I come across this poll on Imdb called Monsters in Love. Among the monsters is our pal Quasimodo.  The picture they used for him is from Hotel Transylvania. Before I continue I just want to say, I don’t hate Hotel Transylvania I just hated Quasimodo’s depiction in it.

Hotel Transylvania picture image

Hotel Transylvania

That being said I’m not bothered enough that they used Hotel Transylvania’s Quasimodo to make a post on it, I’m bother that the picture they use has Jonathan right in the middle and Quasimodo off to the side of the image.

Not-Quasimodo Wilson, Jonathan the Human and Adam Sandler Hotel Transylvania picture image

Not-Quasimodo Wilson, Jonathan the Human and Adam Sandler Hotel Transylvania

Above is the picture that was used  for Quasimodo.  Except they used a tiny thumbnail  which cuts off Quasimodo a little past the ear. All the other monster got a clear shot. Why not Quasimodo?

Lon Chaney as the Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image Quasimodo

Lon Chaney as the Hunchback of Notre Dame

 

Not sure why they didn’t go for the Lon Chaney version or Laughton?  Chaney would have been perfect as the 1923 version started the monster movie trend.

Plus Quasimodo in Hotel Transylvania wasn’t even in love unless you count the love of food? Somehow, I doubt it

 

Tomorrow is Halloween. A day of candy, costumes and feeling mildly scared in a fun way. But what would our dear Hunchback characters wear as their costumes?

Phantom of the Opera Halloween Costume for Quasimodo  picture image

Phantom of the Opera Halloween Costume for Quasimodo

Quasimodo  – Phantom of the Opera (Another deformed French but considered sexy by many)

Darth Vader Halloween Costume for Frollo picture image

Darth Vader Halloween Costume for Frollo

Frollo –  Darth Vader (he love wearing black and has a flair for dramatics)

Flapper Halloween Costume for Esmeralda picture image

Flapper, Halloween Costume for Esmeralda

Esmeralda – Flapper

Chick Magnet, Halloween Costume for Phoebus picture image

Chick Magnet, Halloween Costume for Phoebus

Phoebus – Chick Magnet

Edgar Allan Poe, Halloween Costume for Gringoire picture image

Edgar Allan Poe, Halloween Costume for Gringoire

Gringoire –  Edgar Allan Poe

Jack Sparrow, Halloween Costume for Clopin  picture image

Jack Sparrow, Halloween Costume for Clopin

Clopin – Captain Jack Sparrow

Wicked Queen, Halloween Costume for Fleur de Lys  picture image

Wicked Queen, Halloween Costume for Fleur de Lys

Fleur de Lys – A Wicked Queen

Beer Keg, Halloween Costume for Jehan   picture image

Beer Keg, Halloween Costume for Jehan

Jehan – Beer Keg

Kangaroo, Halloween Costume for Sister Gudule picture image

Kangaroo, Halloween Costume for Sister Gudule

Sister Gudule – Kangaroo (she wants to keep her baby close to her)

Lady Gaga, Halloween Costume for Djali  picture image

Lady Gaga, Halloween Costume for Djali

Djali – Lady Gaga (would need to be modified for a Goat)

Courage, Quasimodo & the handbells, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere picture image

Courage, Quasimodo & the handbells, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere

All in all the Courage the Cowardly Dog Episode, The Hunchback of Nowhere is a nice hint at Quasimodo and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It’s not heavy handed and its appeal in its bizarre subtlety for the source material. It’s communicates Quasimodo as being a nice person without the whole beauty of the inside theme slapping you in the face repeatedly. The bell music is also very pretty and eerie at the same time which I appreciate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk-JJ6v5eV8

If the Courage episode was subtle in their approach to the Hunchback let’s review another cartoon episode that was as subtle as ton of bricks with the theme of the Hunchback…….

Next Version – The Madeline Episode……… (this going to be painful isn’t?)

Madeline as Phoebus and Pepito as Quasimodo, Hunchback

Madeline as Phoebus and Pepito as Quasimodo

There still time for a Hunchback of Notre Dame costume! But you don’t need to limit yourself to the characters from the book or the films. You can create a costume that is inspired from the book. This is a list of 5 Hunchback-ish costumes you can create fairly quickly and be creative with.

1. Quasimofo – Obviously a joke-ish costume but you can make the hunchback in to one badass. I would recommend wearing a suit with shades and getting some kind of hunch like a pillow. And maybe a toy gun .

2. Pope or King of Fools – This doesn’t have to be Quasimodo all you would need is to make-up your face to be ugly. The from there get a jester crown and a robe some kind.

3. A Bell – there is no Hunchback version that doesn’t have bells in it. You can wear all yellow maybe get some yellow bell-bottoms or you can incorporate actual bells into your costume. This one would be a creative one to pull off.

4. A Gargoyle – Gargoyles are a major part of Notre Dame’s charm and Quasimodo in a lot of ways in liken to one. It’s a great costume idea as recognizable and not often done. You can have a lot fun with one. You can get a Gargoyle make-up Kit or buy stuff like a pig snout and spray-paint it grey and then wear grey face paint and grey clothing.

5. An Executioner – executioners play a huge part in the book, Quasimodo is whipped and Esmeralda meets her end by one. So why not put the fear in the massive with it as a costume. Wear all black with a hooded mask and carry either an axe or a to fit the book a noose or a whip.

Goya painting titled "Old Men"  picture image

Goya painting titled “Two Old Men Eating Soup”

This is a painting by Francisco Goya. It’s called “Two Old Men Eating Soup.” It’s one of Goya’s “Black Paintings” which is a series of paintings Goya painted between 1819 and 1823 while he lived at Quinta del Sordo (The House of the Deaf Man). It was originally painted on an interior wall of the house.

It’s a very unsettling painting but doesn’t it kind of remind you of Frollo and Quasimodo. Like Frollo is teaching Quasimodo about soup. I doubt that this painting and novel have any connection to each other, it’s just that figure on the right looks like it could be a dead-ringer for Quasimodo and  with a second old man that means Frollo.

It’s a creepy painting isn’t it?

 

 

The Hunchback of Nowhere has several big nods and several small nods to the original book and to the Disney movie.

Eustace falling off the barn, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere picture image

Eustace falling off the barn, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere

The bigs one are handbells and the trapezes. Both are clever tweaks on the massive Cathedral bells and Quasimodo’s acrobatics. Though why are there trapezes in the Bagge’s barn, I have no idea. Another big one is at the climax of the episode, Eustace falls from the roof. This is a clear reference to Frollo falling from Notre Dame. So it would seem that the barn is playing Notre Dame in this episode.

Courage, Quasimodo & the handbells, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere picture image

Courage, Quasimodo & the handbells, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere

The theory is made evident by a rose window in the barn. You can see it when Quasimodo is playing the bells when Courage finds him in the barn.

Quasimodo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere picture image

Quasimodo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere

Then there is Quasimodo uttering the line “Out there.” This is defiantly a reference to the Disney movie where Quasimodo sings a song called “Out There” in which he hopes for a day in the normal world. In the episode Quasimodo says the line with hope and optimism.

Swinging Quasimodo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere picture image

Swinging Quasimodo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere

The references are clear, playful and do not bog down the episode. They feel fairly natural within the brief time constraints of the episode though I confess the trapeze while cute is a bit of a stretch.

Next Time; Conclusion

Quasimodo reading an insult, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere picture image

Quasimodo reading an insult, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Hunchback of Nowhere