The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Timing: 1:31 (91 min)

7.125/10
5327

7.845/10
58596

7/10
183000

All about film

Video 8

Photo 110

Actors and characters

Release date

1996-06-21

Country

United States

Production

Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Feature Animation

Genre

Drama, Animation, Family

Budget

$100 000 000

Revenue

$325 300 000

Website

https://movies.disney.com/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame

Director

Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Actors

Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Kevin Kline, Tony Jay, Charles Kimbrough, Mary Wickes, Jason Alexander, Paul Kandel, Mary Kay Bergman, David Ogden Stiers
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Don Hahn

Operator

Composer

Alan Menken

Artist

Audition

Ruth Lambert

Editing

Ellen Keneshea
All team (52)

• The film premiered on June 19, 1996, at the Superdome in New Orleans. Six enormous screens were used for the screening, and it was preceded by a parade through the French Quarter.
• The song “Someday” was sung for the credits by All-4-One, but in the European version, it was replaced by the British group Eternal.
• This film almost received a PG rating; in the British release, it was marked with “Some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.”
• The old man who is freed at the end is a reincarnation of Jafar from Aladdin.
• Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse can be spotted as statues of Notre Dame.
• Actor Igor Balalaev, who voiced Claude Frollo for the Russian-language version of the cartoon, also played Archdeacon Frollo in the Russian stage production of the musical "Notre Dame de Paris." Another performer of this role in the musical was Alexander Marakulin, whose voice speaks the gargoyle Victor in the cartoon.
• Like many other Disney cartoons, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" does not adhere to the original story by Victor Hugo. In the book, Esmeralda marries Gringoire – a character whose traits are combined with those of the young captain in the image of Phoebus. The real Phoebus, however, abandoned Esmeralda for another woman – Fleur de Lys. Quasimodo in the book does not have one eye and is deaf due to the ringing of bells. Esmeralda is 16 years old in the book, and Frollo is 35, he is not a judge but a priest - he is the archdeacon. Esmeralda is hanged on charges of witchcraft, Quasimodo kills Frollo and dies himself of grief on Esmeralda's grave. It goes without saying that the changes Disney made to the plot were necessary to turn a story for adults into a kind fairy tale for children.
• The song "Hellfire" is considered one of the darkest songs written for a Disney film, and it was almost cut from the movie.
• Striving for maximum accuracy in the depiction and paying attention to the smallest architectural details, the animators spent several weeks near Notre Dame Cathedral and inside the structure itself while drawing the corresponding scenes of the film. Workspaces were allocated to them for this purpose in the recently opened Disneyland Paris amusement park.
• Tom Hulce was approved for the voice of Quasimodo after the first audition. According to the actor, during the audition he immediately noticed that all the studio staff present were staring intently at the floor. Only later did he see that storyboards were laid out on the floor. As one of the project's directors, Kirk Wise, recounted, the filmmakers preferred to audition voice actors with their eyes closed in order to better visualize the character's face.
• The song "Someday" was sung for the credits by All-4-One, but in the European version it was replaced by the British group Eternal.
• This film almost received a PG rating; in the British release, it was marked with the notice "Some scenes may be unsuitable for young children."
• Actor Igor Balalaev, who voiced Claude Frollo for the Russian-language version of the cartoon, played Archdeacon Frollo in the Russian stage production of the musical "Notre Dame de Paris." Another performer of this role in the musical was Alexander Marakulin, whose voice speaks the gargoyle Victor in the cartoon.
• The song "Hellfire" is considered one of the darkest songs written for a Disney film, and it was almost cut from the movie.
• Like many other Disney cartoons, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" does not adhere to the original story by Victor Hugo. In the book, Esmeralda marries Gringoire—a character whose traits are combined with those of the young captain in the image of Phoebus. The real Phoebus, however, abandoned Esmeralda for another woman—Fleur de Lys. Quasimodo does not have one eye in the book, and he is deafened by the ringing of bells. Esmeralda is 16 years old in the book, and Frollo is 35; he is not a judge but a priest—he is the archdeacon. Esmeralda is hanged for witchcraft, Quasimodo kills Frollo, and dies himself of grief on Esmeralda's grave. It goes without saying that the changes Disney made to the plot were necessary to transform an adult story into a kind fairy tale for children.