This is one of Disney's darkest films, with themes of lust, genocide and the consequences of unchecked religious power. Despite overall being a success upon release, the film was controversial for many different reasons. Parents felt that the film's mature themes were too dark for children to see.
It was marketed as a typical, happy Disney movie, and while it was well-received, people quickly caught on that it wasn't the light-hearted movie they'd been advertised. In fact, Hunchback is considered one of Disney's darkest movies due to its plot and themes.
I think Disney had to pull some major strings to get this a G rating. That being said, the music is amazing, but the best part is that it has the most compelling villain. He is not evil for the sake of evil, he actually sees himself as the hero.
She is a French Roma girl (near the end of the book, it is revealed that her biological mother was a French woman). She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely seen without her clever goat Djali.
Parents need to know that The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 Disney animated feature based on the Victor Hugo novel. There's animated violence and pratfalls: Characters fight with swords and knives, and one character is injured after getting hit in the shoulder by an arrow.
HELLFIRE, Disney's DARK Masterpiece (Hunchback of Notre Dame Analysis)
Why was The Hunchback of Notre Dame banned?
'Notre-Dame de Paris' (or the Hunchback of Notre-Dame) was put on the list shortly after its publication in 1831. Some sources suggest the censorship was not necessarily for views against the church or monarchy, but for content that was sensual, libidinous or lascivious.
The film is considered to be one of Disney's darkest animated films due to its mature subject matter such as infanticide, lust, antiziganism, and genocide, despite the changes made from the original source material in order to ensure a G rating from the MPAA.
The first is during the Festival of Fools, where she performs on stage in a rather sexy red dress. Some compare her to a stripper in this scene (especially when she twirls around a spear she uses as a makeshift pole).
He was born to a tribe of Romani people (in the novel called égyptienne or 'gypsies'), but due to his monstrous appearance he was switched during infancy with an able-bodied baby girl, Agnes.
Frollo's belief in fate becomes fanatical when he falls in love with Esmeralda and becomes sexually obsessed with her. Although Esmeralda does nothing to invite his attention, Frollo believes that she has bewitched him and thinks that it is his destiny to either seduce her or kill her.
What is the message of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?
The Hunchback of Notre Dame story follows universal themes of love, death, lust, and jealousy. The symbolism of the Cathedral also plays an essential role in this novel. The story bridges Gothic architecture, culture, traditions, and romanticism.
He rescues her from being hanged to death by Frollo. In the novel, Esmeralda was 16 years old. In the film, she appears to be older and more mature. She's believed to be in her early twenties.
Physical Appearance. Esmeralda is a beautiful young Romani woman with thick and wavy raven-black hair, large emerald-green eyes, thick well-shaped eyebrows, full crimson-red lips, and a medium-brown skin tone.
On a more meta note, the main reason could be just straight up white-washing Quasimodo to look white because having a brown, disabled, physically "deformed" lead would be too radical for Disney, especially seeing as there's already a socially aware woman of colour as the romantic lead.
Although Esmeralda has been raised by gypsies and is thought of as a gypsy by the people of Paris, she is in fact the daughter of Paquette la Chantefleurie (or Sister Gudule), a recluse who believes that her baby (Esmeralda) was killed by gypsies.
The character Esmeralda is based on the ethnic Romani people of Europe (not the Romanians). Romani are nomadic communities that have their origins traced back to South Asia, hence why their appearance tends to somewhat resemble the people of the subcontinent.
He is born with what is described as a “hunchback” (medically known as kyphosis), and he is also described as having a large wart covering most of his right eye (Mayo Clinic, 2020). Quasimodo also becomes deaf as he lives and works in the bell tower.
Jasmine's physical features are also greatly highlighted and she is one of the most sexualized princesses in the Disney franchise. She uses her body to help save Aladdin multiple times.
Of course, white Roma exist and it is obvious that in Hugo's mind, Agnès/Esmeralda was nothing but a white woman “with a tan”. But the recurring use of actresses, in later adaptations, whose whiteness is portrayed as approximate points to a commodification of Romani ethnicity.
There could be many reasons. The most widely used theory, at least for the Disney film, is the idea of the trinity used for the plot: Frollo sees her as evil, Quasimodo sees her as angelic, and Phoebus sees both the good and the bad. Out of all three, Phoebus saw her as the most human.
What is the tragic ending of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?
Shortly thereafter Esmeralda is hanged, and Quasimodo, in his grief and despair, pushes Frollo from the cathedral tower. The novel ends many years later, when two skeletons—that of a hunchback and that of a woman—are found embracing in Esmeralda's tomb. Hugo reports that Phoebus also came to a tragic end: “He married.”
The inspiration for Hugo's Quasimodo is unknown, but many believe the character to be based on Monsieur Trajan, a stonemason with a hunched back who worked on Notre Dame de Paris in the 1820s.
