his lust is stirring and unsettling.
There is something profoundly troubling about this film and it is simply because the happiness of the film is forced. There is comedy, but it fits so unpleasantly that it comes as something of a distraction from what otherwise is a distressing tale of an outsider not finding his place in the world, a love affair that was never meant to be, and intolerance, corruption, and the ability of men to see fault everywhere but within themselves. Phoebus and the gargoyles, who provide the comic relief, are a necessity for Disney who always give a colorful supporting cast of characters, but it is something like placing a bow around the neck of a tiger and expecting it now to be friendly. What this film deals with is extraordinarily upsetting with grand images, thunderous music and flawed characters with many more layers than could be explored in 90 minutes.
This was certainly a gamble for Disney as there are no talking animals and all of the musical numbers seem to end in tragedy, but the rewards of it are abundant. It is obvious that this is something not meant for children--a hulking, deformed man with a good heart who does not get what he wants in the end is certainly different than most other cartoons--but its messages about friendship in the face of adversity is something worth seeing.
Yes, the film is dramatically uneven, but that goes with the territory. However, it has stunning animation, beautiful music and is intellectually far more stimulating that 98% of movies that come out ever. I attribute this to Hugo's narrative and the incredibly detailed way that he creates characters, but it is a wonderful thing that Disney decided not to do something easy and instead create a wonderful masterpiece with a core of light in indelible blackness.
4/4
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