Reel Rumbles: The Hunchback of Notre Dame vs Hercules

We’re back with the Great Disney Reel Rumble Retrospective! We’ve moved onto the later half of the Renaissance Era. After the mixed reception to Pocahontas, Disney was likely hoping to regain some momentum. But the next two films, while positively received, didn’t quite reach the heights of the blazing start of the Renaissance. Still, both have their champions, so let’s find out which comes out on top!

The History of the Films

The Hunchback of Notre Dame‘s origins lie with one man (aside from the author Victor Hugo): David Stainton. Stainton will become pretty important in some later articles, but for now, his story begins with his rise through the ranks of Disney’s executives. After succeeding on the television side, he eventually wound up as Vice President of Creative Affairs at Disney’s Animation Studios. In a position of creative control, Stainton made his first mark at the company by championing this adaptation.

He was inspired after reading a comic-book version of the Hugo novel and pitched it to Jeffrey Katzenberg. Katzenberg was enamored by the idea and approached the directing pair of Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, who were taking it easy after their success with Beauty and the Beast. Aside from aiding other projects, they were exploring other creative ideas. By happenstance, they were drawn to the idea of making a story about a hunchback, er, that is, humpback whale. It likely didn’t take much to convince them to pivot, with Wise excited about the book’s deep storytelling.

By October 1993, a creative team including the aforementioned directors, the art director, songwriter Stephen Schwartz (creator of the musical and now recent hit film Wicked), and several others all went to Paris. They took photos, explored the Notre Dame, and found a book of Victor Hugo’s watercolor paintings. The paintings were a lucky find, as they had a visual style similar to their early concept work. The team had been feeling dissuaded, since it was different from the typical Disney style, but Hugo’s paintings made them determined it was the right direction.

Outside screenwriter Tab Murphy was hired to pen the screenplay, starting a long career writing animated films, including a multiyear stint at Disney. Murphy and the others wrestled through many drafts trying to figure out how to take a fairly dark and mature story and turn it into something in the Disney mold. Figuring out the dynamic between Esmeralda, Phoebus, and Quasimodo was one of the trickier questions, though it was determined fairly early that the focus would be on Quasimodo. They toyed with love triangles and more. Another early decision was to change Claude Frollo from an archdeacon to a judge to avoid portraying the church as the villain, instead using the church as a place of refuge and molding Frollo after Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List.

Unusual for an animated film was an early casting choice, that of Cyndi Lauper. Lauper was cast only a week after reading for a part. She figured she would be playing Esmeralda and was surprised to learn she that was voicing a gargoyle. Wise and Trousdale had decided to add talking gargoyles, figuring the story needed some classic Disney comic-relief side characters. The gargoyles were initially named after the three actors that played Quasimodo in prior film adaptations (Lon Chaney, Charles Laughton, and Anthony Quinn) but Disney’s legal team objected. The characters were reworked several times, and Katzenberg even considered a cadre of late-night hosts (Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall, and David Letterman) to play them. Eventually they landed on Jason Alexander, and the female gargoyle was changed to act as a wise counsel to Quasimodo. With Lauper apparently no longer suitable for that, she was let go and Mary Wickes wound up with the part, in what would be her final role. Perhaps this shows why early casting doesn’t happen in animated films that often.

As for the leads, Katzenberg initially wanted Meat Loaf of all people as Quasimodo, but Tom Hulce stole the role with his first audition and steered towards portraying the character as younger, something that prior film adaptations had not done. Hulce was also able to continue the trend of actors doing their own singing. Not so lucky was Demi Moore. While her huskier voice landed her the part of Esmerelda since it made her stand out compared to prior Disney princesses, Schwartz was not impressed by her singing talent.

Kevin Kline, meanwhile, was the first choice for Phoebus. Neither he nor Moore had to audition. The directors hoped to do the same with Frollo, asking Anthony Hopkins to do the part. Hopkins declined, so they turned to the very willing Tony Jay, whom they had worked with on Beauty and the Beast.

Animation occurred alongside Pocahontas at the new Burbank animation studio. Because of the intensity of the animation for that film and The Lion King, outside animators were hired to aid on this film, including many from foreign nations. Disney also pulled labor from many of its satellite studios. A sizable chunk of animation wound up being done at the Paris studio, turning this into a truly international production. Also pitching in was talent from Feature Animation Florida, which was hard at work on its first in-house production, Mulan. CGI was employed for large crowd scenes, including the invention of a new CGI technology.

The music for the film came from the aforementioned Schwartz and Alan Menken. After the pair’s hard work on Pocahontas, they were given free reign of their next project. The pair decided on The Hunchback of Notre Dame due to its darker and more mature themes. Menken and Schwartz worked on a complex score that weaved in multiple leitmotifs and also developed individual songs for nearly every character. One such song was the villain’s theme of “Hellfire,” which was notable for initially landing the film a PG rating due to a lyric mentioning sin.

Another notable development was the opening song. The opening sequence was lauded around the studio for effectively conveying some sizable exposition, but the finishing touches came courtesy of Stephen Schwartz. Upon hearing Katzenburg comment that something was missing, he suggested turning it into a musical number. Thus “The Bells of Notre Dame” was born, and it became one of the film’s more famous sequences.

The movie was initially scheduled for a 1995 release, but Katzenberg’s departure from Disney wound up delaying matters. Due to its French setting, the film was first released in New Orleans with the premiere preceded by a parade through the French Quarter. It also employed a massive marketing campaign including many tie-ins and merchandising opportunities.

This all paid off with a $21.3 million opening weekend. This was less than the opening weekend of Pocahontas, but a distribution executive of all people had faith that it would do better over time, and by the end of its run it wound up with $225.2 million, surpassing Pocahontas. Critical response was largely positive with Roger Ebert declaring it the best from the studio since Beauty and the Beast. Even the French were mostly receptive. There were some notably negative responses, with a Hugo scholar declaring that Disney had butchered the book. Other reviewers felt that the film fell back on Disney cliches to avoid wrestling with the darker aspects of the story. Yet the positive reception for the film highlights the more adult themes compared to most Disney works. This caused many parent groups to organize boycotts of the movie.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame has maintained a decent legacy. While not as titanic as most of the preceding films of the Renaissance, it still earned its share of straight-to-video and DVD spinoffs, a stage musical (if only in Germany), and involvement in crossover media such as House of Mouse and Kingdom Hearts. The film has a small presence at the Disney parks, with characters appearing throughout all of the parks and two specific attractions at Disneyland California and Hong Kong Disneyland.

It is also in line for a live-action remake, which is drawing from both the animated film and the original novel. However, production has stalled due to the difficulty of adapting the darker material into live-action, and because Disney is potentially reconsidering its approach in the wake of recent backlash and reduced box-office returns. Whether it happens or not, the film’s legacy overall is secure as a strong mid-tier-or-better effort from the studio.

As with Hunchback, Hercules began at Disney with a single man’s idea. Unlike Hunchback, that man had no further involvement past the pitch. When Disney was taking pitches from its animators for films, Joe Haidar had the idea of adapting the tale of Hercules from Greco-Roman mythology, and he pushed on with it despite an idea for adapting The Odyssey just having been rejected. His outline was strong enough that Hercules was greenlit, though Haidar was left behind.

The successful directing pair of Ron Clements and John Musker (Aladdin) took over the film as they fought to produce Treasure Planet. Katzenberg would only let them move forward with that film if they did another first that Katzenberg deemed more commercially viable. The pair were drawn to Hercules due to being fans of comic books and seeing him as a kind of superhero.

They dove deep into the research process on various mythological tales and started to envision the story in a classic Hollywood vein, seeing the titular hero as a Jimmy Stewart type and the main love interest, Meg, as akin to Barbara Stanwyck‘s screwball comedy roles. The pair also determined that a direct adaptation of the tales would be impossible at Disney, as Hercules was the product of Zeus’s infidelity in the mythology, and they shifting toward making Hades the central villain. They saw potential in a visual difference between Mt. Olympus and the Underworld.

Multiple rewrites occurred to amp up the comedy and refine Hercules into someone akin to the “Michael Jordan of his era,” as they described him. Who would play this Michael Jordan? Donny Osmond was the initial consideration, but they found his voice too deep. Tate Donovan wound up being cast despite no prior voice acting experience, due to producers enjoying his boyish approach to the role, emphasizing the naive innocence of the titular hero.

The art direction of Hercules came from a unique place: a mixture of classic Greek art and the works of English cartoonist Gerald Scarfe. Clements and Musker found similarities in the styles, and they led Disney to hire Scarfe directly to serve as production designer. Ultimately, animators found Scarfe’s style too chaotic to directly adapt, so he wound up as more of a stylistic reference than a direct source.

The Burbank studio employed nearly 700 people to start animation in 1995. This would be the biggest team of animators to date, surpassing all prior Disney productions. Animators from other productions would join the team as other films finished. Due to the increased focus on specific character designs, some interesting references were found for particular characters. Phil would be based on Grumpy from Snow White and Bacchus from Fantasia.

Hades would be based on the mannerisms of his voice actor, James Woods. Woods was not the original choice, despite his now iconic voice performance. The first choice was Jack Nicholson, suggested by Danny DeVito. He had been cast as the satyr Phil after initially turning it down. It took Disney begging him to take it after no one worked out and one of the people who auditioned suggested DeVito as well. Nicholson could not be begged into a role, with the financials not working out after he demanded a larger percentage of merchandise.

John Lithgow was then cast. Despite signing on, the producers couldn’t find a way to make his performance work. After letting him go, Disney went through many actors including Kevin Spacey, Rod Stieger, and James Coburn. Woods ultimately won the role, as Disney was impressed by his unique take on the character.

Another storied casting decision was Susan Egan as Meg. Egan had auditioned for every Disney film since Beauty and the Beast, but she kept being denied. It started out as the same old song with Hercules, with Alan Menken not even wanting to let her audition, as he was familiar with her stage role as Belle in the Broadway Beauty and the Beast and felt the roles were too different. Menken eventually relented, and Egan proved she understood the approach with Meg, winning the role nine months after her audition.

As one might suspect, Menken did the score for this film. This would be his last one for Disney during the Renaissance. He was paired with lyricist David Zippel, who was conversely on his first Disney film. While reception to this soundtrack was mixed on the whole, “Go the Distance” nabbed them an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.

This factoid is an effective microcosm of the response to the entire film. Hercules debuted in June 1997 following another extensive marketing campaign. Continuing a post-Lion King trend, Hercules made less money in its first two weeks than each of the prior films, only making $58 million, resulting in Disney’s stock price slipping. Its total international gross did recover somewhat, finishing at $253 million and surpassing the prior Disney two films. It seemed that these movies just needed more time to make money, though all failed to live up to the start of the Renaissance.

Critics were even more mixed on this than Hunchback. On the one hand, Woods was universally praised for his role as Hades, with many declaring him the best character in Disney’s 90s output alongside Robin Williams‘s Genie. And some critics were kind to the film overall, such as Roger Ebert. However, many felt the animation and music were a downgrade from prior efforts. Several critics said the Scarfe style wound up looking cheap and the music was indistinct, mixing too many styles and failing to leave an impression. The Greek government was fairly harsh on the film as well, feeling it failed to capture their culture and mythology.

Despite Hercules not quite measuring up to prior films, it maintains a decent legacy. In addition to its Oscar nomination, it nabbed several other awards and nominations. It was going to get a direct-to-VHS sequel, though that wound up cancelled after John Lasseter took charge at Disney and halted all such sequels. Instead, it got a TV series. It also received a stage-play and gets some recognition at the Disney parks. It has maintained a major part in the Kingdom Hearts video game series and received a few other video game adaptations. Hercules will also be getting a live-action film adaptation, assuming those move forward. Such a film will be inspired by TikTok musicals, whatever that means.

Round 1: Story

The Hunchback of Notre Dame rightfully receives accolades for its thematic maturity. In an Elephant Man-like tale, the film directly wrestles with bigotry based on visual deformity, and Quasimodo’s struggles to be accepted. This directly parallels the biases on display in the film, with the villainous Frollo wanting to lead a persecution against the gypsy people and essentially commit an ethnic cleansing. The movie barely disguises these motivations, allowing a surprising amount of darkness to creep into the film.

Frollo himself is allowed to be a fairly gruesome villain. He’s depicted lusting after Esmeralda with a suggestive sniff of her hair, and his villain song “Hellfire” underlines his desires and the violent resolution to escaping these desires. The religious symbolism of sin, Hell, and forgiveness are all surprising additions. Likewise, the movie’s depiction of the Catholic priest who runs the Notre Dame as a benevolent figure offering safe haven to the gypsies and rundown members of society adds nuance to all of the religious elements. The film surprisingly demonstrates the broad swath of Christianity and how some abuse the religion and its message alongside the power of grace and love.

The mature approach is such that the typical Disney comic relief almost feels out of place as a result. As enjoyable as Jason Alexander is as a gargoyle, these characters do feel a bit extraneous. One wishes that Disney were bold enough to toss aside the familiar plot beats and points and commit more fully to being a mature film, though that likely wouldn’t have helped their bottom line at the time where animation was still seen as primarily children’s material.

Despite the depth of character and themes, the story of the film isn’t without warts. There are points where the script shortcuts matters. Judge Frollo arbitrarily reveals he killed Quasimodo’s parents despite a lack of clear advantage to doing so. The finale also feels a bit rushed into, as the film pivots back and forth from Quasimodo learning from Esmeralda to briefly being a buddy film with Phoebus. A firmer narrative hand might have helped.

Of course, that’s an even larger problem with Hercules. Due to having to adapt from centuries of myths, the plot structure of Hercules is lacking quite a bit. After the initial set-up, there is no clear narrative direction past Hercules “being a hero.” While the idea of a more moralistic plot, with Hercules finding out what heroism means, isn’t a bad idea, it creates a story structure of “and then this happens” series of events than any clear progression. Hades has a plan to take over Olympus by releasing the Titans, but it’s not quite clear why he doesn’t do that at the start of the film, since it seems like he could have freed them at any time.

The film’s heavy reliance on humor and pop culture references is also a mixed bag. While some are quite amusing (the visual nod of Hercules’s lion skin being Scar is cute), others come across as simple references, and the abundance of them tends towards Hercules not feeling as timeless as other Disney films. It almost feels like a lack of confidence in the actual story being told.

That said, this does boast some of the stronger characters in the Renaissance. While Hercules himself is more plain Jane, zero-to-hero character, Hades is a standout villain. Woods’s vocal performance is indeed immediately captivating. His delivery is the perfect mixture of wry and dry while also believably capturing divine rage when something doesn’t go his way. His visual design (more on that later) works well in tandem with the character’s overall approach to become one of the all-time best Disney villains.

Likewise, Meg is a far more interesting romantic interest than someone like Nala or even Esmeralda. Egan’s vocal performance gives her plenty of spunk, and her morally atypical approach is intriguing. She wrestles with saving herself by serving Hades, while hurting others. The writing helps make her an active character throughout the film, rather than fading into the background.

In this way, both films are dependent on strong characters and themes over compelling plots. Both movies have structural issues that hold them back from competing with the better members of the Renaissance. Yet they both have among the more interesting villains in Disney canon. Ultimately, Hunchback of Notre Dame prevails because it has a sense of story structure, even if the execution is lacking. Hercules meanders too much and can be a drag at times, despite the fun fights and Hades chewing up scenery.

Winner: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Round 2: Music

After the titanic soundtracks from the last six films, it can be hard to measure up. These soundtracks do not have any “Circle of Life,” “Beauty and the Beast,” or “A Whole New World” to cement them into immortality, but to be fair, those are among Disney’s best ever songs. While there is nothing at that level, Hunchback does have a few good ones.

The opening “The Bells of Notre Dame” is admired by Alan Menken himself as his best opening track. It is skillfully executed, conveying a lot of exposition in a succinct and enticing manner. It rides the line perfectly between explanation and never getting bogged down under its own weight. The song also sets the tone for the film well, with choral chanting, church bells, and bombastic trumpets. The sequence itself is quite colorful too. And as already mentioned, “Hellfire” is the other major highlight. While the melody isn’t as catchy as “Be Prepared,” say, the work it does for Frollo’s villainy is perhaps unmatched in the Disney canon. With the red-robed choir and fiery imagery, this is a memorable part of the film.

The rest of the soundtrack fails to stand out. “Out There” is a fairly typical Disney protag song about wanting to escape one’s circumstances. Hulce’s singing voice isn’t bad, but the track trends towards the generic. “Topsy-Turvy” is a more comedic track and fits well with the film’s aural landscape, but doesn’t stand out in the canon. “God Help the Outcasts” is the best of the rest, and is Esmeralda’s sole musical number. Written as a prayer for aid, it does have some poignancy and a lovely vocal turn from Heidi Mollenhauer. It too trends a bit towards generic, but there is more to it than most of the soundtrack.

Despite Hercules‘s poor reputation on the musical side, many a millennial who grew up on this one often praise the songs. Whatever one’s position on the whole of the soundtrack, “Go the Distance” is rightfully hailed as the standout song. The equivalent of the many princess “I want” songs, Roger Bart’s performance draws the audience into sympathy for Hercules wanting to rise above and find his place. The trumpets and piano work together quite well to make it an inspirational piece in the vein of other such Broadway songs, and Bart’s final held note is impressive.

The rest of the soundtrack is where the division comes. Some really enjoy the soul-influenced “Zero to Hero,” “The Gospel Truth,” and “A Star is Born,” especially as a change of pace from the Broadway stylings of other Disney songs. Yet others state these bring in a musical discordance and result in a soundtrack that is all over the place sonically. To this reviewer, both of these statements are true to some extent. The soul is a nice change, but it doesn’t really mesh well with “Go the Distance,” and the songs are a bit simple compared to actual soul songs.

Regardless, as good as one song is, it isn’t enough to lift Hercules above in this category. Hunchback matches “Go the Distance” with “Hellfire” and has other parts of its soundtrack to topple the Greek hero.

Winner: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Round 3: Animation and Direction

This pair is one of the greater contrasts in animation approaches between two Disney films. Hunchback aims for mostly photorealism with its animation, which is a winning approach. The depiction of Paris is excellent: highly detailed and bringing the city to life. The bright colors utilized in the Romani clothing are eye-catching and form a nice dichotomy with the dark, cooler colors of Judge Frollo’s attire. The design of the characters is expressive without ever losing realism.

The same could be said for the gargoyles themselves. Despite the inherent unrealism of talking gargoyles, they keep the designs grounded, with the beasts hopping around due to a lack of legs. Even when the film gets a little more surrealistic, such as in the excellent “Hellfire” sequence with its expressive content like fires burning and an impossibly large choir singing, it maintains a realism that adds to the power of the moment.

Hercules, on the other hand, leans into style above all. One can’t fault the team for at least trying something different, melding the style of Greek vase art with the cartoonist Scarfe. The approach really works for certain aspects. Meg’s character design really works, looking like a modern version of a woman pulled off those vases. The intro and other narration sequences of the Muses play out in part on one such vase, which is visually grabbing.

The Hydra was highly impressive when it debuted as well. The CGI adds to the surrealistic look of the monster and is used to its fullest extent. Hercules’s battle with the many-headed creature is perhaps one of the best sequences. And speaking of monsters and villains, the design of Hades is a crown jewel. While departing from typical depictions of Hades, Disney’s approach was a winning one. His constant flaming hair, lithe figure, crooked teeth, and blue skin all make him quite distinct. And the choice to have his skin shoot bright red and his fires to burn more fiercely (though technically blue fire is hotter) was a genius one.

As much as some of the criticism of the animation may be a tad harsh, it is not entirely unwarranted. Sequences of larger areas such as Thebes, random Greek fields, and the Underworld are a tad uninspiring. Even Mt. Olympus is a tad simplistic. Whether it is because of production crunch or the stylistic choice not quite working out, parts of the film do look a bit cheap compared to many other films of the Renaissance era.

While the animation in Hercules may be underrated, it still doesn’t quite measure up to Hunchback of Notre Dame. Hunchback has well-designed characters and landscapes. While Hades may be the best character overall, he can’t lift the weight and defeat Hunchback on its own. The detailed backgrounds and settings of Paris simply dazzle in comparison to the Greek settings of Hercules. A shame, as Greece is a country rich for animated depiction.

Winner: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

And the winner is…

If you’ve been keeping score, then the result is obvious. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the winner. The two are closer than the sweep might suggest, and none of them measure up to the prior giants of the Renaissance era. Hunchback‘s maturity and craftsmanship put it more on par with those earlier films, it just needed some slightly better songs on the whole and a tighter story to get to that same level. Hercules has some really strong elements, but the overall plot needed lots of work and it is a bit musically lacking. Still, Hercules has its fans, and it still fares better than many of films we’ve ranked.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

• Ranked #3,709 globally
• Wins 34% of matchups
• 16,119 users have ranked it 146,471 times
• 19 have it as their #1 film
• Ranked 38/71 in the Walt Disney Animation Studios filter

Hercules

• Ranked #2,230 globally
• Wins 41% of matchups
• 20,829 users have ranked it 194,804 times
• 22 have it as their #1 film
• Ranked 25/71 in the Walt Disney Animation Studios filter

1. The Lion King (1994)
2. Bambi (1942)
3. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
5. Aladdin (1992)
6. Cinderella (1950)
7. The Little Mermaid (1989)
8. Fantasia (1940)
9. Peter Pan (1953)
10. The Fox and the Hound (1981)
11. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
12. The Jungle Book (1967)
13. Robin Hood (1973)
14. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
15. Pinocchio (1940)
16. Hercules (1997)
17. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
18. One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
19. Lady and the Tramp (1955)
20. Oliver & Company (1988)
21. Pocahontas (1995)
22. The Rescuers (1977)
23. The Aristocats (1970)
24. The Black Cauldron (1985)
25. Dumbo (1941)
26. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
27. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
28. The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
29. The Three Caballeros (1944)
30. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
31. The Sword in the Stone (1963)
32. Melody Time (1948)
33. Saludos Amigos (1942)
34. Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
35. Make Mine Music (1946)

Rank both these films and all of Disney’s work on Flickchart today!