Disney Fans Blast Classic Movie as 'Not for Children'

In retrospect, many fans wonder if 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' is really suitable for a young audience.

By Michael Hein

Millennial parents are looking back on one of the classic Disney movies of their youth through their own children's eyes, and they're a little perturbed by what they're seeing. The 1996 animated movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame has been making waves on social media in recent weeks for its overtly dark content. In hindsight, many parents are wondering how this movie was rated G – and why this story was adapted for such a young audience.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is not as old or as simplistic as many of the other "fairy tales" in the Disney catalog. The movie is based on a novel published in 1831 by French author Victor Hugo, relaying the story of Quasimodo, a man with physical disfigurements who is kidnapped and brainwashed by a corrupt church leader, until he falls in love with a Roma street dancer named Esmerelda. Disney's version leaves out many of the more horrifying details from Hugo's novel and is influenced more by previous film adaptations than by the book, according to critic Lindsay Ellis. Still, many fans are wondering why Disney went to the trouble of cleaning up such a dark story for the G-rating audience.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was given a G rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) under the same ratings system that governs movies today. Those ratings are somewhat subjective and are often surprising in hindsight. For Disney, this may be the most prominent surprise in their lineup. Here's a look at what fans are saying about the G rating on The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

'Not for Children'

Many viewers reported their surprise when revisiting this movie as adults with their own children. They found the subject matter itself to be too upsetting for the intended age group.

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Outrageous Pitch

Knowing how movies are made, many commenters wondered how this one even got past the pitch process, considering the odd pairing of the source material with the target audience.

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Still Love It

The movie's die-hard fans did not try to defend it, but made it clear that they were glad it got made, even if it was a fluke of some kind.

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Defenders

On the other hand, some commenters did genuinely defend the movie, saying that children shouldn't be completely shielded from unpleasant things – especially in the safe context of a movie.

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Corruption

Of course, many people theorized that there had to be some kind of corruption between the MPAA and Disney. For a studio this big, they figured the lines of communication would be open.

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Other Examples

Commenters discussed other examples of surprisingly dark children's movies, including Fox's Anastasia.

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Remake

Finally, with Disney working on so many live-action remakes these days, some fans wondered when this one would get a more mature treatment.

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