Description: Return to the magnificence of Notre Dame in Disney's all-new movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II - a fun, romantic adventure told with vibrant animation and music as soaring as its setting. Still the faithful protector of Notre Dame's beloved bells, Quasimodo now rings them with the help of Zephyr, who is Quasi's best friend. Stopping with Zephyr at a traveling circus owned by the evil magician Sarousch, Quasi is captivated by Sarousch's lovely assistant, Madellaine. But greedy Sarousch is about to force Madellaine to help him steal the Cathedral's most famous bell. Encouraged by some laughable romantic advice from his gargoyle pals, Quasi listens to his own heart and discovers that he, too, must look past appearances to find true love.
Amazon.com: Most of the original characters from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame--plus a few new ones--return for this animated sequel. Esmeralda (Demi Moore) and Phoebus (Kevin Kline) now have a son named Zephyr (Haley Joel Osment), with whom Quasi (Tom Hulce) has become friends. When the circus comes to town, the hunchback becomes enchanted by a magician's assistant, Madellaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt), but the her boss, the vain Sarousch (Michael McKean), is also a thief with an eye for the cathedral's jeweled bell. He forces Madellaine to woo Quasi while he carries out the theft. Will he get away with it? Will Madellaine learn to see the inner Quasi? And will he be able to trust again when he learns of her deception? Songs and humorous high jinks from the gargoyles, including Jason Alexander's Hugo, illustrate the lesson that--as in the first feature--you can't judge a book by its cover. This sequel is squarely aimed at a younger audience than the original was; children from 5 to 10 should be very entertained. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Off from the original plot, however... I agree with other reviewers when they say that the animation was not the best and that the story line was completely off from the original film, but think for a second about what this message is trying to bring.
Quasimodo is obviously not much to look at and Madellaine is not exactly the "ideal" disney heroine that everyone has grown up to. She's real and she's "common". They both are considered underdogs and are very shy and timid people. Although Quasimodo is a bit braver because of his experience hiding in the the Bell tower for twenty years. This film celebrates love. Not the type of love you see in chick flicks where its love at first sight and that false romantic stuff, but the unconditional love that all of us deep within want and need. Otherwise, we will always feel alone.
This film actually did make me cry a bit, for I was suffering emotionally that day when I watched it, so this movie really touched me. The songs were magnificent. I don't mean the music quality, like the Bells of Notre Dame in the first one, but the lyrics were wonderful!
Such as: "Ordinary Miracles" and Jennifer Love Hewitt's song: "I'm Gonna Love You".
I believe everyone needs this message, because our society has a very glamourous and false view on what love is. This movie for me a slight hope, a glimmer of light, that their is a chance for everyone to find love.
I mean, of course people want that romantic relationship and of course people want to know what that's like. It's completely normal to desire for that, but the term LOVE is different than ROMANCE.
My only cons about this film is the animation and this sequel is way off from what the original story line was actually about.
Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 A true Disney movie with all the wonderful anitmation, action, and care, Disney puts into their movies, Excellent for all Ages.
A story that grows on you. H'okay. I remember watching this sequel when it first came out, and I remember that I thought it was extremely cheesy.
Come back some years later, and I was at my local grocery store [which also has a video rental too], deciding to rent some Disney movies [At 20, I still rent those the most...I'm thinking the people know me as the 'Disney Girl' xD]. Well, I saw "The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2" On the shelves and remembered that I didn't like it, but didn't remember why. So I gave it a shot and rented it again. I thought it wasn't too bad, but kinda cheesy at times, and a month later now, I rented it again. xD
I've gotta admit, I've come to love this story. It's a story that grew on me when I just gave it a chance...which I suppose is one of the lessons taught in this story, go figure. xD
The animation is definitely not up to par to the original, but I've definitely seen worse. I've also come to enjoy the songs..well. All the songs except 'Fa La La La Falling in Love'. That song will probably have to grow on me some more. And the main villain, Sarouche [or whatever you spell his name] is a bit of a clichéd villain, but eh. And I've come to love Madelaine, I didn't like her so much at first because I'm a big Quasimodo lover. xD I didn't want to let him go! lol.
'Ahem. Anyway, It's a lovely story that grew on me, and I really enjoyed the movie. I would give it 3-4 stars, but I feel kinda sorry for it because of the low reviews, so I'm giving it a five. Disney could have done better if they spent some more time on it, maybe fleshing the plot out a bit, and also spending more time on the animation, but I still love the movie. It's wormed it's way into my heart. ;)
So yeah, if you didn't like the movie at first, why don't you try to watch it again? Who knows, it may grow on you too. :3
A sequel for redemption
Defiantly not the best sequel in the world, at least this time they strive to give Quasimodo a love interest who is actually interested in him back. Quasimodo stops by a traveling circus and falls for the evil magician's assistant, Madellaine. The evil magician, Sarouch, tries to force Madellaine to help him steal Notre Dame's most famous bell. I guess it is a good thing that Quasimodo now has a love interest but I would think that Disney could come up with a better plot line to achieve that goal than the one that they did.
A pale shadow of the brilliant original I had such high hopes for this one. I consider the first Hunchback of Notre Dame to be THE greatest modern Disney movie, period. It looks fantastic, has memorable music and a grand theatricality that leaves other so-called "children's films" in the dust. But direct-to-video sequels are notorious substandard, and I put off buying this one for several years. But then I thought, "OK, if they managed to get the original voice cast back, MAYBE there's something to this."
But the sad truth is, everything I loved about the first film is missing. The main problem, as many have stated, is that the animation is just plain terrible. It looks cheap, like most made-for-television animation (I know there are exceptions, but they are few and far between). The story is cliched, even for Disney. And even with the impressive vocal talents of Tom Hulce, Jason Alexander, etc., it doesn't really matter if the character aren't given anything interesting to do. I will grant that the music isn't all that bad, which is why I'm giving this a generous 2 stars.
Maybe very young children will like it. Or parents who feel the first film is too intense for the very young (and I would agree with them...the first Hunchback should have been given a PG rating). But for any adults who enjoyed the original, this one's a major letdown.
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