Melody is locked in a cell and Jean-Claude informs her that she'll be executed at dawn when the BELLS OF NOTRE DAME sound. Meldoy and her little bells that Quasimodo gave her begin to cry. The bells escape out the window. They find Melody's friends sitting outside (so they're not prisoners anymore?) and warn them of the upcoming doom.
Back in the cell, a kitten (?) crawls out of a pile of hay. Melody begins to sing. And it's not a ballad, no, it's actually an all-too-upbeat number about making the best of a bad situation while she goes into fantasy mode. Yeesh, and people say "A Guy Like You" ruins the mood. It almost feels like a scene out of Kiss of the Spider Woman, only not nearly as good or moody.
For some reason, the animation is particularly bad in this scene, but that's not saying much.
The instruments, meanwhile, rush to warn Quasimodo about not ringing the bells so Melody can't be executed or something. As if that would really make a difference. Also, "In the Hall of the Mountain King" plays in the background. Outside, Esmeralda is led to the executioner's block. The whole town, all ten citizens, have gathered to watch. For some reason, the executioner is playing with a paddleball because we can't let the kiddies get too scared now, can we?
After what feels like an eternity, the instruments (who still won't shut up) stop Quasi from ringing the bells. Everyone is shocked that the bells aren't ringing! Quasi swings down on a rope and saves Melody from...not much, seeing as the villains are incredibly incompitent at being bad.
The executioner, who sounds like a bad Woody Allen, asks how much he's supposed to charge Jean-Claude for the cancelled execution, which is kind of a cute joke, I hate to admit.
Quasimodo and Melody are on the steps of Notre Dame. Quasi appears hurt (and by that, I mean he just covers his face). He raises his head to reveal that he looks basically the same, aside from his hunchback suddenly being gone. Melody, however, decides he's soooooo handsome and WTF is happening.
QUASIMODO: Perhaps if you see me as handsome...perhaps I am!
Seriously, WTF is happening.
The lovers look into each other's eyes, the good guys gather around, and wasn't there a villain in this story or something?
Cue the last song, which sounds like a crappy version of "That's Amore." We also keep cutting from night to day. This is beyond awful.
We cut back to Quasi after the song, and he's happy to not have the hunch anymore. He then tells off Jean-Claude, now that he's no longer afraid of the pathetic villain. Everyone cheers, except for the baron, who's still eating. Seriously, why aren't they going after him, too? Either way, the villains vamoose.
Everyone celebrates and dance to some jazzy music, now that the tyrants are gone. Quasi and Melody share and awkward kiss, the bats make another awful joke, and the movie comes to an end, thankfully. Roll the credits!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Wow, this was bad. Even for a Golden Films production, this was terrible. Aside from the numerous, usual problems—bad animation, corny writing, paper-thin characters, terrible editing—there's also the whole "Quasimodo is secretly handsome" bit thrown in. Why? What's the point?
Urgh, I could go on, but I think the movie and this recap speak for themselves.
