Jim on Film
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(c) Disney

The first hint of what is to drive the action of the story is when Frollo, upon meeting Phoebus, tells the captain that the peasant festival will provide him with quite an education. As Frollo says this, he turns from Phoebus with a smirk, hinting that he actually enjoys the “dregs of humankind,�? as he labeled it in his conversation with Quasimodo. In the novel, being a priest, Frollo would have had to be celibate, but in the film, where he is a judge, one has to assume that he has chosen not to pursue a relationship. His second key failing is rooted in this; he is in denying himself what he has not been asked to deny and, when temptation comes, he grabs onto the temptation and refuses to let go. He places blame on Esmeralda for dancing, but the fault lies in himself for attending the festival.

Many of Disney’s greatest films have certain standout scenes that are always remembered--the witch’s transformation in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the dragon battle in Sleeping Beauty, and the stampede in The Lion King. For The Hunchback of Notre Dame, that standout is Frollo’s passionate pleading in Hellfire. Visually astounding, masterfully conceived and animated, accompanied by intense music of agony and complex lyrics of psychological revelation, Hellfire is everything a musical scene aspires to be.

It is Hellfire that establishes that Frollo’s hate for the gypsies has taken on a new dimension. It is no longer about ending vice and sin, it is about fulfilling his own desires. When he pulls Esmeralda’s scarf from his robe, it becomes the symbol and the physical manifestation of his desire for Esmeralda. And the song illustrates those struggles within himself. With all his being, he wants to be pure and righteous, everything that he struggles to make the city become, and when he realizes that this flame is burning within him, he turns to God (represented through Mary) to help him overcome those feelings. But through all his pleading, he is holding close to the scarf, and in turn, is holding close to the sin. After attempting to rationalize away the sin before the judges of his heart, he appears to have turned toward good. But once those judges disappear, the temptation rises. Even as he pleads, “Protect me, Maria,�? with repentant agony on his face, he succumbs to that temptation by looking at the fireplace, still holding onto the scarf. Inside he wants to change, but he refuses to give it up to God, and, when interrupted by the soldier, he makes a decision within his heart to hold on to the sin. With this desire firmly rooted, he is finally able to throw the scarf into the fire. He no longer needs it. Upon making this decision, he realizes his mistake, and visually, we see the spiritual battle for his soul--crosses rising above shadowy spiritual figures--but even then, he reconfirms his resolution and proclaims that “she will be mine or she will burn.�?

The further hardening of his heart toward God is represented physically later in the film. When Frollo burns the miller’s windmill, one of the flaming vanes almost falls onto Phoebus. As he rides away from the scene, the windmill, now in the form of a cross, is burning in the background, symbolizing Frollo’s destruction of whatever Godly influence he once harbored.

Frollo’s struggle is one that has faced mankind since the beginning of time--from the small child who wants to steal the candy bar to the spouse who cheats--but it is his cloak of self-righteousness and race-based hatred that drives Frollo to insane acts of rage and makes him despicable.

The definition of what makes a Godly person, then, comes not through any of the major characters, but rather, the filmmakers’ treatment of the film as a whole.

The Archdeacon acts as a foil for Frollo. In his act of caring for Quasimodo’s dead mother, he exhibits the kindness and love that God calls all Christians to, which is what Frollo fails to understand. In direct contrast to Frollo’s contempt, the Archdeacon shows Esmeralda compassion when she finds herself trapped behind the stone walls of the cathedral. Not only does he show compassion for Esmeralda, but he is amused by her antics, smiling at her disregard for Frollo’s authority at the festival. And most importantly, he does what Frollo should have done--he directs her attention to God. The climax of the Archdeacon’s function as a foil comes before Hellfire, as he leads a prayer in Latin that calls upon God, Mary, the archangel Michael, the apostles, the saints, and once again the Father, for forgiveness of sin in thought, word, and deed. While the Archdeacon turns from sin, Frollo chooses to toy with sin.