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Hellfire (song)
Encyclopedia
1996 in film
Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released to theaters on June 21, 1996 by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirty-fourth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is inspired by Victor Hugo's novel of...
. The song is sung by the film's antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
, Judge Claude Frollo
Judge Claude Frollo
Archdeacon Claude Frollo is a fictional character and the anti-hero from Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.-In the novel:In his youth, Claude Frollo was a highly knowledgeable but morose young man who was orphaned along with his infant brother Jehan when their parents died of the plague...
, who is voiced by the late Tony Jay
Tony Jay
Tony Jay was an English actor, voice actor and singer. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in animation, film and computer games. Jay's distinctive baritone voice often landed him villainous roles...
. It begins in Bb major, before turning to its relative minor G
G minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major....
. It soon modulates briefly into C minor
C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The harmonic minor raises the B to B. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with naturals and accidentals as necessary.Its key signature consists of three flats...
, then F major
F major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
, has an spoken intersection where the bass lies on A, dominant
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
of D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
, the key which the song finally ends in.
The song was intended to contrast the song "Heaven's Light", which was sung by Quasimodo moments earlier, expressing his feelings of love for Esmeralda, while "Hellfire" focuses on Frollo's internal conflict
Internal conflict
In literature, internal conflict is the struggle occurring within a character's mind. Often more literary works are focused on internal battles while more populist literature is more focused on external conflict....
between his feelings of lust and his conscience and hate for the gypsies. The song is considered to be one of the darkest in any Disney film, depicting both Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
and lust
Lust
Lust is an emotional force that is directly associated with the thinking or fantasizing about one's desire, usually in a sexual way.-Etymology:The word lust is phonetically similar to the ancient Roman lustrum, which literally meant "purification"...
, two subjects that are generally considered inappropriate for children. This song and sequence prompted the ratings board to consider a PG rating for the film. In its defense, Disney claimed that its adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame was meant to play as much to adult audiences as to children. The studio attempted to produce an animated film with an audience broader than only children, the main target audience of Disney animated features. In a review of the soundtrack to the film
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (soundtrack)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the soundtrack to Disney's 1996 animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame...
, Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks.com
Filmtracks.com
Filmtracks.com is a leading modern film score review website created and maintained out of Missoula, Montana by its sole reviewer, Christian Clemmensen...
stated that "the darkest depths of The Hunchback of Notre Dame exist in 'Hellfire,' one of the most stunning visual and aural combinations in animation history. The song is so overwhelmingly compelling in an evil sense that it alone was worth the cost of admission."
The song contains parts of the Confiteor
Confiteor
The Confiteor is one of the prayers that can be said during the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. It is also said in the Lutheran Church at the beginning of their Divine Service...
, a Latin prayer of confession used by the Roman Catholic Church. This prayer begins directly after "Heaven's Light" and serves as the introduction to "Hellfire". It also provides counterpoint material throughout the song, whose ending also contains the Kyrie eleison
Kyrie
Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek κύριε , vocative case of κύριος , meaning "Lord", is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, which is also called the Kýrie, eléison ....
.
Visual sequence
The beginning of the song starts with the Archdeacon swinging the incense-filled thuribleThurible
A thurible is a metal censer suspended from chains, in which incense is burned during worship services. It is used in the Catholic Church as well as in Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, some Lutheran, Old Catholic, and in various Gnostic Churches. It is also used...
, as he and his altar servers walk through Notre Dame
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
, chanting the beginning of the Confiteor
Confiteor
The Confiteor is one of the prayers that can be said during the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. It is also said in the Lutheran Church at the beginning of their Divine Service...
. The camera pans upwards to the famous "rose window", and flies through it and over Paris, revealing that all the lights in the city are going out as people are turning in for the night. The only light that remains is the light in the Palace of Justice
Palais de Justice, Paris
The Palais de Justice , located in the Île de la Cité in central Paris, France, is built on the site of the former royal palace of Saint Louis, of which the Sainte Chapelle remains. Thus the justice of the state has been dispensed at this site since medieval times...
, where Frollo gazes out at Notre Dame from his window, pleading with the Virgin Mary to save him from temptation. Frollo then calmly walks to the fireplace, singing about how he lusts for Esmeralda. During this, a fire apparition of Esmeralda dances provocatively in the flames.
Through the second verse, Frollo draws away from the fireplace, revealing a piece of silk that Esmeralda had used to tease him earlier in the film. Frollo sings about how he lusts for her and resents her for it. He accuses her of turning him to sin and denies his own culpability as red-hooded figures rise from the floor, chanting 'Mea culpa
Mea Culpa
Mea culpa is a Latin phrase that translates into English as "my mistake" or "my fault". To emphasize the message, the adjective "maxima" may be inserted, resulting in "mea maxima culpa," which would translate as "my most [grievous] fault."...
' ("my fault"). Frollo runs through the chamber, with the cloaked figures standing on either side of him. He desperately pleads with them for forgiveness, claiming that Esmeralda had cast a spell on him and tempted him. The hooded figures turn into flames, enveloping Frollo as they return to the fireplace as if dragging him down into Hell (foreshadowing his fate).
Frollo continues singing, pleading to Mary to rescue him from Esmerelda's voluptous temptations that would lead to his eternal damnation
Damnation
Damnation is the concept of everlasting divine punishment and/or disgrace, especially the punishment for sin as threatened by God . A damned being "in damnation" is said to be either in Hell, or living in a state wherein they are divorced from Heaven and/or in a state of disgrace from God's favor...
. He holds out the scarf and clenches it angrily, stating that Esmeralda must choose him or die. The fire apparition of Esmeralda re-appears, but her provocative dancing is replaced by her shriek-filled writhing as she is burned at the stake. A smoke apparition of Esmeralda then emerges from the fireplace (pictured above), and as it embraces Frollo passionately, there is a knock at the door. The apparition disappears as a guard enters, telling Frollo that Esmeralda had escaped from the Cathedral of Notre Dame where Frollo had "imprisoned" her. Frollo vows to find her, even if it means burning Paris to the ground. The guard leaves, and Frollo continues singing, telling Esmeralda that he will give her an ultimatum: she must choose him or be burned on the stake. Frollo throws Esmeralda's scarf into the fireplace, symbolically burning her as well.
In the final verse, Frollo backs up against the wall, asking God to have mercy on both him and Esmeralda. As he sings, shadowy figures holding crucifixes emerge from the light of the fireplace and fly past Frollo. Frollo drops to his knees, saying that Esmeralda will be his or burn. Finishing the song, Frollo passes out and falls face down on the floor in the shape of a crucifix as the fire goes out.
Production
The creators of Disney's adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame stated that they felt that the "Hellfire" scene was important in portraying Frollo as he was in Victor HugoVictor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's original novel. They hoped that this sequence would be one of the greatest animated sequences ever produced. Frollo was animated by Kathy Zielinski, working from a visual storyboard and supported by a special effects team. According to the film's director, Kirk Wise
Kirk Wise
Kirk Wise is an American film director, animator and screenwriter best known for his work at Disney. Wise has directed such Disney movies as Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Beauty and the Beast...
, Frollo's song "Hellfire" needed a visual sequence more meaningful and powerful than past Disney animated features, akin to the memorable Fantasia sequence "The Night on Bald Mountain", which depicted the devil Chernabog rallying his demons for a single night. In the audio commentary on The Hunchback of Notre Dame DVD, Wise described his fear that he would have to plea with Disney's CEOs, Roy Disney and Michael Eisner, to let them do the sequence. The two CEOs ended up loving the idea, and no plea was needed.
Wise also indicated that he and the effects director Chris Jenkins wanted the fire apparition sequence to be strictly G-rated. Thus, they went through every frame to ensure that Esmeralda's figure was fully clothed at all times, despite her provocative dancing. The commentary also revealed that the producers referred to the sequence with the red-hooded monks as "Mr. Frollo's Wild Ride".