27. The Hunchback of Notre Dame- 1996

Rating: 🔥 that’s hot

Quasimodo is a disfigured infant whose gypsy mother dies while trying to protect her baby from the evil Frollo whose life’s desire is to rid Paris of all Gypsy’s. In a cruel twist of fate, Frollo is named Quasimodo’s guardian and Quasimodo is granted sanctuary to live out his days as the bell ringer at the Notre Dame. 

This movie is much more adult than the previous films I’ve watched from Disney, but it works. Quasimodo is an endearing protagonist that is easy to root for. Frollo is a disgusting misogynistic racist so, needless to say he’s quite easy to root against. Esmerelda is a bad*ss b*tch who is rescued as often as she is the rescuer, and I am here for that. The theme of empowering marginalized peoples, no matter how different they are than you, is a theme that desperately needs to be revisited today. The way this movie was animated and edited feels way more like an action blockbuster than a kid’s movie and it helps the star of the show, the formidable Notre Dame, to truly shine.

The original music and score by the legendary Alan Menken are stellar. The songs sound like what you would expect to hear in a gothic cathedral and that made my choir girl heart very happy. It sounded more like an opera than a Disney movie, and it helped set the stage for a timeless story that appeals just as much, if not even more, to adults than it does to Disney’s typical juvenile audience.

If you have been sleeping on this lesser known Disney movie, do yourself a favor and watch it now on @disneyplus