To this day, The Hunchback of Notre Dame remains one of the most unique animated films Disney has ever produced.
Released in 1996 at the height of the so-called Disney Renaissance period, Hunchback eschewed the princess movie fairytale archetypes of films like The Little Mermaid for a darker tone and political story based on Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel.
Composer Alan Menken, who’s hailed by the other oral history participants for creating his best score with Hunchback, reveals that Jackson displayed a strong interest in the project.
“I get a call out of nowhere from Michael’s assistant, when Michael was at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York,” Menken told SlashFilm.
“Michael said, ‘I would like to produce the songs and record some of them.’ Wow.
Menken was probably right about Jackson’s identification with Quasimodo.