Minor Difference Disney VS Book plus Rant

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A rant and an admission of fault

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Given how every facet of Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame is different from the original novel, there aren’t that many minor differences. However there a few;

 

A Happy Ending

Quaismodo Bells of Notre dame reprise Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Quaismodo Bells of Notre dame reprise Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
Phoebus and Esmeralda Happy Ending Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Phoebus and Esmeralda Happy Ending Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
Clopin Reprise of Bells of Notre Dame Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Clopin Reprise of Bells of Notre Dame Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Good Guys lives.

Yeah, this isn’t a big differences. Most film adaptations let the leads live. It is interesting that Esmeralda is really only spared because she is sentence to burn instead of hanging. If she had hanged  the scene would have been less dramtic. So another minor difference is all the fire imagery including Esmeralda on the stake.

Also in letting the character live it takes away the theme of “Ananke” (simply meaning Death Destiny) Ananke is the word that book is based off of. However it’s only been features in like two adaptations and beside this movie is about how we  “not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within” no wait that’s Beauty and the Beast…. no it’s the same in Hunchback of the Notre Dame. Stupid Disney morals ruining their movies.

(2026 edit many versions skip Ananke, it shouldn’t be a point against it. If anyting it shoud be a point against version who introduce the concept and do nothing with it. So no Disney having a happy ending isn’t a bad thing it’s just a difference and many version have the characters live. )

Gringoire is Clopin and Phoebus

Clopin with Puppet Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Clopin with Puppet Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
Bruno Pelletier as Gringoire in Notre Dame de Paris picture image
Bruno Pelletier as Gringoire in Notre Dame de Paris
Phoebus Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame sun god picture image apollo
Phoebus explaining his name Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

 Another minor difference is the lack of Gringoire.

Gringoire in the book was a cowardly poet who runs off with Djali. He also acts like a story teller and the voice of author. In Disney, Gringoire is divided between Clopin and Phoebus.  It’s a minor difference because when it comes to cutting characters out Gringoire is seldom cut from other version. Phoebus is the one to get diminished over Gringoire.

 

More Thoughts plus I was Wrong*

Quasimodo Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Quasimodo Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
Esmeralda about to burn Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Esmeralda about to burn Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
Phoebus Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame cross eyes picture image
Phoebus cross-eyed Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

There is just so many differences between Disney and the book that to write these posts has been mind boggling. I could just have an entire blog about the differences and  it would probably last a good long time.

Because let’s face Disney didn’t re-tell Hugo’s story they retold the 1939 version. Then they got 18 people to collaborate on the story who may not have even seen the Charles Laughton version or read the book. This is why Esmeralda is impressed with Quasimodo’s space and not with Phoebus’ name (in the book she loved his name,) why Quasimodo builds models instead ringing his bells, and why Frollo is more obsessed with fire than Esmeralda. 

If you read the book and then watch the Disney you would know that this movie has very little in common with book. The only things that are correct are names and the settings*. That’s it but in regards to the setting Disney may have got the place right but Notre Dame role in this movie is very much twisted.

 (*2026 – Again I was being harsh, no excuse the 2011 version of me, I’m remorse for my lack of inflexibility on book to movie adaptation decisions when I wrote I reviews this movie. The Disney version is a adaptation that is suitable for a general audience they had to make changes. However I do think the concept of three men’s different perspectives of one woman, which is the crux of the novel, is handle well by this movie. Possibly better than the 1939 version.)

Next Time -Disney’s Norte Dame Prison or Sanctuary?

Notre Dame of Paris Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame vs Victor Hugo’s Novel; Characters

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The Biggest Difference is the Characters

In all seriousness Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame really only has the basic premise of the original novel. All the characters differ in attitudes and back storys. The way the story unfolds and comes to its conclusion is different because of the characters.

Frollo

Frollo Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney picture image
Frollo Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney

 

In making Frollo a judge and not a priest we loss his turmoil which makes Frollo an interesting and complex character.

I really don’t care as much about his lust and obsession for Esmeralda just because he hate the Romani people. Also in the book, his obsession occurs slowly. He sees her and is instantly taken by her youthful beauty. After that he begins stalking her and by kidnapping her he forces the the plot to take action.

In the Disney movie, Quasimodo doesn’t have the some loyalty and Frollo abuses him by telling him he’s a monster and keeps him locked in the tower. In the book Frollo did no such thing and Quasimodo could leave Notre Dame if he wished.

 

Quasimodo

Quasimodo during Out There Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Quasimodo during Out There Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Quasimodo in the Disney movie is very much like Ariel. He wants to live with the normal people. He is very naive, kind and gentle.

In the book, Quasimodo is kind and loyal to those who have been kind to him  i.e Frollo and Esmeralda. However, Quasimodo is also angry and doesn’t really like people. He would never want to leave Notre Dame as Notre Dame is his universe. He loves Notre Dame so much that he is very much  a part of it and his lovers are bells. The relationship between Quasimodo and Notre Dame is destroyed in the Disney version as Notre Dame is not so much a sanctuary but a prison.

Also in the movie Disney he briefly mentions the bells but you don’t get the sense that he loves the bells. I also don’t see this Quasimodo killing Frollo in fit of rage or lying down next to Esmeralda to die.

 

Esmeralda

Disney Esmeralda Hunchback of Notre Dame Dance picture image
Esmeralda’s Dance Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

 

Esmeralda is the polar opposition between Disney movie and the book.

In the book she is at least part French and is young, beautiful, naive, shallow and, childish.

In the Disney movie, while she is beautiful, she has none of the other traits, though the youth is debatable.  She is confident and is in control of her sexual appeal. In the Disney version she is a full Romani and we are never given any sense of her backstory. 

In the book she was unaware of her beauty and she lacks any worldliness. This naivety is what gets her into trouble in the book and ultimately is what kills her and not a passion for social justice.

 

Phoebus

Phoebus Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Phoebus Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Phoebus in the book is a jerk who is kind of dumb and just wants to sleep with pretty girls.

Also he is two-timing cheat, who despite being engaged he tries sleeps with every good-looking girl he can.  

In the Disney version is he is noble, moral and likes to crack bad jokes.  Not like book Phoebus at all.

Clopin

Clopin Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Clopin Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Clopin in the book in the leader of the Court of Miracles, not the Romani. The Leader of the Romani in the book was the Duke of Egypt. Typically, the leader of the Court of Miracles and the Leader of the Romani get fused into one which is Clopin. That’s a minor issue. Compared to Frollo, Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Phoebus; Disney Clopin’s differences are not so bad. He tells stories like Gringoire (a character in book) and is the leader of the Court of Miracles; he’s two characters in one, or three.

 

Djali

 

Djali Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Djali Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Djali in the Disney movie is a pretty minor character who doesn’t do anything other than add some charm and humor.

In the book however Djali is pretty essential to the plot. Djali is the prime evidence for why Esmeralda is convicted of being a witch. Goats were considered to be representational of the devil and the tricks innocence tricks Djali performed like spelling and telling the time were thought to be the work of witchcraft by the judges in the book.

Of course, since the plot veers so far the book it doesn’t really matter. Djali’s main function in the movie is a cute sidekick who sells toys to children. To be honest while Djali lose plot relevance I still love Disney Djali.

 

The Gargoyles

The Gargoyles do not count, they’re not in the book.

 

Xed Gargoyles Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame image picture
Xed out Gargoyles Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

 

It really does seems like someone early in production took the cliff notes of Hugo’s book, throw them into a blender, strained, added water and poured out the Disney Plot. Then that  got re-written by those people who didn’t read. And the differences in the characters in proof that.

(2026 edit – Kind of mean but the inspiration for the movie was based on a graphic novel by Classics Illustrated. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was Volume #18 publish in March 1944.

The production was up-front about the graphic novel adaptation of the book as the inspiration for this movie. There is also enough similarities between the Disney version and the 1939 to draw a conclusion that it was also used an inspiration for the Disney movie. Especially since in the 1039 version Quasimodo does say his iconic line “Why wasn’t made of stone like three” to a gargoyles which inspiraed a gargoyles as characters in this movie. So I do think the book wasn’t reference all that much HOWEVER “Hellfire” does have a lyric that is pretty much a line from the book so at the very least Stephen Schwartz read the book.)

 

Next time – Minor Differences,

Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame vs Victor Hugo’s Novel; Differences

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Where do you begin to discuss  the differences between Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame and Victor Hugo’s original novel Notre Dame de Paris?

I guess it easier to discuss the similarities. They both take place in Paris, there is a hunchback who is the bell ringer of Notre Dame and a pretty gypsy girl and the main characters are attractive to her. She has a goat and is dancers. There names are the same (Quasimodo, Claude Frollo, Esmeralda, Djali, Phoebus, and Clopin) and  that’s pretty much it.

Good Night everybody.

Cast Poster of Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hunchback of Notre Dame Character Illustration by Francois Joseph Aime De Lemud

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2026 edit- I mean yes. The Disney version is very divergent from the source as are many of the adaptations of the novel into other medium form are.

However credit where credit is due an aspect of the novel that the Disney version gets right is perceptive of three men on one woman. Which of those perceptive is healthy and which is toxic. This version nails that part of the novel.

I’d also add that Disney Quasimodo’s attitude towards Esmeralda shifts from being school crush which idealize her to accepting her own feelings towards for Phoebus and still choosing to save her life is very healthy. That should be more discussed than “Quasimodo not getting the girl.”

 

No Seriously next time we’ll go through the major differences.

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