Follow TV Tropes

Following

Funny / The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney)

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_guy_like_you.jpg
  • After Quasimodo convinces the baby bird to fly off and be free, Hugo becomes animate. What makes this funny is that the baby bird had its nest in his mouth.
    Hugo: (Loudly spits) Oh, MAN! I thought he'd never leave! I'll be spittin' feathers for a week! (Continues spitting)
    Victor: (Becomes animate) Well, that's what you get for sleeping with your mouth open.
    Hugo: (Laughs mirthlessly) Go scare a nun.
  • "Oh, look! A mime! [Hugo prepares to spit onto the ground until Victor covers his mouth and forces him to swallow]"
  • Early on in the film, Frollo drills Quasimodo on the alphabet. It emerges that Frollo taught him using words that certainly wouldn't fly in a child's alphabet book. (Abomination, Blasphemy, Contrition, Damnation, Eternal Damnation). It's both a blessing and a shame that they stopped at F; one wonders what the rest of that alphabet would have been like.
    Frollo: Good. F? (takes a sip of his drink)
    Quasimodo: (off-handed) Festival.
    (Frollo does a Spit Take and coughs)
    Frollo: Excuse me?!
    Quasimodo: F-f-forgiveness!
    Frollo: You said. "Festival".
  • "Achilles, sit!"
  • Another very dark example, in the Palace of Justice:
    Frollo: You know, my last Captain of the Guard was, um... a bit of a disappointment to me.
    (a lash and a particularly loud scream of pain; Phoebus' expression is a mix of 'What the hell was that?!' and 'Dear God, was that the previous Captain of the Guard?!')
    Frollo: Well, no matter. I'm sure you'll... whip my men into shape? [grins]
    Phoebus: Umm... That's a... a... tre-tremendous honor, sir.
  • A subtle one, but just as Frollo tells Phoebus that Paris is "in its darkest hour," laughter and music from the Festival starts playing in the background. "Darkest hour," indeed.
  • Clopin spends most of the "Topsy-Turvy" number trolling Quasimodo. At one point he takes part in a chorus line, skirt included!
    • This exchange during "Topsy-Turvy":
      Clopin: So make a face that's horrible and frightening, Make a face as gruesome as a gargoyle's wing!
      Hugo: Hey!
    • When Clopin cheerfully pops up next to Frollo after the latter has exited his carriage and taken his seat to preside over the ceremony, the way that Frollo non-verbally recoils away from him in disgust (with an expression screaming "Get this weirdo away from me!"), before flicking bits of stray confetti off of his robes, making as big a display of not wanting to be part of the festivities as possible.
  • Not to mention during Esmeralda's dance routine:
    Frollo: Look at that disgusting display!
    Phoebus: [with obvious delight] Yes, sir!
  • When Quasimodo is crowned the King of Fools, Frollo gives him a hard glare complete with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow.
  • During Esmeralda's chase at the festival, among other hilarious moments:
    • She knocks over a large cage which contains an old prisoner in it to the ground and rides it around the square, eventually causing it to land on top of the soldiers and knock them out, destroying the cage in the process.
      Old Prisoner: I'm free! I'm free! Oof! (hits his foot on the cage, causing him to trip and fall into a stockade, which closes and locks) Dang it!
      • Then during the climax, he's freed again, only to fall into the sewers and shout, "Dang it!" Even better, the sewer actually has a little sign next to it saying 'Mon sewer'!
    • One of the clowns on stilts kicks four of the guards with one of the long legs in their crotches at the same time, causing them to shriek operatically.
    • Catching a guard in the trousers of a stilt walker and catapulting him into the far distance, complete with the Goofy Holler.
    • Throwing a helmet to ricochet off the heads of three charging mounted guards with pinball machine noises. Phoebus, after ducking the helmet itself, in dazed admiration: "What a woman!"
    • Finally, with the help of another stilt walker she gets two more mounted guards to unwittingly destroy Frollo's pavilion, who barely has time for an Oh, Crap! expression before the structure gets knocked over, and he has to fight his way out from under a mountain of cloth.
  • This exchange:
    Esmeralda: You sneaky son of a--
    Phoebus: Ah ah ah...watch it. [looks around as if God is watching] We're in a church.
    • And right before that scene? when Phoebus tried to approach Esmeralda, she immediately knocks Phoebus down on his rear end, takes his sword, and starts pointing it at him, and they have this gem of an exchange:
      Esmeralda: You....
      Phoebus: Easy! Easy! I-I just shaved this morning.
      Esmeralda: [points Phoebus' sword at his goatee] Oh, really? You missed a spot.
  • The entire Esmeralda/Phoebus scene in the cathedral, but especially:
    Phoebus: You fight almost as well as a man.
    Esmeralda: Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you!
    Phoebus: That's hitting a little below the belt, don't you think?
    Esmeralda: No. This is.
  • This is going on while Esmeralda is saying that Frollo's wrong about her and Quasi:
    Hugo: What's she saying?
    Hugo: (to Victor) HA! Told ya! Pay up!
    Victor: Oh dear. (Begrudgingly hands Hugo a coin.)
    Hugo: (Smugly) Chump.
  • Very dark funny, but immediately after "Hellfire", there is this exchange:
    Phoebus: Good morning, sir.
    Frollo: [groans, rubbing his eyes]
    Phoebus: Are you feeling all right?
    Frollo: I had a little... trouble with the fireplace.
    • Further selling it is how quickly Phoebus just brushes that response off, shooting an Aside Glance before continuing.
  • A piece of Mood Whiplash while Paris is burning.
    Victor: It's hopeless. Absolutely hopeless!
    Hugo: You're telling me! I'm losing to a bird!
    [cut to Hugo playing poker with a pigeon]
  • Several moments involving the gargoyles are quite funny.
    Laverne: [to Quasimodo] We always said you were the cute one.
    Hugo: [eating crackers and cheese] I thought *I* was the cute one!
    Laverne: No, you're the fat stupid one with the big mouth!
    Hugo: What are you saying, exactly?
    • Most of "A Guy Like You" (Hugo cross-dresses as Esmeralda, gets his horns stuck in the ceiling, and the gargoyles say Quasi is shaped "like a croissant is"), and in "Heaven's Light", when they all appear to be sketching Esmeralda, except Hugo who ends up sketching Djali the goat instead. Laverne's reaction is precious.
      • Notably, the other two draw rather differently. Victor, the most cultured one of the three, can only draw a measly stick figure with Esmeralda's features, while Laverne draws a lovely sketch of her.
      • At one point during "Heaven's Light", Hugo cuddles up to Laverne as they coo over how in love Quasimodo is.....only for her to biff him right in the nose.
    • Laverne to the pigeons: "Fly, my pretties! Fly! Fly! AHAHAHAHAhahahaha!!!" *cue Leitmotif*
    • "DON'T YOU EVER MIGRATE?!"
    • In "A Guy Like You", there's a brief scene showing the statues of Jesus in Notre Dame snapping their fingers to the beat. That's right.
      • Speaking of "A Guy Like You", just as the song begins, Hugo holds a sausage on a fork out of one of the bell tower's windows. Only a few seconds later, when he brings it back in, the sausage is shown to be on fire, and he then begins smoking it like a cigar. Keep in mind, this is because Frollo has set the entire city of Paris on fire in his search for Esmeralda.
        Hugo: "Ah, Paris. The city of lovers is glowing this evening. (blissful sigh) True, that's because it's on fire... but still there's l'amour."
    • While the city is burning, the gargoyles agree to not say anything about Esmerelda's chances that might upset Quasi. Guess how long that lasts...
      Quasimodo: Any sign of her?
      Victor: (tenses up, clearly struggling to hold his tongue, until...) Oh, it's a lost cause! She could be anywhere! In the stocks, in the dungeon, on the rack! (breaks down crying)
      Laverne: Nice work, Victor.
  • The epic exchange after Phoebus and Quasimodo decide to go find the Court of Miracles:
    Phoebus: Truce? [he pats Quasi on the back encouragingly]
    Quasimodo: Well...okay. [he hits Phoebus in the spot where the arrow hit him, causing him to groan in pain] Sorry.
    Phoebus: ...No, you're not.
  • Once Phoebus and Quasimodo are in the entrance to the Court of Miracles, Phoebus remarks on how easy this is. He turns out to be right, as they're jumped by a horde of Romani immediately after.
    Quasimodo: I just want to warn Esmerelda and get back to the bell tower before I get in any more trouble.
    (Unseen by Phoebus and Quasimodo, the skeletons on the wall turn their heads towards them)
    Phoebus: Speaking of trouble, we should have run into some by now.
    Quasimodo: What do you mean?
    Phoebus: You know.... A guard. A booby trap. (Phoebus' torch goes out, leaving them in total darkness) Or an ambush.
  • Then there's Clopin, indulging in a bit of literal Gallows Humor:
    Clopin: Any last words?
    [Quasimodo and Phoebus, being Bound and Gagged, can only make some indecipherable noises]
    Clopin: [rolling his eyes at the Fourth Wall] That's what they all say.
    • Immediately followed by:
      Clopin: Now that we've seen all the evidence— [interrupting himself with a hand puppet... of himself] Wait, I object! [as himself] Overruled! [as puppet] I object! [as himself] Quiet! [as puppet] ...Dang.
    • In turn followed by:
      Clopin: We find you totally innocent... which is the worst crime of all... (Beat) So you're going to hang!
    • Then Esmeralda interrupts the "trial" and explains that they are friends, Clopin exclaims in the most innocently bemused voice: "Why didn't they say so!?"
      "WE DID SAY SO!"
  • The gargoyles building a fully functional catapult from assorted items found in the cathedral and then... shoving the catapult itself off the roof. It lands face-down on the ground.
    Victor: Are you sure that's how it works?
    (The catapult deploys, flipping over and hitting the guards, crushing them like a mousetrap)
    Hugo: Works for me!
  • Although it crosses with Nightmare Fuel, there's some room for morbid humor in regards of how Frollo died, exclaiming "And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!", just before falling off of a stone gargoyle and straight into said fiery pit below him. Most YouTube comments have this to say in regards to that scene:
    God: Oh yeah, I knew there was something I forgot to do today!
  • Blink and you miss it, but Frollo's chagrined expression right after Quasimodo tosses a beam off the cathedral tower and shatters Frollo's coach. He looks exactly like a dad whose kid has just wrecked the sports car. You can practically hear him scowling "That boy is so grounded!"
    • In the same vein, his shouting "Quasimodo!" after Quasimodo rescues Esmeralda sounds more like an annoyed parent than an enraged Big Bad.
    • Earlier, but related as it deals with something of Frollo's: when Phoebus escapes being executed (with Esmeralda's help) for saving the miller and his family, he does so by riding away on Frollo's ominous black horse. (Whom the directors joke is named Snowball.) What does Frollo tell his soldiers? "Hit him! And don't hit my horse!" (Counts as Even Evil Has Loved Ones, but it's still funny.)

The DVD Commentary

  • "We were told that the computers could not crash, that it could handle so much information, and we crashed it twice, and we're damn proud of it."
  • How can you tell Frollo is the villain? His black horse, black hat, black cape, and "voice from the tomb".
  • The directors getting scared by the Jump Scare of Beata Maria's statue snapping her eyes open in the intro song.
  • The commenters keep remarking how Frollo's hat is big, big enough to count as a flotation device.
    • Their later rejoicing when Frollo loses his hat.
  • How did Frollo get from Quasimodo's loft to ground floor so quickly? The Animators think he took the express elevator.
  • According to the directors, Tony Jay tried to do his own Spit Take, but apparently, it's not something they teach at the "Shakespeare Academy".
  • The directors point out a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment during "Out There": When we get a bird's eye view of Paris, there's a satellite dish on one of the roofs.
  • During "Topsy Turvy Day", the directors appropriately nickname Frollo's carriage, "The Frollomobile", "The Carriage of Justice", then the "Mis-Carriage of Justice".
  • They refer to the scene where Frollo interrupts Esmeralda and Phoebus in Notre Dame as, "frollus interruptus".
  • When Quasimodo and Esmeralda are sneaking out of Notre Dame, the animators mention a thrown-away concept where the Gargoyles commentated on the act like sports announcers watching a bob-sledding competition.
  • "Here's some more of our ham-fisted symbolism, Frollo falls down in the shape of a crucifix!"
  • The directors make the previously heartbreaking scene where Quasimodo discovers Esmeralda's love of Phoebus hilarious, with the filmmakers almost MSTing their own movie at some points:
    Gary Trousdale: [as Esmeralda] Quasimodo, this is my boyfriend Phoebus. He wrecked his dad's car, can he stay at your apartment for a few days?
    • During Esmeralda and Phoebus's kiss, "The world's longest kiss going on in the background too, but they are French after all."
    • Quasi's "cool loft apartment" is a Running Gag through the commentary.
  • "That is one crispy gypsy."
  • During the scene with Quasimodo having dinner with Frollo: "Careful, it's the world's most deadly grape! Don't touch it!"
  • Originally, when Phoebus declared "Will we allow it?", Laverne was going to relay to the other gargoyles "He says someone stole his wallet".

Other

Top