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Friday, June 4, 2021
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a Disney animated film and it is a surprisingly dark film. Right from the very beginning when we are introduced to the villain, Frodo, and how he came to find himself with Quasimodo, is dark and cruel. Fast forward to Quasimodo being grown up, he is shown to have a deformed appearance, and has spent his whole life cooped up as the bell-ringer of Notre Dame. As goes these stories, a twist of fate has Quasimodo experience someone from the outside for the first time, a gypsy by the name of Esmeralda. Frodo has something against gypsies and wants to get rid of them all, and thus Quasimodo has a clash of ideals. Should he obey his "master" Frodo like he has for his whole life, or should he follow his heart and see things for himself? The film has mature themes that deal with discrimination by appearance, the corruption of one's ideals and the usual theme of making your own future. As a result, the film has a slow and uneven pacing, even though there were some spectacular visual scenes.