Composing Greatness: #8. The Musical or Comedy Scores - "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996)

Scene from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" Remains Disney's Underrated Masterpiece 20 Years Later

Scene from Hunchback of Notre Dame

There were few studios in the 1990's that had as great of a winning streak as Disney. In 1991, they produced the first ever animated film to get a Best Picture Oscar nomination with Beauty and the Beast. With help of course from Alan Menken in the music department, they released a whole string of now iconic films such as Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Lion King, and Mulan. Along with introducing princesses, it was the last gasp of fresh air for traditional hand drawn animation with some of the most beautiful mainstream cinema outside of Studio Ghibli. However, there is one film that often gets forgotten among the traditional musicals: The Hunchback of Notre Dame. While it gave the world gypsy princess Esmeralda, it gets overshadowed for being the darker tale that the studio has released. After 20 years, it still remains the most underrated of Disney's 90's animated hits - and it's definitely worth giving a second chance.

Theory Thursday: The 90's was Disney's Best Decade for Film

Scene from The Jungle Book

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way. 

R.I.P. Maureen O'Hara (1920-2015)

Left to right: Maureen O'Hara and Walter Pidgeon in How Green Was My Valley

On October 24, 2014, actress Maureen O'Hara passed away at the age of 95 from natural causes while in her sleep. The actress was best known for being a fierce and confident redhead who worked alongside such great directors as John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock. Over the years, she starred in films ranging from westerns to holiday movies such as the iconic Miracle on 34th Street. While she doesn't have the most prolific legacy in her later years, she is nonetheless one of the most iconic actresses of the Golden Era of Hollywood - serving as one of the finest performers of her time as well as one of the best Irish actresses in film history.