The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film) June 21, 1996 to generally positive reviews and was a commercial success, grossing over $325 million worldwide and becoming the fifth highest-grossing release of 1996. The film received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Menken's musical score. A darker, more Gothic stage adaptation of the film, was rewritten and directed by James Lapine and produced by Walt Disney Theatrical in Berlin, Germany, as "Der Glöckner von Notre Dame", and ran from 1999 to 2002. A direct-to-video sequel, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame II", was released in 2002. In 1482 Paris, Clopin, a gypsy puppeteer, narrates the origin of
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (musical) and Recreation"). Clopin introduces the crowd to Esmeralda, an attractive gypsy who dances for the crowd ("Rhythm of the Tambourine") - Quasimodo, Frollo, and Phoebus are all entranced. After that, Clopin and the crowd get ready to crown the King of Fools (the ugliest person in France); Quasimodo enters upon Esmeralda's encouragement, immediately winning ("Topsy Turvy Part II"). In the middle of the celebration, he is humiliated by the crowd after a citizen starts a riot. Frollo refuses Phoebus's request to intervene, but Esmeralda rescues the hunchback and uses a magic trick to evade arrest. Frollo finally intervenes and stops