Notre Dame Cathedral is a church in Paris, France. It appears in various Disney productions taking place in the city, most notably as the central location of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
The construction started in 1160 by Maurice De Sully, the Bishop of Paris, with building this cathedral, and getting upgrades in 1789-1799, it was badly damage during the French Revolution and survived World War II during occupation of Paris by the Wehrmacht military forces of Nazi Germany when Germany invaded France in 1940, maintaining control of the city until the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, with Paris liberated following the surrender of the German forces several months later. On April 15, 2019 a fire broke out in the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral and spread over the roof and the burning blaze spread over the spire and caused it to collapse. French President Emmanuel Macron said that they would rebuild Notre Dame and it would be finished by December 2024, sadly missing out on the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. The people are still repainting the Gothic architecture and paintings because they were damaged by the fire.
This building serves as a home to the protagonist, Quasimodo. On the steps of Notre Dame, Judge Claude Frollo murdered Quasimodo's mother by making her fall down the steps. Enraged at this defilement, as it was holy ground and murder is not permitted, the cathedral intimidated Frollo into caring for the child lest he suffer eternal damnation and later helped to destroy him by animating one of its gargoyles into terrifying him enough to fall to his death into the lake of molten copper created earlier by Quasimodo and his gargoyle friends who were able to prevent Frollo's soldiers from breaking in. Its beloved bell, La Fidèle, is later stolen by a gang of thieves, but was later returned to its rightful place, much to the delight of Paris and the cathedral itself.
By law, Notre Dame serves as a refuge for those who are persecuted; people pursued by the law may claim sanctuary within its walls. Examples of this include when Esmeralda was in trouble with the law and had to stay in the cathedral, she sings "God Help the Outcasts". Her song also lured Quasimodo down from the tower, but before he could talk to her just after finishing singing the song, a parishioner who mistook him causing trouble shouts at him, causing him to knock down a candle staff and flees back to the belltower. Esmeralda was alerted by the Parishioner's shouts and follows Quasimodo; the parishioner also attempts to stop her and Djali from following him and is promptly scolded by the Archdeacon and when Quasimodo saved Esmeralda and called for sanctuary. Frollo and his soldiers attempted to break down the doors and lead the enraged citizens of Paris and French army to attack, leading Frollo's Soldiers to their defeat at the hands of those within. In the films, Quasimodo seems to have a certain attachment to Notre Dame, despite his newly-found allowance of being able to interact with Parisian society. Quasimodo likely still views the cathedral as a home as he still rings and cares for its bells, each of which he has bestowed a name. In return, the cathedral shelters and protects him; when Frollo attempts to do the unthinkable and commit murder within the cathedral itself, Notre Dame animates the gargoyle he is clinging to into roaring at him before breaking off and plunging into the fiery pit below.
In this short film, the west facade of Notre Dame is displayed as an outstanding example of the golden rectangle dominating the idea of beauty and architecture in the western world.
In Ratatouille, Notre Dame de Paris appears on two occasions. In its first appearance, Linguini passes by on his bike while on his way to kill Remy as per Skinner's instructions. In its second appearance, Linguini and Colette pass by the cathedral while rollerskating.
In Cars 2, a street musician performs music in front of the cathedral after Mater, Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell's arrival in Paris. In the film, the cathedral is enlarged by 150%, its towers have a grill-like design, has twenty-four "car-goyle" statues, the spire is modelled after a spark plug and flying buttresses are shaped like exhaust pipes.[1]
The Notre Dame Cathedral briefly appeared in the 2017 live-action remake of the 1991 animated version. It overlooks the windmills in the upper ground within the outskirts of Paris, where one of windmills which used to be occupied by Maurice, his wife and Belle, which was visited by herself and the Beast through a magical book given by the Enchantress.
Trivia[]
"Notre Dame" means "Our Lady" in French.
Throughout the first film, it is highly implied that Notre Dame has some form of sentience, likely to highlight how special it is to Paris. An example can be seen at the very beginning of the movie, when the statues glare at Frollo after he kills Quasimodo's mother, and later when the statues snap along in rhythm to the song "A Guy Like You". In many parts of the movie, the glass window in the front seems to have spontaneous bursts of shine regardless of the sunlight, an example right at the end of Quasimodo's first song. Also, the entire cathedral groans when Quasimodo tears down two columns to free himself and when Frollo delivers his last blasphemy whilst trying to murder Esmeralda ("And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!") the gargoyle he is standing on immediately breaks off and plummets into the flames below after roaring at him: this highly implies that Notre Dame heard Frollo and obliged. This reflects the source material in that Victor Hugo treated Notre Dame as the true "main character" of his book.
The movie shows that Quasimodo named the bells one by one and implies he also forges them. The names which Quasimodo gives to the bells are Little Sophia, Jean Marie, Anne Marie, and Louise Marie (these three bells being "triplets") with the biggest bell being called Big Marie.
On April 15, 2019, while undergoing restoration work, Notre Dame suffered a devastating fire that destroyed its iconic spire and roof. Thanks to efforts by the Paris Fire Brigade in responding quickly and having been trained for facing a fire at Notre Dame, the cathedral survived mostly intact thanks to its design, along with many of its irreplaceable artifacts and statues. Within 24 hours of the blaze, donations poured in to help in the rebuilding and restoration of the beloved church. Disney publicly donated $5 million to help in Notre Dame's rebuilding and restoration.[2] The precise cause of the fire has yet to be disclosed, but was presumed accidental due to the restoration work being done when the fire broke out. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, hoped to have the cathedral rebuilt and restored in time for the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games being hosted in Paris. Now it is confirmed that the work will be finished by December 2024. Nevertheless, the reconstruction work on the cathedral was included in the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics, and the boats carrying the athletes sailed down the Seine past it.
Through The Hunchback of Notre Dame, there are several errors regarding Notre Dame's appearance:
The statues that decorate the cathedral's exterior are shown as plain stone. During the time the film was set, many of these statues were painted in colours.
During "Out There", when Quasimodo swings around the spire (the cathedral's second spire and also the one destroyed in the 2019 fire), it is surrounded by copper statues. These statues, which represent the Twelve Apostles, were not added to Notre Dame until a 19th century restoration. The statues had been removed for separate restoration several days before the fire, allowing them to survive fully intact.
When Quasimodo helps Esmeralda & Djali escape Notre Dame via the roof, they slide down on a tile, which generates sparks as they slide down. The cathedral's roof (which was also destroyed in the 2019 fire along with the spire) was made of lead, a metal that does not spark.
When Frollo chases Quasimodo and Esmeralda, the gargoyles that are used as waterspouts are solid; they are missing the troughs in their backs through which water runs.
The cathedral of Duckburg, Notre Duck, was inspired by Notre Dame de Paris.
Gallery[]
Notre Dame cameo in Donald in Mathmagic Land, adorned with golden rectangles
Notre Dame cameo in The Aristocats
The statues of Notre Dame
People praying inside the cathedral.
Esmeralda looks up at one of the cathedral's rose windows.
"This is Little Sophia"- Quasimodo introduces Esmeralda to one of the cathedral's bells.
"Jean Marie, Ann Marie, and Louise Marie."- Quasimodo introduces Esmeralda to three of the cathedral's bells.
