Originally posted at the DL December 2015
The Write-up of Disney's 34th Animated Feature.
The Bells of Notre Dame- The rhythm of the song is kinda wonky in places (a lot of Clopin's lines are pretty awkward mostly), which does sorta remind you of how overwrought the whole situation is. But damn, David Odgen Stiers is on point here and sells the whole thing well. And it sticks the landing in fine form but that's true of most of the songs. Otherwise you see one of the better uses of the sharp contrasts in lighting the movie adores, it's a bit reminiscent of the nightmare chase in Snow White come to think of it.
Out There- This one's in two parts, one from Frollo and the other from Quasi. Quasi's bit is pretty average for an 'I Want', but damn does it feel a lot more earned contrasted against Frollo's manipulation. Or I just love me some Tony Jay in this movie.
Topsy Turvy- Certainly plenty of fun. Although the best bit is "Look at that disgusting display!" "Yes Sir!" Although watching again for the first time in a while, I'm noticing that damn does Esmeralda look like she's from another movie. Beyond being about the only character drawn as attractive, she has a lot more detail (both in her face and in this outfit here) than everyone else, even other main characters. Although it should be said that kinda works in its way, I think having a sort of otherworldliness to her is appropriate. Sensual but alien, out of place, y'know? Heck...
God Help the Outcast- One line from this has ALWAYS stuck out to me. "I ask for nothing, I can get by. But I know so many less lucky than I." Downright bloody saintly here. So... To the people of Paris Esmeralda is exotic, an other to be leered at but never accepted. To Quasimodo, she's an angel from heaven sent to deliver him his loneliness.
Heaven's Light- This shares a slot with the next song on the soundtrack but... yeah that gets its own thing for obvious reasons. Anyway, damn man, I forgot he literally calls her an angel here. Silly of me really. Uh otherwise it's a very short song without much impact, more of a montage to move into the next scene.
Hellfire- Ooooooooooh. Okay. Okay. So let's set aside the obvious appeal here. We just had a villain song about how he wants to rape and murder the heroine, in some order he has no idea about. DARKNESSSSSSS. Okay. Also yet more excellent use of lighting and overall heaven/hell imagery. We also have him basically calling Esmeralda a demon sent from Hell to tempt him. And... this all works because, unlike a lot of other scenes, we really feel Frollo's sincerity here. He really is as pious as he presents himself. He really thinks the Roma are devils sent to tempt righteous men from God. He really has no idea how to deal with deep seated lust, because he's never felt it before. It's what makes him both interesting and, well, dangerous.
A Guy Like You- Dammit movie.
Dammit.
Ugh. Okay. Jason Alexander can sing at least. But no. No movie. It is ENTIRELY too late for a mood lightener. Move this song up where Heaven's Light is and we can work with it, for all the gargoyles are still almost a pure negative to the movie. But here? After we've seen a dude get shot, most of the city harassed and large portions set on fire? No. We can't be pausing for comic relief right now. And really not for the rest of the movie. The late Renaissance films all suffer somewhat from using Aladdin as a template and not quite doing it right. But where Mulan, Hercules, Pocahontas and Tarzan just don't quite integrate their comedy, drama, and heartwarming in a seamless way, here... here it's... just derailing the entire movie. Like we have a dramatic confrontation with Frollo and a conflict of loyalty for Quasi due to his mistrust of Phoebus and y'know what, I'm still sitting here babbling about how stupid the damn gargoyle song is! And this would happen if I wasn't typing while watching (look, I can't remember one song in enough detail to write about it if I don't do it right away, it has to compete with other Disney songs!). The fucking fuck. And they come back in the climax and it's just as dumb there.
The Court of Miracles- Y'know what, this is a bit light for this point in the story, and it's Clopin going to hang the damn heroes! This is what I'm talking about here. This song? It's okay, it's a good way to ease us through the necessary scenes of "Why the fuck should we trust these assholes" in a speedy way. It's really not bad at all. And if we hadn't had that distracting stupid other comedy song we could appreciate it a lot more.
So some parts of the movie like to imply that the gargoyles are just Quasimodo's imaginary friends, while the ending has them interacting with the soldier's assaulting the cathedral, and it's yet more jarring stupid for a movie where jarring stupid is about the only thing WRONG with it. and y'know. The actual ending and a few other scenes imply basically that Notre Dame itself is alive and aiding the heroes. So why not play that up a little more? It would really solve the problem handily.
The other bit of the ending of course is hooking up Esmeralda and Phoebus. And at first this feels like "oh hey we're being EDGEY and not letting the main character get the girl!" But it's... a lot more than that. Like, I was just kinda thinking about it on this watch-through. Townsfolk exoticize Esmeralda. Quasimodo deifies her. Frollo treats her as an object of temptation and lust, a demon he must conquer. What's Phoebus' main interaction with her? Engaging with her as an equal and mostly just wanting to know her name. He's the only character in the whole story who treats her like a human being! Huh. Practically ahead of its time it is.
Rating- 7/10. But yeah. This... this should have been the best movie. It really should. But they didn't have the balls to let it stand on its own. What a pity.
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