I've been listening to the Original Cast Recording of the new musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame which is based on The Disney movie from the late 1990s. I can tell from listening to the cast recording that there are problems with the show that may prevent it from ever making it to Broadway. However, listening to it made me nostalgic for the movie, which I loved and most everyone else viewed as a big disappointment for Disney.
The late 1980s to early 1990s were a peak time creatively for Disney. it started with The Little Mermaid and peaked with the Lion King . Shortly after that Disney seemed to put more of its resources into Pixar and its own animation studios suffered because of it. Tarzan, Hercules, Brother Bear and yes Lilo and Stitch were all creatively lackluster, and it seemed Disney animation was heading into a valley. However, Disney did a couple interesting Projects during that time. Long before Hollywood's call for diversity Disney had a hit animated movie with an Asian female character as the lead with Mulan. also just before that time came The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
In many ways it was ahead of its time. It may still be ahead of its time. Disney made a children's musical based on a book by the author of Les Misérables. What could go wrong? But that's the great thing about the movie. It somehow works despite its lack of mass appeal. That it was even able to exist at all makes me excited for the risks that artists every once in awhile are able to make.
So why might it not appeal to a mass audience? Well even though they made Quasimodo, the hunchback, a little cuter, Disney had to know that they weren't going to sell a bunch of Quasimodo dolls. Selling movie merchandise is where Disney really makes its money and there was just little potential for much financial success there Then there is the music. The base of the score is Gregorian chants. The songs weren't exactly under the Sea sing a long ditties (though God Help the Outcasts is one of the most underrated Disney songs ever) Then there is the matter of the villain of the movie. The villain is a bishop. He's a man who is supposed to help people, but he is corrupt. I can just hear religious conservatives seething over that fact. Then that "religious" character decides that since he can't have the heroine of the movie, Esmerelda, who is also a gypsy, then she must die. Oh AND Esmerelda was voiced by Demi Moore who was in the midst of her not so family fried lay Striptease years! This isn't exactly warm and fuzzy toys yelling "To Infinity and Beyond!" Did you forget this was a family friendly cartoon? It should have been a mess. But it wasn't.
As I said earlier it was ahead of its time. The songs are thinly veiled pleas for tolerance for "the outcasts" of the world. The outcasts of that time were gays and lesbians. Oh you think I am reading too much into it. Come on! One of the shows big anthems was called "Out there"! It may seem hard to realize but the mid to late 1990s weren't exactly as gay friendly as they are now (that's not to say we don't have more progress to make still). Family friendly talk show host Ellen Degeneres was one of the most controversial people around in the late 1990s when she came "out there" as a lesbian.
I think I like the Hunchback of Notre Dame for many reasons, but I especially like it for the risks it took during a time when such risks weren't usually taken by a big media company like Disney. Unfortunately, the movie didn't make Lion King or Toy Story money and now nearly 20 years later, movie studios are even more risk adverse than they were then. But every once in awhile film is still art and not just a money machine. Yes, I think Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame is art. You don't agree? You never saw it? Check it out now! It's streaming on Netflix!
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