Clopin | The Hunch

03Apr 2012

The Disney Stage Show of Notre Dame

by Jessica

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.

31Mar 2012

Asian Tour Cast Pictures

by Jessica

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 Jessica

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 Jessica

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

NDdP Asian Tour Cast Pictures

by Jessica

More Pictures of the Asian Tour.

Ian Carlyle as Clopin Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

Dancer Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

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

Matt Laurent as Quasimodo & Candice Parise as Esmeralda Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

Robert Marien as Frollo Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

Matt Laurent as Quasimodo Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

Candice Parise as Esmeralda Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

Dennis Ten Vergert as GringoireNotre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

Finale Notre Dame de Paris Asian Tour

21Mar 2012

Der Glöckner von Notre Dame vs The Disney Movie

by Jessica

Der Glockner von notre Dame German Musical of Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Cast Poster of Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Der Glöckner von Notre Dame has a lot of differences from the Disney Film; some small some big. Here are the major differences in a nutshell (in no real order);

Jens Janke as Clopin in Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

Clopin with Puppet Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

No Djali or Achilles, Esmeralda dies, Quasimodo kills Frollo, Frollo was a Priest, Phoebus starts off somewhat of a philander, the gargoyles are 100% imaginary, the gargoyles have different names (Antoine, Charles and Loni opposed to Victor, Hugo and Laverne), the story is told as flashback by Clopin as an old beggar man who doesn’t use puppets, Esmeralda is shown out of Notre Dame rather than Quasimodo holding her while climbing down, The Court of Miracles Song is replace by a dance number, the archdeacon brings a wounded Phoebus to Quasimodo and Out There is split between two songs.

Frollo and Quasimodo Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

Frollo and Quasimodo Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney picture image

Frollo and Qausimodo Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney

Some of these differences don’t add too much but some add a great deal because some of these differences add Character Development. Quasimodo gets an arch in the stage version. Like in the Disney movie Quasimodo starts off naive, he wants to see the world for himself despite what Frollo tells him, however in Glöckner Quasimodo does not come off as gentle as he does in the movie and his emotions are more intense. This gives way for more interesting character development. Also in the movie Quaismodo claims to believe Frollo only out of fear for Frollo not because he actually believes him. In Glöckner it seems that he fully trusts Frollo at the beginning, they even make a point of mentioning Quasimodo lying to Frollo for the first time at the end of Act I when Quasimodo denies knowledge of Esmeralda’s escape to Frollo. Quasimodo’s trust in Frollo makes Quasimodo killing Frollo at the end all the more dramatic.

Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Phoebus performing Weil du Liebst Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

Phoebus and Esmeralda Kiss Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

It’s not just Quasimodo to get a character development Phoebus gets an arch too. He starts off as a guy who just wants to have fun and views his new position as a path for “Rest and Recreation.” But through interactions with Esmeralda he learns that he would rather be “good’ than do what his boss tells him i.e burning an innocent family to death. Esmeralda doesn’t exactly get character development but her backstory about of how she gets into trouble and is forced to move around because she expresses her opinion without a filter makes her at least a little more human and flawed. Disney’s Esmeralda was just too perfect, some goes for Disney Phoebus.

Norbert Lamla as Frollo Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

Frollo singing Hellfire Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

However I don feel that Frollo’s backstory was unnecessary (Frollo’s background as a Priest). I know what Glöckner was trying to do and as a fan of the book I do appreciate that they tried to make Frollo like he was in the book but it didn’t really add to any character development or an arch. To my knowledge Frollo being a former Priest was only mentioned once. I guess it adds a single shade of a backstory to him but most megalomaniacal people in power position don’t really need a reason to think they are better than most people. Plus why would someone who was once a Priest decide that the best way to cleanse to the world (or in this case Paris) of vice and sin was to promote genocide and corporal punishment? If anything Glöckner’s Frollo being a Priest adds further questions to his character and backstory. At least Disney’s Frollo was just a megalomaniacal mad man who has power and was having a control issue.

Esmeralda and Quasimodo Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

Esmeralda and Quasimodo Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Esmeralda reading Quasimodo's palm Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

I do think a lot of changes between the film and stage version were good and added something that was missing from the original Disney film. However adding things from the book to make a compromise between the book and the Disney film really didn’t work that well. Maybe had the spent some more time developing Frollo it could have worked but it really didn’t.

Next time – Conclusion

Esmeralda Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

17Mar 2012

NDdP Asian Tour Cast Pictures

by Jessica

More Pictures of the Asian Tour Cast of Notre Dame de Paris, Enjoy

Dennis Ten Vergert as Gringoire Asian Tour Notre Dame de Paris

Refugees Asian Tour Notre Dame de Paris

Ian Carlyle as Clopin Asian Tour Notre Dame de Paris

Candice Parise as Esmerealda Asian Tour Notre Dame de Paris

Matt Laurent as Quaismodo & Robert Marien as Frollo Asian Tour Notre Dame de Paris

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

Stephen Webb as Phoebus Asian Tour Notre Dame de Paris

Matt Laurent as Quasimodo Asian Tour Notre Dame de Paris

Asian Tour Cast Notre Dame de Paris

13Mar 2012

The Costumes of Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

by Jessica

Esmeralda and Quasimodo Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

I’ve made no secrets that I love costumes but I got to say the costumes in Der Glöckner von Notre Dame do nothing for me. For the most part they are pretty generic. The costumes were design by Sue Blane of Rocky Horror fame but I feel like there was little to no real effort put into them.

Frollo and Phoebus Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

My first problem is the use of colors. Costumes used in musicals can help identify the characters and colors are a great way to do this. When colors are used like that they can add a style to the overall look of the show. Some examples are Romeo and Juliet where Montagues are in Blue and Capulets are in Red. Notre Dame de Paris also does a good job of using colors to distinguish the characters Esmeralda- Green, Quasimodo- Red, Frollo- Black ect. In Glöckner Quasimodo wears red but so does Esmeralda, Clopin wears brown, Frollo wears Black and Purple, Gargoyles in grayish taupe, Phoebus is wears Dark Blue and Gold? So the colors they wear do not make characters stand out from each other.

Judy Weiss as Esmeralda in Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

A second problem is the details on the costumes. It not that they’re badly done, it’s just that, if you’re sitting in the audience of the show you’re not going to see them. Little details don’t work in musicals. So the lace on Esmeralda’s Blouse and embroidery on her corset are lost to the audience. All the costumes I’m sure are lovely up close but it’s wasted from the audience’s perceptive.

Quasimodo with Antoine, Charles and Loni Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

The one costume(s) that I like are the a gargoyles, at least they have a sense of drama and design to them. Quasimodo is hardly ugly, Esmeralda looks like she threw together a renaissance fair costume from her closet, Phoebus looks more like a musketeer than Burgundian Knight, the Archdeacon’s costume looks way too modern and Frollo’s costume just looks like they copied Frollo’s costume from the 1939 version, fitting given that Disney copied that movie but kind of lazy. Clopin has two costumes, the beggar and the King of Gypsies, and yet I don’t get a true sense of personality from either one. There is just no cohesion to these costumes, no style no real personality that makes these costume feel like they belong to the show.

Esmeralda and Clopin Tanz auf dem Seil Der Glöckner von Notre Dame

Next Time – Stage vs Film

Der Glockner von notre Dame German Musical of Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Cast Poster of Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

11Mar 2012

The Top Ten Worst Song of Notre Dame de Paris – New Squidoo Lens

by Jessica

Esmeralda and Clopin Notre Dame de Paris

What I wrote in 2012 – “I have created a new Notre Dame de Paris Lens, The Top Ten Worst Song of Notre Dame de Paris. As much as I love NDdP I know not every song is that great or even good. I started this Lens a few weeks ago and finally decided to finish a few days ago. It was actually hard to come up with ten but I did, so find out which song are the worst of the show.

And feel free to disagree with me. So click the link to find out what they are and why……..Enjoy”

2019 update- if you’re reading this in 2019, Squidoo no longer exists and this post will be removed at some point.

2022- I can’t remember why this one didn’t transfer to Hubpages like that other ones did way back when hubpages took over squidoo’s content. I could have just deleted this it though. I could just a post on it. But It’s unlikely that I will remove this post.

2026 – I find this interesting that I have updated this post twice prior. Seems very in character for me to waffle about removing this post. Though I still have list so maybe I will post this one soon because while I do love the musical not all the songs are great or even make sense in the narrative. Hopefully I will add a link here should I post it as full post.