When I first watched this film as a child the adult themes went over my head including Frollo lusting over Esmerelda. And as Jewish kid, I honestly knew little about the inner workings of the Catholic Church and had to ask my father what it means when someone “claims sanctuary”. Speaking of my own religious upbringing, I distinctly remember watching “The Diary of Anne Frank” around the same time as this movie and in both I saw themes of people letting pride become their downfall and justifying terrible actions by ideal intentions: Frollo wanting to purge Paris of the gypsies and consequently the Nazis wanting to purge Jews from their countries.

That being said, I’ve mentally compared this film to “Prince of Egypt” as one of the few animated films that dares to found itself upon religion. “PoE” is also an epic film with spectacular music but I think it does better as a film overall than “Hunchback” because “PoE” has a few comic moments but overall stays focused and grounded in a serious (yet beautiful) story.

Regarding Frollo, he’s certainly not a Disney villain you can market with a lot of merchandise. But I say he’s one of the best villains for being just a man, not a god or a sorcerer, with righteous intentions he twists into cruel lustful actions. I remember Mason photoshopped Frollo holding a red lightsaber instead of a sword which is *amazing* taking into the legacy of Sith lords.

And you’re right, indeed. I got to listen to it yesterday, and that was really, really good… even if i am quite less positive than you with the movie. Yep, i find that tonal schizophrenia too damaging even for the theoretically strong parts. Besides, for a movie that wants to be more complex than the usual Disney flick (as if The Lion King wasn’t complex and layered), it doubles down in the saccharine with its managing of the main character’s goodness. Once I read somewhere a comment about Aladar from Dinosaur: a Mickey-Donald hero is fine, but a Mickey-Mickey hero is just too much. I think it applies to Quasimodo too, even to Phoebus. You don’t have to read Victor Hugo’s novel (and I have!) to find his concern for “that poor people” completely unrealistic. It’s like if, in order to balance the darker parts, Disney had pulled up to eleven the sugary department. Had been just like its masterful opening all along, this movie would stand as one of the best in the Disney canon. Instead of that, it’s one of the weakest…

And you didn’t mention the MOST important thing in this movie! With its terrible end credits song, this movie marks the end of the pop ballad era and the beginning of the boy band era. Two movies, if memory serves, but too many anyway. (I think UK has its own version with female vocals, i’m not sure)

Again, congrats for the show. I’ll be there for… oh God, Thumbelina.

I think you’ll be happy with this episode. I really think it was one of our best discussions in a long time. We’ve restructured how we have our discussions and it’s leading to much better final product.

Haha, we need a “hair and bod” face off with her and Maui!

Good times! Thanks for your continued support!

Thank you for your insight!

Anyways, I really like this movie, and I’d rank it within my top 20 favorite WDAS films. This film has incredible music, amazing visuals, and awesome characters–except the gargoyles obviously. Like Morgan said, I don’t thing the gargoyles fit tonally within this movie. I give Hunchback 4 stars. If the gargoyles were cut out, it would be a 4.5 or even 5 star movie in my opinion.

A note about the musical. I saw it Paper Mill Playhouse (I think you screwed up the name in the episode, haha). While the music was SPECTACULAR (including a giant chorus on stage), the show itself just…wasn’t great. There were some superb performances (most notably Patrick Page reprising his role of Frollo and Michael Arden’s gorgeously acted Quasimodo) and I loved how the darker and more complicated aspects of the novel were reinstated, but the libretto (script) was all over the place, including some awkward direct address narration by the characters that was plucked from what seemed like a weird translation of the novel. Like they’d turn to the audience and say something along the lines of “Quasimodo climbed to the bell tower.” Then we’d literally see him climb to the bell tower. Ugh. For how well-paced the film is, the show was not…a real clunker. And I’ve ***heard*** the writers were stubborn about making changes to the show that could have made it better and ultimately hindered it’s critical success and potential move to NYC. That said, Disney is going to make oodles of money licensing this show to theaters around the country so I’m sure many people will be able to catch it somewhere. It’s super flawed but overall really cool to see this gorgeous music live on stage. If it’s at a theater near you, go check it out!