Remaking Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame

[Cikomyr]

So I think it would be the perfect time for Disney to remake the Hunchback of Notre-Dame, probably the Disney movie that has undertook the highest re-evaluation of quality with me becoming an adult. It's not my favourite Disney movie, but it's the one I have matured the most on.

I was rewatching it yesterday, and I got a few ideas that I think would yield an actually higher quality movie than the original. The original suffers from some MASSIVE thematic dissonance (nobody say the G-word yet).

The movie's focus on Notre-Dame would probably be.. Silghlty exploitative seeing last month's events, but I never have any problem with people drawing interest in art and architecture while they try to make a buck. It might actually be an opportunity to create fantastic recreations of the Cathedral for Quasimodo to swing around in.

Also, the movie's theme about how the government oppress the Spanish-themed brownskinned immigrants might.. Be.. Actual? That's the last we will talk on that topic. But I think it would be a good idea.

Plus, I think everyone would love Benedict Cumberbatch play Judge Frollo.

Anyway. Gargoyles. Hunchback's Gargoyles were as bad as Disney's Gargoyles show were good. They break the pacing, break the theme, and they are just not funny. I think everyone agree that if you cut them out entirely, it makes the movie better.

But i got thinking. They shouldn't remove the Gargoyles: but retool them.

A common theory is that the Goyles are actually manifestation of Quasimodo's own psyche. It's certainly a solid theory, and adds some poignancy his character. So that's an element I feel they should commit to. However, what about the Gargoyles' personality themselves? What about their purpose in the story?

Well.. That piece of inspiration came from Nostalgia Critic's Disneycember episode on the Hunchback. He mentions that the movie 's moral message is all over the place, especially when it comes to the theme that "apparence doesn't matter", and he gives this exchange between two of the gargoyle (Laverne and Hugo, the latter played by Jason Alexander) :


Hugo : [eating crackers and cheese] I thought *I* was the cute one!

Laverne : No, you're the fat, stupid one with the big mouth!

The movie makes a joke about one of the "good" character putting down another one because he is fat and ugly.

This got my wheels turning: do make the Gargoyles manifestation of Quasimodo's psyche. But actually make them the voices of his rationality, his self doubts, his rebelliousness.

In the original movie, Laverne is the wisest of the three Goyles, but she is also the quickest to criticise the other two. This should tell you a lot about how Quasimodo perceives figures of authority and wisdom: as judgemental individuals who will put those who stray back in their place.

I think the Gargoyles, as disastrous as they were in the original cartoon, could be a worthwhile enhancement of the overall story.


Also, the sequence of Heaven's Light/Hellfire is one of my favourite sequence of song in Disney canon, and in my opinion they should add a page from Quebec 's musical of Notre-Dame-De-Paris and add a song for Phoebus as well (look up the song "Belle") . Make is a sequential trio of the three male character, all about their hopes, doubts and dreams of Esmeralda.

[Traab]

Hunchback was probably one of the biggest envelope pushers disney did and it was surprising how well they took the original story and adapted it to a disney theme while not totally neutering it, Hellfire was incredible and really kinda shocking for a disney song considering the theme. Of course it might have been even more impactful had frollo been what he was in the book, but even so, that song was chilling. I do like the idea of making the gargoyles parts of his psyche as in all honesty he cant be totally sane considering he has spent his entire life more or less locked away in seclusion. I think doing a live action remake would be a good idea, but honestly, I expect that more of the classics will get chosen first before hunchback. While it was critically applauded, and did well in theaters, it wasnt really one of the big hits that everyone tends to put on their top ten list of disney films.

[Ramza00]

Lindsay Ellis > Nostalgia Critic

Here is a video to get your taste of Nostalgia Critic out of your noggin.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIIWy3TZ1eI

[Magic_Hat]

Or you could just enjoy the original (flaws and all) and not feel the need to remake and redo something.

[Kitten Champion]

Why would you though? I mean, adapt the cartoon. You can just do an actual adaptation of the Hugo novel if your goal is to remove the sillier elements. I mean, it would be dark as all hell and I don't think Disney would make such a movie under their family friendly branding, but anyone can do Hugo if they choose.

Or, if it must be Disney's Hunchback, there was a stage musical version Disney released in Berlin which kept much of the darker gothic elements but did the whole music thing too. The Gargoyles were apparently in it too, but they're delusions of Quasimodo's tattered psyche owing from his life-long isolation and less the comic relief according to the summary.

[Fyraltari]

Also, the movie's theme about how the government oppress the Spanish-themed brownskinned immigrants.

You mean the Romani (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people)?

[Eldan]

Yeaaaah. Refering to the Romani as Spanish is kinda super tone-deaf.

[Magic_Hat]

I don't think Disney would make such a movie under their family friendly branding

The same company that bought Fox and had the word "Pens" uttered like over a dozen times in Spider-Man Homecoming? The word "Pens" is said a ridiculous amount of times in that movie - Flash Thompson calling Peter Parker "'Pens' Parker." Well technically it ain't "Pens" they say. It's a very similar word what sounds kind of like "Pens," but I can't type it on these forums. Just add another vowel somewhere in the word.

[Eldan]

You can't say Penis?

[Kitten Champion]

The same company that bought Fox and had the word "Pens" uttered like over a dozen times in Spider-Man Homecoming? The word "Pens" is said a ridiculous amount of times in that movie - Flash Thompson calling Peter Parker "'Pens' Parker." Well technically it ain't "Pens" they say. It's a very similar word what sounds kind of like "Pens," but I can't type it on these forums. Just add another vowel somewhere in the word.

Disney hasn't released an R-Rated movie under their own brand, ever, I believe.

You can say penis all you want, it's the correct term for human anatomy.

[Cikomyr]

Yeaaaah. Refering to the Romani as Spanish is kinda super tone-deaf.

I know they are Romanis, and an entirely different cultural group than the Iberians, but the skin color and the name "Esmeralda" are closer to Spanish than Romani.

[Magic_Hat]

You can't say...

Didn't know the world was forum appropriate.


Disney hasn't released an R-Rated movie under their own brand, ever, I believe.

Yeah. You're right. I mean it's not like in Guardians 2 Yondu is visiting a shady adult establishment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byd3h19GSko) or a group of girls in Spider-Man Homecoming is playing a certain "mature" game (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss,_Marry,_Kill).

Disney: We're Family Friendly Unless It'll Yield Us a few Extra Bucks.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

I mean it's not like in Guardians 2 Yondu is visiting a shady adult establishment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byd3h19GSko) or a group of girls in Spider-Man Homecoming is playing a certain "mature" game (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss,_Marry,_Kill).

I think Kitten Champion said, 'under their own brand,' anticipating that; those are both Marvel-branded movies.

Your point still holds, of course.

[Magic_Hat]

I think Kitten Champion said, 'under their own brand,' anticipating that; those are both Marvel-branded movies.

Yeah. I suppose they do keep their world's separate. It's not like Disney references, uses, or even exploits the fact Disney owns Marvel else where...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y94LS8ikww


Your point still holds, of course.

That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me ever. Can we be friends?

[Kitten Champion]

I think Kitten Champion said, 'under their own brand,' anticipating that; those are both Marvel-branded movies.

Your point still holds, of course.

No, neither Spider-Man Homecoming (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2250912/?ref_=nv_sr_2?ref_=nv_sr_2) or Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3896198/) are rated-R. You're allowed to get away with mild adult content and language in a PG-13 movie, thus the MPAA cautioning potential viewers that some content may be inappropriate for those under the ages of 13.

I was referring to when Disney acquired Miramax, which was during most of the 90's. They distributed movies like Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, The English Patient, and Shakespeare in Love during that time.

[Rodin]

The more important problem for a dark-and-gritty Hunchback remake is audience perception. Disney have made a series of these live-action remakes now, and they're all just as family friendly as the original animated version. If they suddenly were to go R-rated it would be a PR nightmare as loads of oblivious parents take their kids to see "a Disney movie."

Essentially, Disney animated films are a "franchise", and making a sharp turn on the ratings just wouldn't work. It's the same reason I never expect to see Deadpool enter the MCU. It's all Marvel, but the franchises are very different.

[Cikomyr]

Well, I don't necessarily want an R-rated Hunchback movie. Just a better crafted one than the first.

[Fyraltari]

I know they are Romanis, and an entirely different cultural group than the Iberians, but the skin color and the name "Esmeralda" are closer to Spanish than Romani.

?

Esmeralda is also a Romani first name and the skin-tone is about right.

[Cikomyr]

?

Esmeralda is also a Romani first name and the skin-tone is about right.

So it is. Well, consider me mistaken. The thematic would still work, it's just that the musical song "Bohemienne" kind of mentions Spain as Esmeralda's mother's "could have been" homeland, and the gypsie characters sometimes make reference to the "Mountains of Andalusia".

Also, Asterix kind of made a veiled analogy to the gypsies in "Asterix in Hispania", so I think my cultural background kind of misled me.

[The Glyphstone]

She probably isn't a character you want to go more source-material accurate anyways - according to the book's Wiki page, she was a French-born girl abducted by Romani and raised as one of their own. Not a great stereotype to be reviving, there.

[Cikomyr]

She probably isn't a character you want to go more source-material accurate anyways - according to the book's Wiki page, she was a French-born girl abducted by Romani and raised as one of their own. Not a great stereotype to be reviving, there.

I think everyone here would agree that all adaptarions who ignored that plot point are better off.

[Fyraltari]

Oh yes. But it's not a question of faithfullness to the book. It's just that using a real-life marginalized grou as a symbolic stand-in for another marginalized group is... odd.

[Cikomyr]

Oh yes. But it's not a question of faithfullness to the book. It's just that using a real-life marginalized grou as a symbolic stand-in for another marginalized group is... odd.

Well, every adaptation of Notre Dame that I've seen has used the Gypsies as a stand-in for the downtrodden immigrants rejected by mainstream society and treated like criminals.

[Craft (Cheese)]

I love Hunchback and it's one of my favorite movies of all time, but let's be honest, it's very racist (yes, most stories with the theme of "racism is bad" by white people turns out to actually be very racist themselves), disfiguremisic, and ableist (I mean, the title itself is halfway a slur). Plus Disney's string of live-action remakes of their animated movies have all been terrible and no one likes them.

Give the money that would go into a remake of this movie to some fresh romani and/or disfigured talent and let them make whatever story they want to tell. I guarantee the results will be much better than a Hunchback remake. (It probably won't make as much profit though, which is why Disney will never actually do this in a million years.)

[Eldan]

Well, every adaptation of Notre Dame that I've seen has used the Gypsies as a stand-in for the downtrodden immigrants rejected by mainstream society and treated like criminals.

Yeah, but, the Romani are that already. Using Romani as a stand-in for Hispanics is like making a movie where, I don't know. The black civil rights movement in the sixties is a stand-in for gay rights.

[Ebon_Drake]

From a brief read of Fyraltari's Wiki link earlier in the thread, Spain apparently has a sizeable Romani community. It's entirely reasonable for Esmeralda's family to be both ethnically Romani and of Spanish background. Given France is much closer to Spain than to the Balkans, I also wouldn't be too surprised if the general "common knowledge" opinion in France (at least at the time the novel was written) was that the Romani people originated from Spain.