Gina Lollobrigida as Esmeralda, 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame
The time has come to start getting our Halloween plans in gear. For many costume-goers the go to Esmeralda costume for Halloween is Disney.
And that is great but diversity is the spice of life, so more Esmeralda costumes are needed. If I wear to dress-up as Esmeralda for Halloween I would go with the Gina Lollobrigida version of Esmeralda.
Why? Because while I love the Notre Dame de Paris green dress it doesn’t read as Halloween costume, Gina Lollobrigida’s costume does even if people don’t recognize it. Plus it’s more of a costume of Lollobrigida more than Esmeralda herself. Like when people don a pink strapless gown with a short blonde wig and wear some diamonds, are they dressing up as Lorelei from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or are they dressing up as Marilyn Monroe???
So let’s just say you’re lazy or not the best at sewing what can you purchase to assemble to get a costume of Gina Lollobrigida’s Esmeralda? Here are the elements you will need. Don’t be afraid to cut them up to get a more authentic look to Gina’s costume. And should have some of this on-hand already? Lucky you, you’re one step closer to costumes and candy and an Esmeralda costume!
Wide V Neck Shirt
For the shirt, go for a red fitted shirt with a wide v-neckline. You can of of course cut a deeper v-neck and add some cuts to the sleeves for that tattered effect. For the more enterprising type you get some fabric paint for the stitching details
Red Skirt
For the skirt make it long and red. If you can get one with a slit so much the better. Flowiness for dancing is a plus
Red Hip Scarf
For the hip scarf, try to go for an unadorned one. Of course if you want to go for the belly dancing ones with the coin go for it.
Belt
Ideally go for a brown belt with gold studs but any brown belt should do. You could always paint or stud the details yourself if you want.
Red Veil
A simple red scarf should work for Esmeralda’s red veil. Just bobby pin it in place.
Jewelry
For the jewelry you will need gold coin earrings and lots of gold bangles with coin details. For the earrings two tiers are closer to the costume. You should be ok with any gold bracelets so along as they are not too detailed or have stones. You will want a few on each wrist.
Other add-ons
The other things you can add is the knife prop and the glamorous 50s’s cat eye. You can also throw in a wig if you want. I couldn’t find a good enough knife/dagger on amazon. If I do I will add it.
Esmeralda (Gina Lollobrigida) with Phoebus (Jean Danet), 1956 Hunchback of Notre Dame
Remember this all for fun. And have a safe fun halloween.
Quasimodo and his new friend The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Episode 5
I’m starting to feel like I’m in some altered state watching The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo. Like, it looks like Hunchback they say it’s hunchback but it’s just not. I don’t know what this is. I don’t hate it but it’s weird.
Quasimodo and his pals find a carrier pigeon with a damaged message that mentions “world dominion” and a drawing of a war machine. Quasimodo then tells Dennis who tells the King. Frollo’s plot senses go off alerting him that he needs to be a villain for this episode and snoops on Quasimodo. Frollo overhears the plot of the episode and decides he wants the war machine for reason and enlists a shape shifting witch named Camilleon to assist. Frollo saved her from the gallows which is our novel/hunchback reference of the episode. There is also a discussion of repairing Notre Dame with limestone so I guess we get two. Frollo needs Camilleon to get close to Quasimodo to learn what he knows about the war machine, its location and who made it. She fails but she does gain animosity towards Esmeralda and asks Frollo to get rid of her.
So a clue points the crew go to Vinci, a small Italian village, and you can guess who made the war machine at this point. It’s a small young boy who gets bullied for being different because he invents stuff and paints. I do really wonder who this painter inventor person from the town of Vinci could be? It’s a real puzzler! Also one could go off more on being a historical grump but I’ll let it go aside for one thing later.
Quasimodo and the boy instantly bond. Turns out the war machine message was just a big olde misunderstanding, the boy would never take over the world, only a bad guy would ever try to do that. And then Frollo shows up and there are dangerous shenanigans. Camilleon tries to kill Esmeralda and François with the classic using magic to redirect a river to destroy a tower with them on a top, what a cliche. And for whatever reason Camilleon leaves early. Villain 101 states that you must make sure the deed is done but villains always skip class so they never learn that information. Quasimodo then uses the boy’s flying wings to save his friends. And it’s the Secret of the Hunchback all over again.
Also Frollo tries to steal the war machine but it falls apart. Classic Frollo.
And before the gang of pals leave they learn the name of the boy and it’s exactly who you think it is. It’s boy Leonardo da Vinci.
I don’t want to be THAT person, I really don’t but Leonardo da Vinci would have been 30 in 1482… (then agian Hugo aged-up Pierre Gringoire in the novel so does it matter? it does not)
Cartoonishly Evil Magician Frollo-type continues to be an utter delight so all is forgiven for now. I also just love that Frollo just knows when to involve himself.
Episode 6: The Invisible Thieves
The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Episode 6
This episode has our gang of pals going with Angelica to Avignon because it’s to bring your awesome person to the Traveler’s camp day party thing. Basically Quasimodo is awesome and don’t you EVER forget that! Angelica is then accused of stealing the family jewels from the Duke. GASP! She has 2 days to return the jewels or she will be exiled and imprisoned for life. What? How does that work? I’m confused. Oh well the point is, it’s a bad punishment.
The crew tries to help and while they find a clue at the scene of the crime they speed up the clock to midnight for her exile to go into effect. GASP! They then find the thief real quick. It’s a creepy puppeteer who is using the jewels on the puppets for decoration. Why? Who knows. He’s a creepy weirdo. Also he has some kind of magic but it’s not explained in the slightest or even how he used the puppets to steal the jewels. Anyway everything works out and Duke begrudgingly apologizes to Angelica for his accusation. Hooray!
It took me a second to figure out why I didn’t like this episode even on the same level as the other episodes thus far. And the reason is no Frollo and creepy puppets but mostly no Frollo. Frollo’s brand of “evil” is too delightful. Though his name could be Bob and the effect would be the same.
Quasimodo says the “Bells of Notre Dame” which is a cute and nice reference to something related to the source material but this episode is in Avignon for some reason. Avignon is almost 700km away from Paris. That is 430 miles to people who don’t know the metric system, like me. So either screw geography which is fine OR Quasimodo has supernatural hearing, a departure from the novel to say the least. Or he thinks every Church with bells is Notre Dame. THOUGH to be fair and we must be fair, there is a cathedral in Avignon called Avignon Cathedral or Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Doms d’Avignon, so maybe that is what he refers to. Though grumpy-me really doubts it. Pox on me for being unfair to a weird children’s show from the 90s. It’s suppose to be fun and I’m ruining it with no fun logic. That is why I need Cartoonishly Evil Magician Frollo-type to distract me.
I do like how this show goes out its way to kidnap a character and/or take a character out of the action for a second. In this episode’s case Esmeralda trips and hurts her ankle and François gets stuck in the puppeteer’s creepy wagon and needs Quasimodo’s help.
Quasimodo bridal carrying François makes up for it for things slightly but not enough either.
Frollo, The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Episode 5
Quasimodo, Esmeralda and François, The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Episode 3
Feast, Festival, Carnival it’s all the same thing in the end. What is different is the contest in question. But let’s put a pin in that for the moment.
So The Carnival of Fools is being prepped by our gang of pals, Quasimodo, Esmeralda and François. The King drops by and is most pleased with their work. But who will judge the contest? What is the contest? The ugliest face of Paris like in the book and most of the adaptations? No, that is too mean-spirited. This contest is that the best performer will win the chance to perform for the King. And of course the gang of pals are judges, mostly because they asked.
Enter The Jester, who is a super honest looking sort of gentleman, right? He is also a magician like Frollo who he seems to be in league with. So he enters the contest and wows Quasimodo, who has been taking his role as a judge super seriously.
However it turns out the Jester wants to steal the King’s crown which Frollo also wants. The actual crown with the jewels. Not sure why Frollo would want that aside from wanting to rule, maybe he thinks whomever has the shiny is King. Or he just wants to play dress up.
Anyway Esmeralda figures out the Jester’s plot using a sixth ability she has. She also has some illusion based magic that comes from her locket which was more detailed this episode. The Jester however ties her in a chest before his performance for the king so she can’t tell anyone.
Esmeralda then busts out of the trunk she is being held in and informs the crowd as the Jester makes his getaway but he is followed by Quasimodo
But before Quasimodo can catch him, Frollo runs into the Jester and takes the crown and the Jester gets away. Quasimodo vows to the king that he will get the crown jewels back because Quasimodo blames himself for the whole thing. Esmeralda sends François to follow while she sees her contact in the streets, not sure what that means.
Quasimodo’s search leads him down to the spooky underground tunnels which houses something that looks like a sea turtle. Which is rather random but also delightful. However Quasimodo and François get caught by Frollo, who does display a lot of self knowledge, he knows he is a “fabulously good magician and a truly evil man.” I appreciate that he knows who is and perfectly content with himself. He is not a complex villain with moral ambiguity, then again for the times and genre wise this would have been very rare.
Frollo then demands that Quasimodo and François entertain him and then transform François into a cat because cats are entertaining the internet is proof of that.
So while Azarof chases François distracting Frollo, Quasimodo and the Jester form a plan. The plan goes great as they get the crown back. Eventually Esmeralda comes for them with the help of cat François and Quasimodo secures possession of the crown from the Jester, who does his best Gollum impression when he thinks the crown fell out while they were running.
With the help of Dennis and books of magic at Notre Dame, they revert François back to a stinky human. Darn he could have been a cat.
This episode has a moral about trust and openness. One shouldn’t distrust people because of a bad experience. One’s openness and willingness to trust may be the very thing to save your life. And while that is not the worst moral I can’t get over magical books at Notre Dame. Sure whatever, in this version Notre Dame seems more like Hogwarts than a religious site. Though I guess it would be more like Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, since the setting is France. Then again I’m not the biggest fan of Harry Potter.
Episode 4: The Star Master
Frollo, The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Episode 4
As Quasimodo, Esmeralda and François enjoy a nice outing they notice a lot of very strange things occurring. Geese flying backwards in the sky, a critical donkey getting stuck in a tree and autumn just happening all at once.
Of course Dennis just so happens to know the answer instantly from a book. Very simply a star is about to fall to Earth which will bring the end of the world within 24 hours when the moon rises. And only our gang of pals can stop it by destroying the star. The star looks like a pink crystal.
Meanwhile, The Oracle, a pal of Frollo, pops into Frollo’s underground layer, which is very tastefully decorated. The Oracle shows him the power of the star using a small fragment, which makes explosions. Frollo is very into this magical items and wants more. The Oracle agrees to bring him to the rest of it if they form a partnership, which Frollo agrees. Frollo then dubs himself “The Star Master” and he wants to rule the world. The Oracle is content to be Frollo’s top advisor.
The gang of pals set out to find the star and notice more weird stuff, like berries tasting like lemons and vine monsters trying to kill François. Then get captured by some thugs that Frollo and The Oracle employ. They escape only to get captured again by Frollo’s stone gargoyle whose name is apparently Dragon, maybe?
In the end Frollo allies leave him though he did doublecross The Oracle and the thugs peace out because of the Star’s chaos magic. He half-heartedly tries to recruit Quasimodo, Emeralda and François but to no avail but the mere attempt was very endearing.
Dennis and Angelica show up to help destroy the star by throwing into a volcano that magically appeared after the star fell. Everyone works to push the star up into the volcano and the volcano pushes the star back into orbit and the world is saved.
A “Blind” Thug, The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Episode 4
The premise of this episode is very creative and quite high stakes for a Hunchback version.
Aside from the names, and the concept of the village of thugs, this episode does not feel like it was inspired by any version of Hunchback. That is not inherently a bad thing but worth mentioning. For the most part this show has seemed somewhat grounded in the source material up until this episode.
The only real Hunchback-ish reference was a random man who was wearing glasses that was holding a sign reading “blind.” Very Court of Miracles.
Frollo, Quasimodo, Esmeralda, François, The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Episode 4
Quasimodo and Esmeralda from The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Episode One
The first episode ofThe Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, sees our boy, Quasimodo, meeting Esmeralda and her brother François for the first time. Right off the bat, François is the Gringoire character. Not sure why he was not given the name Pierre but there you have it. He’s François.
Esmeralda and François are performers but they do engage in some more devious methods of money making. Mostly Djali tears at on-lookers’ coin purses and François tells the person who then gives him a reward for his honesty. Only bad guys would actually steal.
François is also a delightfully bad poet, I loved his poem. Seriously, it made me laugh.
Esmeralda is performing when she spots Quasimodo who is atop Notre Dame. They take an instant liking to each other. Quasimodo in this version is sixteen years old and he seems to function more as cleaner of the cathedral and not so much as the bell ringer.
Esmeralda and Quasimodo cross paths properly when he saves her from being arrested. But why is she being arrested? For performing without a license, which is just a form of exhortation as Esmeralda explains.
So Quasimodo helps her but gets arrested himself. Esmeralda and François along with Djali bust him out of prison, using a combination of skills in their skill set.
While that is going on there is a plot to kill the King. Oh No! Frollo, who is a magician and does something at Notre Dame, has hired a guard to recruit a thug who is in prison to carry out an assassination plot during a masked ball. It’s while Quasimodo is in jail that he overhears the plan and then enlists Esmeralda and François to help.
The crew of new pals thwarts the thug but then Frollo decides to do the deed himself because gosh darn does he want to rule France. Again Quasimodo thwarts the plan using Frollo’s dog, Azarof, to sniff him out. Frollo is caught with a dagger and gets away after he brings gargoyles to life and flies away. Because this Frollo can and does that.
This episode showcases Quasimodo, Esmeralda and François’ ingenuity as they very effortlessly solve the conflict. It also shows us that Frollo is truly evil as he is mean to his puppy-dog.
Also it is weird to see the King so nice. That is a new interaction for Louis XI.
Episode 2: Frollo’s Revenge
Quasimodo and Dennis from The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Episode Two
Or Frollo Strikes Back! No, one calls it that.
This episode is about Frollo’s retaliation for getting banished to the spooky underground tunnels after his coup failed. Far be it for me apply lines of successions on a children’s story but even if Frollo did murder Louis XI, he would not have been crowned but Frollo despite being a magician is none too smart. Or blinded by ambition.
Qusimodo learns about his backstory from Dennis, the archdeacon. His parents were super noble nobles and alchemists who were very close to learning how to make gold from lead. They were doing this to help the poor being they are super noble nobles.
Dennis gives Quasimodo a medallion which is most likely his family crest, which is an eagle holding a snake. Interestingly enough the symbolism of the eagle for a family crest is “Emblematic of fortitude and magnanimity of mind.*” And the snake is “Emblematic of wisdom & medicine.*” Not sure if this was intentional or not since eagles and snakes are common but it does showcase Quasimodo’s bravery and intelligence as well as his parents for being more or less scientists. The snake symbol has ties to Hermes who has connections to alchemy.
As this is happening, Esmeralda, François, Djali and their adopted Grandmother Angelica are leaving Paris along with the other nomads at noon. This bums Quasimodo out but he convinces them to meet him in the square to say a proper good-bye. This is when Frollo strikes using his dog to steal Quasimodo’s medallion to lure him underground in the aforementioned spooky-ooky tunnels.
Once down there Frollo turns rats into human-size guards, complete with helmets and swords. This is bad news for Quasimodo because he hates rats.
Esmeralda figures out something is wrong when Quasimodo doesn’t show up and she and François help out. She manages to halt the rat by giving them the cheese she had bought earlier.
In the end Frollo summons a green whirlpool looking vortex thing. Quasimodo is hanging on to Frollo who is begging Quasmodo not to let go because though he was mean to him in the past it was for Quasimodo’s own good. Remember Frollo used to do something at Notre Dame and watch Quasimodo grow up. Quaismodo doesn’t drop him if only to get this medallion back. Frollo then rages but then leaves by magical means.
Also in the end, Angelica takes a supervisor cleaning job at Notre Dame which means Esmeralda and François can stay in Paris. Hooray!
Frollo tells Quasimodo that his parents were not nobles which is a departure from the novel. As Frollo’s parents were low ranking nobles, petty nobles, who had a small fief of twenty-one houses according to book four chapter two of the novel. If you want to get really specific it’s the estate of Tirechappe.
And it’s Quasimodo who is descended from nobles. Which is a departure from the novel but there is magic in this version so let’s just not hold it against the book too much.
Also this version of Frollo seems more like Aladdin’s Jafar than either the book or Disney’s Gaston which was the case in two other off-Disney versions of Hunchback.
Frollo’s dog Azarof from The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo, Episode Two
Just a quick note – I’ve been watching this show on Amazon and episodes two and three were flopped for some reason so this second episode is listed as three on Amazon.
Well the time has come to take up the mantle of reviewing a Hunchback version geared at children once again.
The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo has been long been requested. I watched the first episode maybe two years ago and I was ambivalent towards this version. I found it neither good nor awful. It was a children version that was clearly not for me, a grumpy person and perhaps at the time a super judgmental adult who reviews Hunchback versions on the internet.
Now all that is possibly still true but I like to think I’ve soften over the years regarding my views on Hunchback versions. After all it has been nearly two years since I have reviewed a version. But now I’m reviewing this one. Not sure if my less “angry critic” approach will be make for entertaining internet content but oh well. C’est la vie.
Very simply, it’s a 26 episode Canadian children’s TV show that came out in May 1996. Same year as the Disney version.
Some very introductory differences are that Esmeralda has a brother, named François. Frollo is a magician and has a dog named Azarof. It seems according to wiki that he “plotted’ to kill the king of France. Though that could just be his thing throughout the show (spoiler it is). And Esmeralda and François have an adopted Grandmother called Angelica. I’m sure there are many more differences to be revealed.
A bit of house keeping. As of this moment I’m not sure what the the schedule for reviews will be nor do I know how many episodes will be covered in each post. The aim is more than one. I don’t know much right now. If you know Meyers-Briggs at all consider me a super P type right now.
This a small but a very important update regarding posts moving forward.
In the past I have tried to separate the word usage of Romani and the Romani characters in Hugo’s novel and various adaptations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. My thought was that for the collective group of people I would use “Romani” and when referencing characters like Esmeralda I used the word that the adaptations and Hugo’s novel often used.
I no longer feel it is appropriate to use the “G-word” in this or any capacity anymore and I will just not be using that term in any posts moving forward. I will just call any Romani character as such. (Edit- the words I will use will be either “Travelers” or “Nomads.” )
I was on the fence about using the term for direct quotes like if I was quoting a lyric like from Hellfire for example but I think I will censor the word if I’m quoting something. Which I don’t often do but could come up.
This also extends to any and all Facebook and Twitter posts I make and Hubpages articles I write on Hunchback. The point of the matter is I will just no longer use that derogatory word again in blogging, a social media capacity or in my daily life.
I don’t know if I will edit past posts at this point but I might. The possibility exists. I have been editing my Hubpages articles that are Hunchback in content albeit slowly.
I’m making this post for transparency. It’s not for “kudos”or to show that I’m a oh so enlightened white person. It’s a hateful, ignorant word and shouldn’t be used. No one can change how the word was used in past versions or the book but we can move beyond it.
I’m not a filmmaker so I don’ know how future versions will handle using that word but I do hope they air on the understanding side with regards to the Romani.
(Regarding Comments, in the past I have kept them turned off due to mental health issues. I’m allowing them right now on this post for the moment (3 months as I have the setting on right now.) I really don’t think I will get any comments since the blog has been in a state of hiatus since 2019. If you do leave a comment be respectful. I will delete and ban any troll/out-right rude comments.
I just didn’t want to let the year ago without making at least one post (even though I did update a post way back in February) and I haven’t made a new post since February 2019. Where does the time go?
I won’t lie and say I will be back posting regularly even though I still have a lot ideas for content but as of December 20th the blog is 10 years old which is crazy so I just wanted something for such an occasion.
So, I found some short story prompts that I wrote ages ago. I have no desire to write them as actual stories but I will share them. I guess my idea were they were wacky and in parenthesis I wrote an adjective for I guess mood or tone. Also my handwriting is dismissal so I’m not sure if what I post is actually what I meant. If you’re inspired by any these, go for it.
Frollo invents a thing that summons a fire breathing dragon (daring)*
Fleur de Lys discovers that her hair has healing powers (bitter)**
Esmeralda daydreams about eating a poisoned apple (lively)
Phoebus befriends a monster (adventure)
Gringoire becomes lover of the faeries (love story)***
Clopin’s holiday feast is eaten by gnomes (bitter)
Quasimodo finds a magic lamp (thoughtful)****
*I think the word is “daring” Not sure what else it could be but I’m not sure that makes sense.
** Rapunzel much?
***I think I wrote “lover” but it could be “lawyer” or “leaver” …?
****This is giving me Quasimodo del Paris vibes
(sorry that comments are turned off right now because I can’t deal with them right now but hunchblog twitter and facebook are still active so you can leave stuff there if you wish)
Starting with Aladdin. This trailer is really underwhelming. There is no vitality in this movie. Not going to be too harsh since it’s a minute trailer but there isn’t anything blood-pumping, nothing exciting, nothing to get one hyped for a fun adventure. It’s more dream-like, like a soft lullaby maybe that is what they were going for, more mystery. I guess that could be a bold choice with an Aladdin remake.
Then there is Will Smith’s Genie. First, it’s a no win scenario. People didn’t like him not blue when the first set of pictures were released and they don’t like blue. But more than that it’s nearly impossible to adapt the Genie from Aladdin since so much of the character was Robin Williams.
Either the film needed to just find someone to outright copy Williams’ performance (like they did in the Aladdin cartoon) or they needed to make a whole new characterization. Instead they went for the middle. Again no win. Personally, I would have gone for a whole new thing for Genie.
Then there is the Frozen 2 trailer. This is a teaser trailer so there isn’t much of context for what is happening but it is definitely the opposite of the Aladdin trailer, it’s all hype.
Frozen has gone into the realm of serious action movie. There is training montage, Anna has a weapon, Kristof is riding Sven maybe into battle, who knows yet? Has Frozen gone Skyrim? Maybe. I personally do not know how to feel about this one. More confused than anything.
Also it’s important to keep in mind that trailers are super misleading so this could all be just weird marketing.
Edit from 2021 – It’s been over a year since these films were released. I still have yet to see the Aladdin remake but with regards to Frozen II when the trailer dropped the film wasn’t even done so in hindsight there was no real context to what was showcased in the trailer, it was all cool hyped. Which was and is fine.
I could sit here and bemoan the fact the Disney doesn’t have more of a vision of how the plot is going to unfold before going into the actual film making process BUT I also have a limited amount of knowledge of film production, so moot point. I do recommend watching the docu-series of the making of Frozen II on Disney plus.
I have 25 ideas for ways in which Disney could inject some Hunchback references into their theme parks.
A lot of these ideas would be easy or low cost add-ins (I think) but some would be more costly. I’m not asking for a Hunchback dark ride where you see movie scenes as you ride around on a ride vehicle shaped like a gargoyle, though that would be cool. And Side note, Disney, If you want to use any of these ideas I will not sue even though I know they will not since I don’t think they can.
But first a few notes; -These ideas could be in any of Disney’s Theme Parks Worldwide but I was mostly inspired by Walt Disney World especially for some Epcot specific ideas but really these could go anywhere. -A lot of these ideas follow Disney’s marketing trend for Hunchback so lots of Clopin related stuff. -Some of these ideas are half-baked, meaning I didn’t give them much thought.
This somewhat organized by least likely to maybe Disney would consider it, maybe, someday maybe if Hunchback gets more popular and makes more money for the company.
Least Likely Disney Hunchback Theming Ideas
There used to be an attraction at Tokyo Disneyland called Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour. I read about it in college. It’s not opened anymore though. Basically it was a guided haunted house walking tour with Disney villains. The villains were defeated by a child who got a metal at the end of the tour. It was also the only attraction to feature the Horned King from The Black Caldron. So my idea is make it a dark ride with Disney villain tableaus including Hellfire, which would be the best scene. Maybe at the end of the ride the youngest person in the ride vehicle or a cast member could just pick the person somehow, defeats the villains with their “pure heart.” And the gift shop attached to the ride could sell the metals or little pins showing your victory over the darkness.
Animal Kingdoms has Goats. Name a Goat after Djali. Or They could change the name that area to Djali’s Sanctuary, works on two levels. Or change the name of the train that takes you to the goats to the Djali Express.
A Walkthrough of the Court of Miracles. Like maybe it’s little shops.
A Clopin cast-member could have a cart and perform puppet shows of Disney movies. Clopin Style!
Clopin could lead a Parade. (did that peform)
Poker with Pigeons. A game where kids could bet bird seeds and win something small.
Hunchback themed bathrooms. Could go with gothic architecture or a topsy turvy theme but Disney loves its theme bathrooms.
Add one of the Hunchback Gargoyles to the Bridge near Be Our Guest Restaurant amongst the other gargoyles that are lamps. Could be a hidden easter egg. Or they could put a gargoyle statue at the entry of the France pavilion.
A Toy Making experience like they have at Pandora and Galaxy’s Edge. Guests could get a custom made wood craving of themselves in the style of Quasimodo’s wood cravings. It would be 3D printed.
The Flying Buttress ride. It would be a ride like the Dumbo ride but with Flying Buttress. Not sure what that would consist of.
Slightly More Likely Disney Hunchback Theming Ideas with Food
A Clopin themed Cart that serves Dole Whip. Maybe it’s a swirl with Raspberry, Mango and Lime because Topsy Turvy. Or Spiked Dole Whip because Hunchback is a grown up movie. Although Spiked Dole Whip is already a thing. Or just a Clopin inspired Dole whip cone. Or a feast of fools one.
Interactive Bells at the France Pavilion that kids can ring. They have drums that kids can bang on why not bells that they can ring.
Or a Bell show with performers. Maybe they are dress similarly to Quasimodo.
A projection of Quasimodo at the France pavilion. Like on the side of a building.
An Indian/French fusion restaurant with a Festival of Fool theme. Maybe it has a King of Fools contest every night and someone is crowned King of Fools. Please note, I won’t go in too deeply into Romani food culture. I did a little research and found that it was similar to Hungarian food but I’m sure it differs with Romani country to country. So just point a pin in that and we’ll come back to that in a bit.
Embed Hunchback stuff in the ground. Disney does this a lot so why not Hunchback stuff? Quasimodo’s shadow, the woven map, Esmeralda’s earring or one of Frollo’s rings, Djali’s hoof prints, or Achilles hooves or Snowball’s hooves.
One of the Paintings around the France Pavilion could feature Esmeralda and Djali in like an Art Nouveau style to keep to the theme of the pavilion.
L’Halles at the France Pavilion could offer a Quasimodo Croissant because he is shaped like one.
L’Artisan Des Glace at the France Pavilion could have a Hunchback inspired flavor.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Dole Whip could be called Topsy Turvy Cake with Dole Whip. Maybe offered a different location then where it is currently offered because it’s a Hawaiian theme place. Or they could change it slightly to a different fruit. But Upside down cake sounds like a prime contender for the Topsy Turvy name.
A Purple Esmeralda inspired confection. Make it Instagram-able for the Purple Wall.
Have a Speakers at the France Pavilion that plays Bells of Notre Dame or a recording of the actual Bells of Notre Dame.
Since I mention Hungarian Food being similar to Romani food, and if I’m wrong I apologized, why not have a Romani/Hungarian inspired Poutine. Now I have made this before and it is delicious. Basically instead of gravy you cover the fries with Paprika Sauce and cheese curds. You can call it Clopin Poutine. It would be amazing, trust me. Paprika Sauce amazing!
Esmeralda inspired Mini Ears. It would have purple sequins as the ears with a teal bow with gold strips and maybe a pink ribbon draping off like her hairband.
A Character dining experience with Esmeralda, Meg and Jane. Or a Villain dining experience. I bet people would love that.
So those are my ideas. Imagine the ideas people who actually work at Disney would have because they know the parks and have experience. I just watched a lot of videos and know Hunchback fairly well. So while I don’t think any of these ideas will ever happen I had fun making this list. Maybe I should do this with other lesser represented Disney movies.
To be honest there is a not lot of Hunchback theming or references across the Disney parks but there isn’t exactly nothing either. Call-backs to Disney’s Hunchback are there if you’re in the right place at the right time. I’m not saying this is good or bad, it’s just how it is currently.
So this is a list of Hunchback references across multiple Disney Theme parks that are currently there (to my knowledge as of this post) and Hunchback stuff that was there in the past.
Please Note, this list maybe not be complete. I have no clue about merch or pins or any expert information. (Though there has been Hunchback pins)
Starting with what you can still see at present;
In Disneyland, there is Clopin’s Music Box in Fantasy Faire. It’s plays Topsy Turvy.
Clopin’s Festival of Foods, Hong Kong Disneyland
In Hong Kong Disney there is a Clopin themed restaurant called Clopin’s Festival of Food. This restaurant serves Chinese food that includes Guangdong BBQ, noodles and wok-fried dishes. This is located in Fantasyland.
At Walt Disney World, the Magic Kingdom’s Nighttime Firework show called Happily Ever which includes projections on Cinderella Castle along with music features Out There with Hunchback Clips. And the video I saw of it, the crowd loved seeing Hunchback in it. They cheered loudly for Quasimodo.
At Walt Disney World, Frollo appears in Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios. I should point out that this version of Fantasmic has not been updated in a while so while Frollo is featured with the villains here he is not at Disneyland’s version of Fantasmic.
At Disneysea, which is part of Tokyo Disneyland, Hellfire can be heard a little during their version of Fantasmic. It’s during a part with fire so it makes sense.
Past Hunchback Stuff
There was the Hollywood Studios Hunchback show at Walt Disney World. This show ran from 1996 to 2002.
There was the Hunchback of Notre dame Topsy Turvy Cavalcade at Disneyland. This was a mini Hunchback parade that had two floats.
At DisneyLand Paris there was the Carnival of Fools Parade.
At DisneyLand Paris for their 5th anniversary in 1997, Sleeping Beauty Castle was decorated in a Hunchback Theme or Festival of Fools style.
At the Full of Villains Unleashed Hades Hangout show, which was halloween event, Frollo appears. he’s number 22 in the line up.
The themes Disney seem to go with for Hunchback is either Topsy Turvy or Frollo. Curious. Though it make sense. Topsy Turvy was used heavily in the marketing of the film and Frollo/Hellfire stole the show a bit.
