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
Clopin Trouillefou a jury consisting of a puppet crafted in Clopin's likeness. He eventually finds them "totally innocent, which is the worst crime of all." He prepares to hang them, but Esmeralda arrives in time to stop him and tell the gypsies of their good intentions, explaining how Phoebus rescued the miller and his family from being burned by Frollo and how Quasimodo helped her escape the cathedral. Clopin, forgetting that he'd gagged Quasimodo and Phoebus, humorously asks why they didn't just say so. Phoebus informs the gypsy people to leave, saying that Frollo knows of their hideout, a statement confirmed by