The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002)

A much, much more family friendly tale from the world of Quasimodo. <em>'The Hunchback of Notre Dame II'</em> isn't necessarily anything terrible, I don't dislike it, but it kinda lets itself down with a tamer plot, poorer music/score and less interesting key characters. The animation certainly takes a nosedive, with all the onscreen talent looking a little worse for wear. Tom Hulce remains solid as the main man, while Jennifer Love Hewitt is at least a big name to attach to the film; her role, Madellaine, is very underdeveloped. Michael McKean is, of course, notable too, but sadly his Sarousch is a very basic villain. This film's plot is what lets it down, as they create an incredibly unimaginative story regarding a bell called La Fidèle. If that wasn't enough, the main plot point surrounding the bell is a total cop-out. At least they only made the run time 68 minutes, which avoided me getting the drag feeling; any longer then I'd be rating way less. It's not good at all, but there are numerous other Disney animated sequels that are worse.