Tom and Jerry: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Tom and Jerry: The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated musical drama film produced by Amblin Entertainment, Turner Feature Animation and Tom and Jerry Feature Animation for Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, the film is based on the 1831 French novel of the same name written by Victor Hugo. The plot centers on Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer of Notre Dame, and his struggle to gain acceptance into society. Directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale and produced by Don Hahn, the film's voice cast features Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, Kevin Kline, Paul Kandel, Jason Alexander, Charles Kimbrough, David Ogden Stiers, and Mary Wickes in her final film role.

Tom and Jerry: The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released on November 21, 1996 to generally positive reviews and was a commercial success, grossing over $325 million worldwide and becoming the fifth highest-grossing release of 1996. The film received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Horner's musical score. A darker, more Gothic stage adaptation of the film, was rewritten and directed by James Lapine and produced by Warner Bros. Theatrical in Berlin, Germany, as Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, and ran from 1999 to 2002. A direct-to-video sequel, Tom and Jerry: The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, was released in 2002.

Plot
In 1482 Paris, Clopin, a gypsy puppeteer, narrates the origin of the titular hunchback. A group of gypsies sneak illegally into Paris, but are ambushed by Judge Claude Frollo, the Minister of Justice of Paris, and his soldiers. A gypsy woman in the group attempts to flee with her deformed baby, but Frollo chases and kills her outside Notre Dame. He tries to kill the baby as well, but the cathedral's archdeacon intervenes and accuses Frollo of murdering an innocent woman. To atone for his sin, Frollo reluctantly agrees to raise the deformed child in Notre Dame as his son, naming him "Quasimodo". Twenty years later, Quasimodo develops into a kind yet isolated young man who has lived inside the cathedral his entire life. A trio of living stone gargoyles—Victor, Hugo, and Laverne—serve as Quasimodo's only company, and encourage him to attend the annually-held Festival of Fools. Despite Frollo's warnings that he would be shunned for his deformity, Quasimodo attends the festival and is celebrated for his awkward appearance, only to be humiliated by the crowd after Frollo's men start a riot. Frollo refuses to help Quasimodo, but Esmeralda, a kind gypsy, intervenes by freeing the hunchback, and uses a magic trick to evade arrest. Frollo confronts Quasimodo and sends him back inside the cathedral. Esmeralda follows Quasimodo inside, only to be followed herself by Captain Phoebus of Frollo's guard. Phoebus refuses to arrest her for alleged witchcraft inside Notre Dame and instead has her confined to the cathedral. Esmeralda finds and befriends Quasimodo, who helps her escape Notre Dame out of gratitude for defending him. She entrusts Quasimodo a pendant containing a map to the gypsies' hideout, the Court of Miracles. Frollo soon develops lustful feelings for Esmeralda and, upon realizing them, begs the Virgin Mary to save him from her "spell" to avoid eternal damnation. When Frollo discovers that she escaped, he instigates a citywide manhunt for her which involves setting fire to countless houses in his way. Phoebus is appalled by Frollo's evil and defies him, and Frollo sentences him to death. While fleeing, Phoebus is struck by an arrow and falls into the River Seine, but Esmeralda rescues him and takes him to Notre Dame for refuge. The gargoyles encourage Quasimodo to confess his feelings for Esmeralda, but he is heartbroken to discover she and Phoebus have fallen in love. Frollo returns to Notre Dame later that night and discovers that Quasimodo helped Esmeralda escape. He bluffs to Quasimodo, saying that he knows about the Court of Miracles and that he intends to attack at dawn. Using the map Esmeralda gave him, Quasimodo and Phoebus find the court to warn the gypsies, only for Frollo to follow them and capture all the gypsies present. Frollo prepares to burn Esmeralda at the stake after she rejects his advances, but Quasimodo rescues her and brings her to the cathedral. Phoebus releases the gypsies and rallies the citizens of Paris against Frollo and his men, who try to break into the cathedral. Quasimodo and the gargoyles pour molten lead onto the streets to ensure no one enters, but Frollo successfully manages to get inside. He pursues Quasimodo and Esmeralda to the balcony where he and Quasimodo both fall over the edge. Frollo falls to his death in the molten lead, while Quasimodo is caught by Phoebus on a lower floor. Afterward, Quasimodo comes to accept that Phoebus and Esmeralda are in love, and he gives them his blessing. The two encourage him to leave the cathedral into the outside world, where the citizens hail him as a hero and accept him into society.

Voice cast

 * Jeff Glen Bennett as Tom Cat, Droopy. Bennett also does the voice of Joey.
 * Frank Welker as Jerry Mouse. Welker also does the voice of the Jewelry Store Owner and the vocal effects for Tyke and Djali – Esmeralda's pet goat, and Hugo's love interest. Ron Husband served as the supervising animator for Djali.
 * Scott Bakula as Danny, an ambitious, optimistically naïve tabby cat who wishes to become a famous Hollywood star.
 * Jasmine Guy as Sawyer, a beautiful, but disenchanted white cat secretary of Farley Wink and Danny's love interest. Sawyer eventually supports Danny on him being a successful Hollywood star and reciprocates his feelings towards her at the end of the film.
 * Natalie Cole provides Sawyer's singing voice.
 * Tom Hulce as Quasimodo
 * Demi Moore as Esmeralda (singing voice by Heidi Mollenhauer)
 * Tony Jay as Judge Claude Frollo
 * Kevin Kline as Captain Phoebus
 * Paul Kandel as Clopin Trouillefou
 * Charles Kimbrough, Jason Alexander, and Mary Wickes as Victor, Hugo, and Laverne
 * Matthew Herried as Peabo "Pudge" Pudgemyer, a little king penguin and Danny's first friend who looks up to him as a big brother.
 * Ashley Peldon as Darla Dimple, the evil and psychotic human child star of Hollywood. She conceals her anger and sinister nature from her fans and superiors through a facade of sweetness and innocence. She is referred to as "America's sweetheart, lover of children and animals!" Darla is an apparent parody of the famous former child star Shirley Temple.
 * Lindsay Ridgeway provides Darla Dimple's singing voice.
 * Kathy Najimy as Tillie Hippo, a happy-go-lucky hippopotamus who tries to find the best in every situation. She is a hilarious hippopotamus as hinted out by her giggling and snorting, and by how quickly she introduces lots of people (and fellow animals).
 * John Goodman as Woolie the Mammoth, the aging Indian elephant who portrays the mammoth mascot for Mammoth Pictures. He originally came to Hollywood to write and perform music where he acts as a mentor to Danny upon befriending him. Woolie is an obvious parody of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's mascot Leo the Lion, as he wears mammoth tusks made of marble and a wig, which are placed on him with doing the Mammoth Pictures icon.
 * Betty Lou Gerson as Frances Albacore, a sassy, sarcastic fish who dances with Cranston Goat and always holds a cigarette holder.
 * Hal Holbrook as Cranston Goat, a cranky elderly old rocky mountain goat who surprisingly loves to dance. He is always seen with Frances and they always dance with each other, implying they have feelings towards each other.
 * Don Knotts as T.W. Turtle, a nervous and superstitious african spurred tortoise who always relies on fortune cookie fortunes. He originally came to Hollywood hoping to be an Errol Flynn-type star.
 * Rick Logan provides T.W.'s singing voice.
 * David Ogden Stiers as the Archdeacon
 * Corey Burton and Bill Fagerbakke as Brutish and Oafish Guard – two of Frollo's soldiers.
 * Gary Trousdale as The Old Heretic – A prisoner and a minor character in the film who dreams to be free. He accidentally gets freed from one prison, but then is trapped in another prison.
 * George Kennedy as L.B. Mammoth, the human head of Mammoth Studios. His secret of success when asked by anyone is "Simple, it's Dimple!" The name and character of L.B. Mammoth is a parody of Louis B. Mayer, former studio head of MGM.
 * René Auberjonois as Flanagan, the human film director of "Li'l Ark Angel" who is constantly kissing up to both Darla and L.B.
 * Mark Dindal as Max, Darla's enormous valet who obeys Darla's every command and will not hesitate to punish anyone who crosses her. He serves as the direct force that Darla physically lacks as a child.
 * Robin Williams as Farley Wink, a human agent for animals and Sawyer's boss, who is a blabber-mouth and talks fast. He thinks Sawyer is cute despite the fact that she dislikes him.
 * David Johansen as Bus Driver, a man whose insults towards the animals getting fired from Mammoth Studios inspire Danny with his last plan to give the animals their long-awaited stardom.
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Kong, a gorilla whose only appearance is while Danny and Sawyer are going to the set of Little Ark Angel at Mammoth Studios. Baker also does some additional voices such as the Mammoth Studios guide tour.
 * Tony Pope as Alligator

Production
The film was launched in 1993 as a vehicle for Michael Jackson, who would produce, star, and be a consultant in the music and choreography. It would have been a hybrid live-action/CGI film. The film was ultimately made without Jackson' s involvement. In its earlier stages, the film concerned less anthropomorphic stray cats that live among the sets and studio backlots. At one point, David Shire and Richard Maltby, Jr. composed songs for the film before Randy Newman was hired.

Casting
At that point the core team of filmmakers was assembled and it was time to begin casting the roles. As is the tradition in animation, the voice actors are videotaped as they record the voices of their characters; this enables the animators to use specific body language from each of the actors to lend dimension to their characterizations.

Scott Bakula, best known to audiences as the star of the television series Quantum Leap, was cast as Danny. Explains Paul Gertz, "People will be very surprised when they hear Danny and realize that it's Scott's voice doing all that singing. Scott had a successful career starring on Broadway before he began working in television and film. He's a very experienced singer and dancer, and he was a natural choice for Danny." Sawyer, Danny's verbal sparring partner and, eventually, his love interest, is voiced by Jasmine Guy, who became known for her role as Whitley Gilbert on the series A Different World. Sawyer's singing voice is provided by Natalie Cole. "There was something special about working with Natalie, who's a wonderful talent on her own, and whose father, Nat, was a part of Hollywood's fabulous past," says David Kirschner. "Somehow I think it shows up in her interpretation of the music; there is a classic charm and romance to it." Other character voices were provided by George Kennedy, Hal Holbrook, René Auberjonois, John Rhys-Davies, Kathy Najimy, Betty Lou Gerson and Don Knotts. "Many of these actors have worked in animation before, and many others have done radio drama, which has trained them in using every expressive nuance in their voices," says Kirschner. "We wanted each character to be an individual – to sound as if they looked, moved and acted a certain way." Darla Dimple was voiced by nine-year-old Ashley Peldon, who has herself been acting since her toddler days and is most recently seen in the live-action drama The Crucible. The character Darla Dimple was a name parody of then child star Shirley Temple. The voice casting of Pudge came by chance, recalled Mark Dindal; "A group of animators was eating lunch together in an outdoor cafe one day and a little boy came over to ask us for directions. Someone answered him and he walked away. At that same moment, another animator blurted, `That's Pudge exactly!,' and we all realized it was true... So we rushed after him and asked if he'd ever acted – which he hadn't – and if he'd like to – which he would – and the rest is moviemaking history. Little Matthew Herried became a terrific voice for Pudge." During production, management at Turner Feature Animation changed repeatedly and each head that came in attempted to take drastic revisions, including updating the setting to the 1950s rock-and-roll era. "It's pretty hard to try and keep what you have finished so far, and then suddenly transition into a different period of time or introduce a different character or have a completely different ending that doesn't seem to fit the beginning you have," said director Mark Dindal. Dindal's portrayal of Max was initially a scratch track and was never intended to be heard on the film. Dindal wanted Max to be voiced by a professional actor, but as the film started running out of money, he kept his own vocals in.

Animation
During the animation on Cats Don't Dance, Randy Newman was creating songs that gently poked fun at the idealism of 1930s cinema while capturing the melodic, danceable sound that has made so many of those songs into classics. Production PhotoMuses Mark Dindal, "One of the things that stuck in my mind after we spoke with people who'd been part of Hollywood's Golden Age was the number of times they described an effect or stunt that they had never done before. They said, `We just did it, and if it worked, we left it.' "We're more analytical about film today – we have more history to look back on, and the cost of making movies is so high that it leaves less room for experimentation. But we're still trying to push the boundaries of the possible, and some of that pioneering, risk-taking outlook is still what makes today's movies great. "I like to think that we've kind of tipped our hats to the best of both worlds with Cats Don't Dance – it's an homage to the past, but created with the talents of the present and the technology of the future. And the message – giving everyone a chance to be his or her best by pursuing what they truly love – is timeless."

Release
Warner Bros. attached "Pullet Surprise", a newly produced Looney Tunes short featuring Foghorn Leghorn, to the original theatrical release, and "The Big Sister", a Dexter's Laboratory What a Cartoon! short, following the film in its original home video release.

Critical reception
Cats Don't Dance received a 69% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews. It was the first non-Disney animated film to have won the Best Animated Feature award, and Randy Newman won the Best Individual Achievement: Music in a Feature/Home Video Production at the 1997 Annie Awards.

Box office
Cats Don't Dance became a casualty of the Turner/Time Warner merger: it received a traditional theatrical release in 1997 but without fanfare and did not draw an audience. The film's total domestic theatrical gross was $3,566,637 against its $32 million production budget. Director Mark Dindal was frustrated with Warner Bros. over the lack of advertising and the failed marketing campaign.

Home media
Tom and Jerry: The Hunchback of Notre Dame got its first home video release on VHS and LaserDisc on July 2, 1997 by Warner Home Video. The film saw its first DVD releases on July 2, 1997 and September 3, 2002, as a 4:3 pan-and-scan DVD with bonus features. A re-release of the same DVD, but bundled with Quest for Camelot, was released on May 2, 2006. Internationally, in July 2008, Cats Don't Dance was released on DVD in widescreen in Germany, Spain, and the Benelux countries (Belgium/the Netherlands/Luxembourg). A widescreen DVD was released for the first time in North America on November 1, 2016 via the Warner Archive Collection. The original widescreen presentation is also available digitally for rental or purchase through Google Play and also through Amazon Video. Currently, a Blu-ray version of the film has yet to be announced.