Patrick Pinney Movies

After the critical and commercial success of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, the Walt Disney Pictures animation studio embarked on their most serious and ambitious animated feature to date with this adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel Notre Dame de Paris. Quasimodo (voice of Tom Hulce) is a grotesquely deformed but kind-hearted young man who was abandoned by his parents as an infant and thrown down a well; he was rescued by the priests of Notre Dame, the massive cathedral in the heart of Paris, and he lives there, earning his keep as a bell ringer. Quasimodo has become the ward of Judge Frollo (voice of Tony Jay), an outwardly pious but deeply hateful man who treats Quasimodio with indifference and violently loathes the Gypsies who spend their days in the cathedral's courtyard. Frollo hopes to clear the Gypsies out of Paris with the help of Phoebus (voice of Kevin Kline), leader of the troops under Frollo's command. However, Phoebus does not share Frollo's racist views and harbors no ill will against the Gypsies. When Quasimodo is crowned King of the Fools after leaving Notre Dame during the annual festival of Topsy Turvy Day, the hunchback is ordered beaten by the guards as punishment, but Esmerelda (voice of Demi Moore), a hot-blooded but compassionate gypsy beauty, shows pity on him and helps free him from his chains. The lovely Esmerelda is the first woman to show kindness to the unfortunate Quasimodo, and the hunchback soon falls in love with her. However, the dashing Phoebus is also infatuated with her, and Esmerelda is attracted to Phoebus as well, though she feels a motherly affection for the hunchback. Judge Frollo finds that he also desires Esmerelda, which only inflames his hatred for the Gypsies when she refuses his proposals. Darker and less outwardly comic than most of Disney's features, The Hunchback of Notre Dame does feature comic relief in the form of Victor (voice of Charles Kimbrough) and Hugo (voice of Jason Alexander), a pair of gargoyles who befriend Quasimodo, as well as several songs from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this animated sequel to An American Tale, Fievel Mousekewitz strikes out from not-so-enthralling New York City in a wagon train headed West. Helping propel the departure is a crafty cat named Cat R. Waul who tells our Fievel that out West the cats and mice get along just fine. Once on the trail, Fievel finds that the cat's real plan is mice meat pie out of the little rodents, and Fievel tries his darndest to warn everyone, but to no avail. On his side, however, are a couple of friendly cats, including one named Tiger (voice: Dom Deluise) whose scattered one-liners will keep most audiences chuckling. Another wonderful character is the has-been sheriff Wylie Burp (voice: James Stewart). Although this film may be rightfully criticized as being a little too tame, even for toddlers, the endearing and humorous character side-play will likely appeal to most little ones, and very possibly some big people, too. ~ Rovi

Join Alvin, Simon, and Theodore as they graduate from their weekly TV adventures to the big screen in the exciting, feature-length animated tale The Chipmunk Adventure. The three boys use a clever scheme with a tape recorder to trick their babysitter, Rebecca Miller, into letting them out of the house. The Chipmunks con the woman into believing that David Seville has granted them permission to set off on a trek around the world, in pursuit of the diamond smugglers Claudia and Claus. Of course, the boys make a point to solicit help from their female friends, The Chipettes, who excitedly agree to tag along on this globe-charting odyssey. A musical to boot, The Chipmunk Adventure features the boys singing such numbers as "Diamond Dolls," and the rollicking and rousing "Woolly Bully."The Chipettes join in as well, with the memorable tune "The Girls of Rock 'n' Roll." ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

"Head Fraggle" Travelling Matt continues to act as liaison between his own tiny world and Outer Space (otherwise known as the "real" world) during season four of the live-action puppet series Fraggle Rock. As before, Matt manages to escape the detection of Doc, the human owner of the house behind which the giant stone separating Fraggle Rock from the Outside has been resting for all these many years. The season opens with Doc's dog, Sprocket, running loose in Fraggle Rock, much to the confusion of the residents. Later on, the sullen Boober Fraggle is transformed into "Dr. Fun" in a bid to become more popular; Matt returns from Outer Space just in time to discover a magical cavern; Boober and Wembley Fraggle find their friendship threatened by a rare "Perfect Blue Rollie"; Red Fraggle confronts a mighty dragon during a visit to T. Matthew Fraggle; and the gruesome Gorgs mistake an amnesiac Boober for their own son, Junior. In addition to the 13 new episodes seen on HBO during the 1986-1987 season, the series began its first rerun cycle on the TBS cable superstation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Travelling Matt, the leader of the teeny-tiny Fraggle civilization, continues to dispatch informational postcards during his journey into Outer Space (actually the "real" world) during season two of the live-action puppet series Fraggle Rock. As usual, there's a lot of activity in the world beneath the rock in the backyard of the house owned by human inventor Doc. The opening episode is the Dr. Seuss homage "Wembley's Egg," in which Wembley Fraggle protects a lost baby Tree Creature. Later, Travelling Matt returns from Outer Space, only to get into a personality clash with his jealous nephew, Gobo. And in other episodes, noise-sensitive Boober moves into the Cave of Boredom for peace and quiet; cloddish monstrosity Junior Gorg tries to get rid of the Fraggles' precious Trash Heap; Mokey Fraggle decides to live the life of a wandering minstrel; Doc's dog, Sprocket gets stuck in the tunnel between Outer Space and the Fraggles' world; the Doozers uncharacteristically enter into a building competition; Doc's radio causes confusion and disunity amongst the Fraggles; and a huge caterpillar saves Mokey from the evil Gorgs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Although kindly old inventor Doc is unaware that a tiny civilization lives beneath the rock behind his house, Doc's dog, Sprocket, is all too cognizant of this phenomenon. Thus is established the premise of the live-action puppet show Fraggle Rock, which launched its first season's worth of 24 half-hour episodes in January of 1983. The stories deal with the colorful, carefree Fraggles, the hardworking and industrious Doozers, and the gross, dictatorial Gorgs. The first episode, adroitly titled "Beginnings," finds head Fraggle Travelling Matt venturing out of Fraggle Rock and into "Outer Space" (aka the real world), sending postcards of the various wonders he's witnessed to his nephew, Gobo. In later episodes, Wembley Fraggle's willingness to be agreeable to everyone he meets plays right into the hands of the Gorgs; the Doozers are frustrated by the Fraggles' insistence upon eating their construction jobs; Gobo and Red Fraggle go on a treasure hunt; Boober Fraggle gets his feelings hurt once too often; the Fraggles' precious radish supply runs out; and Mokey's efforts to one-up the Gorgs culminate in her funeral -- even though she's very much alive! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi