Voices of Tom Hulce, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Michael McKean, and Haley Joel Osment
Directed by Bradley Raymond
Music and Lyrics by various
Here's another movie from that period between 1994 and 2008 where Disney made direct-to-home-media sequels for every single animated film it ever did. Critics took shots at them even then, but they were wildly popular with kids who couldn't get enough of their favorite Disney characters. Nowadays, while a few of them are mildly well-regarded, they mostly look like the chintzy cash-grabs they are. Where does Hunchback II fall in the pack? Let's begin back in Paris six years later as the citizens prepare for "Le Jour d'Amour," the Day of Love, and find out...
The Story: Quasimodo (Hulce) is glad to take care of his friends Esmerelda (Demi Moore) and Phobeus' (Kevin Kline) energetic son Zephyr (Osment), but he's still often alone with his bells. He's especially proud of the largest and most elaborate bell, La Fidelitie, which is gold and studded with gems inside. He'll ring it to begin the Festival of Love.
Zephyr is especially excited when a circus comes to town. Quasimodo is more interested in Madellaine (Hewitt), the beautiful assistant for magician Sarousch (McKean). Madellaine is frightened by Quasimodo at first, but then he shows her around Paris and she sees him taking care of Zephyr and realizes how sweet he is. Meanwhile, Phobeous has been searching for the thieves who have stolen valuables from people all over the city. Zephyr and Quasimodo don't want to believe it when he learns that Madellaine and the circus are involved in the thefts, until Quasimodo realizes that the bell is gone. When Zephyr goes after the thieves, Madellaine has the chance to prove her worth and show that real love requires looking far deeper into a person than what's on the surface.
The Animation: Talk about cheap. It looks like one of Disney's animated TV shows of the time. Most of the characters are off-model. The colors are lovely, but the backgrounds lack the sumptuous details that went into the original. They move stiffly, too, and lack the expression of the original film.
The Song and Dance: I'm surprised they managed to get such a great cast for this. Not only is most of the original cast back, but they added then-hot child and teen stars Osment and Hewitt and comedian McKean. McKean's making the most of his limited material as the greedy magician who is more interested in making people's valuables disappear than making them happy. Madellaine and Quasimodo's relationship is surprisingly sweet, even when you can see where it's going from a mile away. And while the music isn't great, I do kind of like Quasi's "Ordinary Miracle."
The Numbers: We open with "Le Jour D'Amour" as Clopin and the cast explains about the festival and its importance. Quasimodo tells Madellaine his feelings about how "An Ordinary Miracle" can change someone's life. "I'd Stick With You" is Quasimoto's buddy song with Zephyr, letting Madellaine see how cute their friendship is. "Fa La La Fallen In Love" turns into a huge chorus number in the rain as the gargoyles gush over Quasimodo's new girlfriend and half of Paris dances around the two in the rain. The movie ends with Hewitt's self-penned ballad "I'm Gonna Love You" over the credits.
What I Don't Like: This screams "watered-down rehash" at the top of its lungs. Madellaine is neither well-drawn, nor all that interesting despite her troubled past. She looks as bland as she is. The gargoyles don't fit in any better here than they did in the original. Their material is still a little too vaudeville for medieval France. The dialogue is often clumsy, the animation is barely Saturday-morning level, and other than the lovely "Ordinary Miracle," the songs are totally unmemorable, especially Hewitt's too-sugary end title ballad.
The Big Finale: Unless you're a really huge fan of Hunchback of Notre Dame, you can easily pass on this one.
Home Media: Easily found on all formats. It's on Disney Plus with a subscription.
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