The movie opens in 15th century Paris with Clopin, a Romani puppeteer, telling a group of children the story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The story begins in 1462 as three Roma sneak illegally into Paris, but are ambushed by a squadron of soldiers working for Judge Claude Frollo, the Minister of Justice and de facto ruler of Paris. A Romani woman attempts to flee with her baby, but Frollo, thinking the woman is carrying stolen goods chases her. She manages to evade him briefly to arrive at Notre Dame. She pounds on the door, begging for sanctuary, but Frollo catches up to her and grabs the bundle from her arms, kicking her away in the process and causing her to fall and fatally strike her head on the steps of Notre Dame. Frollo then sees that the "stolen goods" was her infant son, who is deformed, and declares the baby "a monster." He spots a nearby well and attempts to drop the baby into it, but the Archdeacon appears and stops him. Frollo tries to claim that the baby is an "unholy demon" that he's "sending back to hell, where it belongs." The Archdeacon accuses him of murdering an innocent woman and attempting to murder newborn baby. Frollo denies that he is in the wrong, saying his conscience is clear, but the Archdeacon declares he can lie to himself all he wants, but he cannot hide his crime from "the eyes of Notre Dame" (the statues of the saints outside the cathedral).
