
Whenever I happen to mention that "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is my favorite Disney movie, I usually receive the same category of response: people wrinkle their noses, tilt their head to one side, and say things like, "I didn't like Hunchback so much", or, "I never saw that one". And then they go on talking about the glories of Aladdin or The Little Mermaid*.
I've never taken the chance to extoll the virtues of Disney's '96 animated feature, so I'm going to do it here and now.
This was back in the day when I would rush to get the soundtrack of Disney's summer movie (still on cassettes, back then!) as soon as I could, and have all the lyrics memorized by the time the film came out. The music for "Hunchback" was unlike anything I'd ever heard. The ghostly chanting at the beginning of “The Bells of Notre Dame” still sends chills up my spine (I think I actually sang my first High C while singing along with the end of that song). It was the first soundtrack where I even liked listening to
the instrumentals! In fact, I think the music itself is a HUGE part of why this one stands out so for me, if only because music has such an effect on me in general. The grandeur of
Bells, the sweeping, desirous melody of
Out There, the honest and chilling emotion of
Heaven’s Light/Hellfire, the demonic glee of
The Court of Miracles... I could go on, but I don't want to get too crazy with the YouSendIt. ;)
Then I saw the movie itself. It was beautiful. It was funny. It was emotional. It had an unusual hero. It had things in it I couldn’t understand at that age, which only added to the mystique. And it was scary, in a very real way. Of course I adored Clopin, the colorful gypsy king, and wanted to be just like him. I would dance around my Mom singing “The Court of Miracles”--“dang” became a catchphrase of mine because of that song (”You know that’s a substitute for a bad word,” said Mom). I remember bragging to an elementary school classmate that I'd seen the movie 10 times in theaters. I have no idea if I actually did (I doubt it, since my Mom has been known to gawk at my seeing a movie
twice).
Probably the reason I still am in love with the film and the story is because I've re-discovered it in so many ways. I started trying to read the Victor Hugo novel in 5th grade, but didn't get past the first page because of vocabulary issues. In high school I finally went back and achieved this (then-)gargantuan task, becoming familiar with the character of Gringoire--the character of Clopin in the Disney movie is sort of the love-child of Gringoire and the original Clopin. My high school French teacher introduced me to the musical, which started a whole new love affair. And then I went to France and HOO-boy, actually got to sit in the grand cathedral itself. For a whole 15 minutes, but it was worth it. Should I ever return, I plan to find a way up into the towers and search out the place where Victor Hugo saw the word "FATE" carved into the stone, and it inspired him to write. It may not be there anymore, but a girl can dream.
Yknow... I'd like to hear other peoples' rants on why their favorite is their favorite, even if it is Aladdin (teehee). I think I shall memefy this.
What is your favorite animated Disney movie? What made you love it, and why do you still?I could include non-Disney flicks in there too, but then we're getting into "Thief and the Cobbler" territory for me (or maybe "The Road to El Dorado" or “Cats Don’t Dance”), which is/are a whole different spiel(s).
And the first person to say Anastasia is a Disney movie gets bitch-smacked by the God of Animation Purism.
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*I am NOT bashing either film, only using them as examples of what peoples' favorites
usually are.
P.S. I knew that as soon as I mentioned the frequency of my posts this month, the next one would be at least 3 days hence. Go me and my predictability.
P.P.S. A quote I just remembered from over Winter Break:
DAD: So when did the Wise Men finally get there?
MOM: On the 6th of January.
ME: Ah! On the Feast of Fools!
MOM: Oh, would you quit it?