Why Judge Claude Frollo is the Best Disney Villain [The Hunchback of Notre Dame]

greetings are my iconic individuals out there I was thinking quite recently that I haven't made a villain analysis video since that Hopper when I did a while back and that's still one of my most popular and viewed videos to this day so it got me thinking why not do another villain analysis eh but instead of analyzing a Pixar villain why not do a Disney Animation villain instead my favorite Disney Animation villain to be specific that of course being judge Claude frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame firstly I would like to dispel the misconception that frollo is the most evil Disney villain and nothing more firstly and foremostly he isn't technically the most evil Disney villain I mean when the likes of Maleficent and the horned King exist it's pretty hard to beat them but on top of that there is significantly more to frollo than just being evil and that's one of the main reasons I wanted to make this video on top of just the fact that frollo doesn't get as much love love as he actually deserves but because I wanted to shed a light on all those aspects of frollo that constantly get ignored the things that actually make him really deep and compelling as a villain pretty much all of this revolves around the central theme of the movie an idea brought up at the very beginning a question proposed by that one character's name who I can't actually remember I'm sorry guys but the question he asks is who is the monster and who is the man it should go without saying that the theme of this movie is much like many others I've covered on this channel so far in that you shouldn't judge people based on their outward appearances alone and that what truly makes them good or evil is what's on the inside that's what really matters this mainly connects to Quasimodo who looks ugly on the outside but is actually a really nice kind-hearted Soul on the inside yet he is rejected by Society for all his life and made a mockery of when he tries to fit in but this only makes the ending more satisfying when he finally is accepted after proving to society that he is a good man and not a monster like they believe and then on the flip side you have the subject of today's video judge Claude frollo someone who seems like a man but is really a monster underneath a wolf in sheep's clothing though frollo may seem reasonable and good in how he speaks and presents himself it is all the ways that he hides his evil and monstrous side from not only the rest of the world but himself as well that makes him such a compelling villain one of the first things that immediately stands out about frollo compared to most other villains in general not just Disney Animation villains or most villains in general is that he's a member of the church and thus sees himself as a good man fighting against evil in the name of God however frollo's idea of becoming holy means seeing more evil in everyone else there 4. self-justifying himself as the holiest and he's so corruption every where except of course this is all just a nonsense as almost all of frollo's actions contradicted this idea due to the fact that frollo is actually significantly more selfish than most other people his actions are not exactly pure but because he always has to see himself as the holiest person in town he must vilify everyone else in order to make himself look the best essentially he has a lowered the bar of What Not only makes you holy but also what makes you worthy of death and Punishment one of the reasons he acts so aggressively throughout the movie is because in order to maintain this illusion that he is holier than everyone else he must be constantly proving that he is better than someone else so that the rest of the world actually believes that he is frollo represents the worst kind of people in society those who put themselves on top by pushing others below them to artificially increase their height the opening scene of the Hunchback of Notre Dame is almost certainly the greatest opening to any Disney anime mated movie ever made and part of that is just how intimidating they make frollo as soon as he appears one of the very first things frollo does in this entire movie it's kill someone on screen that being Quasimodo's mother not only is it rare for a Disney villain to actually kill someone but to do it on screen right before our very eyes truly a once in a blue moon event but this is all the better for frollo's characterization as it just makes him stand out even more you would think murdering an innocent woman on screen would force frollo to live with this guilt for the rest of his life yet he consistently tries to ignore this fact and bury it deep down as if he had never committed the deed in the first place his first thought upon seeing Quasimodo is that the child is hideous because he hates the supposed hideousness of Quasimodo so much he decides that he shouldn't exist in this world and when he goes to kill him he has to justify his action by reducing this human baby to something inhuman so that he can get away with murder literally this is an Unholy demon I'm sending it back to hell where it belongs however his self-inflicted illusion of Holiness is briefly broken when he is called out by a man who deep down he knows is holier than him the archdeacon but you'll never can run front or hide what you've done from the eyes this is one of the only moments in frollo's life where he reconsiders his thoughts and actions the idea that God and the Saints of old are watching him and his eternal soul may be at risk is enough to snap him to his senses I'm always a fan of villains who are aware of their flaws and attempt to either overcome those flaws or bury them in this case it's definitely the very option I should also mention that his station is as a judge and it is clear that he takes his position very seriously too seriously frollo abuses his power believing that he is so holy no action he commits could ever be bad he didn't think killing Quasimodo's mother was a bad thing because he put himself on such a pedestal that he believed he could do no wrong and if something does go wrong because of his actions then he will always just find someone else to use as a scapegoat and place the blame on and as I mentioned before he only keeps his station in power not because he deserves it it but because he manipulates others into thinking they are lesser than him and thus he is the most deserving of this power and as for his care of Quasimodo he doesn't take care of him because he actually cares but because he is afraid of what might happen to him if he doesn't frolo sees Quasimodo as a disgrace to society and thus he must be locked away forever but frollo must maintain his quote-unquote pureness and thus he has decided that it is the rest of the world that will hate Quasimodo and see him as this horrible creature but not him he just pretends like he doesn't actually hate Quasimodo and thus he manipulates Quasimodo into thinking that he's the good guy and the rest of the world is the villains this of course being the primary example of how he tricks people into this illusion that he is pure and holy truly evil people who are on the same level as or somehow even lower than frollo will obviously be seen as Evil by the outer world and thus frolo can easily claim that he is above them but even the pure good-hearted people dare not call out frollo because they are too afraid of saying that someone who is supposedly holy is not despite claiming to have The High Ground frollo enjoys when his enemies suffer a clear sign of a man with lacking morals and furthermore he hates it when people treat those he dislikes with kindness when he watches Quasimodo get assaulted he is satisfied because he feels Justified that he was right and a Quasimodo is just as hideous as he first believed him to be a lesson needs to be learned here and so he is furious when Esmeralda dares to defend him as she represents a threat to potentially ruining his illusion and speaking of Esmeralda one of the other major key elements of Claude frollo's character one that many people have brought up many times before that of course being his Lust For Esmeralda and you got arrested expected Disney for having the guts to make one of their villains main traits being lustful but of course if you ask me this just makes frollo all the better of a villain for it as lust of course is a very realistic flaw unlike mindless Ambitions of evil and destroying the world lust is something that can come prey on anyone even a man who believes himself to be holy frollo desperately wants to ignore his Lust For Esmeralda and to disalike her but he convinces himself that no one like him could ever have such lowly thoughts so typical of your kind to twist Cloud the mind with Unholy thoughts once more pretending his flaws don't exist ah and it now seems like the perfect time to discuss the Masterpiece known as Hellfire this song is one of the most critically acclaimed and highly praised Disney songs ever written and for good reason it's one of the few times that we get an in-depth Deep dive into the very thought process of how the villain himself thinks whilst Disney is known for their great songs few of them have the same level of depth as this one the first thing frollo does in this song is Proclaim how great and pure he is you know I am a righteous man so that he pre-establishes that everything else he's about to say doesn't really matter because he's already perfect what makes this song so interesting is that frollo genuinely believes that he is a good person he has hardwired himself to believe that yet at the same time he clearly knows that these lustful feelings he has are not good but how can you simultaneously be perfect and also have bad lustful feelings the answer of course is you can't frollo refuses to see any errors in himself so he blames Esmeralda for his own lust it is the gypsy girl [Music] claiming that she is the one making him feel these things even though it is his own lack of self-control and morality that causes him to lust for her I should also note the heavy emphasis that frollo puts on the word sin when he finally admits his guilt [Music] he says it with such hesitation and Dread as the very last thing he would ever want to do is admit that he ever did anything wrong even when he reluctantly admits his guilt to himself he still refuses to take full responsibility now choosing to blame Satan for giving him these thoughts he made the devil so much stronger God on top of the amazingly Dark lyrics the visual symbolism in this song is insanely good I especially want to point out a few really great examples first being when the red robed figures representing the Saints of the past appear and look upon frollo from above judging him for his Unholy ways before transforming into flames that surround frollo flowing into the fireplace as if they are pulling him to his ultimate fate perfectly representing what will happen if he doesn't turn from his evil ways later when the guard shows up at the door in a glowing white light conveniently placed at the opposite side of the room far from frollo he brings word that Esmeralda has gone this should be a weight lifted from frollo's shoulders but instead given the opportunity to give up his lust he actively chooses to ignore his way out and chase after his desires instead and lastly when he asks God to have mercy on him he is backing up from the fire God have mercy demonstrating that when he is willing to admit his flaws he moves closer to the light and Away From Evil that in theory he can still reject evil and do good instead unfortunately he does not do this throughout this entire song we can clearly see that frollo is a man at war with himself but instead of realizing the error of his ways and trying to change for the better he instead chooses to double down and cover up his flaws pretending that there's someone else's fault after this frollo continues to disguise his Evil by projecting it onto the gypsies he secretly wishes to find Esmerelda to make her his own but he pretends that his actions are in the name of justice and furthermore when interrogating Quasimodo he places the blame of his actions of burning Paris onto Quasimodo trying to make him believe that the burning of Paris is Quasimodo's fault for letting Esmeralda Escape not his parish is burning because cause of you he's only burning these buildings and killing people because he has to undo Quasimodo's mistake and there's a really underrated moment of depth added to frollo's character that happens during this scene that I never hear anyone bring up but while he's trying to guilt-trip Quasimodo he tries using his ally that Quasimodo's mother was the one who really hated him and that he saved him but by mentioning Quasimodo's mother it reminds him of that one moment the only time he ever felt afraid of his Immortal soul that his actions may not be entirely pure think of your mother and after mentioning this he gives up he stops trying to guilt-trip Quasimodo and leaves it's these little sprinkles throughout the movie of potential Redemption hiding within frollo that make him such a great villain and so vastly underrated compared to so many others even underrated by people who like him but anyways speaking of frollo following Quasimodo another box that frollo ticks on the good villain list is that of temporary success I find that villains who only fail in their plans of evil are not exactly great villains almost every good villain there ever was has to have at least some sort of partial success rate this makes the villain even more hateable in a good way of course at last we have the finale where frollo is willing to lower his standards and ruin his Integrity if he has something to gain the thing to gain in this instance being Esmeralda since he is willing to forego her punishment that he is deemed on her only if she will become his additionally a brief line that adds an extra layer of depth on top of this that further connects this to frollo's overarching illusion and lies to himself that he is pure is that he believes that if he makes Esmeralda his he'll be saving her from Evil and redeeming her the Gypsy esmerald 's review can't therefore whether she becomes his or he kills her he wins both ways despite the fact that both are evil all these actions combined is what makes frollo so despicable and what further makes the scene where Quasimodo breaks free and saves Esmeralda so epic and satisfying letting the villain have temporary success just makes their downfall even more satisfying but frollo is now done letting Quasimodo ruin his plans and now he simply wants to kill him but once more he must justify his hatred into evil desire for death by vilifying Quasimodo as unloyal and insolent but really he only hates him because of how he keeps preventing him from getting what he desires frollo's death is probably the most poetic and well written of any Disney villain not only does he die because of his own actions but we see all his buried evil come to surface in the finale revealing his true nature at the end this was extra evident in how he no longer calls even Quasimodo by his name reducing him to the Hunchback The Hunchback and I have unfinished business to attend to and once he unburies all this Darkness he has crossed the line from an evil man convinced that he is good to an evil man who cannot hide his evil anymore listen to me Quasimoto no you listen all my life you have told me the world is a dark cruel place but now I see I see proven he is no longer redeemable this is when God judges him unworthy in this moment frollo realizes that he failed and all his life choices Flash before him but it's too late he had every chance to choose good and reject evil but instead he refused to acknowledge the error of his ways and blamed all his problems on other people instead punishing them for his crimes and thus he falls to his flaming death of course meant to represent his descent into hell it is also simply perfection that God gets the last blow against frollo I can think of a no more a satisfying defeat than a man who believes he is perfect being rejected by God the only one who is actually perfect the one that frollo pretended to be on the same level as in conclusion furlough is my favorite Disney villain because he is both evil yet not irredeemable at the same time but on top of that it's just so satisfying to see him choose the wrong path every time only for it to end in his ultimate demise you can see him slowly unraveling as the plot goes on until he reaches that breaking point in the finale the moment you know all hope of his Redemption is completely gone and with all that in mind a valuable lesson can be learned from frollo's failure to see the light that we cannot become slaves to our inner demons and pretend they don't exist that will only lead to our destruction everyone has flaws as small as they may seem we must admit them and strive to live above them not by pretending to be better people but by actually confronting our flaws and snuffing them out overall a truly genius and masterfully written villain in the Disney catalog who we will probably never see the likes of ever again due to how dark he is and that is why I believe judge Claude frollo is the very best Disney villain of all time well there it is all my thoughts on frollo explained if you enjoyed the video be sure to leave a like tell me what you thought of the movie and frollo in the comments down below subscribe for future content and if you really really enjoy my content then you can join and become a channel member or perhaps support me on patreon but only if you have the money available of course but don't go just yet as I have a lot more content on this channel that you should check out if you're running low on time don't worry my previous villain analysis on Hopper is pretty short and you can check that one out pretty quickly or if you have tons of time remaining why don't you check out my previous video where I tear apart the Cinematic atrocity known as Ralph breaks the Internet it's a nearly feature length but most importantly of all stay iconic

Channel: Rockotar

Views: 700,861

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Id: fGwrZEMi05o

Length: 19min 57sec (1197 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 08 2023