The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
76%RT Audience Score: 70%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
8 wins & 26 nominations total
Disney’s take on the Victor Hugo classic is dramatically uneven, but its strong visuals, dark themes, and message of tolerance make for a more-sophisticated-than-average children’s film
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is like a rollercoaster ride of emotions, with moments of humor and moments of heartbreak. It’s like a Disney movie on steroids, with a darker edge that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Sure, it’s not for the faint of heart, but if you’re looking for a movie that will make you feel all the feels, this is the one for you. Plus, who doesn’t love a good musical number with some talking gargoyles?
Production Company(ies)
Almega Projects O2 Filmes,
Distributor
Buena Vista Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
Walt Disney Feature Animation – 500 S. Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
G
Year of Release
1996
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1 (original aspect ratio)
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Runtime:1h 26m
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Language(s):English, Latin
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jun 21, 1996 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 25, 2005
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, Kevin Kline, Paul Kandel, Jason Alexander, directed by Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, written by Tab Murphy, Irene Mecchi, Bob Tzudiker, Noni White, Jonathan Roberts, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Gene Siskel, Susan Stark, Richard Corliss, Jonathan Rosenbaum, John F Kelly, Jeremy Gerard, Cory Woodroof, Mattie Lucas, Rachel Wagner, Mark Steyn, MPAA rating G, Disney, Victor Hugo, Notre Dame Cathedral, Quasimodo, Esmeralda, Judge Claude Frollo, Captain Phoebus, Clopin, Hugo, gypsies, tolerance, animation, musical, Alan Menken, dark themes, gargoyles, sinister, artistically successful, tragedy, Disneyfied, adult nature, emotional tension, sincere, top horror movies, MCU movies, Netflix series, TV premiere dates, Fandango
Worldwide gross: $325,338,851
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $620,989,070
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 214
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 67,719,637
US/Canada gross: $100,138,851
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $191,139,582
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 376
US/Canada opening weekend: $21,037,414
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $40,155,069
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 306
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $100,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $190,874,551
Production budget ranking: 132
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $102,785,946
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $327,328,574
ROI to date (est.): 111%
ROI ranking: 895
Demi Moore – Esmeralda (Voice)
Tony Jay – Judge Claude Frollo (Voice)
Kevin Kline – Captain Phoebus (Voice)
Paul Kandel – Clopin (Voice)
Jason Alexander – Hugo (Voice)
Director(s)
Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Writer(s)
Tab Murphy, Irene Mecchi, Bob Tzudiker, Noni White, Jonathan Roberts
Producer(s)
Ray Conli, Don Hahn
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
8 wins & 26 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (57) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (16)
These ideas are presented with effective songs and, yes, tasteful bits of humor.
August 23, 2017 | Rating: 3.5/4
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
October 18, 2008 | Rating: 4/4
Susan Stark
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
The result is a grand cartoon cathedral, teeming with gargoyles and treachery, hopeless love and tortured lust.
September 2, 2008
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Surely one of Disney’s ugliest and least imaginative efforts.
September 2, 2008
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Disney has created a movie that, like Quasimodo himself, is half formed.
September 2, 2008
John F. Kelly
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
There is much to admire in Hunchback, not least the risk of doing such a downer of a story at all.
July 22, 2008
Jeremy Gerard
Variety
TOP CRITIC
This is the darkest “G” movie of all time! It’s like the Bambi’s mom scene for 90 minutes!
June 25, 2022
Cory Woodroof
615 Film
It is a great paradox, a film denied commercial success because of its darker themes, but a film that succeeds artistically for those very reasons.
August 7, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
The messages in the movie are very muddled.
May 8, 2019 | Rating: D
Rachel Wagner
rachelsreviews.net
A better title for the film would have been Beauty and the Beast, but Disney’s already done that — which may be why Alan Menken’s score sounds like warmed over off-cuts from its predecessor.
March 11, 2019
Mark Steyn
The Spectator
As my wife put it, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is “too dark and too dirty for kids.”
March 29, 2016 | Rating: B-
James Plath
Family Home Theater
One of the absolute best of Disney’s animated legacy. It approaches the ideas of accepting others for who they are and not allowing antiquated notions of propriety destroy lives.
January 1, 2016 | Rating: 4/4
Wesley Lovell
Cinema Sight…
Plot
In 15th-century Paris, Clopin the puppeteer tells the story of Quasimodo, the misshapen but gentle-souled bell ringer of Notre Dame, who was nearly killed as a baby by Claude Frollo, the Minister of Justice. But Frollo was forced by the Archdeacon of Notre Dame to raise Quasimodo as his own. Now a young man, Quasimodo is hidden from the world by Frollo in the belltower of the cathedral. But during the Festival of Fools, Quasimodo, cheered on by his gargoyle friends Victor, Hugo, and Laverne, decides to take part in the festivities, where he meets the lovely gypsy girl Esmeralda and the handsome soldier Phoebus. The three of them find themselves ranged against Frollo’s cruelty and his attempts to destroy the home of the gypsies, the Court of Miracles. And Quasimodo must desperately defend both Esmeralda and the very cathedral of Notre Dame.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny comments were found in the Fresh Kernels database for The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
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