"What makes a monster and what makes a man..."      

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (G) 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (if you hadn't figured it out) is Disney's adaption of Victor Hugo's classic novel.  No, the rating is not an error...that's 3 1/2 stars for this movie.  Just as I started to think Disney could "do no wrong" with it's animated feature films of late, along comes a film so strangely out of balance that...hmmmm...

I do give Disney credit for its attempt to use Hunchback as source material for an animated film, but this may also be the main source of the film's weakness.  Okay, I'm not a literary expert; however, I did read Victor Hugo's novel, and what I remember were very strong themes of isolation, loneliness, anger, struggle, and pain.  Hugo's serious treatment of these subjects were what made Hunchback so powerful a story.  What happens when this is Disney-ized? Throw a few musical numbers here, add a few talking gargoyles there, and voila!  

With Hunchback, Disney tackles a very "adult" story, yet doesn't quite dare to give it an adult treatment. The result is a story that at several places begins to delve into the darker Hugo themes, and then has to pull back because, after all, this is "a kid's movie."  When things start to get serious, throw in a joke or a song, and then move on...  

This film probably would've been better as a made-for-adults movie, but that's just a personal opinion. As it is, the animation (particularly the crowd animation) is spectacular.  Hats off once again to the animation team at Disney.  Oh, everyone keeps asking what I thought of Demi Moore as Esmerelda.   Believe it or not, I'm not one of the growing legions of Demi Moore bashers out there, but I didn't like her voice in this film.  

IMPRESSIONS

Hey: what's Disney gonna animate next?  War and Peace?

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing, folks!

GTY gives this movie  stars: "alright! hond rulz!" (2/27/01)

Randy gives this movie  stars: "Having just read the novel this summer, I can day without hesitation that the movie falls way short of the novel. In the novel the two main characters die! How could Disney ignore this fact? A great piece of liternature deserves more respect. What next, Romeo and Juliet have a few children." (8/28/00)

rfksecond2@cs.com gives this movie  stars: "Not bad, but fails in comparison to Disneys best." (8/8/00)

maryg-1@msn.com gives this movie  stars: "It's a great movie. All Disney movies are. I thought that the music was great. Especially the song "children of God"" (10/22/99)

cus55@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars. (7/3/98)

emeliefriberg@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "If it was possible, I would like to give this movie 38 stars!! I cried for half an hour when I first saw it... I love you Quasimodo!" (6/12/98)

ddenny@adams.net gives this movie  stars: "The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the coolist movie I have ever seen. The actors do a great job of doing the voices. I don't care what anyone eles says, all Disney movies are cool. This movie inspired me so much that I now own 3 other movies made of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and I check out books from the libery about it all the time. This movie rules!" (6/7/98)

David gives this movie  stars: "A good story as well as some good characters but does not live up to Disney standards of great animation, great music and plain old fun. Quite disappointing!" (1/24/98)

SW gives this movie  stars: "I must say being a Complete Victor Hugo freak that when I found out that Disney was going to do a movie version of it I went into complete shock!! I though it was OK it was Disney more then Hugo but the Disney part was cute. Very much watered down but cute. Hey what is the world's absession with musicalizing Hugo. Disney is the 6th to attempt it. I will only add Les Mis rules!!!" (9/9/97)

cchil4cd@mwc.gwmwc.edu gives this movie  stars: "This movie was excellent...the themes were dark and gothic and wonderful. It got a PG13 rating for a reason, and if parents had a problem, they shouldn't have taken their children...go, Disney! By all means, animate War and Peace!" (1/5/97)