The Hunchback of Notre Dame Discussion

[Lady Cluck]

It's easy to say that as an adult, but this is Disney so you can't really expect that. It's still much darker than most Disney movies even with the odd placing of humor. Everything I've heard suggests the corporate types forced a lot of it :/

But still there are some very serious scenes without any humor. The Bells of Notre Dame sequence (which is quite long and intense), Hellfire, and this scene are three of my favorite movie scenes in general, not just Disney

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtdbyugYO7A[/youtube]

[Jay]

Hot Topic released a shirt with Esmeralda and Quasimodo on it. My jaw dropped when I saw it haha.

http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/PopCul ... 179053.jsp

[DC Fan]

I´m not mentioning The Lion King as Disney´s masterpiece. But take out Timon and Pumbaa and it is a very serious and dramatic film.

There you have Scar killing Mufasa on screen, ordering the hyenas to kill Simba (a child), when the hyenas take over and time passes by you get a sense of how awful that reign must have been, Simba´s childhood taken from him because of his exile...So yes, you don´t have to love the movie but there´s no denying the whole themes touched on it; never before seen on a Disney movie.

I didn´t stop to think about Clopin on Hunchback but it is true that he should have been the only comic relief. Not just because he was human but he´s a JESTER that´s supposed to be his thing.

Still, I believe had Disney believed in the movie as it was would have been a much better movie and one that people would remember and not one of the ones forgotten.

[Disney's Divinity]

The gargoyles are obnoxious but not quite as awful as their reputation. They're easy to ignore and the rest of the movie is fantastic.

I disagree. I have no love for Timon and Pumbaa, but the gargoyles are at least three times worse than they are and their notoriety is very much deserved. Not that the rest of the movie is as glorious and transcendent as people make it out to be either. I'd rank its villain and soundtrack higher, but The Lion King is the better film.

[ProfessorRatigan]

I have no love for Timon and Pumbaa, but the gargoyles are at least three times worse than they are and their notoriety is very much deserved. Not that the rest of the movie is as glorious and transcendent as people make it out to be either. I'd rank its villain and soundtrack higher, but The Lion King is the better film.

I couldn't disagree more.

[thedisneyspirit]

Honestly i'd find it impossible to make a Hunchback film with an all-ages audience in mind without changing drastically the book. It's a story I would never find suitable for younger audiences to show properly.

It's no wonder then people usually found this movie bizarre as kids and then as they grew up they love it.

[ProfessorRatigan]

Honestly i'd find it impossible to make a Hunchback film with an all-ages audience in mind without changing drastically the book. It's a story I would never find suitable for younger audiences to show properly.

It's no wonder then people usually found this movie bizarre as kids and then as they grew up they love it.

I loved it even as a kid. But, I wasn't sheltered by my parents from anything. I was allowed to watch anything I wanted, and, even as young as two, I was into horror films and dark things like that. Because my parents were very good at explaining the concept of fiction, from an early age, I was able to realize that films were just 'pretend.' And I happened to be drawn to the darker things. Which probably explains why I loved Hunchback so much. Even then, stuff like Batman Returns, the Universal Monster films, the Chucky movies, all of that, was stuff that I was VERY hip to. Silence of the Lambs, Night of the Hunter, the work of Cormac McCarthy, Francis Bacon (the painter), and, yes, even the Disney features all really touch me in that they can mix darkness and despair with emotionality and feeling. (At least, for me.) And no Disney movie makes me, personally, FEEL as much as Hunchback does. Only Beauty and the Beast comes close. And then Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Bambi follow. But none as much as Hunchback.

I've read the Hugo novel. And, blasphemy though it may be to say, I find the Disney version the superior telling of the story. Hugo's primary concern in the NOVEL is the architecture of the church itself. The characters/story all come secondary to his true purpose, which was to get people CARING about medieval architecture again because, at the time of his writing the novel, there was considerable debate whether demolishing or replacing medieval structures was a good thing or a bad thing. Hugo rejuvenated public interest Notre-Dame, one could argue. And that was his end-game with that book. Hell, the title in the original French is Notre-Dame de Paris, NOT The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. That should give an indication of where Hugo's interest lay. So, the Hugo-philes who cry bloody murder about Disney, well, Disney-fying the proceedings, I say are missing the point. Even Hugo HIMSELF gave the book a radically happier ending when he adapted it into an Opera in 1836. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Esmeralda_%28opera%29)

[DC Fan]

Honestly i'd find it impossible to make a Hunchback film with an all-ages audience in mind without changing drastically the book. It's a story I would never find suitable for younger audiences to show properly.

It's no wonder then people usually found this movie bizarre as kids and then as they grew up they love it.

There you go. It´s not a family friendly movie. As such, they should have kept it as the adult film it was.

By the way, I find it funny that Hunchback got a G rating however Altantis got a PG one. Why? So, a couple of action sequences are enough raise the rating but a movie that deals with lust, religious fanaticism, prejudice, xenophobe and murder is not worth PG?

[Lady Cluck]

There you go. It´s not a family friendly movie. As such, they should have kept it as the adult film it was.

By the way, I find it funny that Hunchback got a G rating however Altantis got a PG one. Why? So, a couple of action sequences are enough raise the rating but a movie that deals with lust, religious fanaticism, prejudice, xenophobe and murder is not worth PG?

You're focusing on the negative, but I always was impressed by how they adult they actually managed to keep it. I'd say it was pretty daring for Disney to keep a lot of those very mature themes you mentioned in the story. Throwing in some humor may ruin the mood for some people, but it doesn't mean they completely whitewashed the story for a kiddie film (other than not having everyone die at the end ).

They probably went as far as they could go, and I don't think Disney would make a "Hunchback" today. Animation by major studios is too competitive and corporate to take risks like that, unfortunately.

It definitely deserved a PG rating.

[The_Iceflash]

I think hatred for the sidekicks is grossly overdone. 99% of the criticism toward them is exaggerated and misguided. Although the "hero" may be portrayed as an outcast who we want to see triumph, and is who we root for, the sidekicks are the true outcasts and represent how many of us, who may have felt like outcasts in school, were looked at. Many of us were that one who was viewed as "annoying", "awkward", and "always in the way". But bottom line, sidekicks help the heroes succeed and for that reason among others, there is nothing wrong with them.

Here is also another purpose the sidekicks serve and proves they aren't an insignificant and unimportant part of a Disney film:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/magaz ... isney.html


Then there's the kids vs adult garbage. Somehow the sidekicks make a movie for children and without them they are suddenly for adults and thus better. Right... As if being an adult oriented movie suddenly makes it better. After watching the Hunchback Blu-ray after not watching it fully since the VHS era, the Gargoyles are NOT an in the way, obtrusive, over-the-top annoying eye sore that some would like us to believe they are. I was expecting after watching it with fresh eyes to walk away hating the Gargoyles. I instead walked away viewing the criticism as grossly exaggerated. Their humor wasn't even misplaced like I was expecting it to be. The same goes for Timon and Pumba. Timon and Pumba in the Lion King don't hog the film like some would like us to believe they do. I guess for someone who hates Timon and Pumba and the Gargoyles would find any amount of them in the film to be too much. Then we have the people who don't like any humor with their "SUPERSEROUS111" films. A sad and misguided notion. It is sad and disgusting that the sidekicks are hated and criticized and in such a cliche way.

[DisneyFan09]

I consider "The Lion King" to blend humor and drama better than "Hunchback". While some of the humor in "TLK" can be grating sometimes, it's still better executed and balanced than the humor in "Hunchback".

[unprincess]

I only didnt mind Laverne, cuz I thought she worked well as a replacement mother figure...

I remember sometime right after Aladdin came out I picked up one of those animation industry mags at a bookstore & reading about how Disney was planning Hunchback as their next animated film. I was really surprised as I just couldnt see how such dark material could fit their usual style. But at the same time I thought it was very daring of them.

I cant believe how much things have changed. Today no Hollywood animation studio would dare touch a story like Hunchback. I miss the 90's...

[Disney's Divinity]

I think hatred for the sidekicks is grossly overdone. 99% of the criticism toward them is exaggerated and misguided. Although the "hero" may be portrayed as an outcast who we want to see triumph, and is who we root for, the sidekicks are the true outcasts and represent how many of us, who may have felt like outcasts in school, were looked at. Many of us were that one who was viewed as "annoying", "awkward", and "always in the way". But bottom line, sidekicks help the heroes succeed and for that reason among others, there is nothing wrong with them.

Here is also another purpose the sidekicks serve and proves they aren't an insignificant and unimportant part of a Disney film:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/magaz ... isney.html

I've read that article and it is very nice, but it doesn't change the fact that some sidekicks--like the gargoyles--are intrusive and not funny while doing so. I have nothing against sidekicks in theory, as long as they serve as real characters. The sidekicks from Aladdin and B&tB, for instance, all work very well; the Genie is even intrusive like the Gargoyles, but, unlike them, he actually serves a story purpose and is funny. Other examples of good "sidekicks": Ray from TP&TF, Sebastian from TLM, Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio, Timothy from Dumbo, Thumper from Bambi, etc. etc. (even if some of those characters came around before the idea of "sidekicks") Comparing the gargoyles to any of these characters only shows how lackluster they are. In theory, they could have worked, but they are what they are in the finished film and they don't (similar to Louis in TP&TF, who could've worked, but doesn't). Meeko, Percy and Flit from Pocahontas, Maximus and that-lizard-I-forget-his-name from Tangled, and Olaf and Sven from Frozen similarly feel hamfisted into the film for no real reason, but at least they don't feel nearly as intrusive and/or are occasionally funny.

I don't think humor derides a "serious" film. To me, I think humorous moments make the serious moments more effective. Overly serious movies mostly just end up dreary, imo.

[DisneyFan09]

I only didnt mind Laverne, cuz I thought she worked well as a replacement mother figure...

I agree. Laverne doesn't get enough credit. I think she had the most purpose of the Gargoyles and was a semi-version of Grandmother Willow.

I cant believe how much things have changed. Today no Hollywood animation studio would dare touch a story like Hunchback. I miss the 90's...

So do I.

[JeanGreyForever]

https://screenrant.com/disney-hunchback ... dral-fire/

Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame is currently the most popular streamed content in the world on major streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and DirecTV. The news comes to us courtesy of KNNP-TV (via CBR), who reveal that Disney’s animated hit is now experiencing an increase of 306 percent in streaming.

I'm sure everybody's heard about the tragic incident that occurred with Notre Dame earlier this week. The one silver lining is that there's been a resurgence of public interest in the original story and especially the Disney film.

Like the article says, I'm just glad that the film is getting more attention now since I've always felt it should be regarded as highly as the other major Disney films like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Wonder if Disney will speed up production on the live-action remake in the hopes of capitalizing on this heightened exposure or even consider more productions of the musical in other countries.

[Disney Duster]

Out of the bad news, that is all good news. This film deserves the attention and new status!

[Vlad]

On Monday night, when the incident took place, I learned about it on Facebook. At first, I thought it was a terrorist act, like the World Trade Center on 9/11. I had the chance to see the cathedral live several times, and I was really heartbroken to see it in flames like that. At one point, CNN said there was a possibility the whole building might go down, and I was watching the TV, waiting for the inevitable, but then came the good news that it’s safe. I’m really happy to see that people from all around the world want to help with the restoration. It’s really touching.

Now, about the Disney film, I watched it last night. It’s been a while since I watched it, and I completely forgot how brilliant it is. I never found the gargoyles to be annoying, and I think their inclusion in the film is a good idea, since they provide lots of comic relief, and they tone down the most intense scenes (for example, A Guy Like You, during the burning of Paris scenes). The music is awesome. The score never ceases to amaze me.

[thedisneyspirit]

I knew of somebody who hated the film and would go on rants and tantrums about saying how overrated it was compared to other Disney films and deserved to be forgotten and such. Hated when Esmeralda was suggested to join the princess line.

I figure this news will lead to another tantrum.

[Jules]

^^

I suggest you steer clear of this guy for a while.

[Disney's Divinity]

A shame the live-action film hadn't been made before this happened (if it was going to happen), since they might've filmed more of the cathedral to be preserved on film. But I'm sure there are many photographs and films of the cathedral out there already though.