There is a darkness about The Hunchback of Notre Dame which sets the movie apart from your usual Disney fodder. Its messages of love and breaking through stereotypes are particularly mature and make the film entertaining for young and old.
Set in 15th-century Paris, Victor Hugo's deformed but kind-hearted Quasimodo is locked in a church tower, taunted by his cruel master Judge Claude Frollo, who keeps him hidden away. Convinced by his gargoyle friends to venture out of the cathedral on the Festival of Fools, he finds himself humiliated and attacked by the crowd because of his looks. However, beautiful gypsy dancer Esmeralda helps him.
He returns the favor by allowing her to take refuge in the cathedral in order to escape Frollo's persecution of gypsies. To complicate matters, Phoebus, the guard tasked with ridding Paris of 'gypsy scum' falls in love with her. A battle of right and wrong ensues at the steps of Notre Dame in a movie filled with important messages about prejudice, love and stereotypes.
