Disney's darkest and most adult animated classic may also be its most underrated. Boasting skillfully layered and beautifully colored artwork, Hunchback of Notre Dame is a brutally honest, emotionally complex, and ultimately powerful story of corruption and redemption.

Hellfire is possibly the best Disney Villain song ever.

Being in Paris earlier this month and visiting Notre Dame has somehow inspired me to finally watch this movie. Not sure what I expected, but I was a pleasantly surprise with how funny, witty and brutally honest it is. And I am partly glad it took me until now to check it out, I'm not sure I would've appreciated it as much if I was younger. Esméralda is truly a strong, beautiful and inspirational character. She could easily be my favorite yet in Disney. I understand her hold on Phoebus and Frollo, you can't help but fall in love with her right away.

One of my favorite disney films, up there with The Nightmare Before Christmas for me.

I LOVE THE DRAMA HERE

I'm gonna be honest. I don't like musicals. I very much dislike the idea and (general) execution of characters singing about their feelings and events, especially in public or along crowds. That said, something in this movie work. Probably the fact that it tries to be more serious than the usual Disney movie and the fact that its 2 best characters (Frollo and Esmeralda) have songs that I found to be incredible (that's a first). 'Hellfire' is quite easily the best I've heard thus far (and an actual masterpiece in my eyes). Esmeralda's 'God help the outcasts' is also extremely good. Nevertheless, that wasn't good enough for me. I feel like some of the songs could've been entirely cut (including the opening song) and the movie should've leaned more into its more serious tone. Removing the talking statues (or reducing their role) would probably be step 1. I feel like they do more damage than good.

Gorgeous animations, a fairly dark story, with subpar songs

The art and music in this movie are incredible, and it even got a few smiles out of me, but I generally find the story and characters to be a bit lacking. Not a bad film at all, probably even one of Disney's best, but maybe just not for me.

Best movie from Disney Animation, there is NO contest

I've always enjoyed Disney's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'.

I love the atmosphere of the film, how fairly dark it is in parts and how lovely the animation looks. There are also many characters to enjoy, from Quasimodo to Esmeralda to Frollo to Phoebus to Clopin. The striking score is truly excellent too.

As for the voice cast, all of those who speak for the aforementioned bring them to life splendidly. Tom Hulce does well in the lead role, while Demi Moore is very good in the role alongside Hulce. Tony Jay is menacing as the antagonist. Credit to Kevin Kline and Paul Kandel too, as well as the three who voice the gargoyles of Victor, Hugo, and Laverne.

All the songs are solid if not massively memorable, with the obvious exception of "The Bells of Notre Dame". It's Alan Menken's score that brings things to life dramatically, as it suits every scene - particularly the opener, which makes for enthralling viewing.

This is a very good production from 1996.

Disney bastardizes Victor Hugo’s literary classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame as a romantic musical. The story follows a hunchback named Quasimodo who befriends a gypsy named Esmeralda who seeks sanctuary in the Notre Dame cathedral after being hunted by Minister Frollo, who's attempting to rid the city of gypsies. Featuring the voice talents of Demi Moore, Kevin Kline, and Jason Alexander, the film has a bit of an eclectic cast. And the music, despite being written by legendary Disney composer Alan Menken, is fairly unremarkable and lacks any standout songs. However, the real problem is that this is not Disney material, and Disney misses the point of this beautiful tragedy by Disneyfying it. The Hunchback of Notre Dame isn’t a bad film, it’s just the wrong film.

One of the most criminally underrated movies I have watched and definitely the most criminally underrated soundtrack I have heard. The fact that this soundtrack lost the Oscar is beyond me. It is quite dark and mature for a Disney movie (obsessive lust and various forms of discrimination are its themes) but they actually manage to escape a kid's notice while they are extremely obvious to an adult. This movie is a masterpiece in my opinion.

I saw this when I was a kid and remembered nothing about it. Now I know why. It is just a forgettable movie. No songs stuck out to me as great. The story is dark for disney but doesn't go that deep. It does look pretty good though.

I've never seen this movie before. I don't know why but it seemed it would ever look dull by comparison with Beauty and the Beast. That just shows you how wrong I can be. :P I still prefer the latter but this one is a gorgeous movie (OMG the Cathedral!) as well and has a great strong female character. Why isn't Esmeralda a Disney princess? Hum?!

It has a darker tone than usual, and it is sexy, something I wasn't expecting. The gargoyles are funny and the songs didn't do that much for me apart from "God Help the Outcasts", "Hellfire" and "Someday". I've loved "Someday" for ages, since I heard it by Celtic Woman, how was it possible that I didn't knew it was from this movie?!