The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
My Favorite Bad Boy With a Purple Donut Hat Masquerading as a Priest
What an old movie from the Disney Vault, when their 1990s animated movies were going OFF, and I mean that in the best way possible. Their animators were literally working balls-to-the-walls and their stories hit every emotional beat you can dream of. Disney movies still have that same charm, but I’m absolutely biased to 2D animation and the hand-drawn style of my childhood.
Based off Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name from 1831 (which I, unfortunately, have yet to read), this movie takes a snippet of that story and adapts it into what can only be modernly described as a Disney-fied version for the big screen.
A Disney-fied version on so many steroids and so dark and hate-fueled one can’t help but wonder if the producers and writers were okay when they put the pieces of this animated classic together...
It’s my favorite.
Who is The Monster and Who is The Man?
Quasimodo, The Unlikely Hero
Quasimodo is ugly. Not to hate on the guy or anything, but Quasi even has a song where he is talking about how ugly and deformed he is with his dad Frollo (which hits a happy note halfway through as he reclaims a bit of happiness and ambition! It’s a good song. You should listen to it). Sure he has a humpback and sure his face is a misshapen clubfoot and he looks more gorilla than man, but what Quasi has is not surface level charm or beauty, but deep, emotional depth.
It’s like he’s the definition of never judging a book by its cover or peeling back an onion to see its layers.
Quasi is kind. And we’ve been over kindness before, and how it’s such a powerful and beautiful tool that we often see in classic heroes, yet seems to be the main redeeming factor for those less pleasingly endowed.
It’s not just kindness though, it’s Quasimodo’s pure intentions, his appreciation for life, his trust and faith in a world that has forsaken him, his soft-spoken and morally righteousness when his father and later the people of Paris abuse and torment him.
He is good in spite of and possibly because of his pain.
Those are scars that are hard to heal but that Quasi adds to his collection of malformations and protects nonetheless.
I think one of the most interesting things about Quasi is that he is the main character because he is the titular character and we follow his journey in the film from beginning to end— but the generic characters we canonically follow in the hero’s journey (Phoebus and Esmeralda) are also here and demand our attention.
They have an equally, perhaps more interesting, storyline compared to Quasimodo’s confinement to the bell tower and emotional rebirth, but our focus and our care is on this unlikely protagonist.
[Though Quasimodo has many dopeass scenes and an emotional journey, which is usually classified as a heroine’s journey, he toes the line because of his physical prowess and abilities as well as his emotional depth. I just love this man he’s so wholesome <3]
We see Phoebus and Esmerelda’s relationship unfold and we see the conflicts that they face through Quasimodo’s view (though it does break into a limited omniscient view when he isn’t around) but by all bells and whistles, they should be the protagonists.
More specifically Phoebus because he is handsome, blond, bold, and morally upstanding and while Esmeralda is all that and more, she is a woman and is for some reason routed to a secondary role [though I heartily disagree because she is so badass in her own way, just not our focus at the moment].
Quasi has all the characteristics of Campbell’s hero, but not the looks, and that disqualifies him from many a loving glance or adoration from those he helps. And the mentorship that he is supposed to find in his father-like figure Frollo, is tainted by the fact that this man killed his mother and has drilled into Quasi that he is a monster and unlovable.
The directors creating this made Quasimodo so lovable that I didn’t care about his features. I actually found them quite endearing, but I digress.
Quasimodo toes the line of an anti-hero because while he does have many Campbellian characteristics, his appearance is a bane to all that he tries to achieve and so on first appearance, he looks like the villain, but there is no way we can see him as one thank to the first 10 minutes of the film.
Frollo, The Monster We Never Expect
Ah yes. The bastard himself. I must say that Frollo is one of the most despicable heroes I’ve learned to love in a movie, and especially in a Disney movie.
Love is a loose way of explaining my adoration for him. It’s not coming from a place of respect or approval for his values. It’s for how well derived his character is.
Frollo is a horrid man.
Abusive, manipulative, and overall vicious and vile. He uses his faith as a crutch to push his immoral and selfish views on the people of Paris and he justifies every cruel action as rightful retribution by the will of God.
The fact that Frollo believes that he is righteous no matter what because of his religion, that he can do no harm and is impervious to mortal laws makes him scary to me. That nothing will stop him if he desires it. Is scary.
The cherry on top is his death being bestowed upon him as he quotes the Bible at Quasimodo and Esmeralda to condemn them for their sins. Smited by the power he claims to serve and instead abuses is such a beautiful finish to me.
This Hellfire song is sooo good and so violent. It seems so ridiculously out of place in a Disney film but it represents Frollo’s depraved character so well and I get chills listening to its angsty melody.
It perfectly explains how fucked up Frollo is because he lusts after Esmeralda, refuses to acknowledge it because he is a man of God, and ends the entire cacophony with a call to his superior being: “God help them all.”
Not himself. He doesn’t need saving, he is beyond saving. But the other fools less fortunate than him for not having his values or sharing his beliefs.
It feels so right for his demise to come from a power that he obviously abused for personal gain.
It is so satisfying when irredeemable characters are served their just desserts. They have proven, time and again, that they are terrible and that they cannot nor do they want to be saved. I like to think that people deserve second chances, but to see a terrible person suffer (in a sense) and to have that which they do unto others done unto themselves? Catharsis.
I love a character like Frollo in fiction. They make for devious and complex characters and they make the story richer with their darkness and innate belief that they are doing the right thing. As selfish and self-serving as it is, they create amazing stories.
Having characters like Frollo in real life is scarier than anything because we know. We know that they believe, through the will of whatever god they believe in, that they are right.
That they are saving other less fortunate souls than themselves.
People like Frollo are real and they hurt others without realizing or acknowledging that they are hurting others.
They can be people in power.
They can be people who follow religion.
They could be all of the above or none of the above, but there will always be people who don’t care about you.
It would be nice to have a higher power come down and save us from people like Frollo, that pivotal moment where everything going wrong, suddenly goes right.
We really can’t wait for that in America.
Not when guns have more rights than women and the highest court in the country is not acting in accordance with the will of the majority.
Don’t be discouraged, don’t be scared. I’m scared too.
Take a moment to ground yourself. Maybe find a community to share your pain and find camaraderie with. But please don’t give up.
It would be nice to have a happy ending, but it seems like we have some character development to go through :)
Shall we?
I like your captions. An etomoligical dive into Quasimodo's name maybe interesting.
Very cool Shay! Makes me want to watch it. I can’t believe I haven’t.