Would you recommend Hunch Back of ND for a four year old? (1 Viewer)

[Kevin_W]

My daughter is still at a Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp, Bugs Life level. Is HBoND too advanced for her? Having never seen the movie I was debating on purchasing it for her. If it helps, Alantis didn't have enough "cutesy" events or characters to keep her interest and too violent for my taste.

Thanks in advance.

Kevin

 

[Terrell]

Not sure Kevin. The HunchBack of Notre Dame doesn't have very many cutsey moments. So from that standpoint, she may lose interest quickly. As far as a violence point of view, I would say it's about like Atlantis, maybe less. I think it's one of Disney's better efforts, and I like it a lot. But if sweet, funny, and cute moments are what you're looking for, then this film might not be it.

 

[Kristian]

Despite the G rating, it's probably the darkest and most mature of Disney's films, so you might not want to show it to your 4-year old yet. I recommend that you rent it (or buy it, if you prefer) first and see it yourself, then decide if it's ok for her.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Hunchback is one of my favorite Disney films, but I would not rank it as great viewing for a four year old. It is perhaps the darkest of all of Disney's animated films.
-It has a song in it about Hellfire and Damnation, being sung by an evil and sexually tormented priest. During this song we see all kind of firey spirits and what not. (When I saw this at the theaters it caused a few kids to start crying and have their parents take them out of the theater)
-It has people being locked into their homes as their houses are set afire.
While the film has it's light hearted moments (few and far between). I continue to be stunned that the movie received a G rating. The film as a whole has a very darkly operatic feel to it. And a lot of the complex subject matter bound to confuse or even frighten the youngest of children.
While I loved the movie, I would have been pretty pissed if I had young children I took to see this film. I just don't expect a G rated animated feature to have so many elements of Sexuality, religion, genocide, murder, betrayel... and so on. Yes many of Disney's animated films lightly touch on some of these issues. But Hunchback has them all in one package and not handled with a light touch either.

 

[Malcolm R]

I agree with what's been said. While it's probably my favorite Disney animated film, it is much more "mature" than most others. In addition to the scenes described by Brian, I'd also include the scene of Quasimodo tied up in the street, struggling to escape and being pelted with tomatoes, as being quite intense for a small child. Also, Quasi's initial outburst/attack on Phoebus in the cathedral (that made me jump again when I watched my LD just recently).

Great film, but I'd probably hold off on this one until they're closer to 10 years old, or so. I'd imagine "Hunchback II" is probably lighter (though I've not heard any reviews yet), so maybe that would be more appropriate.

 

[DaveF]

As the others said, Hunchback is not a children's film. To paraphrase a child in the theater when I saw it, "Daddy, what's 'adultery' mean?"

Now, for adults, Hunchback is recommended.

 

[Kevin_W]

thank you everyone. This is kind of what I thought... such the reason I posted. Looks as if I will pass on this title completely... maybe I'll be more prepared to deal with such issues at a later time as I am still trying to unprogram what she learned watching the RugRats TV show.

 

[cafink]

It seems as though you already got your answer but I just wanted to chime in and say that I love this movie to death, it's a wonderful picture, but I cannot believe that it's rated "G," for the reasons mentioned above. I would not show this film to a youngster of only four years.

 

[Neil Joseph]

Hunchback is one of Disney's best animated films. You should get it now while you still can. Eventually she will be able to watch it but you can check it for yourself in the meantime. It has a solid story and characters you feel for, plus a truly evil villian.

 

[Edwin-S]

I have seen this movie and would like to state that it is probably not the best movie for a four year old. I would like to also state that certain aspects of this movie were pretty good. The ending, however, was bad. I did not like the message it was sending, even though it was probably unintentional. The ending was a "happy" ending but I thought it was rather offensive. I would rather have seen this movie end the way the book did than what the Disney corporation did to it.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I would reccomend the 1939 version, actually.

The animated version is very loosely based on the Victor Hugo novel and is nowhere near the excellence of the RKO film.

I won't spoil anything, but the Disney version adds characters and changes the ending severely. The 1939 version changes the ending a little, but nowhere near the "happily ever after" nonsense for a Victor Hugo book.

The DVD ought to be pretty good since it's from the version UCLA restored.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Here is a good site for parents to go to and get information about the appropriateness of certain films to children.
~Edwin