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The Hunchback of Notre Dame II Movie: C Sound: A+ Picture: A+ Reviewed By: Kristin In the direct-to-video sequel to the original 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' animated film by Disney we find Quasimodo (voiced by Tom Hulce) still living in the bell towers of Notre Dame, acting the doting "uncle" to Esmeralda (voiced by Demi Moore) and Phobeous (voiced by Kevin Kline) son, Zephyr (voiced by Haley Joel Osment), hanging with his gargoyle pals, and generally hoping for the day a woman falls in love with him. One day, the circus comes to town and with it comes the beautiful Madellaine (voiced by Jennifer Love Hewitt) who is the assistant of master magician, and thief, Sarousch (voiced by Michael McKean). Sarousch is quite possibly one of my favorite characters in this film as he is completely and totally in love with himself, pushing vainity to the extreme, and therefore making you laugh with his outrageousness. He really cracked me up. However, in the scariness department Sarousch has nothing on Frollo, the very creepy villian for 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. Anyway, back to the story...Sarousch has his sights set on the beautiful bell named La Fidele, which, not surprisingly, is very ordinary on the outside, but intensely beautiful on the inside. Sarousch forces Madellaine to lure Quasi away while he and his cohorts snatch the bell. But, of course, Quasimodo falls hard for Madellaine the minute he lays eyes on her, and after seeing his true self, Madellaine falls for him too (although she is never repulsed by him). You can probably guess the rest of the story. The first thing I thought when I started this movie is how dreadful the animation is compared to the first movie. It seems Disney chose the more, flat, black edged, Hercules and 102 Dalmatians series type of animation instead of staying with the more classic animation style of the original. Big mistake. It "dumbs down" the look of the characters, taking away the detail that was much needed in the original and should have been in the sequel. The first thing I thought when the movie was over is that that had to be the shortest Disney film I've ever watched. I checked the back of the box and sure enough, it's just barely over an hour (which includes the credits and numerous previews at the beginning). I'd be willing to bet that the movie itself isn't even an hour long. The movie is, how do you put it...."fluff". That's a good word to describe it. The original was dark, brooding, and had a somewhat depressing ending. The characters in the sequel are severly underdeveloped and A+ voice casting (and it was!) can't even help. Thoughout the film and after it's ended you feel no real emotion towards the characters. They are just....there. The married banter between Esmeralda and Phobeous seemed hollow, and watching Phoebous saying all the wrong things all the time got tiring. Unlike the original, this movie's songs are pretty flat unmemorable with the exception of 'I'm Gonna Love You' performed by Jennifer Love Hewitt. Don't expect another Topsy Turvy here, because you won't find it. For what they are, the extras are somewhat interesting. Very young children will like the puppet theater and bell tower game, "A Gargoyle's Life" (musical tribute to gargoyles) was creative and funny. The Behind the Scenes with Jennifer Love Hewitt was kind of sickening with the way she gushes over this movie. I mean really. Overall,
the movie was okay, the six year old boy that watched it with me enjoyed
it. That's surprising to me because he didn't really care for the original
and is usually picky about which animated films he'll sit though and
actually watch. I know that I personally would prefer not to sit though
it again. Anyone over the age of 8 will probably find this film corny
and predictable, but the younger ones might be entertained. This is
a good movie to get for the kids while you watch something a bit more
interesting. If it's a 5 star Disney direct-to-video sequel you're after,
try The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride and I've heard Cinderella 2 was good
too. Click here to purchase this DVD movie in our store. Edition Details: •
Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only) Dvdeasteregg.com
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