After
the critical and commercial success of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the
Beast and The Lion King, the Walt Disney Pictures animation studio embarked
on their most serious and ambitious animated feature to date with this
adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel Notre Dame de Paris. Quasimodo
(voice of Tom Hulce) is a grotesquely deformed but kind-hearted young man
who was abandoned by his parents as an infant and thrown down a well; he was
rescued by the priests of Notre Dame, the massive cathedral in the heart of
Paris, and he lives there, earning his keep as a bell ringer. Quasimodo has
become the ward of Judge Frollo (voice of Tony Jay), an outwardly pious but
deeply hateful man who treats Quasimodio with indifference and violently
loathes the Gypsies who spend their days in the cathedral's courtyard.
Frollo hopes to clear the Gypsies out of Paris with the help of Phoebus
(voice of Kevin Kline), leader of the troops under Frollo's command.
However, Phoebus does not share Frollo's racist views and harbors no ill
will against the Gypsies. When Quasimodo is crowned King of the Fools after
leaving Notre Dame during the annual festival of Topsy Turvy Day, the
hunchback is ordered beaten by the guards as punishment, but Esmerelda
(voice of Demi Moore), a hot-blooded but compassionate gypsy beauty, shows
pity on him and helps free him from his chains. The lovely Esmerelda is the
first woman to show kindness to the unfortunate Quasimodo, and the hunchback
soon falls in love with her. However, the dashing Phoebus is also infatuated
with her, and Esmerelda is attracted to Phoebus as well, though she feels a
motherly affection for the hunchback. Judge Frollo finds that he also
desires Esmerelda, which only inflames his hatred for the Gypsies when she
refuses his proposals. Darker and less outwardly comic than most of Disney's
features, The Hunchback of Notre Dame does feature comic relief in the form
of Victor (voice of Charles Kimbrough) and Hugo (voice of Jason Alexander),
a pair of gargoyles who befriend Quasimodo, as well as several songs from
Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. | Tom Hulce | Quasimodo [Voice] |
| Demi Moore | Esmeralda [Voice] |
| Kevin Kline | Phoebus [Voice] |
| Mickie T. McGowan | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Howard McGillin | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Mona Marshall | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Anna McNeely | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Bruce Moore | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Frank Welker | Baby Bird [Voice] |
| Alix Korey | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Eddie Korbich | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Sherry Lynn | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Michael Lindsay | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Mary Wickes | Laverne [Voice] |
| Marcelo Tubert | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| David Ogden Stiers | Archdeacon [Voice] |
| Gordon Stanley | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Kath Soucie | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Mary Stout | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Gary Trousdale | The Old Heretic [Voice] |
| Denise Pickering | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Patrick Pinney | Misc. Guards and Gypsies [Voice] |
| Tim Pigott-Smith | Pierre Gringoire |
| Peter Samuel | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Philip Proctor | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Jan Rabson | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Jane Withers | Laverne in additional dialogue [Voice] |
| Rodger Bumpass | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Maureen Brennan | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Susan Blu | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Corey Burton | Brutish Guard [Voice] |
| Victoria Clark | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Philip L. Clarke | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Jack Angel | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Jason Alexander | Hugo [Voice] |
| Mary Kay Bergman | Quasimodo's Mother [Voice] |
| Bob Bergen | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Joan Barber | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Scott Barnes | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Charles Kimbrough | Victor [Voice] |
| Tony Jay | Frollo [Voice] |
| Dana Hill | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Merwin Foard | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Paul Kandel | Clopin [Voice] |
| Judy Kaye | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Jim Cummings | Misc. Guards and Gypsies [Voice] |
| Debi Derryberry | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Jennifer Darling | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Laurie Faso | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Bill Farmer | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Jonathan Dokuchitz | Additional Voices [Voice] |
| Bill Fagerbakke | Oafish Guard [Voice] |
Genre/Type - Children's/Family, Musical, Animated Musical
Produced by - Buena Vista / Walt Disney Productions
Released by - Buena Vista
Running time - 86 min.
Hercules (1997, Ron Clements, John Musker)
Beauty and the Beast (1991, Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise)
The Lion King (1994, Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff)
is followed by: The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002, Bradley Raymond)