MY 2ND FAVORITE DISNEY VILLAIN

JUDGE CLAUDE FROLLO



FROM "THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME"

WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!

Looking at the many Disney villains that I placed upon my list, there's usually something about many of them that I find to be more twisted, and sinister as I get older. And the most fascinating one of them all, who just becomes more and more intriguing every single time I watch him is Frollo, for how adult of a villain he is! He was the Disney villain who I found myself fearing the most as a kid out of all the others (yes, even Judge Doom). Whenever I'd put in my VHS copy, I would get excited to see the film, but would find myself being a little scared since the cover with Frollo towering above the characters and title reminded me that he is in the film. That's not to say that I didn't find him cool for how evil he was, but at the same time, I was still petrified by him. And I'm not going to lie, even though I don't find myself shielding my eyes or running away from the picture like I did as a kid, he's actually more scary and threatening than I remember him to be.

When Frollo first appears in the film, the environment for his backstory with the hunchback looks just as dark and dreary as his personality. And it happens right after we gaze at the beautiful city of Paris, and the Notre Dame cathedral; and meet the colorful friendly Gypsy Clopin, who entertains a crowd of children. When Frollo and his men appear, they come right out of nowhere as one of is men fires a warning shot at the Gypsies who have traveled into Paris illegally, and begin to surround them with their blades. Then a tall shadowy figure of a man riding a horse approaches, that horrifies one of the Gypsies so much that he exclaims his name, where we then meet the film’s antagonist in full staring at them coldly as the choir makes his entrance sound so big and intense. He orders his men to take the Gypsies to the "Palace of Justice" to be killed, and believes that a Gypsy women is hiding stolen goods from him, and he rides after her when she runs away. The chase that follows is short, but every single frame of it is intense through the pacing, the sound of the women gasping and the horse's footsteps, Frollo's endless determination to grab what she's hiding, the horse looking as monstrous and wicked as he is, the gloomy atmosphere, and of course that awesome Latin choir! When Frollo does reach her after she cries for sanctuary at Notre Dame, he grabs away the goods, and kicks her to the ground for trying to keep it away from him, which ends up killing her instantly! When he finds that what she has is a deformed baby, he without any question or hesitation decides to drown it in an ice cold well nearby, but is stopped by the Archdeacon from doing so, and shames Frollo for his cruel actions of murdering an innocent woman and drowning her baby. Frollo tries to justify these accusations by claiming the baby to be an "unholy demon" that must be "sent back to hell, where it belongs", and simply perused woman and had to use harsh means to grab what she had "stolen". But is suddenly convinced that he’s sinned when the statues of Notre Dame seem to be glaring at him for his crimes. Fearing that his soul will be damned to Hell, he asks the Archdeacon of what he must do to save himself, and that's to raise the child as his own. He reluctantly does so, only if he will live in the church and be locked away in the Bell-tower where no one else can see him, believing “that this foul creature may yet prove one day to be of use” to him. This whole entire opening revolving around this villain is simply one of the best and darkest openings to ever be put in a Disney film, that has a great song, narrative, and visual style to tell its backstory. And literally within these first 5 minutes, we learn everything that we need to know about our villain, which I will get into more detail throughout the article. I remember being horrified by this opening as a kid, but would find myself feeling better when I saw Quasimodo ring the bells, encourage a little bird to fly, and see his Gargoyle friends cheer him up....that is until Frollo walks in and just sucks out all the fun and positive energy that we just embraced during these past few scenes.

One of the many qualities that makes Frollo out to be one of Disney's scariest villains of all time is the design and voice work from the late and great Tony Jay. Actors like Patrick Stewart, and Ian Mckellen were considered for the role, and while being terrific actors, I don't believe that none of the two can out do what Tony Jay brought to the character. Jay's voice and the personality that he gives to Frollo is so grim and cold, and yet so cool and fancy that his voice attached to such as a shady figure that only carries the expressions of evil is a match-made in heaven, or more appropriately a match made in Hell!  I get nothing but fear from this guy whenever I have to look at his merciless face and hear him speak with that deep intimidating voice. There's just never a moment with this character where I feel at ease whenever he appears on-screen.

Even when hi-jinx ensue this character, or says a funny line, he'll still manage to keep his class and intimidation. One moment he's being seduced and humiliated by the Gypsy Esmeralda, the next second he gets nasty once she leaves him; when his tent and carriage gets destroyed during the chaos around him, he'll go from looking shocked to getting down-right pissed. There's hardly time to laugh at these little bits since Frollo's looks of anger always breaks the comedy of what just happened to him, especially since he comes after the characters for the many times that they have gotten under his skin. Even when he says such priceless lines like "Get him! And don't hit my horse" (when one of his victims escapes from him by using his horse) and "I had a little trouble with the fireplace" (since he looks like he's suffering from a hangover, after singing "Hellfire") he still sounds cheerless and respectable! And this is coming out of the same guy who's voiced such over the top sophisticated characters like Rex Smythe-Higgins in "Hey Arnold", and Dr. Lipschitz in "The Rugrats"! It's hard for me to picture that he voiced those previous characters, despite having the same booming British voice.

So now being burden with the responsibility to take care of the deformed baby, even though he provides him food, teaches him, gets paint and supplies for him to craft, he is the worst villain to guard over a Disney protagonist ever, even worse than Mother Gothel and the Step-Mother. He gives him a name that means "Half-formed, Quasimodo" for how misshapen he is. Has him sleep on the floor instead of a bed. Forces Quasi to make his own cup and plate out of wood, as opposed to providing him with real ones that he uses right in front of him when they dine together. And above all, lies to him in order to imprison him in the Bell Tower, away from society and any kind of happiness that he could pursue outside of the cathedral. He does so by using his deformed face and body to make up a story of how he took him in through the kindness of his heart after being abandon by his own Mother when everybody else would have drowned him, and that nobody will accept him for how cruel and wicked the world is, where society will gaze at him only as a monster! There is some truth to Frollo’s lies because people do turn against him for his looks, but there are still many people out there that would accept him as well. Furthermore, with the proper parenting, and giving him the same encouragement as his Gargoyle friends would, not to mention that he has the power to create such propaganda of having Quasi being treated equally by society if he really wanted too, Quasi would have probably been out and about in no time. But the fact that he ignores all of this since he has no love and compassion for him at all, and is only caring for him just to save his own soul rather than raising him out of guilt for what he's done to him and his Mother, just proves what a cold and horrible guardian he is! He's always so strict and hostile whenever he's around Quasimodo that not one moment does he try to show legitimate love for him, not even so much as a hug, or a "God bless you"! He also wants Quasi to refer to him as "Master" as if he was his slave. And that's what Frollo pretty much sees him as, a slave who obeys every order that he commands, and uses him to his advantage by saving himself and helping him find the Gypsies top secret hide-out. He thinks so little of him as a person that when people at the festival tie him up to a wheel to be tortured as they throw food at him, Frollo just sits there and watches, ignoring his pleas for help! And if you think the people outside of Notre Dame like to make fun him, Frollo does so himself, only in a more subtle way. He even blames Quasimodo for the city of Paris burning because he helped the Gypsy Esmeralda escape, when in reality Frollo is the one responsible for burning the city. And he claims this as he's destroying a model of the city that Quasi has spent many long hours crafting. I don't care what other evil guardians have done in other Disney films, this guy gets my award for "The Worst Guardian from Disney Ever"! You'd think after all this abuse, Quasi would've have left the bell tower sooner, but considering that he's always been lied to since birth, and having a face that differs from others, you can't necessarily blame him for not trying either.

 

As badly as he treats poor Quasimodo, nothing can ever compare to how he treats the Gypsy race. He just gives them no sense of justice at all, and uses their negative stereotypes as a tool to have the people in Paris turn against them. Much like how Judge Doom treats Toons, Frollo gives them no leg to stand on. You give him one reason for him to think that they have gone against the law, and he'll lock them up in "The Palace of Justice" to eventually be killed by either being burned alive or tortured to death, and that also applies to the elderly and children. We never see these people again after Frollo has ransacked the places where they hide and live just to ask them where the Gypsy Esmeralda is in exchange for silver coins that he'll more than likely never give to them if they do tell. And speaking of the Gypsy Esmeralda, she's the reason why he's starting to search and arrest every single Gypsy that he finds, for how much he lusts over her beauty, and is craving to have sex with her. That moment when he's sniffing her hair and imagining himself making love to her, as a kid my brother Jesse and I used to laugh at this scene and make jokes about him wondering what kind of shampoo she uses, since we only saw this as typical villain gloating. But now watching an image of a perverted old man sniffing her hair, is disgusting and shocking to see in a Disney film! Let's not also forget the moment when he ties Esmeralda to the stake to be burned, and will only let her go if she will exchange her beauty for him, and only for him. I didn't even have a single clue that he wanted to make love to Esmeralda as a kid, I thought he was afraid of her and wanted to rid her for good because of her suspected witchcraft. But while Esmeralda is his current priority to find, his top priority that he's been hunting down for 20 years is the  "The Court Miracles" where every Gypsy in Paris hides, which he demonstrates his desire of finding it to Captain Phoebes with ants representing the Gypsies, the ants under a block of stone being their hiding place, and crushing each and every one of those ants for those that he has captured and killed, as he plans to do the same to all the Gypsies when he finds it, which is very uncomforting to watch a Disney villain commit genocide on a race of people. Syndrome and Judge Doom did that too, which was disturbing, but it was still more based on fantasy than actual reality. And Ratcliffe from "Pocahontas" did commit that crime as well, which was a crime committed throughout our history with Native Americans, but come on, can we really take him seriously? And what, he overall had one Native killed, and the other injured, when Frollo has been doing nothing but killing Gypsies left and right for years and giving them the same kind of mercy that other people in power have given to their kind. That for me is more disturbing than any of the other Disney villains combined!

And his cruelty to others doesn't stop there, because he is willing to let civilians suffer from his hate crimes towards Gypsies by burning their homes and shops down, where Paris is now reduced to looking like that Satan has spread an evil reign of terror on the city for how hell-like it looks with the red hot flames burning insight and glowing against Notre Dame, as the dark smoke fogs up the sky. The first time he ever does this method is by trying to burn an innocent family alive after suspecting them of harboring Gypsies, that has scared me so much when I saw this scene in the theater for how intense and violent it looked (even when the family gets saved), that my parents had to get me out of there for how much I cried. What's even more messed up about Frollo’s crimes is that he shows some enjoyment over it. People remember him smiling for when he burns Esmeralda, but for me, it's when we first enter "The Palace of Justice". We see Frollo standing in a dungeon (that also looks like hell) watching someone off-screen getting whipped, and tells his executioner to stop whipping the prisoner, and wait between slashes so that he can feel the pain. And a minute later as Frollo tells his new Captain what a "disappointment" his last one was to him, we hear the sound of the whip and former Captain's scream echo loudly in the chamber, causing Frollo to smile for a brief second when he hears it, making a whip-pun. That is one of the most messed up things that I've seen in a Disney film. And do you know who else he takes his vengeance upon, Notre Dame! Yeah, he gets so insane during the climax, that he destroys the ancient doors of the Cathedral to kill innocent people inside, and pushes the Archdeacon down a flight stairs that causes him to injure his ankle after trying to confront him for his crimes, lying there in disbelief for what Frollo has done, knowing that his soul cannot be saved this time. I have yet to see a Disney villain do something deliberately evil to a place that symbolizes god, and to one who strictly serves him.

In terms of Frollo's henchmen, aside from two of his guards that get into a bunch of slapsticky situations (the tall and thin one voiced by Corey Burton, and the small and plump one voiced Patrick Star himself, Bill Fagerbakke), none of them really stand-out as characters. They just act like any army of soldiers working for the bad-guy. Which isn't a bad thing at all, since half of the time they would look and act as threatening as Frollo is, when other times they'll get into the same kind of slapstick that the two goofy soldiers get into.

As wicked and ruthless as Frollo is, the crazy thing about all of this is that he personally believes that what he's doing is right! In fact, he considers himself to be a righteous man and a pure Christian, and tries to justify every single wrong thing he does since that's what God intended him to do, and that he's only doing his duty! He sees no faults within himself, and believes that he's "purer than the common vulgar, weak, licentious crowd", including the Archdeacon himself, hence why he pushes him. He never sees corruption within himself, but instead blames it upon everybody he meets, and sometimes even God himself. He thinks he's the only one in Paris who sees the Gypsy race to be nothing more than cunning thieves and witches, and must do whatever he can in his power to make people see that since he believes the people in Paris to be weak-minded. He lets Quasimodo get tortured by the crowd because he wanted to teach him a lesson. And when he attacks Notre Dame to kill people inside, he believes that murder was what God wanted him to do thus making it alright to kill people inside His own home. The only person he fears is God himself, since he has the power to send him to the pits of hell for all entirety. And the more he tries to justify his crimes because of his pride, and refusal to accept that he is being blinded by his own hate, fear, and lust, the more insane and mad he gets as the film progresses!

The best scene that beautifully captures Frollo's character and madness is the "Hellfire" sequence. This is not the only song that Frollo sings in the film, he sings in a bit during the film's prologue, and has a song called "Stay in here" to keep Quasimodo from leaving the bell towers, which are good songs, and sung well by Jay. But this is obviously his most memorable, that I'll even argue is the most memorable song sequence in the entire film, for how catchy, adult, and scary it is. Frollo sings to the Virgin Maria during the time of night where everybody else in Paris is turning in for the night, telling her how proud he is to be so righteous. He then turns to the fireplace where he begins hallucinating the Gypsy Esmeralda (who has always fought against him) dancing inside the flames, and asks Maria with such fear of why he sees her dancing in the fire place, and takes out a piece of silk that she has left behind earlier at the festival, and wraps his face around it, which he claims is turning him to sin because of his sexual cravings for her. This results with him now seeing giant red hooded-cloaked priests' with no face shaming him for his sin, that causes him to beg to them that it's not his fault, and blames Esmeralda for using her witchcraft to manipulate his mind with such dirty thoughts, and God himself for making the Devil stronger than a man. He begs Maria to protect him from the siren who will send him to eternal damnation, and eventually decides to destroy Esmeralda if she will not be his lover. Frollo gets furious when he hears the news of her escaping from the Cathedral that he has kept her in, and vows to find her even if it means destroying Paris in the process. He proceeds to sing again, and throws her cloth into the fireplace to watch it burn (symbolizing her fate if she turns him down). Frollo then leans up against the wall being surrounded by the shadows of men holding crucifixes that hover over him and begs for God to have mercy on her, and himself (for what he's about to do) and drops to his knees before passing out, with the fire now being completely out.

Oooohh, where to begin when talking about this song! Well for starters, much like the villain itself who makes this Disney film so adult than any other Disney film, is the amount of risqué elements that's usually not accepted from Disney. Such as Frollo describing his sexual urges in front of a half-naked girl dancing suggestively, and being tied to religious elements like lust, hell, and eternal damnation! It still amazes me that I'm seeing sex and religion mixed together in a Disney film! And it doesn't stop there with its religious themes, because Disney makes sure Frollo's sins and guilt would scare the crap out of us, just as much as it petrifies him. The hell-like priests judging Frollo, the shadows of an army of men holding crucifixes, the flames in the form of Esmeralda dancing and being burned at the stake, to suddenly turning into smoke being ready to make love to Frollo, it's just so intense to watch for both kids and adults! So intense that this scene was going to be cut, and almost gave the film a PG rating when it was kept in. I remember loving this number for how catchy it is, and yet being so scared of it at the same time for how traumatizing the imagery is! This scene, along with the scene when Frollo sees the statues of Notre Dame stare at him, are one of the very few moments where we find ourselves sympathizing with him for how much he fears of being judged by the greatest judge to him, God! Through Tony Jay's powerful singing voice supported by that Latin choir, and the reactions of guilt, fear, and madness brought to Frollo’s face, you understand why he snaps and ends up going into such a rage when it's over. Does that necessarily mean that we feel bad for him? Well yes and no. It's proven before this scene and before he has to take in Quasimodo that he's a self-righteous man with no love for others except himself, but at the same time half of his actions are done out of his fears of what will come to him in the after-life, where he doesn’t act rational enough to think that what he's doing is wrong since his pride and fear always get in the way. So personally I say that he's evil person with a bit of tragic edge given to him, which only makes him an even more fascinating villain for how complex he is. And one thing more! Do you know what I find so amusing about this number? The fact that it takes place directly after Quasi's heartfelt number "Heaven's Light" when he makes a cute doll of Esmeralda, who he defines as an angel, when "Hellfire" on the other hand does the exact opposite. Both of these numbers not just perfectly show each of the characters view of her, but they expose all the elements of the film that are aimed at both audiences. "Heaven's Light" exploits everything in the film that's aimed toward kids, such as the beautiful medley, innocent character, comedy from the Gargoyles, the theme of looking past someone’s appearance, and the awe and wonder of Disney animation; when "Hellfire" on the other hand exploits everything that's targeted to adults. If this medley alone was seen as a sneak peek for the movie before its release, this will definitely give audiences a perfect idea of what's in store for both crowds!

In the film's climax after his failed attempt of burning Esmeralda, he tries to stab Quasimodo in the back with a dagger for all the wasted years of looking after him, and for trying to protect the "Gypsy witch". Quasi overpowers him, and grabs the dagger during a bit of the struggle, that causes Frollo to lose a bit of his pride and beg for Quasi to listen to him, but only makes Quasi realize that the only reason why the world is so dark and cruel is because of people like Frollo. When Frollo discovers that Esmeralda is still alive, he takes out his sword in anger and tries to slice them both as they both try escape him. He only successfully injures Quasi's arm a bit, and finally reveals to him out of frustration that he was the one who killed his Mother and tried to kill him when he was a baby, before using his cape as an attempt to knock him into the molten lava underneath Notre Dame. The two almost fall together, until Quasi holds on to the ledge and holding Frollo's cape in his other hand with Frollo grasping on to it, unwilling to let him fall.

But when Frollo notices a Gargoyle attached to the wall next to him, he swings on over and climbs on top of the Gargoyle ready to kill Quasi and Esmeralda (who is trying to save him from falling), looking like this...

Alright! You know how I keep on talking about how much Frollo scared me as a kid, for his presence, actions, and the demons surrounding him! This moment was what really cemented my ultimate fear for him at such a young age. When he climbs up on that Gargoyle laughing like demon from Hell for how demonic it sounds, to then looking like one himself for how the flames from the fire's below reflect on him by making his eyes and teeth the color of fire as he grins and prepares to kill them while loudly justifying his actions in the name of God; has frighten me more than the scene of him burning down the house with a family trapped inside. I remember seeing this image for the first time at night, as I was lying in bed watching it on my TV in my room, and being paralyzed by this horrible image as if my heart and instincts stopped for those mere few seconds, making me feel just as helpless as Quasi and Esmeralda were.

 

And when I watched him die, I didn't feel any better either! The stone Gargoyle he stands on breaks (after slicing a part of it with his sword earlier), and clangs on to after dropping his sword and nearly falling. At first, you think he'll just fall and that will be it. But NO! The monstrous Gargoyle comes to life growling at him to protect the blasphemous and dangerous evil that has set foot on Notre Dame which horrifies him more than anything else that we've seen him cower over. And the Gargoyle breaks with him still holding on to it screaming as he falls into the Molten lava pit below. We're not just seeing a Disney fall to their death like say Gaston or Ratigan! We're seeing a Disney villain fall with a monster in an environment surrounded by flames and burned to a crisp when he hits the bottom, symbolizing that a demon is dragging him away to the place that he's been trying to avoid all his entire life, the fiery pits of Hell, where he'll burn and remain there for all entirety! And this all happens right after he talks blaspheme of what he's going to do to the two that is actually his own fate! That for me is the most gruesome, most disturbing, and most poetic scene of a Disney villain falling to their death that I've ever viewed! No other Disney villain fall can ever, and I mean ever top this one. Even when I tried to make fun of the scene when I was a little kid with my brother to make me feel less afraid, by saying that "Frollo turned into a clown" (when he looks like a devil), and "he's a taking a baby with him" (when he falls), I was still traumatized by it. It's just that grim!

Frollo is by far the scariest, coldest, and most complex and diabolical Disney villain that I’ve ever seen. Plenty of that has to do with his voice, design, personality, and actions. But the real reason why he's so great that towers above all those elements when viewed from an adult stand point is how dark and realistic of a villain he is. There are actual people out there that are like Frollo who violently go after people based on their own pride, bigotry and religious views, and claim that what they’re doing is right, like a politician, a hate group, or religious people who take it to an unhealthy and harmful extreme. People like him still sadly exist in this imperfect world, and will continue to live on as long as there is hate. That’s why I find Frollo to be a scarier villain now, than I ever did before, because he represents the blind hatred that spreads around the world like a disease, thus making him one of the most adult villains to have ever been created by Disney. 

"And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!"
-Frollo

So after placing all these great baddies on this list, they seem pretty hard to top, especially Frollo. What Disney villain do I personally love could possibly that tops them all?

FIND OUT ON OCTOBER 30TH, HALLOWS-EVE!