Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the best Disney movie. It has important themes placed throughout it and it tells a thrilling story that never gets old.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a 1831 novel by Victor Hugo. The original story was actually somewhat depressing and not family-friendly. In 1996, Disney decided to make their own adaptation of the story, and even though they changed it quite a bit, it is A LOT better than the original novel. The Disney version follows the story of Quasimodo, who is trapped up in the bell tower and not allowed to leave. His master, Judge Claude Frollo, says that he is ugly and the world will view him as a monster if he leaves. All he really wants to do is live a normal life like the other townspeople, and go to the festival of fools, a big town celebration. Meanwhile, Frollo has hired a knight named Phoebus, to help him get rid of all the gypsies in town, who Frollo is tired of taking care of. When Quasimodo sneaks out to go to the festival, the people crown him the “king of fools” because of his ugly face. People start picking on him, and throwing fruit and other objects at him. Esmeralda, one of the gypsies in the town saves him, only for Frollo to get upset at her. When she talks back to him, Frollo wants to arrest her, only for her to escape…
This is an exceptional Disney movie for all audiences because it is not only entertaining, but it also has a meaningful message. Everyone at some point in their life feels like an outcast, which makes Quasimodo relatable. Esmeralda sets a good example by demonstrating how we should relate to someone who is different from us. Roger Ebert states in one of his article reviews, “The buried story of the film- – the lesson some younger viewers may learn for the first time- – is that there is room in the world for many different kinds of people, for Hunchbacks and Gypsies as well as for those who scornfully consider themselves the norm.” (Ebert, June 21, 1996)
In my opinion, this is the best Disney movie, but it’s hard to pinpoint why. I guess it’s because all of the little elements come together to make a huge masterpiece. The songs are one of my favorite aspects of this movie, showing how the characters are feeling in the moment. The orchestra also makes the soundtrack have a powerful and epic sound, which is another good element. The characters designs and personalities are well thought out, and even the background characters and designs all add to the aspects that make this movie so brilliant. Roger Ebert’s review further states, “‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ is the best Disney animated feature since Beauty and the Beast…” (Ebert, June 21, 1996)
In short, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the best Disney movie. The songs and character designs come together to create a memorable and relatable feature length film. It is very underrated, and it is my favorite Disney movie…
