To be honest, the idea of a warm-and-fuzzy animated adaptation of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," complete with plush-toy merchandising, did not appeal to me when it was announced a couple of years ago.
Victor Hugo's dark and brooding 1831 novel hardly seems the stuff of Disney confections.
And now that I've seen it, I'm still conflicted.
But as with "Pocahontas" last year, it's hard not to admire what has been accomplished, despite whatever reservations one might have about the plundering of Hugo's classic source material for a musical about a lovable hunchback named "Quasi."
With "Pocahontas," public and critical outrage had to do with the Disneyfication of history . . . and, of course, taking a pre-pubescent American Indian girl and turning her into a voluptuous Barbie doll.
In "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," a disturbing and thoughtful morality tale has been lightened up, and its denouement significantly altered (as if you thought Disney would leave that alone). On the other hand, Hugo's darkest themes, and that famous ending, have never been faithfully filmed in any of the seven or eight celluloid adaptations — including the two that are most famous, Lon Chaney's horror version (1923) and Charles Laughton's overly sentimental one (1939).
Give Disney credit for keeping at least some of Hugo's serious themes intact, in particular those dealing with intolerance and persecution. As a result, this may be Disney's most adult animated feature, with moments that are darker than those in "The Lion King" (1994), "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) and, arguably, even "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia" (both 1940).
In this version, set in 15th-century Paris, a prologue tells us of the title character's origins: Quasimodo, deformed at birth, is orphaned when his mother is killed by Frollo, the chief judge. Frollo considers drowning the misshapen baby as well, until a priest intervenes on his behalf. So, Frollo "adopts" the infant and "raises" him in the bell tower of Notre Dame.
The plot kicks into gear as Quasi (with a wonderfully innocent voice provided by Tom Hulce), goaded on by his three comic-relief gargoyle friends Victor, Hugo and Laverne (Jason Alexander, Charles Kimbrough and the late Mary Wickes), disobeys his "master" Frollo and leaves the cathedral for the first time to see the annual Festival of Fools in the streets below.
There, Quasi is persecuted by the crowd, which leads to his becoming involved with the feisty green-eyed Gypsy dancer Esmerelda (who is every bit as voluptuous as Disney's Pocahontas, with the recognizable throaty voice of Demi Moore) and Phoebus, the big-hearted captain of the guard (given a wonderfully ironic edge by Kevin Kline).
Quasi and Phoebus both fall in love with Esmerelda, which is problematic enough, but trouble really begins when Frollo decides he wants her — either for himself, or dead.
The songs are quite enjoyable, and two are especially noteworthy — "A Guy Like You," a hilarious comic set-piece from the gargoyles, which acts as this film's version of "Be Our Guest" (from "Beauty and the Beast"), and Esmerelda's heartfelt anthem "God Help the Outcasts" (performed by Heidi Mollenhauer; Moore is the only actor who doesn't sing), which will be next year's Oscar-winner.
The artistic design and characterizations are fabulous, with some mesmerizing visuals, especially in and around the cathedral, as well as a scene that has the hypocritical Frollo going through an internal struggle over his feelings for Esmerelda, and later, a sequence that has Frollo nearly burning Paris to the ground in his search for her.
Much of this is certainly not kids stuff, though there is plenty to appeal to children as well as adults. And though Disney did manage to get away with a G rating, parents should be advised that there is a fair amount of violence, some scary scenes, a few sensual moments and a couple of vulgar gags. A PG rating might have been more advisable.