Conclusion: Dingo Pictures Hunchback of NotreDame

I think we can all take solace in the fact that it's all up from here. This is the worst, the absolute worst, that I'll be covering. Unless there's some new menace that arrives, I feel certain that that'll remain accurate.

I've heard people say that this version can be enjoyed ironically. "It's so bad it's good," they claim.

They're right...kind of.

The production values are so poor, the animation is so bad, that it's funny, hilarious even. 

To a point.

To spend 52 minutes of your life engrossed in something so terrible is not. 

The joke gets stale, and when that happens, all you are left with is trash, and that's boring.

After the initial shock, you're no longer laughing, just uninterested.

It goes without saying, Dingo Pictures earns their infamy. Their other works, which I watched for as long as I could stomach them, are  on the same level of "quality."

I'd recommend it for a laugh, but only under the condition that your mileage will vary.

The Characters of Dingo Pictures Hunchback of NotreDame

Unlike the animation and voice acting, the characterization of Dingo Pictures Hunchback of NotreDame is hard to describe. It's equally awful, like those other things, but too insignificant and bizarre to go into detail.

Quasimodo is a babbling idiot. That is all.

Claude Frollo is given the title of Abbot as apposed to Archdeacon, but this could be a product of poor translation. He is concerned with stopping Esmeralda from  corrupting others' minds, but only when told to be a pair of remarkably bitchy nuns.

Esmeralda is pleasant most of the time. She complains when Frollo hates her because "people like me and I'm beautiful.' As one dimensional as the crayola crayon drawing that she is.

 

Pierre Gringoire, in a strange artistic decision, speaks entirely in rhyme. Not only that, but he also speaks entirely in monotone.

The other characters have the same voice anyway, so there's little use in going into detail.

Next: Conclusion

Voice Acting: Dingo Pictures Hunchback of NotreDame

Dingo Pictures, among their other quirks, were famous for using laughably bad voice actors. By voice actors, I mean that at face value. Hunchback of NotreDame has two voice actors. One male and one female, using dozens of unconvincing falsettos.

Lip syncing amounts to mouth flapping. In the English dub, when a translated line does not fit, the voice actor just extends the end of a word. I've made several references to this in the plot summery.

Aside from that, the voices are very inconsistent. Esmeralda, as an example, speaks in a stereotypical French accent, but only when pronouncing the letter D.

Claude Frollo speaks in a sniveling, smearing tone. He is the most guilty of extending words.

"How dare you make fun our Pope in Rrrrrrommmme!"

Quasimodo is incomprehensible. His voice is so slurred that understanding a single word of his is a challenge. He also mispronounces every other word.

"Eshmermaulda!"

The audio mixing is just about as consistent as the voice acting. Dialogue cuts off at random intervals and the volume can go from loud to quiet from word to word.

The two voice actors, if they even are voice actors, are abysmal. They don't attempt to differentiate between voices when playing different characters. The most they'll do is speak in a different tone or in a stereotypical accent.

It's hardly convincing.

Next: Characterization 

The Art and Animation of Dingo Pictures Hunchback of NotreDame

It goes without saying, the animation of this film is abhorrent.

Pierre Gringoire

The characters hardly move, and when they do, not only is it minimal, but it also is clumsy and awkward.

When a character speaks, their mouth and nose expand and shrink. When they walk, they're legs move scarcely past one another. It's just the bare minimum of effort.

Animation is recycled plenty of times. Each character has only a single walk cycle and lip syncing amounts to vague flaps of the mouth.

Not only are the buildings inconsistent,
but also historically inaccurate.
 Is that the Eiffel tower on the left?

Artistically, Dingo Pictures' Hunchback is baffling. Buildings are nothing more than lopsided watercolor boxes. Proportions are laughably inconsistent. The colors are muted and frankly ugly. Lots of browns, purples, and yellows. It's just not very nice to look at.

Here, Quasimodo is taller than Frollo and the tower of Notre Dame

Aside from Quasimodo, the character designs are far from derivative from the Disney film, surprisingly. That doesn't stop them, like the animation, from being unpleasant. Everyone, from Abbot Frollo to the "Crazy Old Lady," is repulsive. Quasimodo is far from out of place in this society.

This wouldn't even pass for an animatic. 

The Plot: Dingo Pictures Hunchback of NotreDame

                                  "The Most Beautiful Cathedral in Paris"

Claude Frollo

The grandiose epic begins with the colorful streets of medieval Paris. Two Nuns discover a screaming baby. They say that it should be burned in a "Great big fire."Claude Frollo, the sniveling Abbot of Notre Dame, decides to adopt the baby, viewing the creature as a "Challenging project."

The child, named Quasimodo, grows up sad and lonely. He takes solace only in ringing the bells of Notre Dame. These very bells rendered Quasimodo deaf, but apparently this "Wasn't too bad," as "Quasimodo never really talked to anyone anyway."

When Quasimodo turns twenty, a Pentecost festival is being celebrated. Pierre Gringoire is reciting poetry, but is heckled by his audience, for being"dumb."

A barret clad spectator proclaims that "Highlight of today's festival" will be the "Vote for the Pope of Fools." The ugliest person shall be the winner.

Quasimodo

Several contestants appear, including one "So cross eyed that you could get dizzy."

Quasimodo is ultimately chosen, and when he is given his tiara and papal staff he goes apeshit celebrates.

No comment

Esmeralda appears and begins to dance. (Sort of.) Esmeralda preforms a trick with her goat Djali, an imitation of the local bishop. The two nuns tell Frollo about her blasphemy, and Frollo is outraged. Frollo attempts to stop Esmeralda, but Esmeralda just ignores him. A "Crazy Old Lady" curses at Esmeralda. Gringoire is eager to explain that, because the old lady had her daughter taken by gypsies, she has a prejudice against the entire race. Quasimodo, dressed still as the Pope pf Fools, arrives. He asks Esmeralda for her name. It appears the hunchback is fond of her. Abbot Frollo then denounces Quasimodo, accusing him of insulting the "Pope in Rrrrrome." 

Quasimodo being whipped

Gringoire follows Esmeralda during the night. He has the delusional thought that she is in love with him. He is instead captured by beggars, and threatened to be hanged unless someone offers to marry him. Esmeralda takes the opportunity, but Gringoire is disheartened to know that Esmeralda has not "fallen in love with (him) a little bit."

The goat cries at society's injustice

Quasimodo looks in search of Esmeralda.  While politely asking strangers, he is accused of "molest(ing) honest ladies" and is sentenced to be whipped. The people laugh as Quasimodo endures torture. The exceptions prove to be Esmeralda and Gringoire, who feel that he is innocent. Esmeralda gives Quasimodo water, making a 'friend for life.'

Frollo goes to the judge of Paris, who allows Esmeralda to be arrested just for the heck of it.

Esmeralda is put on trial and is accused of being a witch and Djali, the goat, is accused of being a devil. The two are sentenced to death. Until the execution is to be carried out, the gypsy and the goat are put into a dark cell together. The two of them awkwardly sob.

When the day comes, Esmeralda is brought before Notre dame to do penance. Frollo asks Esmeralda to "Forsake all evillll," but she refuses.

Quasimodo heroically appears and carries Esmeralda off, calling for "Asylum."

"Sanctuary!"... I mean..."Asylum?"

In the sanctuary, Quasimodo tells Esmeralda not to talk to him because he won't hear her anywhere. He offers Esmeralda a whistle in case she ever needs him. Conveniently, Abbot Frollo arrives, attempting to bring Esmeralda back to the gallows. Quasimodo stops him from doing so. Esmeralda feels completely unsafe.

Frollo goes to his fellow clergymen, and orders one of them to tell the beggars from the court of miracles to attack the church. He hypothesis that this will distract Quasimodo long enough for him to reach Esmeralda.

The plan seems to work. Quasimodo fights off the mob of beggars with stone bricks, and Frollo drags Esmeralda out of Notre Dame. Before he can give her to the soldiers, he gives her to the old woman for earlier to pass the time. The old woman is glad that Esmeralda will be killed, seeing as she is a gypsy. Esmeralda discovers that the old woman is actually her mother. The two of them are delighted, and the old woman sets Esmeralda free.

Esmeralda

Frollo goes to the balcony of Notre Dame. Quasimodo pushes Frollo off of the cathedral, telling his adoptive father that "You killed her!" Frollo scales in size until he falls to his death.

 Esmeralda, as it turns out, was not executed after all. All of that murder for nothing.

For murdering Frollo, Quasimodo is arrested. While in prison, a guard hands Quasimodo the whistle he gave Esmeralda.  He smiles, knowing that Esmeralda is still alive and thinking of him.

Quasimodo is executed, and Pierre and Esmeralda live happily ever after.

Quasimodo, smiling, awaiting execution

Next: The Art and Animation

Dingo Pictures Hunchback of NotreDame: Introduction

If you thought that the 1977 version was obscure, boy is this going to be interesting.

Title Screen For The Pal PlayStation Version

Dingo pictures was a notoriously cheap production company that cut their teeth on semi copyright infringement. The company is responsible for such abominations as Lion and the King and Aladin (With one 'D'). It goes without saying, all they made were knockoffs of Disney movies.

The logic was simple. Hunchback was made into a Disney movie, and so Hunchback was made into a Dingo movie. Dingo Pictures were not the only people to make ripoffs of Disney films. There was around a dozen of these knockoffs made specifically based on Hunchback by various studios, usually from Europe and South America.

I like to refer to them as 'Dizznee' movies.

Unlike the 1977 version, you can actually find this version. In Germany, where this was originally made, it was available on VHS. It may not have been released on home video in the English speaking world, but you could find it on the original PlayStation. 

Yes, the Sony PlayStation. A video game console.

That's just the beginning of the weirdness.

On top of the Hunchback cartoon, the disc also included a digital coloring book.

What Child Wouldn't Want To Color This?

And a few mini-games.

I'm Not Sure Which Is Worse,
The Fact That People Paid Money For This
 or The Fact That People Were Paid To Create This

Dingo Pictures and their entire filmography gained notoriety when some films, like Hunchback of NotreDame were uploaded to YouTube for the whole world to see.

It's regarded as one of the worst adaptions. I can certainly say that it is, from what else I have seen, the worst of the Dizznee versions. The Secret of The Hunchback and Jetlag Productions's adaptation are certainly up near the worst list, but this gives them a run for their money.