Since we’re going to be embarking on reviewing the Lon Chaney version of Hunchback of Notre Dame I thought it would be a good time to ask an important question who is more Handsome, Chaney as Quasimodo or Chaney as the Phantom of the Opera? Mmmm this is a very tough question as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but then again so is ugliness.
Lon Chaney as the Phantom of the Opera
Lon Chaney as the Hunchback of Notre Dame
To answer this very tricky question I asked a crack team of young, impressionable and insecure, teenage girls who all said that they were both ugly but if they had to pick they all chose the Phantom because even though he’s ugly, he is at least a musician and they all really like musician plus he is a better dresser. Though even when I pointed out that Quasimodo rang bells with making him a musician of sorts the girls still said the Phantom. I guess they like bad boys, typical huh?
My Crack Team of Young, Impressionable and Insecure, Teenage Girls a.k.a Disney Princesses
Sorry Quasimodo, the girls prefer the deform, obsessed, musically-inclined psychopathic genius to your deformed and slightly angry yet loyal nature.
Phoebus is the dashing and handsome captain of the guard. Due to this namesake, Phoebus (Apollo) he has a very yellow look, gold armor, blond hair and a beard. He has a bit of a Roman look. His beard, with cape his hair style, aquiline nose are all more Roman than late medieval. Oddly enough, Phoebus’ only describe featured in the book is his mustache which is in the “Burgundian Style.” Phoebus is first Disney guy to get facial hair, so kudos to Disney for at least taking something from the book as a basis. Well one could argue that in the 23 version and the 39 version Phoebus had a mustache, so who knows what Disney was going off of, besides the production crew. At least they went there and gave him some form of facial hair The important this is that Phoebus should be handsome, he can be a jerk, a hero or a gloried extra but he must be a pretty boy, and Disney at least did that.
Phoebus concept art isn’t much different than how he appears in the movie. However he looks like John Smith from Pocahontas. For More Concept Art of Hunchback
I mean, It’s John Smith with a beard.
Phoebus wears the most useless armor ever, honestly I don’t know why he bothers with it, maybe the gold makes him feels special or pretty but clearly it’s just for show. Djali hits him in the gut and inflicts some pain but when a candelabra hits him the face he shakes it off. He gets shot with an arrow through back (and yet it almost got his heart) and he nearly drowns in it. Frankly he’s better off without it.
Phoebus’ look is pretty generic looking considering the rest of the characters. He’s conventially handsome with a slight roman look mix with a little John Smith through for good measure. The result is a tad on the boring which is why his look didn’t change much from the concept art.