DEMI DEMURS FROM SINGING IN DISNEY'S 'HUNCHBACK'.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Demi Moore has opted out of singing - at least, in Disney's big animated attraction for summer '96, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

The actress, who provides the spoken voice of Quasimodo's beloved Esmeralda in the film, did meet with the "Hunchback" composer-lyricist team of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz and gave some of the "Hunchback" repertoire a try.

"Then she said, 'You'd better get someone else,' " reported Schwartz. He added, "Demi was really a great sport. She recorded enough to help us match her voice with someone who sounds like her, with the same husky quality." New York cabaret singer Heidi Mollenhauer wound up with the gig. Meanwhile, "Hunchback" already is being talked up as the most mature, dark and daring Disney animated product yet.

Schwartz, a double Oscar nominee with Menken for Best Original Score and Song (for "Pocahontas" and "Colors of the Wind"), was among the honorees at Tuesday's Academy Awards nominees' luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Due to pelting rain, it was a somewhat dressed-down affair compared to previous years. Indeed, Best Actor nominee Nicolas Cage ("Leaving Las Vegas") looked as if he might have just strolled off the street in his jeans, sweater, windbreaker and slicked-back hair. Cage was a big applause-getter at the luncheon as the nominees' names were recited. So was legendary animator Chuck Jones, who will receive an honorary award come Oscar night.

Oscar show producer Quincy Jones collected laughs with comments including his observation that the Academy Awards is sort of like having a party at the end of a runway.

The big screen scene: Kevin Costner, who recently wrapped the Ron Shelton golf picture "Tin Cup," won't be returning to the cameras this year. And - contrary to reports - he has yet to decide what project he'll tackle when he resumes his career.

There have been reports that Costner would star in and direct HBO's mammoth adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "The Kentucky Cycle" this year. But now we're told he's not even sure if he'll take on the commitment. "There are a dozen projects he could do," said his production partner, Jim Wilson, who just finished directing "Head Above Water." Wilson noted, "We will be meeting next month to discuss our future plans, but this year he expects to do nothing but spend time with his kids and catch his breath." He added of the star, whose marriage of 16 years ended during "Waterworld" production, "So much has been going on in his life, but I know he'll come out swinging."

Cheers: Shirley MacLaine wraps work on "Evening Star" next week, then heads home to Santa Fe, N.M., to relax for a spell and study scripts. The word is already high about Shirley's sequel to "Terms of Endearment" - particularly about the work of Marion Ross, who plays Aurora's companion/housekeeper. Those who have seen footage of some of her scenes are talking about her portrayal in terms of Oscar '97.

Oops: Meg Ryan's upcoming "Courage Under Fire" is not a Universal film, as we reported the other day. The drama is a 20th Century Fox project, and will be released by 20th Century Fox under its new Fox 2000 banner.

Shock value: Blair Brown is the first to admit her "The Ultimate Lie" telepic, which airs Monday on NBC, "sounds appalling and trashy and stupid."

The tale involves a family torn apart when the father (Michael Murphy) phones a call girl service and his daughter ("Melrose Place" actress Kristin Davis) shows up at his hotel room. "But it's not what its sensational aspects make it seem," insisted Blair, who pointed out that the telepic's producers, Marcia Nasatir and Steven Haft, are known for such films as "The Big Chill," "Dead Poets Society" and Sharon Stone's upcoming "The Last Dance." She added, "In fact, it's a really interesting story about a dysfunctional family and how a tragic episode realigns the family."

Blair has been busy with a long stint in Tom Stoppard's play "Arcadia" in New York, to "Ultimate Lie," to an upcoming ABC Dominick Dunne miniseries. The former "Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" star said she'd love to do another series, "if it could be done in the East. I'm raising my little boy here - he's 9 years old now - and I really don't want to leave."