There are 8 differences. And be warn this is very challenging (just like sitting through the Sequel) Have Fun and Find them all.
Spot the Differences Game; Sequel Version
A rant and an admission of fault
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Given how every facet of Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame
A Happy Ending
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
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*
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
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?
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.
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.
Click here to buy the Disney Movie Poster
I was hoping to post the Phoebus installment of “Let’s get Superficial” today since I won’t be able do it this weekend, however it’s been delayed and it’s not ready yet. But since I’m trying to update more often (two-three times a week), I’ve made this for fun;
Find the differences and leave a comment with the answers. There are 6 differences in total. There are not meant to be too hard or too challenging, just fun. I’ll post the original picture next time. So have fun. ^_^