The Hunchback of Notre Dame Discussion

[Scarred4life]

One scene that I always found chilling was when Phoebus first meets Frollo, and the guard is torturing a person. And how Frollo teaches the guard how to make it more painful.

[nachonaco]

Frollo is one of my favorite Disney villains, and I actually loosely based a villain in my novel on him. Without the lusting, though, although he does take in a child through less-than-legal means. The only difference is Frollo either abuses or neglects Quasi, whereas my character trains his 'heir' to be an assassin.

[IagoZazu]

One scene that I always found chilling was when Phoebus first meets Frollo, and the guard is torturing a person. And how Frollo teaches the guard how to make it more painful.

That prisoner who was being whipped was the captain of the guard before Phoebus. Frollo said said that he was a disappointment, and then he smirks when the prisoner's whipped again. That's when he really shows his real evil self.

I also thought it was disturbing when he compared Gypsies to bettles, and then he smashed the bettles with a stone to show how much he wanted to crush the Gypsies.

[Sotiris]

I also thought it was disturbing when he compared Gypsies to bettles, and then he smashed the bettles with a stone to show how much he wanted to crush the Gypsies.

It was ants actually and not beetles.

[REINIER]

One scene that I always found chilling was when Phoebus first meets Frollo, and the guard is torturing a person. And how Frollo teaches the guard how to make it more painful.

I know what you mean..

the words are still engraved in my mind:

Frollo to the guard: ''Wait between lashes, otherwise the old sting will dull him to the new!''

Pretty dark stuff for a disney flick

[IagoZazu]

I also thought it was disturbing when he compared Gypsies to bettles, and then he smashed the bettles with a stone to show how much he wanted to crush the Gypsies.

It was ants actually and not beattles.

Well, it's been several months since I saw it, but you get the picture. And I had a bad feeling I misspelled that! The spell check on my Microsoft Word thought it was just fine!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Bumpity:

So, on Best Buy's website, THoNDD is on sale for $6.99 and I was wondering, since I still don't have it, if I should purchase it. I mean, I still only have it on VHS and I would love to have this film on (at least) DVD or Blu-ray. It's one of my favorites and I was wondering if it was the right choice to purchase it knowing that we have no clue whether or not it's going to be re-released anytime soon. Thanks!

[KubrickFan]

Bumpity:

So, on Best Buy's website, THoNDD is on sale for $6.99 and I was wondering, since I still don't have it, if I should purchase it. I mean, I still only have it on VHS and I would love to have this film on (at least) DVD or Blu-ray. It's one of my favorites and I was wondering if it was the right choice to purchase it knowing that we have no clue whether or not it's going to be re-released anytime soon. Thanks!

Like you say yourself, there's no news on whether Disney will re-release it. The company's incredibly slow with releasing catalog titles on Blu, and Hunchback wasn't exactly the most popular one of the bunch, so if I were you, I'd buy the DVD. 7 bucks isn't a lot.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

^ I bought it from BestBuy.com a couple days ago and it shipped yesterday so I should get it within the week or maybe early next week. I agree with with what you (and I guess, I) said. We don't know what's going to happen with it and I eventually got it for $10, so I just went ahead and got it. I've definitely needed it in my DVD collection and my VHS is getting worn down.

[VagueSimplicity]

I love this movie so much. I've been watching it all this week to absorb all of it's awesome qualities. But there are a few aspects I dislike about this movie:

-The first is the Esmerelda/Phoebus relationship looking past what happened in the source material and the awful DTV sequel (where he does find love). Sure, Phoebus is heroic, handsome and just, but he's very cocky, imo. It's off-putting for me to see Esmerelda fall for someone his type. In my opinion, she's too clever, independent, and down-to-earth for him. It's not that I dislike Phoebus, though that I was saddened by this. It's more because I thought she was really falling for Quasi after he helped her escape Notre Dame and she planted that kiss on him and asked him to run away with her to the Court of Miracles. Just the way she looked at him looked like love. When she called him "My friend..." later was just sad and awkward. Plus, I felt like they both had a bond since they were both of Gypsy heritage.

-"A Guy Like You"; the song had too many anachronisms to be taken seriously. Aladdin had a much more subtle way with this aspect, mainly due to the straightforward wackiness from the beginning, but Hunchback was glaringly obvious with the poker table, the barbershop setting, tuxedos, and the piano in contrast to the dark and serious setting in the beginning. It was awkward to see Quasi tear the Ace of Hearts card when he witnessed Esmerelda's kiss with Phoebus. It made the metaphor all the more unbearable, since card games weren't invented then. As far as I know, he wouldn't have had the card to begin with. Some anachronisms worked very well. Well, one in particular. I love the reference to The Wizard of Oz during the climax of the movie. Always makes laugh. Which brings me to my next point.

-How the gargoyles made the climax feel anti-climactic. Comic relief is great, but it was obviously trying to recreate the Snake Jafar scene from Aladdin with the gargoyles helping in the fight. It felt silly in contrast to the seriousness of Frollo's evil and overall mood of the music.

None of this detracts from the overall experience of this movie for me. It's probably in my top ten Disney movies, because of how Disney it is and how Disney it isn't. Hellfire is my most favorite moment in any Disney movie and Esmerelda is one of my favorite Disney characters ever. She beats out all the Disney Princesses imo.

[estefan]

Yeah, I agree with a lot of your points.

- I don't have a problem with Esmeralda falling for Pheobus. I mean, that's to be somewhat expected from Disney and I don't find him as cocky as you, but there are a couple of lines of his that I felt needed a re-write. That "It means sun god" line never fails to make me cringe. I mean, what prompts him to say something like that? I understand it's meant to be a joke as evident by Esmeralda rolling her eyes, but still. Also, I think part of what Esmeralda seems in him is that he's the one soldier who doesn't just follow orders and actually aids the gypsies. Or she has a thing for goaties, lol.

- The song isn't bad to listen to on the soundtrack, but in the context of the film, it doesn't work, I agree. Not just because of the modern-day references planted in (after all, unlike the Genie, I don't think they can magically bring in things from the future), but it very quickly follows and precedes some major dramatic and dark moments. It distracts from the flow of the film. Again, nice song, but I agree with you. A similar scene I hate even more is when Esmeralda and Quasimodo are talking on the roof-top and then it randomly cuts to the Gargoyles making a silly joke about mis-understanding the conversation. It ruins what's a really nice scene.

- Again agreed. I know Trousdale and Wise have said they are part of Quasimodo's subconscious, but a couple of scenes contradict that: The bit with Hugo trying to kiss the goat as well as the whole end battle where they're throwing things at the guards.

But, yeah, Hunchback is great, but it did need a couple of re-written lines and just do a whole change-up in the Gargoyles. I understand why they're there, it's just they weren't all that funny, in my opinion.

[Margos]

You know what I've always wondered? Quasi is a gypsy, right? Well, every other gyspy in the movie is dark-skinned with dark hair. Why the heck is he a pale red-headed guy? Where on earth did those genes come from?

And no, don't tell me he's an albino gypsy, since he doesn't have pink eyes or white hair. But it would be interesting.

[Renren]

This is one of my favourite Disney movies. I have it on VHS but was wondering if they have the 2 disc version released yet? Or if there will ever be one?

[Atlantica]

You know what I've always wondered? Quasi is a gypsy, right? Well, every other gyspy in the movie is dark-skinned with dark hair. Why the heck is he a pale red-headed guy? Where on earth did those genes come from?

And no, don't tell me he's an albino gypsy, since he doesn't have pink eyes or white hair. But it would be interesting.

Maybe his mum had a fling with a pale, red haired guy ? And his genes were stronger, thus creating Quasi's colouring ?

[Renren]

You know what I've always wondered? Quasi is a gypsy, right? Well, every other gyspy in the movie is dark-skinned with dark hair. Why the heck is he a pale red-headed guy? Where on earth did those genes come from?

And no, don't tell me he's an albino gypsy, since he doesn't have pink eyes or white hair. But it would be interesting.

I think he's pale because he's been indoors all his life but I don't know about his red hair.

[Super Aurora]

You know what I've always wondered? Quasi is a gypsy, right? Well, every other gyspy in the movie is dark-skinned with dark hair. Why the heck is he a pale red-headed guy? Where on earth did those genes come from?

And no, don't tell me he's an albino gypsy, since he doesn't have pink eyes or white hair. But it would be interesting.

Maybe his mum had a fling with a pale, red haired guy ? And his genes were stronger, thus creating Quasi's colouring ?

except that black hair and darker skin is the more dominate gene trait.

[Atlantica]

I was being facetious Super Aurora.

[disneyboy20022]

I think Quasi has more of a Brown and red mix in his hair....like...Mahoganny or Auburn



Also I found this image of a Disney Pin I just had to post

[Goliath]

[...] I don't find him as cocky as you, but there are a couple of lines of his that I felt needed a re-write. That "It means sun god" line never fails to make me cringe. I mean, what prompts him to say something like that? I understand it's meant to be a joke as evident by Esmeralda rolling her eyes, but still.

I think it's just something he says because he's nervous; he doesn't know what else to say. He tries to hide his nervousness by making a joke, but because he's so nervous, it becomes a very lame joke. That's what beautiful women do with men --making them look like dorks.

And why didn't Esmeralda end up with Quasimodo? Well, I admit *anything* can happen in a Disney film, but having her fall in love with Quasimodo would be unrealistic and unbelievable, even to Disney standards.

[Scarred4life]

^ I completely agree with you. Having them fall in love is too perfect, and very unrealistic. If they had fallen in love, I don't think I would like the film half as much as I do now. It makes the ending bittersweet, and I adore that about this film. That is one thing I would not change about this film.

You know what I've always wondered? Quasi is a gypsy, right? Well, every other gyspy in the movie is dark-skinned with dark hair. Why the heck is he a pale red-headed guy? Where on earth did those genes come from?

And no, don't tell me he's an albino gypsy, since he doesn't have pink eyes or white hair. But it would be interesting.

I've wondered that too. I was always under the impression that the gypsy was Quasi's adoptive mother, and that explains why the two men (assuming one of them was the mothers husband) didn't care about Quasi ('Shut him up will you' 'We'll be spotted').