The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The year is 1487, in the gritty and tumultuous urban centre of Paris, where the magnificent gothic cathedral of Notre Dame towers above all else, and the sound of its bells are the soul of the city. The bell-ringer of Notre Dame is a mysterious and misshapen outcast named Quasimodo, secluded in the cathedral since his infancy under the watch of his repressive guardian, Judge Frollo. As penance for causing the death of Quasimodo's gypsy mother, Frollo has been forced to care for the deformed child. Now twenty years old, Quasimodo yearns to leave the cathedral and consort with the population, but is forbidden by Frollo. On the day of the Feast of Fools, Quasimodo finds the courage to join the celebration below, where he meets the beautiful gypsy dancer Esmeralda and Frollo's heroic new Captain of the Guards, Phoebus.
Quasimodo is crowned King of Fools, but the crowd's delight turns to fear when they realise that he is not wearing a mask. Esmeralda rescues Quasimodo from the jeering crowd, but Phoebus is ordered to arrest her. Outwitting the soldiers, Esmeralda finds sanctuary with Quasimodo in the cathedral. Touched by her acts of kindness toward him, the bell-ringer befriends her and helps her to escape.
Phoebus has fallen in love with Esmeralda, and is torn between conscience and duty when ordered by the vengeful Frollo to hunt her down. In the end, Quasimodo must find the self-reliance to defy the only parent he has ever known in order to save Esmeralda - and himself - but Esmeralda does not reciprocate, and goes off with Pheobus. Disney chose to have the heroine go off with the non-disabled Pheobus rather than with Quasimodo (the hunchback), who loves her. Quasimodo has to go off with a little girl. How different from Victor Hugo's classic where Esmeralda falls in love with Quasimodo, but is hung by the people of Paris for frequenting the 'spawn of the devil'.
Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.
Detailed lesson plans (PDF, 36k)
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