The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (March 19, 2002)

This is a direct-to-video follow up to The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It primarily follows Quasimodo as he falls in love with a girl from the circus named Madelaine. She initially was using him to get to Notre Dame’s most beloved bell, La Fidele, (which is worth a fortune) for her boos, the leader of the Circus troop, Sarousch. Secondarily, Phoebus and Esmerelda have born a son together named Zephyr. Phoebus is investigating a string of robberies connected to the circus which leads him to Sarousch, who pins the robberies on Madelaine. The original voice actors all reprise their roles, much to my delight. The animation, however, is subpar and uneven. The backgrounds a good but the character designs are poor. They look like a cheap tv show instead of the magnificent character animation from the original. The plot is typical- Madelaine grows fond of Quasimodo and tries to confess to her attempt crime only for him to lose all trust in her once the crimes are revealed because he feels betrayed. The story lacks the complexity, depth, and maturity of the original. There was no need to give Quasimodo a girlfriend, especially not in such a cliqued manner. Phoebus undergoes the worst downgrade in terms of character. He reverts from being a lovable, if proud and sarcastic man to a judgmental and prejudicial jerk. He may have had some of those underlying qualities latent in him but now they become his whole personality., he nearly refuses to listen even to his wife! Esmerelda does not have a big role in this film, which is a shame because she was such a good character in the original. Quasimodo become a lovesick fool which is cute for a time (he deserves all the happiness in the world and more) but eventually it becomes all his character is. He lost his most interesting facet, being an outcast living on the fringes of society. Finally, Madelaine is an overall boring love interest and the villain is equally as dull and pedestrian. There is no reason to watch this film. It pales in comparison to the original in every conceivable way and thus has no redeeming value; it is a stain on the legacy of The Hunchback of Notre Dame that I wish could be erased.

Final Rating: 1/10