10 Most Traumatic Moments In Disney Movies
8. Quasimodo's Public Humiliation: The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1996)
This is just a troubling movie in general. It's filled with themes of damnation, racism, genocide, religious fanaticism and sexual lust, etc - pretty heavy subjects for a movie marketed exclusively at kids. Believe or not despite the extremely dark nature of this film, it's actually a toned down version of the original story. In the original Phoebus is a misogynistic lady's man who has Esmeralda executed, and Quasimodo dies of starvation after refusing to leave her corpse in a mass grave... , yep, weird choice for a Disney adaptation.
Quasimodo has a pretty rough time from the get go. His mother's murderer, Claude Frollo, takes him under his wing, bullying him into submission. Frollo's twisted sense of parental care is so wrapped up in his puritanical dogma, that he keeps Quasimodo locked up in a tower for his 'own good'.
Eventually Qausi braves a venture to the great outdoors and finds himself crowned the 'King of Fools' at the yearly festival. The joyful, lighthearted moment soon turns into a cringe inducing display of public humiliation, as Quasimodo is pelted with rotten fruit, strapped to a wheel and ridiculed for his looks.