In 15th century Paris, Clopin the puppeteer tells the story of Quasimodo, the misshapen gentle-souled bell ringer of Notre Dame, who was nearly killed as a baby by Claude Frollo, the Minister of Justice. But Frollo was forced by the Archdeacon of Notre Dame to raise Quasimodo as his own. Now a young man, Quasimodo is hidden from the world by Frollo in the belltower of the cathedral. But during the Festival of Fools, Quasimodo, cheered on by his gargoyle friends Victor, Hugo, and Laverne, decides to take part in the festivities, where he meets the lively gypsy girl Esmeralda and the handsome soldier Phoebus. The three of them find themselves ranged against Frollo's cruelty and his attempts to destroy the home of the gypsies, the Court of Miracles. And Quasimodo must desperately defend both Esmeralda and the very cathedral of Notre Dame.

While Quasimodo is singing 'Out There', the camera pans over Paris and zooms in on a street. In this scene, Belle from 'Beauty and the Beast' is seen walking and reading her book (walks out the bottom of the screen, to the right of the well), Pumba from 'The Lion King' is being carried on a pole by two men (carried out of the bottom of the screen, but left of the well), and another man (in a gray blue tunic) is shaking out the Carpet from 'Aladdin'.

Esmeralda:
[singing] I ask for nothing, I can get by / But I know so many less lucky than I / Please help my people, the poor and downtrod / I thought we all were the children of God / God help the outcasts, children of God.

Continuity: The gargoyles used for drainage are supposed to be hollow, but when Frollo breaks them they are solid.

Written by Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz
Performed by Paul Kandel, David Ogden Stiers