In the case of Disney’s Hunchback sequel, this was Disney’s chance to give Quasimodo a love story as they didn’t in the original movie because Esmeralda and Phoebus are made for each other and pretty much the some person. However the whole plot with the bell was stupid. What Disney should have done was used the sequel to mitigate between the book and the movie instead of creating a villain who was pretty much universally despised by the masses, an idiotic impractical bell and not utilizing the more beloved main characters -Esmeralda, Clopin, and Djali.
Here what they should have done, since Disney is in the business of contrived romances we’ll keep the Madeline character but instead of working for a vain magical bell thief she’ll be in league with Gringoire whose is a poet and a goat thief. Gringoire is original to the book and he does steals/rescues Djali. But having Djali as a focal point it would have been easier to incorporate Esmeralda and Clopin. Plus Djali was a smart Goat who could spell, tell time and do numerous of other tricks, plus Disney could have marketed more Djali toys instead that stupid Bell. Plus there would have been no lame Sarousch or hopefully no Zephyr. (Did anyone like either of them? Seriously I wanna know.)
However, I think Disney should have forgone the whole Quasimodo story line and done a prequel with Esmeralda because I can tell you right know more people search for Esmeralda than Quasimodo, she is just more popular. I think an Esmeralda backstory who have been a better waste of time. Who agrees? I mean we know nothing of Esmeralda’s childhood, parents, how she came to the Court of Miracles, or anything. I guess this makes her mysterious but it would have been more interesting to watch than watching Quasimodo force a girl into liking him with a jewel-crusted bell that isn’t even in the first movie. An Esmeralda origin tale would have mitigated the Disney story of Hunchback and Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris, I mean Esmeralda is the titular character and the book revolves around her and Disney trying to downplay her in favor of Quasimodo just didn’t work. So they should have done a Prequel full of Esmeralda and not the sequel that they poop out.
Next Time – Conclusion Time for the Sequel