The Hunchback Of Notre Dame II [HD]

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! THEY CAN'T BE DOING THIS!!!!!!!!
What do you want when you watch a sequel?

Well, if you really loved the first movie, you want to see your favorite characters in a new adventure with the same feel as the first movie, right?

You're not going to get what you want when you watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame II. The old characters are there....sort of, but they look like they went through plastic surgery and act so...not like themselves. And they follow up the wonderfully dark, complex story in the first movie with an overly-sweet simple romance.

Now, the original Hunchback of Notre Dame happens to be my favorite movie of all time! (see my review of it) When I watch a sequel, I want to visit the same world again, not a sweetened-up, underdrawn version. This movie was NOT aimed at fans of the original, but rather at the parents and critics who complained that the first movie was too dark for the wittle kiddies.

Okay, I'll tell you what's so bad about this sequel, and how big a disgrace it is to its preceedor...

The magic of Disney just isn't ringing here
Past direct-to-video releases prompted me to buy this one and left me disappointed. While the voice work is impressive--especially since most of the original cast returns-- the animation just doesn't resonate with the usual Disney smoothness. Characters walk across the screen with sometimes choppy motion that you rarely see in Disney animation. The whole production seems to have been as quickly slapped together as the short story which clocks in at just over an hour. Haley Joel Osment and Jennifer Love Hewitt compliment the rest of the cast nicely, but just can't improve the weak plot and animation. The end credits song -- the one you have probably all heard by now in commercials-- was not only sung by Hewitt, but also penned by her, which makes it more enjoyable. Finally, the DVD sorely lacks any real extras. There is a small documentary featuring Hewitt. The "games" are fun maybe once, but don't lend themselves to repeat playing. Disney's past success and the...

*shudder*
I have a theory about this movie:

The first movie was a masterpiece, but because some parents complained that it was too dark for kids, Disney made this as a joke (as if to say, "This is Victor Hugo's classic and you're complaining that it's too dark? Well, BAM, here's your watery rainbows and ponies for you!"). It's the only thing that makes sense to me.

I had just re-watched the original and wondered what the sequel was like, so I looked it up online. There were so many irritants within the first ten minutes that I could not bring myself to watch anymore.

Animation- The first movie was gorgeous, and not just as eye candy. The animators had really outdone themselves with lighting, angles, you name it. Obviously, this movie does not use those same animators. Reminds me of Saturday morning cartoons.

Story- It's so...forced, bland, *sigh*, "really? did they have to do that?" type of thing

Script- This is the worst part for me...

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