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As any reader of Victor Hugo’s classic novel could attest, The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a story that seemed an odd fit in the world of family entertainment that Disney had built a reputation upon. But directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, fresh off of their success with Beauty and the Beast took on the challenge and created a fine animated feature in its own right.

 

The story centers around Quasimodo, a horribly disfigured resident of Notre Dame’s gothic cathedral. When his mother is murdered by the gypsy-hating Judge Frollo, the infant is locked up in the bell towers and given the chore of ringing the bell. His only friends are a collection of gargoyles who nudge him to find some much-needed human companionship. When he appears at the annual Feast of Fools, he wins the crown as “King of Fools” - until the gypsy leader, Clopin reveals to the crowd that he isn’t wearing a mask and they quickly turn on poor Quasimodo. A beautiful gypsy dancer named Esmeralda comes to his aid and together they flee, only to be captured by Frollo’s newly-appointed Captain of the Guard, the handsome Phoebus. Esmeralda looks manage to win the heart of Phoebus, however, and he takes their side. Together they fight to save the Gypsy camp from utter destruction from a furious Judge Frollo.

 

Thanks to some state-of-the-art computer animation, The Hunchback of Notre Dame was full of impressive visual landscapes and upheld Disney’s reputation as leaders in the field. It might not have boasted the numbers of Aladdin or The Lion King, but it still did well at the box office, despite its darker tone and adult subject matter – proving that Disney could create a film geared towards a wider demographic and do quite well.