THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
A film review by Lewis Butler
Copyright 1995 Lewis Butler
In Short: A suprisingly passable Disney movie, quite a bit
better than THE LION KING although the music is just as poor,
if not worse. Not a simple memorable song, again. Still, a
darker Disney than we've seen in many years, and some truly
outstanding animation. +1 on the -4/+4 (A solid 0 in comparison
to other Disney animated films).
I haqve to vent a little here, so go ahead an skip this paragraph if you think all cartoons should be rated G, no matter what. THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME starts with the murder of Quasimoto's mother on the steps of Notre Dame. This murder is quite visual (not like the distant shot in Bambi) and quite obvious. This movie should have been rated PG, and a solid PG. This is not the only time THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME shows a violent streak, but it is the first, and it would have quite an impact on any child much under 8. If this movie had been live-action, with identical shots, it would have been rated PG-13. Now, I'm not saying it should have been rated PG-13, but a PG rating would have been appropriate in this case.
Now, as for the film. The voice talents are good. Even Demi Moore, who I was worried about, performed well. The story is quite faithful to the other movie versions, up until the last five minutes. There is some wonderfully done computer animation of the crowds and some flocks of birds. As I said, the music is there, but not memorable in anyway.
There is one interesting shot where Quasimoto is singing from the roof of Notre Dame, leaning over a gargoyle. The scene reminded me so much of a similar shot from AN AMERICAN TAIL that I'm convinced the hunchback was singing "Somwehre out there."
The brightest spot of the movie, I think, was Jason Alexander as the voice of one of the Gargoyles. His gargoyle is something like a cross between the "Crazy Eddie" in LION KING and his Duckman persona from the USA cable show.
Obligatory "Disney is racist" comment: If Quasi is a gypsy and all the gypsies in the movie are shown with dark skin, why is Q so fair?
Minor Spoilers
The ending of the movie could have easily destroyed whatever there was to appreciate in this film, but it manages not to, somehow. Despite the happy hollywood ending, it doesn't get too smarmy. Yes, Quasimoto lives, this is a Disney movie after all, what did you expect? Still, the movie makes it mostly work.
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