The Hunchback of Notre Dame (also known as The Bells of Notre Dame in some countries) is a 1996 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released to theaters on June 21, 1996 by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirty-fourth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is inspred by Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. While the basic structure remains, the film differs greatly from its source material. The plot centers on the Gypsy dancer, Esmeralda; Claude Frollo, a powerful and ruthless judge who lusts after her; Quasimodo, the protagonist, Notre Dame's kind-hearted but deformed bellringer, who adores her; and Phoebus, the chivalrous if irreverent military captain, who holds affections for her.

Despite the changes from the original literary source material in order to ensure a G rating, the film does manage to address some rather mature themes; e.g. sexual obsession, infanticide, religious hypocrisy, prejudice, and social injustice. It is also the first animated Disney movie to use the word "damn", although it is used only in the religious sense. In the DVD audio commentary, the filmmakers note that the gargoyles might exist only in Quasimodo's imagination and thus may well be split-off pieces of his own identity. But in the second movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2" Madallaine, Quasimodos true love, can also see the gargoyles.

The film was directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, directors of Beauty and the Beast, and produced by Don Hahn, producer of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. The songs for the musical film were composed by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, and the film featured the voices of Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Kevin Kline, Paul Kandel, Jason Alexander, Charles Kimbrough, David Ogden Stiers and Mary Wickes (in her final film role) and Tony Jay. A direct-to-video sequel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, was released in 2002.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1939 American monochrome motion picture. It is considered by some reviewers to be the best of the many film versions of Victor Hugo's classic novel, and perhaps the one that sticks closest to Hugo's plot and intention, although the ending differs. As in most adaptions, most of the main characters, including Esmeralda and Quasimodo, are alive at the end, unlike in the book, where they die.

The film tells the tragic tale of a disfigured cathedral bellringer who falls for the beautiful gypsy, Esmeralda in medieval Paris, France. The film provides the stage for one of Laughton's greatest portrayals, as the tragic title figure. Backed up by Maureen O'Hara's sweet but fiery Esmeralda, and Hardwicke's chilling prosecutor, Frollo. Atmospheric direction, and stark yet lavish sets, combine with the fine performances to build a genuinely moving experience .The film later inspired the Disney version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Look closely, and most of the characters in the film (especially Quasimodo ) resemble the Disney version of the characters.

The 1923 film version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Lon Chaney as Quasimodo and Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda, and directed by Wallace Worsley, is one of the more famous adaptations of Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The film was Universal's "Super Jewel" of 1923 and was their most successful silent film, grossing over three-million dollars.

The film is most notable for the grand sets that recall 15th century Paris as well as Lon Chaney's performance and spectacular make-up as the tortured bell-ringer of Notre Dame. The film elevated Chaney, already a well-known character actor, to full star status in Hollywood. It also helped set a standard for many later horror films, including Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera in 1925. Today, the film is in the public domain.

The Hunchback is a 1982 American television movie film starring Anthony Hopkins, Derek Jacobi, Lesley-Anne Down, and John Gielgud, based on the Victor Hugo novel. It was produced as part of the long-running Hallmark Hall of Fame series. This version shares a lot of similarities with the 1939 version and though Anthony Hopkins's portrayal of Quasimodo is, in its own way, unique, many people have accused Hopkins of copying Laughton's portrayal of the tragic hunchback. Quasimodo's deformity is very true to Hugo's novel and some people believe that it is what Hugo intended Quasimodo to look like. It is often regarded as a remake of the 1939 movie. The ending is crucially different from the Laughton version. Along with the 1956 Anthony Quinn version, it is one of the only hunchback films in which Esmerelda dies. Hallmark was lucky to able to afford Hopkins for the film's budget was low.

Plot Summary: In the novel, the story, which takes place in medieval Paris, is about Quasimodo, a deformed, barely verbal hunchback who is feared and hated by all. His only friend is Dom Claude Frollo, a stern, cerebral priest so cold he ignores the poor hunchback when he's being publicly tortured for a crime he didn't commit. The only thing the priest gets excited about is Esmerelda, a beautiful young gypsy he wants so badly his lust turns to hate. She is the only character to show the hunchback a moment of human kindness: at the same moment that the priest ignores him, when he is being jeered by a horrid rabble, she approaches the public stock and gives him a drink of water. Because of this, he falls fiercely in love with her, even though she is too disgusted by his ugliness to even let him kiss her hand. Meanwhile, she is obsessed with a shallow glamour-boy whom she believes once protected her. Crazy with frustrated lust, the priest has the gypsy arrested for witchcraft and condemns her to death. As she's being led to the gallows, Quasimodo comes down like a fiend and carries her off to the sanctuary of Notre Dame. After an uneasy respite, there's a battle and Esmerelda is seized and hanged. In despair, the hunchback kills the priest and crawls off to Esmerelda's tomb to die with his arms around her body.

In 15th century Paris, Clopin the puppeteer tells the story of Quasimodo, the misshapen gentle-souled bell ringer of Notre Dame, who was nearly killed as a baby by Claude Frollo, the Minister of Justice. But Frollo was forced by the Archdeacon of Notre Dame to raise Quasimodo as his own. Now a young man, Quasimodo is hidden from the world by Frollo in the belltower of the cathedral. But during the Festival of Fools, Quasimodo, cheered on by his gargoyle friends Victor, Hugo, and Laverne, decides to take part in the festivities, where he meets the lively gypsy girl Esmeralda and the handsome soldier Phoebus. The three of them find themselves ranged against Frollo's cruelty and his attempts to destroy the home of the gypsies, the Court of Miracles. And Quasimodo must desperately defend both Esmeralda and the very cathedral of Notre Dame. Written by Kathy Li

Quasimodo, the hunchback bellringer of Notre Dame's cathedral meets a beautiful gypsy dancer, Esmeralda, and falls in love with her. So does Quasimodo's guardian, the archdeacon of the cathedral, and a poor street poet. But Esmeralda's in love with a handsome soldier. But when a mob mistakes her for a witch, it's up to Quasimodo to rescue her and claim sanctuary for her in the cathedral. Written by Kathy Li

The version children love!

A romantic, musical adventure to delight the whole family.

Clopin bought Esmeralda from the gypsies when she was young. Dancing in the square at the festival, Esmeralda is spotted by Jehan, the evil brother of the good archdeacon Claude Frollo. When he sets Quasimodo out to kidnap Esmeralda, Phoebus, Captain of the Guards, rescues her and captures Quasimodo. The courts sentence Quasimodo to be flogged, and the only one who will give him water while he is tied in the square is Esmeralda. After Clopin forces Esmeralda to leave Phoebus at the ball, she sends a note to Phoebus to meet her at Notre-Dame. In the garden, Phoebus is stabbed in the back by Jehan. Esmeralda is accused of stabbing Phoebus, convicted by the courts and sentenced to hang. When Esmeralda again rejects Jehan, he tells her that Phoebus is dead, even though it is not true. Clopin, Phoebus and Quasimodo all try different ways to save Esmeralda. Written by Tony Fontana

King Louis XI is a wise and old king and Frollo is the Chief Justice. Frollo gazes on the gypsy girl, Esmeralda, in the church during Fool's Day and sends Quasimoto to catch her. Quasimoto, with the girl, is captured by Phoebus, Captain of the Guards, who frees the girl. The courts sentence Quasimoto to be flogged, and the only one who will give him water while he is tied in the square is Esmeralda. Later, at a party of nobles, Esmeralda again meets both Frollo, who is bewitched by her, and Phoebus. When Phoebus is stabbed to death, Esmeralda is accused of the murder, convicted by the court and sentenced to hang. Clopin, King of the Beggars, Gringoire the Husband of Esmeralda, and Quasimoto, the bellringer, all try different ways to save her from the gallows. Written by Tony Fontana