Review the essay based on the reburial attached below. Talk what is good about the paper and talk about what needs to be improved

In the Disney film Hunchback of Notre Dame the film displays the isolation/individuated myth, which Dolmage says as “emphasis on individual isolation as the overriding component of a disabled life” (Dolmage 35). In the film we see multiple examples where this myth is used. This myth as isolation is seen in the character Quasimodo. Quasimodo is a 20-year-old living in a world of illusion. His only friends are the gargoyles in the tower and he plays with dolls that he made. He has no friends and lacks a romantic life. The representation of Quasimodo's character and the film as a whole is problematic in a lot of ways for the audience. Through it, the movie can show a negative stereotype of people with disabilities in film.

In Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney’s 1996 film retells the classic Victor Hugo story of a deformed hunchback man living in Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral. The french word, Quasimodo means half formed– named because he has a physical disability– a hunched back and facial features. Both are quite noticeable when first seeing Quasimodo. Growing up alone in the bell tower, Quasimodo was raised by Minister of Justice Judge Claude Frollo per the instruction of the archdeacon. Frollo was to raise Quasimodo as his own child, but Frollo refuses to accept Quasimodo into his own home leaving him in the cathedral bell tower. Forcing Quasimodo into a life of solitary, Frollo has taught Quasimodo to view himself as a “monster” who no one will love or befriend. Spending most of his life alone, Quasimodo grows up isolated with his only friends, stone gargoyles who manifest into creatures in the bell tower . “ They are his only community for much of the movie, and that is not saying much; they are split- off chunks of his own imagination and represent his conscience, fantasies, etc” (Norden 168). He also has a lot of childlike qualities. The team behind the film's decision to emphasize Quasimodo’s childlike behavior also reflects a larger issue, The infantilization of PWD. We see later on in the movie when Quasimodo is playing with the toys that he has. The toys are a model of the town and everyone in it, including Quasimodo himself. The toy figure that he created says a lot about how he looks at himself. The character he created shows him on all four as if he was an animal. Even saying in the film “I am a monster” after talking to Frollo.

Throughout the film, Quasimodo is referred to as ‘the creature.’ The first time he was called that was when he was an infant. After Frollo killed his mother he saw Quasimodo and called him a monster and said “I’m throwing away an unholy demon back to hell where he belongs” He also called him “misshapen”. However he called him a creature multiple times. The other time was during the festival of fools when Esmeralda saves Quasimodo from public humiliation. She said “poor creature” as if he wasn’t human at all. In terms of Frollo, it's expected for the villain of the story to be a ruthless person. However, the good guys in the film seem to be saying the same word to him as well. He is seen as a creature before a human being.The characters throughout the film use that word casually as if it's okay to do so.

This myth of isolation is further perpetuated by the Festival of Fools scene where Quasimodo is revealed to the public and labeled the King of Fools for having the ugliest face in Paris. In the Festival of Fools, Quasimodo is revealed to the public and labeled the King of Fools for having the ugliest face in Paris. This solidifies all the teaching Frollo has put on Quasimodo— people see nothing but an ugly man, disability is ugly. When he was crowned confetti was thrown to the sky and unbenounced to him he didn't know that food would be thrown at him. When food was thrown at him they proceeded to tie him down and continue throwing food at him. The atmosphere went from being happy and celebrating to fear and confusion. When he processed to get himself out of there he was screaming and his clothes ripped due to him trying to get out of there. Making him look like some type of monster instead of someone who was angry that this was happening to him. During the Festival of Fools, the animation shortcuts from the beautiful, striking, colors of the joker with light pastel tones to the shot of a shocked Quasimodo shrouded in dark colors and appearing distraught by the commotion. He was stuck there until Esmeralda saved him. That can give off the idea the people with disabilities need to be saved rather than saving themselves.

Frollo isolates Quasimodo from the outside world since his infancy. Over time he tells Quasimodo of the “horrors” of the outside world. He tells Quasimodo both through dialogue and when he sings to him about how the world is unaccepting of people who look like him. It builds this false sense of reality for Quasimodo that this is something that he has to overcome in life rather than it being about society and the barriers that are placed upon him. Disney depicts Quasimodo as the epitome of disability. Not only does Quasimodo, he is a grown man, but in several scenes he is seen playing with dolls. He even befriends stone gargoyles who I cannot tell are magical or simply the manifestation of Quasimodo’s imagination. He is seen to have childlike behavior through the film. Him being isolated and alone throughout his life can play a role in this “Social isolation is concerned more with environmental impoverishment or restrictions than with the individual's ability to create and maintain social relationships” (Macdonald 3). However, this doesn’t make things right at all. Quasimodo does sing about wanting to be with others outside of the tower but in order for that to happen someone else had to save him from it. (That’s another myth: that disabled people need to be saved by non disabled people).

Quasimodo’s disability is further considered isolated and individuated as he is unable to have a romantic connection with the main love interest. Quasimodo first encounters the gypsy Esmeralda when he decides to go to the festival of fools. Later in the story he falls in love with her when she offers him a hand during his public humiliation. The two meet again when Esmeralda calls sanctuary and she explores the bell tower. However, she falls in love with another character. Unfortunately Esmeralda never loves Quasimodo.. “This is a very dangerous concept for young viewers” (Caroline 2). However, Quasimodo does form a friendship with Esmeralda; she doesn’t have those romantic feelings towards him like he has for her. In the end she falls in love with the tall, handsome able bodied man. Another norm is that disabled characters in film should have positive contributions to the plot. After he rescuse Esmeralda from Frollo he is accepted into society. Other than this for most of the movie he is shunned and confined, until he recused Esmeralda.

Despite Disney’s intentions, The Hunchback of Notre Dame fails to positively present disability and instead only perpetuates disability as isolating and individuated. Quasimodo is physically separated from others due to fear of others’ reactions to his disability. Even as he begins to form connections with others, the filmmakers prevent romantic or deeper-emotional connections between Quasimodo and Esmerelda and instead present him and his feelings as child-like. Even without dialogue and songs, the imagery of the scenes separates Quasimodo from others with contrasting colors and various sceneries. By subscribing to these myths and failing to accurately portray people with disabilities, the myths of the connection between disability and isolation encourages the mindset of removing disabled people from society.

Work cited

Cavendish, Caroline. “The Gentle ‘Half-Formed’ Monster.” Disability in Children's Literature, 5 May 2017,

Dolmage, Jay Timothy. “An Archive and Anatomy of Disability Myths.” Disability Rhetoric. Syracuse University Press, 2013

Macdonald, Stephen J. “'The Invisible Enemy': Disability, Loneliness and Isolation.” Taylor & Francis, 19 Sept. 2018,

Martin F. Norden. "'You're a Surprise from Every Angle': Disability, Identity, and Otherness in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame," in Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality, and Disability, ed. Johnson Cheu. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013