Today’s Ghoulish Hunchback Halloween Fan-art is by TheLastUnicorn1985. I have no words for how awesome this is. I love the inclusion of Bruno Pelletier as Drucula, that is genius. Plus Hunchback combined with The Nightmare Before Christmas
is an instant win for me.
Hunchback Halloween 2008 by TheLastUnicorn1985
Typically when I do hypothetical casting posts it’s because I think a specific actor or actress would be a good choice for a certain character in the Hunchback Notre Dame. This post however is different. It’s the opposite.
Megan Fox
Megan Fox, for whatever reason, is for some people an ideal choice for Esmeralda. Now I’m not going to criticize those people. Instead I’m going make a little bit of a generalization. The people who think Fox should play Esmeralda are looking at the character from the Disney perspective; that she is a strong, independent, sexually-aware women. While I guess Fox “embodies” those traits let’s not forget that she isn’t know for her acting prowess.
Fox’s major function in the media is to be lusted after. The truth is Fox isn’t a decent actress. I’m not a great fan of Demi Moore but she can act circles around Fox, I mean she was great in Ghost
Megan Fox
Depending on how the movie chooses to depict Esmeralda, it’s not difficult role to play. It would be harder if a movie made her like she is the in book since it would take a charismatic actress to make her likable and sympathetic. But the movies goes with the easier approach that she is kind, strong-willed, independent, and sexy. Even if it’s an easy role that doesn’t mean that a movie can cast someone solely on looks. There needs to be some charm to actress and not just an overly sexualized lady who poses in front of camera and spout off a lines.
Megan Fox
So being that Fox is for some people an ideal Esmeralda and she stared with Josh Brolin in Jonah Hex
An AMV made by Rider4z it uses Sanctuary to Summer Wars
Hunchback of Notre Dame Character Illustration by Francois Joseph Aime De Lemud
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is an character driven piece. As a narrative it rests on the characters. In the book, the characters may not be that 3- dimensional but there is a richness to them, we care about them.
Most of the adaptations deviate from book to make the characters either more likable or less likable. For example in the Disney movie, Esmeralda isn’t the immature shallow girl that she is in the book and Phoebus isn’t a cad. Instead they’re both noble and moral people. And Frollo is just a murderous jerk in Disney version.
Frollo and Esmeralda from the Jetlag version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Now with the Jetlag version,
They’re more like the representations of the characters and not the characters. I mean what can be said about these characters; Quasimodo is nice, Frollo is sort-of tortured, Gringoire is there, Phoebus is a cad, and Esmeralda is nice.
Esmeralda from the Jetlag version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Esmeralda is the most changed in this version from the book version. In the book, she is immature and naive. It’s due to her immaturity that she is shallow. Here, Esmeralda is kind and not shallow. I mean she ends up with Quasimodo at the end. I suppose she grows a little bit as a character because she starts out liking Phoebus and the then falls in love with Quasimodo but she is never repulse by him so we never really see a change in how she treats him.
Esmeralda and Gringoire
The characters in the Jetlag version are dull and bland because the movie doesn’t develop their personalities as characters so what we the audience are left with a cardboard cut-outs of much richer characters.
Next Jetlag review- Voice acting
Gringoire balancing a chair Jetlag version Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hotel Transylvania
I haven’t seen Hotel Transylvania yet so feel free to call me out on anything I get wrong. I had mentioned in another post that Quasimodo was a chef which parodies his being French rather than his role as a monster because let’s face it, Quasimodo is not a monster, he’s deformed, not a monster. Calling him a monster was just a marketing gimmick by Universal Studios. Remember Lon Chaney’s first big role was Quasimodo and was Universal’s first major film. The 1923 version started the monster trend. Putting Quasimodo in the league with Dracula, Frankenstein, and werewolves is moronic. I’m really surprised that the Phantom wasn’t shoehorned in the movie. Oh wait, a cave is shaped like the Phantom’s face so he was. Kudos movie.
Quasimodo in Hotel Transylvania
However my annoyance with the movie’s representation of Quasimodo goes a step further, Quasimodo is an antagonist. What? Huh? Quasimodo is a bad guy? Well that’s certainly a new spin on the character. I mean he did throw someone off a building in a fit of rage but is that enough to turn him into more are less a villain? Consider that Quasimodo is hardly ever depicted as anything but a kind soul. But wait there is more.
Quasimodo & Esmeralda from Hotel Transylvania Game
Quasimodo has a side-kick rat named…. wait for it……..Esmeralda. What? Esmeralda is a rat? What? The Beautiful and Graceful Esmeralda is a rat? I can’t process this. So let me get this right Hotel Transylvania, Quasimodo is a chef and has a rat? Maybe she is a pretty rat? Oh, I get it, they’ re knocking-off of Ratatouille
Not-Quasimodo Wilson, Jonathan the Human and Adam Sandler Hotel Transylvania
One more thing, why is Quasimodo’s last name in this move “Wilson”? Why not give him some goofy French name, would have made more sense that “Wilson”. Or maybe there referencing something, that seems to film’s raison d’etre. I mean even the title is reference to the song Hotel California
Art of Quasimodo, Esmeralda the Rat and Jonathan by Pete Oswald Hotel Transylvania
This isn’t Quasimodo and there isn’t enough of him to be a proper reference to any version of Quasimodo. It’s pretty clear that the writers knew of Quasimodo from the Chaney version and the Disney version but not enough to make a decent connection to the character’s legacy.
I have since writing the post seen the movie, you can read that post HERE
If you look really carefully you can see that Slenderman is really Frollo from the Disney movie. Hide your Kids!
SlenderMan is Frollo
So you want to Dress up as Esmeralda?
You can also click here for more up-to-dat options for buying pieces for Esmeralda’s Costume.
Esmeralda is a great choice for a Halloween costume. It’s fun and being a Disney character’s costume it’s identifiable (which means more candy ). Plus you can wear the piece in your day-to-day life. Or you can buy a Pre-made Esmeralda Costume
The great thing about the costume is that you can buy all components that you need. So it’s an easy DIY costume.
Here what you need; A white peasant blouse, purple skirt, darker purple hip scarf, blue waist cincher or corset, a pink headband or scarf, and her jewelry.
so here are some items you can buy to make her costume or a costume inspired by here’s. (I’ll list three or so for each remember you can also check my Esmeralda Lens for more )
White Blouse
Skirt
Hip scarf
Corset
Comes in Blue
Head piece
Jewelery
Because it’s October, I’m going to try to feature creepy or halloween Fanart that naturally has a Hunchback twisted.
This one made my me. It was made quickly because I ran out of time. It’s goofy and slightly creepy.
Spoooky Frollo Moon Shadow
Horror from The Pagemaster
The Pagemaster
