The third lost Hunchback films was first the American adaptation from 1917 called The Darling of Paris. It was directed J. Gordon Edwards and was made at Fox Studios in New Jersey. It starred one of the most popular actresses of the Silent era, Theda Bara. Bara was one of cinema’s earliest sex symbols and a femme fatale and was nicknamed the Vamp.

Theda Bara as Esmeralda

Theda Bara as Esmeralda

Considering Bara’s reputation she probably played a sexier Esmeralda. The film is supposedly loosely based on novel. The cast of characters has Paquette and Gringoire so Esmeralda’s backstory and relationship with Gringoire could have been let intact. Very little in known about this movie. It wasn’t one Bara’s seminal movies, Like A Fool There Was was or Cleopatra.

Renaud played Esmeralda in Notre Dame de Paris in the 2005 Canadian Cast as well as the 2005 French Cast.

I like her singing but the arrangement in parts or a little strange.

An Extremely Goofy Movie picture image

An Extremely Goofy Movie

An Extremely Goofy Movie is a sequel to the 1995 A Goofy Movie. Both movies deal with a father trying to be apart of his son’s life and the son yearning for independence. But where the Goofy Movie was bright, colorful and somewhat endearing, An Extremely Goofy Movie was shit.

Max and Goofy, An Extremely Goofy Movie

Max and Goofy

The plot is Back to School just with Goof Troop, that’s it. Even if you haven’t seen Back to School, the plot of this movie feels old and done. It differs a bit with extreme sports like skate boarding and there is a sub-plot of Goofy liking 70’s stuff. But the heart of the plot is a rehashing of the first movie where Goofy wants to be involved with Max’s life and Max’s wants his own life. And it gets old within the movie.

Sylvia and Goofy, An Extremely Goofy Movie picture image

Sylvia and Goofy

The animation is all over the place, from really choppy to smooth rotoscoping. During the disco dance scene the animation is really fluid, so much so that it looks rotoscoped. Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over footage. The mixture of the fluid rotoscoping and the choppy animation looks terrible. It wouldn’t be so bad if both extremes were not in the same scene.

Pete, Max and Pauly Shore errm Bob , An Extremely Goofy Movie picture image

Pete, Max, and Pauly Shore errm Bob

So if the plot is cliched and ripped off and the animation is inconsistent but how are the characters? Goofy is fine except that he comes off annoying in his attempts to hang out with Max. Max is pretty unlikable and him having same voice as Kovu threw me off, I watch pretty much right after I watched LionKing 2. Max doesn’t really have an interesting personality or things that makes him special.

Pete was more interesting with his limited scene time. That Pauly Shore character was beyong annoying. The other characters hardly register as characters.

Goofy and Bradley Uppercrust the Third , An Extremely Goofy Movie picture image

Goofy and Bradley Uppercrust the Third

Personally, I didn’t enjoy An Extremely Goofy Movie. I found it heartless and annoying. I had really hard time finishing it. I have very little to say on this one. I don’t think it’s the worst of the sequels but it’s far from being any good. It was just extremely meh.

Taylor Swift picture image

Taylor Swift

I admit, I don’t care for Taylor Swift. Her music does nothing for me and  the fact the she plays an instrument and writes her songs maybe a feat in the current music scene but it’s not like she a huge talent that warrants vast praise. No, I’m not a fan of  Taylor Swift and I had intended this post to be anti-casting but the more I thought about her as a Fleur de Lys for an English version of Notre Dame de Paris the less I dislike the idea. I would say that if this ever did happen, I would complain but it’s way a more  palatable casting choice than most pop singers.

Taylor Swift from Love Story picture image

Taylor Swift from Love Story

 

Taylor Swift was up for the role as Epoine in Les Mis. It’s unclear if she did get the part or not but Epoine didn’t suit her but Fleur de Lys does. Swift has a reputation for being sweet and speaking to the teenage girls but on the flip side, she can be mean if you piss her off. Fleur de Lys in Notre Dame de Lys is both these things. At the start, she in love but as the play goes on she gets cruel and demands Esmeralda’s death and she gets away with it. Vocally, the English version is something I could see Swift being able to pull off.

Taylor Swift picture image

Taylor Swift

Swift also fits the standard looks for Fleur de Lys, fair skin and blond. Only four Fleur de Lys have differed from this look and three were Korean. Most other Fleurs have to wear blond wigs.  So she at least looks the part.

Taylor Swift picture image

Taylor Swift

 

As much as I don’t like Swift, she wouldn’t be the worse choice, I can see it working but it pisses me off at the same time. I’m on the fence for this hypothetical casting. What do you think? Yay or Nay on Taylor Swift?

 

Stacia Napierkowska

Stacia Napierkowska

The second lost film was made in 1911 and was directed by Albert Capellani. It was called Notre Dame de Paris and was 36 minutes long. It starred  Stacia Napierkowska as Esmeralda. Napierkowska was a dancer before going into films. She appeared in 86 movies between 1908 and 1926. Napierkowska was once arrested in New York City during a performance for her dance being considered indecent.

 

Notre Dame de Paris 1911 picture image

Notre Dame de Paris 1911

From the few pictures that exist we can see that movie has the pillory scene, Esmeralda’s torture and the Port de Rouge scene. Napierkowska’s Esmeralda looks to be both gentle and commanding. Considering her experience as a dancer and  her freedom in sensuality department, I would say that there could have been a great dance scene in this.

 

Today’s prophecy comes to us from the lyrics of Notre Dame de Paris, in English.

She may be more pure, more pure than the words can tell

Apparence may be deceiving you today.

The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride

The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride

The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride is generally considered to be one of the better Disney Sequels. But it is, is it really? Let’s find out.

Nala, Simba, Kovu and Kiara, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride picture image

Nala, Simba, Kovu and Kiara

The plot is Romeo and Juliet pretty much. After Simba dethrons Scar, Simba banishes Scar’s Loyalists which I guess divided the Pride. The leader of Scar’s Loyalist is Zira, who is the mother of Kovu, the one Scar picked to succeed him. Simba’s daughter, Kiara, and Kovu meet and have a thing. Zira uses this to try to take her revenege on Simba and Rafiki plays matchmaker to help restore the prides.

In the end the two factions come together and yay big happy lion family. Timon and Pumbaa as well as Nala and Zuzu do very little.

Kiara and Kovu, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride picture image

Kiara and Kovu

The first thing is compared to the other sequels, this one looks like an effort was put in to it. The animation is very nice and the songs are all pretty good. No ear bleeds here. So in the technicals, yes it’s good. But there is a lot of weirdness going on here.

Zira and Kouv, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride picture image

Zira and Kovu

It feels like a Fan-fiction in the conflict. Where were these lionesses in the first movie? Shrugs. This conflict isn’t in keeping with what happen in The Lion King. I also find it hard to believe that Scar had supporters. I think the real issue and the way Scar got support, in  that the Pride Rock faction wear white eyeliner and the outlanders like black eyeliner. It’s a Make-up war.

Kovu and Kiara as Cubs, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride picture image

Kovu and Kiara as Cubs

Another thing with these “other” Lions is that they look like Scar. Are the darker hues and black eyeliner a recessive genetic trait? Who is Kovu’s father? This movie makes it very clear it’s not Scar but there are no other males. The logic in this isn’t thought out. And it’s not a small thing, people discuss this massive plot-hole and come up with theories.

Kiara and Kovu, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride picture and image

Kiara and Kovu

Even the logic of set-up isn’t super great, in fact, it’s really bad, this story feels different from the Lion King. Whereas Simba’s story is one of redemption and loss, this one is a forbidden love story. The forbidden love alway gets people invested. But the forbidden love angle comes at the expense of Simba’s character, who a jerk in this movie.  Kiara and Kovu are interesting and  likable. They also act like Simba and Scar in some ways and are quite different in others. For instance Kiara as cub gets into mischief like Simba but she doesn’t  really want to be Queen whereas Simba couldn’t wait to be King.

Ending Shot of My Lullaby, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride picture image

Ending Shot of My Lullaby

However the movie as a weird little addiction of making referencing the original movie. Zira at the end of My Lullaby is practically the same shot as the ending of Be Prepare. Kovu’s scar is just like Scar’s, in fact Kovu means Scar . Kovu’s brother, Nuka, dies, Simba’s father dies. A song heavily features a Swahili word. Hakuna Matata is said for no reason other than to be said. I’m sure there are more. I just want to point out the Nuka’s face is burned and he’s ok but a rotten log hits him and he dies.

Kiara's as a debutante, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride  picture image

Kiara’s as a debutante

Another thing annoy about the movie, is the haphazard time jump. It’s like bam, Kovu is an adult. You blink, you miss it. It’s so quick that the Kiara’s pride misses it. One Lioness says “Look how you’ve grown.”  People only say that because when there is a large gap in seeing a child. Like when you haven’t seen a child in like 7 years. Not when you see the kid every day. Did Kiara spend x number or months or years in a cave?

The original movie has a really nice time lapse, why couldn’t this movie steal that? Also Kiara says she and Simba used to stare at the stars together. That would have been a nice scene, too bad we missed it. Hey movie screenwriting 101, show, don’t tell.

Kovu, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride  picture image

Kovu

The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride had a big act to follow but I think despite all the weirdness, it’s alright. It’s not like a fantastic movie but when you consider the Disney sequels, this is one of the better ones even with all the flaws.

Lion King

For the Month of January, we are going to look at the Lost Hunchback of Notre Dame films. What is a Lost Film? A Lost Film is a film that in no longer known to exist in any studio, private collection or public archives. Most of the films that were made between 1894 to 1930 are lost. In total there are four lost Hunchback films and since we have four Tuesdays this month, let’s jump in.

Denise Becker in  1905 Esmralda picture image

Denise Becker in 1905 Esmralda

The first film was simply called Esmeralda. It was made in 1905 and was made in France. It was only about 10 minutes in length. It starred Denise Becker and Henry Vorins. Both actors have very little distinction, though Vorins did go to direct.

Esmeralda has a few distinctions. It was the first film version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The second is its director.

Alice Guy-Blanché picture image

Alice Guy-Blanché

Esmeralda was directed by the first women film director ever, Alice Guy-Blanché as well as Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset. Between 1896 to 1920, Guy-Blanché  directed 1000s of films. She also pioneer cinema. She was the first person to use film as narratives. She made her first film in 1896 at the age of 21 called La Fée aux Choux (The Cabbage Fairy), which is not lost.

She invented the role of director and is credited with the concept of going on location. She also experimented with sound syncing, color tinting, interracial casting and special effects. She founded own studio in New Jersey called Solax. It was the largest pre-Hollywood studio in America. Solax closed in 1922 due Hollywood keeping film costs down.

Esmeralda 1905 picture image

Esmeralda 1905

Sadly, very little know about the 1905 version Esmeralda. Judging from the pictures it looks like Phoebus is a character but no actor in credited. Some film historians credit Esmeralda as the first narrative film as well as the first horror film. Which is pretty cool. Even if Hunchback isn’t a piece of horror literature.

Further Reading on Alice Guy-Blanché;

The memoirs of Alice Guy Blaché

I tend to go a bit mad when I decorate Christmas Cookies and here is my Cross-section of La Fidel from the stupid Hunchback Sequel to prove it.

La Fidel Cookie hunchback sequal

La Fidel Cookie

It’s an almond cookie for anyone who is curious.