I maybe the only person to find this remotely interesting but at EPCOT in Walt Disney World there is a part of the park called The World Showcase, (that’s not the interesting part.) It’s made up of Pavilions that are themed on a specific country or region.
However today were are only going to consider the France Pavilion and the Italy Pavilion. Both pavilions were opened on October 1st 1982, so they were there on opening day. The France pavilion is very heavily themed on the golden age dating from the mid 1800s to early 1900s before WWI. A Parisienne neighborhood full of impressionists and the Eiffel Tower.
The Italy Pavilion is more of a collection of buildings that evoke architecture from all over Italy. Like a recreation of the Doge’s Palace. The Doge’s Palace is an example of Venetian Gothic architecture. It was established in 1340 and has had many remodels throughout the centuries.
The point I’m getting at is that Hunchback of Notre Dame characters would look more in keeping with their movie outside the Doge’s Palace at Italy Pavilion than in the France Pavilion. I do not think that if Disney had the Hunchback characters at EPCOT they would place then there. In fact, Phoebus has been seen at the France pavilion before. And logically it makes so no brand sense to have them near the Italy Pavilion, it’s just an aesthetics thing that the characters would look more at home in front of gothic architecture than Belle Epoque or Art Nouveau.
However if you’re Disney bounding as a Hunchback character, maybe take a picture outside the Doge’s Palace at the Italy pavilion just for fun.
There is a lot of discourse around Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Two elements that get addressed are the Beast’s age relative to his curse, I.E was he eleven when he was cursed or an adult and Belle’s desire for adventure in the great wide somewhere.
First lets consider the Beast’s age. Technically both readings are correct according supplemental media. In the 2017 version makes it clear from the word go that he was an adult BUT in the christmas mid-quel he was a kid, who was cursed on Christmas. So both readings are correct in a way.
But let’s just consider the 1991 movie and ignore the other movies. The first clue that points to his age at the time of the curse is the narrator saying that the enchanted rose would bloom until his 21st year. And then Lumiere saying that they have been cursed for ten years. Which means he was eleven. It’s kinda hard to ignore that. Unless you don’t like math, like me.
However maybe Lumiere was merely saying that for while the servants carried on with business as usual and it’s only been in the last ten years they gave up trying and the narrator’s line indicated that Beast was a beast for 20 years before the rose bloomed. Or maybe this movie has no real concept of time. It’s an enchanted castle after all.
There are also a few other elements that sight that the Beast was an adult at the time of the curse or the enchantress was just really mean-sprited. First there is the portrait which him as an adult. It’s hard to argue against that one. But maybe it was an enchanted portrait that aged with the Beast? Though if that was a thing in the curse it would have gotten mentioned in the narrative, I mean the mirror did. The simplest explanation is usually the correct one. It’s was a portrait of the Beast as an adult human, that is not a child’s portrait.
Then there is a Chip. How old is Chip? Because if Beast was cursed as child then Chip would have either been born a teacup or spent most of his life not knowing he was ever human. Seems cruel, you go through your whole life thinking you’re a talking teacup only to learn that you were once a human, a creature Chip would have never even seen before. Though Chip being in favor of breaking the curse indicates that he remembers being human. Though that would mean he been a child for about 20 years.
Also there is whole aspect of aging within the castle. If Beast was an adult at the time of this curse that means no one was aging, which seems to be the case since Beast recognized everyone when they were cured. I just want to point out Mid-quel ignores this, only the Beast ages no one else.
Then again you can just sight enchanted castle and maybe no one in the castle knows what year it is anymore or their ages.
Belle
Then there is Belle. Her line about wanting adventure gets thrown around but next line gets ignore. So she wants adventure but she needs someone who understand her. Want vs Need is a pretty basic concept. So some people think Belle got the short end of the narrative stick because she didn’t get adventure in the great wide somewhere. Which is the point, it’s what she wanted not what she needed.
The bad part of this the 2017 version trying to fit this in with the book of teleportation. I suppose they could have made it more of thing but they just used it to show how Belle’s mother died by illness. Adventure? A minor trip to Paris for backstory is the correction for Belle wanting adventure?
What the 2017 version could have done is changed it so that enchantress was sneaky and curing the Beast required a quest but only Belle could figure out what the magical macguffins were to break the curse. So Beast and Belle would have gone minor adventures to learn and grow and bond and fall in love. And in the end it’s still love that cures him. Then again that would have changed things too much and 2017 version was more concerned with fixing plot holes that didn’t really need fixing. But it made money so doesn’t really matter.
In the scheme of things these elements don’t really matter, they do not change the overall enjoyment of the movie. So if you think Beast was child or adult at the time of his curse either reading of the text is fine. If you wanted Belle to have more adventure, can’t fault you for that either.
Seeing as last week we got an announcement that Disney is remaking The Hunchback of Notre Dame as part of their live action remake movie trend, I thought it would be a good time to do a check on all the differen versions of Hunchback that have been announced in recent memory.
Now in my tenure of running this blog, counting the new Disney/Josh Gad version there has been SIX “new” versions that have been announced and nothing has gotten made as of yet.
Josh Brolin
The first one was the Josh Brolin version. This was to be a “jazzy” version with Zhang Yimou slated to direct. Now Brolin has been on and off with this one since like 2011. Back in May 2018 he said he was still trying with this version but a New York Times article back in June of 2018 used the word “jazzy” in reference to Brolin’s Hunchback. But who knows? I’m not holding my breath for this version.
Max Ryan
Then we have the Max Ryan version which was to be directed by Chuck Russell. This one I believe was announced in 2014 with the news of Russell directing being announced in 2015. I think had a 2018 release date. But in so far nothing has come out about it.
This version actually has a bit of a history since in was based on script from 2007 that had a cast mentioned with it. Most noticeably Monica Cruz as Esmeralda and John Rhys-Davies as Frollo. This is also the version with character called “Figment.” Which I think for a while was on the IMBD page. You can read more for a bit of a summary of that 2007 concept here. Because it’s very weird Anyway still no news on this version.
Esmeralda singing “God Help the Outcast” Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
Then there is the lesser known Peter Chernin version. This was one was announced in 2015 as an Esmeralda POV movie. The idea was originally announced in 2013 a idea for Once Upon a Time. There has been no news of this version since 2015.
Peter Dinklage
Then we have the Charles Dance and Peter Dinklage TV collab. This news was reported back in October 2017. So it’s still fairly new and there was a report back in May 2018 that mentioned the project. So I assume it’s still in the works.
Idris Elba
Also back in May of 2018, Idris Elba announced he was going to take on a Hunchback version for Netflix. This was the most recent project till last week. Again not a big deal that we haven’t gotten any follow-ups yet, it’s still pretty new.
Josh Gad
That brings us to the Live-action remake with Josh Gad. I looked at Gad’s twitter and he has two posts (at the time I looked at his feed) that hinted Hunchback. One of him reading the Disney version’s art book and one him outside of Notre Dame with text that said “Bells bells bells” etc.
I do find a little interesting since Gad was already in a Live action Disney remake as Le Fou and he voices Olaf that maybe this version is a bit of a passion project. That Gad is the one who convinced Disney to do this and not the other way around. I could be wrong, I’m probably wrong. We will have to see.
So we have a race on our hands. Which Hunchback version will be the first to get released to a general audience? Or at least announces some casting news first? Only time will tell.
This is the exact reason I still have Google Alerts.
Quasimodo during Out There Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
Disney announced today that Hunchback is the next film in their roaster to get a live-action remake. I have been waiting for this day for a long time.
Here is what is know so far. Josh Gad is produce the film. Just a quick note back in late 2015 I did a post which discussed a fan casting that appeared in my google alerts and Josh Gad was their pick for Quasimodo you can read it here
Josh Gad
Now I couldn’t see this casting pick at the time but Gad is an actor so if he DOES follow suit like so many men who have played or have aspired to play Quasimodo to showcase their acting prowess and have a hand in the production, he might be fine in the role. Just a note, he may not play Quasimodo but there is a trend that men spearheading Hunchback versions do so to play the role, Gad may just want to produce, we will have to wait and see.
Another piece of information we have is they Tony- winning Playwright David Henry Hwang is writing the screenplay and the film will simply be called Hunchback. Like the 1997 version.
Hwang’s work include Chinglish, Yellow Face, Kung Fu, Golden Child,The Dance of the Railroad. He also has worked on Aida, Flower Drum Song, Disney’s Tarzan and M. Butterfly.
It would seem that the remake will take its cue from the 1996 movie and the book and not the stage production.
Also this version will be a musical with Menken and Schwartz heading the music. So that is good.
What do you think? Are you over the Disney live-action remake trend? Are you excited? Are you afraid Disney is going to ruin it? Thoughts and feelings welcome.
I have been obsessed lately with Jenny Nicholson’s video on Pandora- The World of Avatar at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. Also she drops a Hunchback reference, so if you haven’t seen that video, go see it. I have seen it multiple times and it’s and it’s like an hour long and I have no attention span.
In Jenny’s video she talks about the history of Animal Kingdom and how there was supposed to a medieval fantasy section called Beastly Kingdom as the concept of the park was explore animals of the present, past and myth but they ran out of money and went for the Dinosaur part. Long story short, after Disney lost out on Harry Potter to Universal, the management of Disney went for another cultural significant movie franchise experience that was insanely immersive, so they went with Avatar, not the Airbender one, the Dances with Wolves in space.
Unlike Harry Potter or Star Wars, the buzz and staying power of Avatar haven’t held up over time so it’s odd that Disney just went for this concept but the land looks really cool and does speak to the fantasy element and conservation angle. But it also of speaks to Disney’s influencing power. It maybe a generalization but kids haven’t seen the movie, it was rated PG-13, came out nearly a decade ago and is really only good in an imax setting but Disney went for it and kids can now adopt Banshee puppets for $65 dollars a pop, $90 if you include the perch. FYI I think the Banshee puppets are cute.
It really fascinates me that Disney pushed so hard on this project and yet a lot of their own properties get ignored within the parks, like Hunchback. So I have been on a slight deep drive into Disney parks, learning what I can about them, mostly via Youtube videos since I have no plans as right now to go to any of the parks.
First let’s talk about the Characters, the Face characters, though I guess Frollo and Quasimodo are not technically Face Characters but all I mean is characters that you meet. The Question is can you even see/meet/greet any of Hunchback Characters at any of the Disney parks worldwide?
According to Fill my Passport, you can but not a Disney Land or Disney World. This information is a bit old as it’s from 2017.
According to Fill my Passport Quasimodo makes extremely rare appearance at Disneyland Paris. Esmeralda can often see at Tokyo Disney and once in a while at Disneyland Paris. Frollo can be see at Halloween at Tokyo Disney. He used at appear at Disney USA parks during Halloween but not so much now. Clopin can be see at Disneyland Paris. And Phoebus doesn’t show up anymore. Fill my Passport as talks about other rare Disney characters in the Disney park so do check out that blog.
However videos from a year ago show a rare meet and greet with Esmeralda and Clopin. It seemed to have occurred at DVC Moonlight Magic Special Event during after hours in the Magic Kingdom, in early 2018.
Here is a meet and greet with Phoebus from 3 years ago at the France pavilion at Epcot.
Hunchback characters meet and greets seem to be extremely rare these days so if you see a hunchback character walking around try to see them, if you like that experience.
Quasimodo and Esmeralda in Roland Petit Notre Dame de Paris Ballet
While I personally do not understand the unique artistry of Petit’s choreography, as someone who doesn’t understand ballet, I do think that there was a lot of passion and love put into all aspects of this version. In that sense it was a breath of fresh air amongst some of the other versions of hunchback.
While the characters and story were simplified for the medium, they were more than made up for in the other areas such as the choreography, costumes, musical score and the sets.
All around Roland Petit’s Notre Dame de Paris is a really great adaptation and ballet in general.
Since I said that Maurice Jarre’s score for Roland Petit’s Ballet reminded me of video game music I thought why not just share 10 or so Video Game OSTs that I like. This is not best of list or in any order.
It also gives me the chance to learn more about wordpress’s new editor which I don’t love but I’m just not used to yet.
So there will be a track from each game via youtube. Learning the youtube block which wasn’t hard.
Final Fantasy 6 – This game was a pioneer in video game music and OH boy is it amazing! The main theme a.k.a Terra theme is goose-bump inducing. I love it.
Final Fantasy 7 – This game has some legendary tracks in it like One winged angel, Aerith’s theme and its main theme. The main theme has a dark tone mixed with hopefulness that is an amazing blend. When I played this game I often just found myself standing still to listen to it since it’s the music you hear on the world map. I miss the days of world maps.
I don’t know if I have to gush about One Winged Angel but Frollo would like it. (There would be a weird blog post idea, Music Hunchback characters would like)
Final Fantasy 9 – I recall playing one scene three times through just because I loved the music so much even if meant watching a long unskippable scene with music I hated, worth it!. There are too many tracks I love from this game. I pretty much love all of it.
The track above is the opening and one of the game’s core music leitmotifs.
Final Fantasy 10 – When I was taking piano lessons the only reason I performed at a recital was because I got to play the opening track from this game, To Zanarkand. There are other tracks I love but that opening is so great.
Chrono Trigger – It’s Chrono Trigger, it’s one of the best but Kingdom of Zeal’s music is life.
Chrono Cross – This game was weird and not as good as Chrono Trigger but the music was awesome.
Secret of Mana – My friend and I once tried to do a duet to What the Forest Taught me. She was on the flute and I was on the piano. We never got too far with it because I wasn’t used to playing in time with someone else but it was fun.
I find the music in this game mostly really happy and relaxing.
Dragon Quest 8 – It’s the only one I have played from this franchise. Not sure I can site track I love but I love the music as you run around cities or in the field. Just on the whole I like the music in this game.
Diddy Kong Quest – I love this game. It was a fun challenging platform game. I liked the music for the scary roller coaster, the hot head hop, the ice level and among others.
Mario Bros – Classic though I love the main theme from the third game but yeah classic iconic video game music.
Little Big Planet 1 and 2 – I don’t recall the music from 3 very much. Not all the of the music for these games were original to game but someone had great taste picking the music.
Like so many of the other past productions of Notre dame de Paris, Allio took the more symbolic representation of the cathedral. You know it’s Notre Dame you’re looking at but it’s not an accurate depiction. It’s depicted as brown with details in paint messy looking lines. It looks like a fresco trying to look like stained glass. Like Notre Dame broke into piece and clumsy put back together. Which is apt as that was Hugo description of Quasimodo.
Sets from Roland Petit Notre Dame de Paris
Other than the Notre Dame de Paris edifice set, the other set that is most noteworthy is the bell tower. At the start of the second act, Quasimodo climbs down the set as the bell rings.
Robert Bolle as Quasimodo
While you’re not always going to play attention to the sets they work for the ballet’s mood, tone and add to its overall very unique style.
Merry Christmas! The Esmeralda image was created using the Heroine Creator from Azalea Dolls.
For this year I thought I would share something sort of special. A few years I wrote some Christmas Hunchback fanfics that I was vain enough to try and sell, which was a dumb idea. So this year I thought of sharing one. This one is sort of Charlie Brown meets the Grinch meets Book Frollo.
So here is the Frollo Christmas Fanfic that the world didn’t need but exists anyway and has had for years….Enjoy
Frollo’s Christmas Tree Plan
Rated PG maybe (no smut very wholesome)
On an unseasonably warm day in December, Frollo, the archdeacon of Notre Dame, was in his cell, high in the towers of the Cathedral. He couldn’t work as she, the beautiful Gypsy, Esmeralda, danced in the square below. She tantalized him with her unearthly beauty and graceful movements.
For the past few weeks, he had not seen her as the bitter cold forced her to take shelter away for his gaze. Today the pleasant weather let her dance her seductive dance before him. Her absence had made his obsession swell as he watched with fascination. His feet were frozen to the floor as she whirled around on her bright colorful carpet in the winter sunlight.
When her charming dance was over someone walked up to her bearing a strange conifer. Frollo was instantly jealous of this person who would dare to walk so close her. He must hear what they were saying. Even though Frollo was high up in the towers, he put his hand to ear and heard her say in her sweet voice, “I love Christmas trees!”
read the rest of the fanfic…
“A Christmas tree?” Frollo gasped. An idea formed in his twisted brain. “If get a Christmas tree and decorate it for her then she will love me.”
He looked around his cell but since Christmas trees are scarce, there were none to be found. “I must venture out to find the perfect tree for her.” He grabbed his long black cloak and left the tower in search for one.
He went all throughout Paris to find the perfect tree but found only depressing specimens that were inadequate to express his supreme obsession to his Gypsy lady-love. He went into the woods that outlined Paris. He saw towering beauties that stretched to the heavens. He looked for only a few mere moments when he saw the most loveliest of all the Evergreens in the world. It wasn’t very tall but gave the impression of being so, its pine needles were thick and luxurious and its form was all sweetness and purity. It was truly the only evergreen worthy of her. “I must have it!” he said as if to claim it for himself. Frollo then realized that he forgot an axe. “Curses!” he whispered.
He quickly traversed his steps till he reached his cell and searched the room for an axe. He fumbled through unsent love poems, and depressing poetry, IOUs from his loser brother, skulls, beakers and twisted scraps of metal. After two hours of frantic looking, he found his axe.
He triumphantly went back to the woods to get that stunning spruce but when got back he found that the woods were swarming with people cutting down the trees. Terrified, he rushed to make sure his tree was still standing but his perfect tree was gone. All that remained of it was its lovely impression in the snow and trail as it dragged off. In a fit of rage, he threw his hands to the sky “Why, God Why?” he yelled as he collapsed into the snow and when he woke up, the woods no longer possessed any of the charming Evergreens that once dominated the landscape. He wouldn’t let the cruel hand of fate ruin his quest to get a Christmas tree for the dear Esmeralda.
He went back to the city limits of Paris. He would have get a lesser tree but he would decorate it so beautifully, so full of rich glorious ornaments that she she never be able to see the failure of tree that was hidden underneath.
He went back to all the tree places where he had a mere few hours ago, rejected the trees for being unworthy but now those trees too were gone. There were no more Christmas trees left in all of Paris. He felt that God had turned his back on him and that Satan was grasping his head between both gnarled hands and was crushing it with extreme force and fatality. Without a beautiful Christmas tree, Esmeralda, his beauty, his pain, his obsession, would never know the depths of his insane devotion. He must have a Christmas tree but they were all gone.
The temperature had dropped and a bitter cold was mingling with falling snow. Frollo sat alone on the frozen ground, despairing about his lost Christmas dream. As he sat suffering the tree vendor approached him. “Hey Sir, we’re closing.”
“Closing?” said Frollo with his gaze fixed on the icy ground. “My life is closing, ending in the snow laden depths of hell itself.”
“Yeah,” said the confused tree vender. “Look, you don’t have to wallow in misery at home but you can’t wallow in misery here.” The Vendor started to walk away but in desperation, Frollo grabbed him by his sleeve.
“Sir, my life can’t go on anymore. My fate is tied to that of the Christmas Tree. Without a tree, she will never know my yearning for her form to be close to mine in the small hours of the night when the darkness is so thick that heaven itself can no longer see us. If I can’t have a tree I must purge world of them. A Christmas tree must be mine or Christmas trees must not exist in this world.”
“Sir,” said the even more confused and now scared Tree Vendor, “You’re insane!”
“I implore you, Mr.Tree Salesman. If you have a tree hidden away, give it to me. I must have a tree! My Salvation depends on it.”
“Well,” the Tree Vendor said with a little hesitation. “I do have something that is like a tree.”
Frollo got to his feet and with burning eyes proclaimed, “I will take it!”
The Tree Vendor ushered Frollo to the back of the tree lot and that is where Frollo saw it. It was like a Evergreen sapling that only stood upright because it was connected to two pieces of wood. It only had tuffs of pine needles and most of its bark stood expose. It was a sad excuse for a Christmas tree. Surely this less than sub-tree could never even hope to reflect in Esmeralda’s big black eyes much less summon a smile to her lovely lips, but in Frollo’s warped mind he needed a Christmas tree to make her love him and no tree meant no love, so he bought the tree for 12 Euros.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frollo carried the small sapling back to his cell. He placed it on his desk and looked hard at the tiny tree. It was frail and weak. Frollo knew he couldn’t decorated it with all the rich beautiful ornaments he had envisioned for his perfect Christmas tree. Of course, Frollo never had any lovely Christmas ornaments from the start, so it was hardly a concession. He looked a his miserable tree. “It’s too weak to support any more than two ornaments,” he thought sadly. He sighed, his beautiful grand vision for a Christmas tree that would help him steal Esmeralda’s heart was burning right before his eyes.
Frollo knew that he couldn’t stop his plan, once you start down the path of madness it is foolish to stop. He would decorate this wretched tree with whatever he could find and he would present it to her and she will love him. This was his plan. This was his destiny.
He looked around the to see what two things he could hang on this god-forsaken lump of wood and chlorophyll. He saw that his cell offered few things of beauty. He had books with creepy pictures, scraps of papers that were filled with his words of love and bitterness, bits of metal that he was trying to turn into gold and various things that a lady like Esmeralda would consider unpleasant.
He grabbed a strip of paper and stared at it for what seemed like an eternity. “What word is Esmeralda?” he thought. All the common words for love and beauty failed to capture what he truly felt for her, untold doom and despaired mixed pure insanity. He glanced up at the wall and saw the word, “Ananke” that he had carved into the stone wall of his cell. “Perfect!” he exclaimed. He grabbed his inkwell and wrote that fatal word on a long strip of paper in the best penmanship he could muster. It took a few tries before he was happy with his calligraphy. He then put it on the tree like garland. “Yes, very nice,” he said, pleased with himself. ” Now, one more bauble to seal my love.”
He picked up a hunk of twisted metal. It was something he had been trying in vain to transmute into precious gold. “Perhaps, I can transform this into an adornment she will love for this gloomy little tree.” He started twisting and forming it into a more pleasing Christmas shape. After a few hours, he was left with an odd malformed shape that slightly resembled a star. He gave it a quick polish in the hope that it would make it prettier but all the polish did was made its many imperfections even more noticeable. He found some wire and fashioned a hook for the pathetic deformed ornament and hung it on the sad tree.
It was done! He had a Christmas tree and it was decorated. He stared hard at it. All his pain, all his effort had been for this Christmas tree. So that he may present it to her and so she would fall in love with him. In his mind, he no longer saw the tiny tree with its strands of needles. He no longer saw the fatal word on parchment clinging to the weak branches. He longer saw the grotesque metal star awkwardly weighing down the little sapling. His insanity took hold of his vision and in his mind he saw a glistening, tall and superb tree. This was the tree that would make her beg to be with him.
It was now very late and cold. The snow had stopped leaving all of Paris silent. Frollo knew that the his grand plan would have to wait till the morning. He would find someway to seek her out and present her with the fruit of his love, the exquisite Christmas tree that stood before him.
Frollo then retired to a long sleep. Like every night, he dreamed of her. Esmeralda danced before for him in her fascinating manner. In this dream, she saw the Christmas tree in all the glory that Frollo’s insane fantasy now showed him. She caressed the tree and then he imagined that she caressed him but before she could the dream ended. Despite the dream ending at the best part, he felt refreshed. He awoke just as the bells were chiming. “Hmm, Noon?” he said. “Much later than I thought.”
He looked out the window and saw that like yesterday, it was very warm for December. He yawned and saw that Esmeralda was in the square dancing for the crowd. His eyes widen and were filled with fire. “I make haste to give this to her.” He threw on his cassock and grabbed the tree which he believed to be the most magnificent Christmas tree the world had ever known.
He rushed down to the square and hid amongst the crowd with his hood drawn. He clutched the tree as he took in her movements. The way she twirled around and spun her alluring arms into the sky. The way she kicked up her various skirts to reveal her delicate ankles. He was entranced as always. She was too charming and radiant and to look at her caused Frollo pain but he could not turn his head or move his eyes away for her. Her spell bewitched him and his mind went blank.
When her dance ended, he was free of the enchantment she unknowably cast. He still gazed at her beauty and then weight of his little Christmas tree called to him and he shifted his focus back to the sapling in his arms. The contrast between Esmeralda’s beauty and the wretched tree snapped Frollo back into seeing the tree for what it was, a misshapen Christmas reject. It was unworthy to give to one so fair as she. He could now no longer bear to present it to her directly. He quickly set off in the direction she to took everyday when she left the square. He walked a few paces and then he set the pitiful tree down on the ground and hid in an alley. He would wait for her to walk by and hopefully see the tree.
He cursed her under his breath for hating the Christmas tree he had worked so hard to give her even though she hadn’t walked by yet. In his mind she would hate it because it was not perfect. He also knew it was not deserving of her, so a part of his mind was resigned to her hatred but another part said she was vile for rejecting the poor tree. The torture drove him crazy as he hid in a cold dark alley.
He stood waiting, staring at the helpless tree with a fiery gaze. After several moments he heard the familiar footsteps of his dear Esmeralda. Those delicate quick light footsteps were like music and misery to him. His heart raced as the footsteps grew louder and louder.
Esmeralda finally came into Frollo’s view. He felt his heart stop pumping blood and his breath ceased. She walked dreamily with her little goat next to her. As she walked along, she didn’t seem to notice anything but the fresh air and clouds above. The little goat noticed the tree, stopped before it and made an alarmed “behhh” sound.
Esmeralda’s daydream stop and she went to her knees “What is it, Djali?” she said ever so sweetly while caressing the little goat’s head. Djali made an another noise in the direction of Frollo’s Christmas tree. Esmeralda turned her lovely head and finally saw it. She looked at it for a few seconds and then stood up. “What a cute Christmas tree,” she said with an angelic smile. She then started to walk off. “Come along, Djali,” she said as she motioned for the little goat to follow. And just like that, the two beautiful creatures were gone.
Frollo was stunned. “She liked it?” he said. “She liked it without Needles. She liked it without height, she liked it without garlands, bows or lights.” Frollo thought for awhile in the cold dark alley. He then finally realized that maybe Christmas isn’t about the things looking perfect and beautiful but the love and feeling behind them. And some say that Frollo’s obsession for Esmeralda grew three times that day.
