OVERLAY REPORT

The plot of the 1996 Disney film *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* is set in motion by a series of dark and violent events that occur twenty years before the main story begins. These actions establish the central conflict between Judge Claude Frollo and Quasimodo, as well as Frollo’s obsession with "purging" the city. The specific actions that start the plot in motion are: ### 1. The Ambush at the Seine The film opens with a group of Romani people trying to sneak into Paris by boat via the River Seine in 1482. They are led by a man and a woman who is carrying a bundle. As they land, they are ambushed by **Judge Claude Frollo** and his soldiers. Frollo, who is the Minister of Justice, views the Romani people as criminals and "vermin" to be eradicated. ### 2. The Chase and the Steps of Notre Dame During the ambush, Quasimodo’s mother attempts to flee with her baby. Frollo, believing the bundle she is carrying contains stolen goods, chases her on horseback through the snowy streets. She reaches the West Front of the **Cathedral of Notre Dame** and beats on the doors, crying out for "**Sanctuary!**" Frollo catches up to her and violently kicks her away from the door. She falls backward onto the stone steps of the cathedral, fracturing her skull and dying instantly. ### 3. The Attempted Infanticide Frollo snatches the bundle and is horrified to find a deformed infant rather than stolen property. Viewing the child as a "demon" and a "monstrosity," Frollo prepares to drown the baby in a nearby well. ### 4. The Archdeacon's Intervention Before Frollo can drop the child, the **Archdeacon of Notre Dame** emerges and stops him. He accuses Frollo of murdering an innocent woman on "holy ground" and warns him that while he may hide his crimes from men, he cannot hide them from the "eyes of Notre Dame" (the statues of the saints and the Virgin Mary that look down upon the square). ### 5. The Penance and Confinement Fearing for his soul and his reputation, Frollo agrees to a compromise suggested by the Archdeacon: he will raise the child as his own to atone for his sin. However, Frollo insists the child be kept out of public sight. He names the boy **Quasimodo** (which the film translates as "half-formed") and confines him to the cathedral's bell tower, raising him in isolation and teaching him that the world is a cruel and judgmental place. These actions create the status quo that the rest of the film seeks to break—Quasimodo’s isolation, Frollo’s secret guilt and hypocrisy, and the ongoing persecution of the Romani people.