Audio Commentary with Producer Don Hahn, and directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale.The Making of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.Audio Commentary with Producer Don Hahn, and Directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale.I do think that of all Disney features produced during this period, Hunchback may be much more revered in the future than it ever was in its own time. Hunchback wasn’t the hit that Lion King was, though it would have been somewhat unrealistic to expect so much. This is a film, which, like the novel, explores heady material about life, death, religion and politics, thus perhaps too pithy for everyone who saw it back then. Few songs reach into your heart and soul like “God Help the Outcasts,” sung to perfection by Heidi Mollenhauer as the singing voice of Esmeralda (Demi Moore delivers a superb speaking performance as well.) This score is perhaps the pinnacle in Alan Menken’s already spectacular music career. You could almost imagine Eleanor Audley’s voice coming out of Frollo! I suspect that there was also a strong influence from the animation of Maleficent and Lady Tremaine as well. The human animation is downright astonishing-especially considering that, according to the commentary, while there was some modeling done, this is not that watery rotoscope stuff.įrollo is the most purely evil of all Disney human villains, with no redeemable features and a creepy depravity that is brought to a boiling intensity in the set piece, “Hellfire.” Animator Kathy Zielinski, again according to the commentary, dressed as the villain to get the details of the outfit right. Hunchback has some highly electrifying scenes, especially for a mass-market animated film. But Disney Animation was riding so high at the time, there seemed to be no limit to how high they could reach-and are to be admired for pushing the boundaries given the chance.Īnd push it does. Hunchback might have made a great Broadway show (and still would, as it was very successful on stage in Germany), but it’s more adult than perhaps any Disney feature since Fantasia and less conducive to plush toys (though there were a few). Making an animated film as ambitious as The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a bold move when you consider that the film leaves less opportunity for Disney to enrich its other divisions than say, another princess movie. The Voices of Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Kevin Kline, Paul Kandel, Tony Jay, Mary Wickes, Jason Alexander, Charles Kimbrough
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Jeffrey Katzenberg had departed, Pixar was on the rise, Disney had opened studios around the world and animators were starting to come down from the euphoria and attention they had enjoyed during the Beauty and the Beast and Lion King days. More than that, they exemplify the drama that was going on behind the scenes at Walt Disney Animation that picks up where Waking Sleeping Beauty left off. While their technological advances have been surpassed in the years since (such as the then-miraculous CGI crowd scenes in Hunchback and Mulan), each retain their own power and artistry. You can also see how they have held up since their release. Now you can easily see the Belle cameo in Hunchback! If you haven’t seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan and Brother Bear lately (and who has time with everything else competing for our time and attention?), it’s well worth rediscovering them, all of which look sensational in the crispness of high def. With the release of three sets of features and their sequels last week, the sequels no longer standing on their own but now almost “bonus material,” it makes one think back to the time when even a Disney direct to video sequel was a big deal and could even inspire a Happy Meal. Only the tried and true standbys, like Peter Pan and soon, The Little Mermaid, are receiving lots of notice, while these other features are popping up in retail outlets relatively quietly. – Jerry Beckĭisney has been releasing Blu-rays and DVD’s of their animated features at a rapid rate lately-perhaps anticipating the new big format change. Among his many book and CD projects are Rhino’s Toon Tunes, and the highly recommended book Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records.
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Today I am happy to post this review of a trio of new Disney releases by two-time Grammy-nominated writer/producer Greg Ehrbar. Sometimes I’ll review them, other times I’ll let my colleagues do the chores.
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Editor’s Note: I will on occasion post DVD reviews of classic animation here on Cartoon Research.