God Help the Outcasts
"God Help the Outcasts" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Walt Disney Pictures' animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).
In addition to Midler, "God Help the Outcasts" has since been covered by several artists, including singer Lara Fabian in Canadian French and The Little Mermaid's Jodi Benson.
"God Help the Outcasts" was written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, both songwriters who had just recently collaborated on writing the music for Disney's Pocahontas (1995).
Upon completing "God Help the Outcasts", Menken and Schwartz composed "Someday" at the behest of Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg; the filmmaker suggested that the dark, somber film required "a more liftable song of inspiration.
In addition to this, while "God Help the Outcasts" is religious, "Someday" is, according to The Musical Theater of Stephen Schwartz: From Godspell to Wicked and Beyond, "more of an anthem of hope than a prayer.
"[5] Dubbing "God Help the Outcasts" one of the highlights of her career, singer Heidi Mollenhauer described the experience in an interview with South Pasadena High School as "very exciting, a little terrifying, and sometimes overwhelming".
[11] Identified as the film's "prettiest" musical number,[12] the song occurs immediately after Esmeralda, relentlessly pursued by Judge Frollo, claims sanctuary in the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral upon "see[ing] how ... Quasimodo, and her people are treated by others",[13] according to Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked "bring[ing] with her a bitter and acute awareness of the injustice of her situation.
"[16] In Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out, author Sean Griffin observed that "the more respectable parishioners pray for wealth, fame and glory.
'"In Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood, and Corporate Power, Dr. Robert B. Pettit identified "God Help the Outcasts" as "a plea on behalf of all minorities – not only by ethnicity, but also by race, class, gender, or sexual orientation."
The vocal range of singer Heidi Mollenhauer, who provided Esmeralda's singing voice in lieu of actress Demi Moore,[27] spans two octaves, from F3 to C5.
"[33] Musically, the "heart-wrenching ballad"[34] "has a Broadway and choral feel to it," distinct from the majority of The Hunchback of Notre Dame's songs due in large part to its "tenderness.
[40] Performed "as a prayer for deliverance from [the gypsies'] pain and suffering,"[41] lyrically, "God Help the Outcasts," a song about faith, explores themes such as discrimination.
Originally, when we set up the deal with Lara, it was only to have her sing during the cathedral sequence of the film, but producer Havier Ponton heard her and asked us to do a single version as well".
"[53] Hailing The Hunchback of Notre Dame as "my favorite soundtrack of any Disney movie," Emerson College's Entertainment Monthly extolled the film for "trad[ing] the traditional happy tunes for heartfelt and heart-wrenching ballads like ... 'God Help the Outcasts.
'"[34] In a mixed review, Kenneth E. Rathburn of Sputnikmusic commented, "Both versions of 'God Help the Outcasts' offer a level of mid-road quality that came to be expected after the Disney Renaissance," writing of Mollenhauer's, "The film version seems to limp around a bit while delivering more of that emotional punch needed as we transition to the second act," while Midler's "has that credits vibe we all know and love from Disney films" which "keeps us sticking around when we'd otherwise abandon the theater."
"[54] Jack Smith of BBC Online gave the song a very unfavorable review, writing, "The sentiments of 'God Help The Outcasts' ... are spoiled by syrupy production," describing Midler's rendition as "overwrought.
Called Hilf den Verstoß'nen in German, this rendition is a duet between Esmeralda and Quasimodo, and was originally performed by Judy Weiss and Drew Sarich respectively.
[60] Reviewer Edward R. Cox wrote "The addition of Quasi to this song adds such a world of unity to the pleas of Esmeralda and the parishioners [and] show[s] his pure compassion for other's pain, unselfishly.
American actress and singer Jodi Benson, best known for voicing Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989), performed "God Help the Outcasts" during the Dis Unplugged Podcast Cruise 2.0 in 2010.
