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I’ve been harsh on this movie in the past but I have soften my opinions on it. Also I’m very much “splitting hairs” on the order of these movies.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a risky story to tackle. While Disney was not the first to give the story a softer movie adaptation nor were they even the first to do an animated version, it’s defiantly the most well-known of the movie adaptations.
Disney walked a very fine line with this movie as they had to appeal to kids but also tried to maintain at the least the spirit of the book. They heavily leaned into the grandeur and scale of the cathedral and dramatic music of a catholic mass to creative a beautiful looking and sounding movie. As it stands it’s one of best scores in a Disney animated movie (it might be a tie but it defiantly the top of the pack.)
Frollo is one of the most scariest of the Disney Villains ever which is perfectly set up in the opening which is also one of Disney best openings ever. The only reason he is not features along Jafar, Gaston and Ursula is because he is too realistic and thus not a “fun” villain.
One more thing about the opening, the crescendo going into the title drop is beyond epic.
It’s one of Disney’s most mature films in its themes and subject matter which can make it hard to rewatch over some other Disney movies. The gargoyles didn’t annoy me as much on this rewatch but I think just one of them that is the hard to take, two of them are fine but their antics and song are the weak links in this otherwise grand scale very dramatic Disney film.
Djali is the best!
Side note – I’ve been thinking about doing re-review for the Disney version because my opinions on it has changed.
