Quasimodo | The Hunchblog of Notre Dame

21Apr 2012

9 new Asian Tour Pictures

by jess

More Pictures from the Asian Tour Cast;

: Cadice Parise as Esmeralda 2012 Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris

: Matt Laurent as Quasimodo 2012 Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris

: Cadice Parise as Esmeralda 2012 Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris

: Robert Marien as Frollo 2012 Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris

: Lilly-Jane Young as Fleur de Lys 2012 Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris

: Lilly-Jane Young, Matt Laurent, Ian Carlyle 2012 Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris

: Dennis Ten Vergert, Lilly-Jane Young, Matt Laurent 2012 Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris

: Curtain Call 2012 Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris

: Curtain Call 2012 Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris

18Apr 2012

Why did Hunchback Fail? The Conclusion of the conclusion of the Disney Version

by jess

Quasimodo Clapping

I don’t think Disney denies knowledge of Hunchback like they do with the Black Cauldron it’s just very clear that from a business stand point that Hunchback didn’t make the money that Disney was used to after the Renaissance and so it gets looked over in favor of the cash-cows. But why did Hunchback fail to garner the reviews and money and is hence ignored? Well that is actually an easy question to answer, and it not so much the title translation it’s actually film history. You see the oldest surviving movies of Hunchback (the 1923 version and the 39 version) were both star vehicles for the actors who played Quasimodo. As a result Quasimodo has been the coveted role in Hunchback, it something I like to call “The Quasimodo Factor©” (more on this later) . (Why do you think Josh Brolin is playing Quasimodo, it’s because he a producer and chose to play him.) So as a Quasimodo has been pushed to the main character role even though he is not in the book.

Frollo and Quasimodo during Out There Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

I think this was Disney’s problem from the onset, they thought this film demanded Quasimodo and it didn’t matter how he was depicted. So Quasimodo with his sweet/bland personality was favored over the more interesting characters like Frollo, Clopin and Esmeralda.

Esmeralda and Quasimodo Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

I have to wonder that if Disney had made Frollo and Esmeralda the focus and put Quasimodo in a role where he was a minion and through some kind of exposure to Esmeralda is turned good if the movie who have done better. Was Disney too blindsided by Chaney and Laughton to see that it might have the Hunchback that bought down Notre Dame. I mean don’t get me wrong Disney was in a hard position with his one making an adult classic into a children-friendly film and I think for they did it worked, and I’m not bashing on Quasimodo but here is a challenge, list your favorite character from this movie and then list your favorite character from other Disney movies and see how often did you site the protagonist as being one of your top. I bet comparatively people like other disney protagonists over Quasimodo. So I think Quasimodo and the film revolving around him is the down fall and you can thank the 1939 version and the 1923 version for this.

Next Movie to be Reviewed – The 1923 Version Starring Lon Chaney….. oh….

Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923 Lon Chaney

*I’ll tell you what I’ll rank Disney characters too, leave a comment with 5-7 disney movies, can be any movie (not Oliver I haven’t seen it but anything else is fair game (I think)) if I don’t hear from people by the April 23th I’ll just choose at random. If in the event I get more comments I’ll pick the top 5-7 Disney movies that people picked Got it?

16Apr 2012

Quasimodo & Quasimode

by jess

Quasimode Sounds of Peace 2008 album

I randomly discovered a Japanese Jazz group that calls themselves “Quasimode”. Doesn’t that sound very similar to our hunchback pal ‘Quasimodo”? Turns out that the name isn’t a reference, the name came from their pianist who says that the name means “mix, blend” (interview link) but I can’t seem to separate out the connection between the names. So I’m sorry to say that for me Quasimode will alway seem like a secret Hunchback reference.

Illustration of Quasimodo

As for their music, I like it, I think out of what I heard I like Last Nine Days the best, it’s off the The Land Of Freedom album. It would be so cool if they did a Hunchback/Notre Dame de Paris inspired album ^^…… mmm Notre Dame and Jazz, seems like an odd and cool combo.

15Apr 2012

What did the Hunchback of Notre Dame think of Marketing Ploy

by jess

I mentioned last week that I went to Anime Boston(4/6-4/9) and I had a great time, I got sick but I had a great time. But one of the best parts was that me and my sister’s AMV (Anime Music Video) won Best Comedy. Now since I shamelessly self-promote I wanted to post it here but since it has nothing to with Hunchback I decided to show it to the characters of the Hunchback and asked them what they thought.

The Video

Their Reactions

Quaismodo – It lacked soul and depth but I liked, will you be my friend now?
Esmeralda – They look like princes who ride white horses, I loved it
Frollo– Such an empty hollow video that turns my eyes from god (Maybe if I join a Boy band she’ll love me)
Phoebus – I found my purpose, I going to join a Boy Band
Gringoire – I suppose it was amusing but I could write a much more amusing song and edit a better AMV.
Clopin – That would provide the perfect distraction for pick-pocketing
Fleur de Lys – I really didn’t care for it.
Jehan– I love it, can you loan me 5 bucks?

Man, there is no pleasing some people.

Anime- Ouran High School Host Club
Song – Pop song by Jon Lajoie [Explicit]
Edited by the Warlike Swans (Me and my Sister)

03Apr 2012

The Disney Stage Show of Notre Dame

by jess

Frollo Puppet

The stage show of Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Disney Parks is like a high school production where the show has a high budget but the cast isn’t really that talented. Wait a second that’s pretty much what this is. Expect they’re actually college students interning (slave labor) there for the summer. So what is the stage show about? All it is a rehashing of the movie. That’s it. I’m basing this review off these videos which you can watch it HERE. (I’m sorry for the pictures)

Frollo interrupting the couple in Notre Dame a.k.a Not Grope Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame Stage Show picture image

Frollo interrupting the couple a.k.a Not Grope

A Guy Like you

Frollo finding out Esmeralda escape a.k.a Not Hellfire

But is the show bad? Yes, yes it. Everything that you love is gone, i.e Frollo. Well that’s not true Frollo is there and he gets line or two but there is not grope and no Hellfire basically what makes Frollo a character is gone. Frollo is just a plot point. Also they kept a guy like you over hellfire which seems like a big “Fuck-you” to audience.

Clopin's singnature pose

But how are the other actors? Umm, not so good. We’ll start with the best, Clopin at least he can sing well. Though he strikes the same pose and hand movements over and over.

Phoebus... that is all

Quasimodo with a plastic model Esmeralda

The Gargoyles... they get more lines than Frollo

Phoebus is meh. Quasimodo is forgettable. The gargoyles are annoying.

Esmeralda

And then there is Esmeralda. First off I say this with out trying to be offensive but she sounds like she from a 30’s movies. Other than that her acting is weak and over-the-top and she’s not a great singer. I think she was cast for the splits she does during the dance.

Esmeralda's Kneepad

And she wears knee pads during the dance which I found hilarious.

Frollo Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame Stage Show picture image

Frollo he's too cool for this play

Frollo’s not even a character so he doesn’t count. But even still he’s WAY cooler even with no personality.

Djali as a Marionette Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame Stage Show

Djali as a Marionette.... where can I get one?

So the setting and the plot were okay. The whole puppet thing for the backstory was weird and a little silly. I mean I get why the did, because it’s Clopin’s puppet show, but to see a big Frollo puppet was too funny for me. I have a bad habit of laughing at puppet play even when that are suppose to be serious. Also Djali as a marionette was unnecessary. Actually Djali was unnecessary and that pains me to say.

Spire Turn during Out there

Also I just want to mention that you know in “Out There” where the camera spins around Quasimodo while he’s on the spire yeah, they do that here except while the performer sings on a platform, two guys spin said platform around, it very silly and awkward.

More Puppets dolls Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame Stage Show picture image

More Puppets erm I mean Dolls

Basically the whole thing a very rushed feeling and it over superficial, I mean it’s a appropriate, given that it’s in a Disney park. It’s flash and no substance. It subtracts too much from the movie and if their intent was to take that film and make it even more “Kid Friendly” why not do an after-story or sequel. Frollo doesn’t do anything cool here so who cares if he’s in the show. It at least could have been more interesting than seeing a water-down version of a classic story that Disney already watered down.

Getting the Lead out

On the plus side, I liked the extras and the lead pouring was cool.

02Apr 2012

Esmeralda’s Green Costume Defense

by jess

Helene Segara as Esmeralda Notre Dame de Paris

Helene Segara as Esmeralda from Notre Dame de Paris

I was reading on http://notredamedeparisfans.tumblr.com/ that tumbler user express a dislike for Esmeralda’s green dress from Notre Dame de Paris. You can read the post here (post doesn’t seem to be of NDdp Fan anymore). She finds the dress to be like a sack with no movement and thinks the show should have opted for more traditional gypsy costume designs. Overall she doesn’t care for the design. Now since I don’t have a tumblr account and I made a squidoo lens on this topic, I’m going to offer up a defense with a blog post. However this is not the first person to express a dislike for the costume. So it’s nothing new.

Helene Segara as Esmeralda Notre Dame de Paris design by Fred Sathal

Helene Segara as Esmeralda design by Fred Sathal

I really do like the design I think it’s pretty and has a fashion edge to it. Of course I do not like all the versions of the dress. I tend toward the ones where you can see the texture more and I prefer one that are not floral patterns. I think the reason why the show didn’t opt for the cliche “gypsy” look was the show was trying to go for a “modern” and less of the musical vibe: more like music video as musical in France were not popular in 1998 (they mentioned this in either the featurette or on the frequent star special). This is probably why they got Fred Sathal do the designs. Sathal is a fashion design with costume-like POV but not a costume designer, so all the costumes are not typical musical costumes.

Helene Segara as Esmeralda Notre Dame de Paris

As for the movement, the dress does have some movement (watch Bohemienne) and while Esmeralda is dancer as part of her character, the actresses are not cast for their dancing, so the movement of the dance factor is mute point. I mean when an Esmeralda does dance she moves her hips, spins, runs around and/or does hand movements, not exactly movements that need a flowy skirt to showoff the quality of movement and lines (well maybe the spin do). Plus she only dances once in two hours, so the play isn’t that interested her dancing.

Lola Ponce as Esmeralda Notre Dame de Paris

Later in the tumble post it’s mentions that red promotional dress that was used for London cast, French cast and was used in Russian version is prettier. Problem with that dress is the color is red which is Quasimodo’s color so it does really work for the show. Unless the colors are switch ( but I prefer Esmeralda in green, red is too cliche) or the dress was made green the dress. I wonder what that would be like…..

The Red Promotional Notre Dame de Paris in Green, Tina Arena(Esmeralda) and Garou (Quasimodo)

I like the red promotional dress, I just don’t care for the fringe, especially on the sleeves. I kind of like it in green though it’s pretty in red. Also for the record I like the second act dress too (I’m planning a lens on that too ^_~). I like flutter sleeves, cowl necklines and ruffles. Consider that the dress is a prison doesn’t make a ton of sense but when did musical have to be logical.

Helene Segara as Esmeralda in the Prison dress Notre Dame de Paris design Fred Sathal picture image

Helene Segara as Esmeralda in the Prison dress design Fred Sathal Notre Dame de Paris

Maybe another cast versions should change up the costumes a bit variety being the spice of life. But let’s hear from you what are your thoughts, people? Do like the Notre Dame de Paris Costume Style or should it opt for a more traditional musical style (whatever that means)?

Bada as Esmeralda Korean version Notre Dame de Paris

31Mar 2012

Asian Tour Cast Pictures

by jess

More Pictures from the Asian Tour.

: Cast Finale Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

: Ian Carlyle as Clopin Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

: Candice Parise as Esmeralda Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

: Lily-Jane Young as Fleur de Lys and Matt Laurent as Quasimodo Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

: Robert Marien as Frollo Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

: Candice Parise as Esmeralda and Robert Marien as Frollo Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

: Lily-Jane Young as Fleur de Lys Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

: Stephen Webb as Phoebus and Ian Carlyle as Clopin Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

: Matt Laurent as Quasimodo Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

Trying a new Format. Like? Or did you prefer the old way I handled these posts, let me know… or I’ll just continue till these Asian Tour Pictures run out

26Mar 2012

A Review of a Review by LazerDude99

by jess

Today I’m going to review Youtube Reviewer LazerDude99 as he reviews Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame mainly because they are at lot of problems with it. I’ll start with negatives and end with positives. (and just for the record, I know I’m not a perfect reviewer so take what I say with a grain of salt when I review reviews.)

LazerDude99 Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney

My first problem is on the technical end. The Sound mixing is not very good. His voice is too quiet while the film’s audio is too loud, the point of the review is to hear the review. This could be a problem with compression or microphone. The visuals of the DVD is also not that crisp and washed out again this could be a problem with video compression.

Painting of Esmeralda as she is being taking to the scaffolds with Sachette by Nicolas-Eustache Maurin

However my biggest problem with is review is the fact checking. He does admits that he didn’t know that story and got it wrong in the comments but if your going through the trouble of writing a review, recording it, ripping the DVD, editing the video taking 5 minutes to read wikipedia or just a summary doesn’t seem like that big of a task. In the video he says that he thinks that Quasimodo kills Esmeralda in jealous rage. However he also didn’t know that Djali was original to Hugo or Clopin’s voice actor. Not knowing that Paul Kandel did Clopin’s voice won’t have been a problem if he hadn’t mention Kevin Kline voicing Phoebus. While mistakes are likely to happen just make sure that if you can Fact check, do it.

Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise

I also have problems with the ascertain that he made about “Director losing his vision” . First there were two directors (Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise { Fact Checking). Now I can’t know what happened behind the scenes but I think they bought into that mindset that films are a collaborative process. Maybe it was too collaborative as there were 18 writers on Hunchback but it seem from the commentary that studio was behind the dark tones of the film and didn’t try to rain it in. (Now I’m making ascertain based on the commentary). I do know that they wanted to make Hunchback as mean to push CG animation and because they felt at it’s core that Hunchback had fairy tale archetypes.

Frollo singing Hellfire Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Old Heretic Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Hugo A Guy like you Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Another problem was the discussion of the Tone. Hunchback does have a lot of tones. It’s humorous and dark But is that actually bad in a film to be multi-toned? NoIdo not think so. I’ve watch a tons film/tv series that are multi-tone. Take a Bollywood movie, one minute you can have crying the next dancing. The trick to a multi-toned film is good transitions from one tone to next i.e flow which Hunchback does have. It’s not like Hellfire goes to the gargoyles’ annoying antics to someone being fatally wounded to a silly song. It has good flow thou I do wish the “child-friendly” stuff was toned (no pun intended), the kids would have been fine. I also think Phoebus’ humor and the Old Heretic help to bridge the gap between the dark elements and kid-friendly stuff. As Phoebus is sarcastic and the old heretic is a running gag that reflect Frollo’s insane control. Also I would point as dark as people say the book is it does have a lot of funny moments.

LazerDude99's Barney/Die Hard joke

Also the jokes he makes are not that funny (at least to me). They feel really forced. The clip of the pumpkin dropping on the car was too long it should have ended on impact or after the screams but it felt forced joke. The Hellfire as camp song joke was forced too. Maybe if he had gone over the top with it (Green Screen) or sang to it to “Kumbaya” (cliche camp song) it might have been better. The Barney/Die Hard joke might have been funny but I couldn’t tell because I couldn’t make out the picture (making it bigger didn’t help). Admittedly he did this review a year ago and this is the only one I’ve watched so he might have learned from mistakes and these negative at mute points and not really need the repeating.

Ok, positives and these are things I agree with.

Xed Gargoyles Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame image picture

Xed out Gargoyles Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Gargoyles, yeah he hates them too. Does any out there like them? I mean I’m sure they are some people but rarely do I ever see a defense for them. I’d be curious to hear from gargoyle supporters

The Old Heretic Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

He likes the Old Heretic, he was may favorite gag in the film.

Frollo Hunchback of Notre Dame with Clopin Disney picture image

Frollo with Clopin Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney

He praises Frollo and hellfire. Everyone seems to but in this case everyones right. Frollo and Hellfire are the highlight the movie. He also enjoyed Phoebus and Clopin, and I can’t argue with that. Phoebus maybe a little too pefect but at least he’s amusing and I liked Clopin a lot.

Quasimodo Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney picture image

Quasimodo's Reveal Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney

I do have to agree with him about Quasimodo is boring. Like Esmeralda, he is a little too perfect of a character. He’s not really flawed like he is in the book or in other adaptations.

LazerDude99's rating of Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Now I don’t watch many reviews on youtube but LazerDude 99 does seem to try to make a decent review of the movie that for the most part is well made. I mean video compression is a hard thing to master, camera/microphone can be expense. I just wished he had fact checked better, Quasimodo Killing Esmeralda is wrong on some many levels. And the jokes need to tighter and clearer because I feel that they fall flat. I suppose in the realm of the youtube reviewer his probably is good, I mean he did book effort into it and did back up his thoughts in an intelligent way.

Watch the Review for yourself by clicking HERE

25Mar 2012

Esmeralda Cocktail

by jess

Frollo drinks a green martini cocktail Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Frollo doesn't care for Green Cocktails

So I’m not a big drinker but I recently found a cocktail called an Esmeralda (though there are a lot of cocktails using that name). Anyway the cocktail that I found has Tequila (1.5), Angostura (Dash), Lime Juice (1 oz) and Honey (1 tbsp). I know it’s not related to Hugo’s Esmeralda but it sounds interesting. Though I have to wonder what would a cocktail inspired by the Hunchback Notre Dame Characters be like? Makes me wish I knew more abou t mixology.

I guess a “Frollo” would be dark, bitter & maybe with a hint chocolate (though we could just make a Mad Monk*), an “Esmeralda” would be Fruity (or maybe we should call it a “Gypsy Girl”), and a “Phoebus” would be some kind of beer-like drink (he doesn’t strike me as the cocktail-type). I have no idea what a Quasimodo, Clopin, Gringore, Djali or a Fleur de Lys** would be like.

What do you think? What would a Hunchback inspired Cocktail be like? Someone out there must know more about mixology than me. ^^

*A Mad Monk is Frangelico (Hazel) (1 oz), Peppermint Schnapps (1 oz) hot chocolate, hot coffee and whipped cream.
**Actually there is a Fleur de Lys cocktail, it’s Stoli Raspberry Vodka(3.oz) and Cointreau (2oz)(Orange Liqueur) (which sounds nice to me ^^)

24Mar 2012