![]() Subtle enough for kids to miss, but with enough plausible deniability that adults can assume that the gargoyles are imaginary friends of a lonely person. Quasimodo accepts the gargoyles are merely stone, and the story moves on. The scene serves a purpose, and since Frollo doesn't humiliate or punish Quasimodo for this action, we can assume it isn't character development, it's plot development. Reading Quasimodo's reaction at being caught speaking to stone gargoyles makes me feel as though he is embarassed to be caught by Frollo it's not simply glossed over or brushed off, or not commented on at all. There are two scenes in the film where Disney nods to the more discerning viewer, the first being the first time that Frollo and Quasimodo interact. Complete isolation can lead to people to project personalities onto inanimate objects. Secondly, Disney did make a pretty blatant attempt to nod to the adult audience that the gargoyles were never really alive that they were projections of Quasimodo, a way for him to cope with being lonely his entire life. As such, we can't really blame them for balancing out the dark tone of the film with some lighthearted comic relief. While I can sympathise with the wistfulness for them to use their beautiful animation for something more PG-13, I don't think we can ever really expect that of them. They have no desire to make films for adults. I take exception.įirst of all, this is Disney they exclusively make films for children and families. I mean, get rid of those and we have a real grown-up, mature movie right? And haven't we all wanted to see that from Disney? Well. One thing that almost every critic brings up as a weak point of a film is the gargoyles. ![]() Most agree that it was underrated in it's time, with it's beautiful animation, soundtrack, and complex characters. Nowadays it's getting a lot more attention, notably as one of the darkest forays a Disney feature film has ever taken, and the original child audience from the 90's are taking a closer look at it. Hunchback is a bit of a sleeper classic- reception was mixed on it's release, and I think a lot of kids who viewed it when it came out weren't quite able to appreciate some of it's more subtle themes and elements.
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