"Although one of the most peculiar choices for a Disney feature, Hunchback works amazingly well. Stunning animation and cinematography as well as a haunting Latin score make this the big, dramatic epic it should be. Not even the comedy relief spoils it, and the film as a whole is one of the studio's riskiest yet most powerful features."

"Victor Hugo's novel may seem an unlikely source for a Disney animated feature, but the film is beautiful and the story is very touching. One of the drakest Disney films, The Hunchback of Notre Dame features one of the best Disney villains and some of the most magnificent animation. The complexities of all of the characters is what drives the story. Each of the men long for Esmerelda in their own way be it romantic love, schoolboy crush, or lust. Frollo's ways of justifying his actions are the prefect example of a misguided soul who does the work of the devil while thinking of himself as divine."

"'You're a surprising person, Quasimodo,' utters Esmeralda, and indeed he is, and so is his movie. Anyone who has watched and absorbed The Hunchback of Notre Dame knows that it is a beautiful story about taking risks and living life, living in the moment and appreciating the simple things. A story that teaches us that it is not what is on the outside that counts it is what inside. Hunchback, for better or worse, shocked many viewers at how 'adult' it was in tone. Disney really dared to be bold and different with this one, while at the same time upholding the traditional values found in Snow White on. Brimming with beautiful songs ("Out There" and "God Help My People", to name two), phenomenal animation, and one of Disney's most emotional opening sequences to date, Hunchback is also noteworthy for featuring one of Disney's most evil villains, the all-too-human and yet inhumane Judge Claude Frollo."

12/4/03