The Bells of Notre Dame

Last updated
"The Bells of Notre Dame"
Song by Paul Kandel, David Ogden Stiers and Tony Jay
from the album The Hunchback of Notre Dame: An Original Walt Disney Recording
ReleasedMay 28, 1996
Length6:26
Label Walt Disney
Composer(s) Alan Menken
Lyricist(s) Stephen Schwartz
Producer(s)
  • Alan Menken
  • Stephen Schwartz

"The Bells of Notre Dame" is a song from the 1996 Disney film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame , composed by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. It is sung at the beginning of the film by the clown-like gypsy, Clopin. It is set mainly in the key of D minor.[ citation needed ] The lyrics of the song bear some similarity to the poem The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe, especially the repetition of the word "bells" during the crescendo. The song is reprised at the end of the film.

Contents

The music is based on Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3 No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, which is sometimes colloquially referred to as "The Bells of Moscow".

Production

The origin of this song came with the controversial swap made by Disney executives of Claude Frollo from an Archdeacon to a Minister of Justice. One of the side effects of this was that a backstory had to be fabricated to explain what Frollo was doing caring for Quasimodo in the first place. The notion that "Frollo is encouraged by the Archdeacon of Notre Dame to raise Quasimodo as his own, to atone for killing the baby's gypsy mother" on the stairs of the church had to be explained in the opening scene of the musical, and that was the catalyst for the song's creation. [1] Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary explains that "the opening sequence of [the film] was originally all narration and the result was deemed too lifeless so ['The Bells of Notre Dame'] was written". [2]

Alan Menken said "It's a really rich number and I think it's possibly the best opening number I've ever written for any project". [3]

Visual sequence

The song details about Quasimodo's origin and serves as the film's opening credits.

During the song, Clopin tells a group of young children about the mysterious bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, described as "a tale of a man, and a monster." Twenty years earlier, a group of gypsies attempted to ferry their way into Paris and travel to the Court of Miracles (where the gypsies live), but were ambushed by Frollo and several soldiers. When the only woman amongst the gypsies is seen carrying a bundle, one of Frollo's guards attempts to confiscate it, prompting her to flee. Frollo pursues her on his horse, thinking her bundle contains stolen goods, in an intense chase through the streets that comes to a head on the steps of Notre Dame. The woman bangs on the door pleading for sanctuary, but Frollo catches up to her before anyone can answer.

Frollo grabs the bundle from her, but in doing so strikes a blow to her head with his boot, causing her to fall down onto the stone steps, breaking her neck and killing her instantly. Frollo discovers that the bundle is actually a deformed baby boy. Horrified by the child's appearance, he spots a well nearby and attempts to drown the baby he sees as a demon from Hell, but is stopped by the Archdeacon, who admonishes Frollo for killing an innocent woman on holy ground. Frollo callously tries to dismiss his actions, but the Archdeacon doesn't believe him and declares that no amount of lying will hide what he has done from "the eyes of Notre Dame" (belonging to the decorative statues built into the structure and used as a metaphor for God and His Angels).

Fearing for his immortal soul, Frollo nervously asks what he must do to atone for his sins and the Archdeacon replies that he must raise the orphaned child as his own. Frollo reluctantly agrees on the condition that the baby remains hidden in the bell tower of Notre Dame, hoping that one day the child may be of some use to him, and gives the child a cruel name; Quasimodo, which, according to Clopin, means "half-formed". Clopin ends the song with a riddle: "Who is the monster and who is the man?" And as he does, he uses puppetry to show Quasimodo growing up until he reached 20 years of age. The scene then shifts to the real Quasimodo ringing the bells.

Themes

The film itself, like most Disney Renaissance films, contains valuable moral information and so, in a way, can be called a "teaching story", besides being entertainment. This is one function of stories that are told to children: to give them, at least, the basic understanding of attitudes and behaviors encountered in the real world. Through the story of the song, Clopin tells the children that it is a tale of "a man and a monster". Towards the end he gives them a riddle for them to guess whilst being told the rest of the story, that being: "Who is the monster and who is the man?", thus introducing the major theme of the film. [4] What is meant by these words is to get behind what often are merely appearances, and by doing so we get to the actual truth. This aspect of the story can be related to real life because people often make the error of mistaking appearances (that also may be false) for the real thing or for something else entirely. In the beginning "the picture explicitly compares the [otherness] of Quasimodo to the righteousness of Frollo", [5] playing on the stereotype that Quasimodo's deformities make him the monster, while his master Frollo is the man due to his sleeker looks. It is implied by the end of the film, however, that it is now indeed a paradox and reversal of the statement attributed to the two personalities, not by their physical appearances. Singing the reprise of the song, Clopin gives a girl a new riddle: "What makes a monster and what makes a man?", stating that Quasimodo is the man because of his humble kindness and selfless bravery, while Frollo is deemed to be the monster because of his selfishness, cruelty, and intolerance.

The work Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Film by Annalee R. Ward argues that the use of a play-within-a-play technique used in this opening number "enables the filmmakers to condense some of the story, telling us the setting instead of showing it". It adds that symbolically, Clopin's puppet show is a metaphor for what Disney has done to the original source material, having "reduced it to manipulated entertainment, ala 'tragedy lite'". [4]

Critical reception

DVD Talk says that "The Bells of Notre Dame" and "Out There" "set... a perfect tone" for the film, which fumbles later with the "Be Our Guest"-esque "A Guy Like You". [6] Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Film says it is a "dark, emotional scene". [4] Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary describes the number as "one of the most potent musical openings of any Disney film". [2] The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film, and Television says the song "combines character and narrative beautifully". [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Hunchback of Notre-Dame</i> 1831 novel by Victor Hugo

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. The title refers to the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which features prominently throughout the novel. It focuses on the unfortunate story of Quasimodo, the Roma street dancer Esmeralda and Quasimodo's guardian the Archdeacon Claude Frollo in 15th-century Paris. All its elements—the Renaissance setting, impossible love affairs and marginalized characters—make the work a model of the literary themes of Romanticism.

<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> (1996 film) American animated musical drama film

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the 1831 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The film was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise and produced by Don Hahn, from a screenplay written by Tab Murphy, Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and the writing team of Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. Featuring the voices of Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, and Kevin Kline, the film follows Quasimodo, the deformed and confined bell-ringer of Notre Dame, and his yearning to explore the outside world and be accepted by society, against the wishes of his cruel, puritanical foster father Claude Frollo, who also wants to exterminate Paris' Roma population.

<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> (1939 film) 1939 film by William Dieterle

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1939 American romantic drama film starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara. Directed by William Dieterle and produced by Pandro S. Berman, the film is based on Victor Hugo's 1831 novel. The film is also noted for being the first film ever shown at the Cannes Film Festival before the rest of the festival was cancelled due to the start of World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quasimodo</span> Character in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Quasimodo is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster, but he finds sanctuary in an unlikely love that is fulfilled only in death.

Clopin Trouillefou is a fictional character first created in the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by French author Victor Hugo, and subsequently adapted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Gringore</span> French poet and playwright

Pierre Gringore was a popular French poet and playwright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Frollo</span> Character of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Claude Frollo is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. He is an alchemist and intellectual, as well as a Catholic clergyman.

<i>Notre-Dame de Paris</i> (musical) Sung-through French-Canadian musical

Notre-Dame de Paris is a sung-through French musical which debuted on 16 September 1998 in Paris. It is based upon the novel Notre-Dame de Paris by the French novelist Victor Hugo. The music was composed by Riccardo Cocciante and the lyrics are by Luc Plamondon.

<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> (1956 film) 1956 film

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1956 French-Italian CinemaScope film version of Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, directed by Jean Delannoy and produced by Raymond Hakim and Robert Hakim. It stars American actor Anthony Quinn and Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida. The film is the first version of the novel to be made in color.

<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame II</i> 2002 film

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II is a 2002 American animated musical film directed by Bradley Raymond. It is a direct-to-video sequel to Disney's 1996 animated feature film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The film was produced by the Japanese office of Walt Disney Animation and Walt Disney Television Animation, while it was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Much of the actors from the original film reprise their roles, with the addition of new characters played by Jennifer Love Hewitt and Haley Joel Osment. Critical reception was mostly negative.

Hellfire is a song from Disney's 1996 animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The song is sung by the film's main antagonist, Judge Claude Frollo, who is voiced by Tony Jay.

Esmeralda (<i>The Hunchback of Notre-Dame</i>) Fictional character from Victor Hugos The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Esmeralda, born Agnès, is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. She is a French Roma girl. She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely seen without her clever goat Djali. She is around 16 years old and has a kind and generous heart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Frollo (Disney character)</span> Disney villain character

Judge Claude Frollo is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Disney's 34th animated film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). He was based on Archdeacon Claude Frollo from Victor Hugo's 1831 novel.

<i>The Hunchback</i> (1997 film) 1997 television film by Peter Medak

The Hunchback is a 1997 made-for-television romantic drama film based on Victor Hugo's iconic 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, directed by Peter Medak and produced by Stephane Reichel. It stars Richard Harris as Claude Frollo, Salma Hayek as Esmeralda and Mandy Patinkin as Quasimodo, the titular hunchback of Notre Dame.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a British feature length adaptation of the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo, produced for television by the BBC in 1976 and aired on December 30 the same year. Directed by Alan Cooke and written by Robert Muller, the film stars Kenneth Haigh as Claude Frollo, Warren Clarke as Quasimodo and Michelle Newell as Esmeralda, and features the visual effects by Ian Scoones and the original music by Wilfred Josephs.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1986 Australian/American fantasy animated film and an adaptation of the 1831 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo.

"God Help the Outcasts" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Walt Disney Pictures' animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). A pop ballad, the song is performed by American singer Heidi Mollenhauer as the singing voice of Esmeralda on American actress Demi Moore's behalf, who provides the character's speaking voice. A prayer, "God Help the Outcasts" is a somber hymn in which a beset Esmeralda asks God to shield outcasts and Roma like herself against racism and discrimination at the hands of Paris and Judge Claude Frollo. The song also establishes Esmeralda as a selfless, empathetic character with whom Quasimodo falls in love.

"Out There" is a song from the 1996 Disney animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Unofficially, it consists of the two songs "Stay In Here" and "Out There". In the stage musical version, Frollo's "Stay In Here" section was expanded into its own song entitled "Sanctuary".

"Topsy Turvy" is a song from Disney's 1996 animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The song is 5:37 minutes long and is performed by Clopin.

<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> (franchise) Disney media franchise

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a Disney media franchise, commencing in 1996 with the release of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The franchise is based on the 1831 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo.

References

  1. ↑ de Giere, Carol (September 1, 2008). Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN   9781458414168 . Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Hischak, Thomas S. (September 21, 2011). Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. p. 112. ISBN   9780786462711 . Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Alan Menken creates magical music for 'Hunchback'". Manila Standard . September 12, 1996. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Ward, Annalee R. (December 1, 2002). Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Film. University of Texas Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN   9780292773936 . Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  5. ↑ Griffin, Sean (March 1, 2000). Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out . NYU Press. p.  217. ISBN   9780814731239 . Retrieved March 20, 2013. Bells of Notre Dame disney.
  6. ↑ Rizzo III, Francis (March 10, 2013). "The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Two-Movie Collection (Blu-ray): DVD Talk Review of the Blu-ray". DVD Talk . Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  7. ↑ Hischak, Thomas S. (June 2, 2008). The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film, and Television. Oxford University Press. p. 357. ISBN   9780195335330 . Retrieved March 20, 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.