The Hunchback of Notre Dame is Surprisingly Dark for a Disney Film

 

Credit to 20 Weeks of Disney Animation: ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ — Daily Disney News

I have watched this film about four times now, and I still can’t get over how dark this film is. How this movie was approved for children to watch is crazy, but I guess the old Disney didn’t really care with whether or not they might traumatize children lol.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame follows the story of a young man named Quasimodo, who is raised by a tyrant known as Claude Frollo. His master had murdered his parents many years ago, due to his hatred for Gypsies. He only spares him, so that he won’t be seen as evil in the eyes of the church. 

So, if you haven’t guessed already, Claude Frollo is the main reason why this film has received a reputation for being considered an adult Disney film for several fans out there. 

This bastard is probably the most evil Disney villain in history too. 

Claude Frollo is a total monster in this film. 

Credit to Sociopath Profile: Claude Frollo | The Sociopath Profiler

Claude Frollo gives the audience multiple reasons to completely loathe his character. He is so damn evil, I honestly cannot believe that Disney released this movie in the first place.

Here is a list of reasons why this dude sucks:

• He is a racist, he never hides his hatred for gypsies throughout the entire film.
• He murders parents in the beginning of the film, and was willing to murder a baby once he saw the deformity of the main protagonist. 
• He is always using religion as a way to cover up his crimes, telling himself that he is a ‘good man.’
• He develops lustful thoughts for the main woman in the film, and even sniffs her hair in one part of the film. 
• He murders multiple people offscreen and burns his own city while desperately searching for this woman he has become infatuated with. 
• He constantly reminds Quasimodo that he is a deformed monster, to keep him from leaving the church. 

So…I can see why Disney fans think this dude is the most evil monster in all of Disney history. It really baffles me that Disney was willing to write a monster like this for one of their films. I actually learned that the director of this film was so determined to keep the majority of this old school tale the same as possible, while making the film for kids at the same time. 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is based on an old story that is far darker than the cartoon. I applaud the director for pulling a story like this off, it must have been a major challenge for everyone involved. 

To this day, I’m genuinely curious if my own family would have allowed me to watch this movie or not when I was a kid. They were only aware of some Disney movies they watched when they were kids, but they weren’t really huge fans of this one. 

I remember watching this movie when I was a kid in my elementary school in one of my classes, and I was so surprised with the dark elements presented throughout the film. What’s funny is that the kid version of me was kind of bored with the film, but the adult me absolutely loves this film. 

This is actually my favorite Disney film of all time, all because of how messed up Claude Frollo is. He was such a complicated villain that never hid his evil nature, and watching him meet his end was so satisfying to watch!