Originally I was going to do a more broad stroke casting for Eva Noblezada that should be casted as a voice actress for a new Disney Princess type character.
And while I do think that Disney should go back to their roots and cast Broadway talents for their animated characters after doing the Norm Lewis post I do think Eva Noblezada would make a great choice for Esmeralda in the Disney theatrical version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
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Read More →I tangently and briefly touched on this casting concept in my post ranking the songs from The Swan Princess, how is that for an introduction?
But in all seriousness there exists in musical theatre three roles from musicals based iconic French literary works where the principal antagonist is motivated by his obsession. Honestly there is more than likely more titles than three* but Javert and The Phantom are from musical smash-hits and The Hunchback of Notre Dame/Notre Dame de Paris is more under-appreciated shows in the musical theater space, at least in North America. Notre Dame de Paris is a little more beloved in other parts of the World.
So if you have guessed the roles are Javert, The Phantom and Frollo or as I call them “Obsessive French Man Musical Trio of Roles” though at first I used the word “triumvirate,” but “trio” as a word works a little better with the music theme.
Originally I had thought there was one performer that had, at least some capacity, played all three role thus completing the trio but alas it turns out I was wrong. One, Joesph Tokarz was in ensemble of a Yeston’s Phantom production and not the Opera Ghost himself. However since I proved myself wrong there I decided to dig a little more to see if there was a Notre Dame de Paris former cast member who fit the criteria and I’m sad to say that we were so close. Wim van den Driessche was cast as Firmin and as one of the Phantom understudies for the canceled Mogador 2016 Paris cast. Could be another performer who has actively played all three roles of Frollo, Javert and the Phantom? Maybe but haven’t found that performer as of yet. But there is also hope that it could happen one day.
For the more well-known version the musicals many performers have played two out the three roles, mainly The Phantom and Javert so let’s go for broke and suggest a musical performer for a Frollo who has also played Javert and The Phantom in high profile productions; Norm Lewis.
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For some lore on this review series
“I don’t wanna go to the Bad Place. It’s scary, like the movie “Ratatouille”…I ain’t trying to have rats living in my hat and pulling my hair to get me to do stuff.” -Jason Mendoza (The Good Place)
To be honest going into this movie I really wanted to like it despite the fact that it scared Jason Mendoza of The Good Place. Typically with movies I also want to like them. I’m not sure if I had heard mix things this about this movie over the years but I was both scared and excited to watch Ratatouille.
I did know something about this movie going into it like most of the plot and that the rat cooks using a human puppet. Again I knew premise of the movie in broad-strokes by not the intricacies of the story or of the characters.
So did the movie meet my exceptions or did it serve only to waste my time?
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A lot has been said on Disney’s teaser trailer for their upcoming coming of age magical isekai animated movie Hexed.
Those who saying are it’s look generic and derivative. It looks like it was made by AI or to meant to be watched on a hand-held device. It’s too like Harry Potter meets Alice in Wonderland. That it’s too much like Disney own canceled show The Owl House. That we were robbed due to changing the main character from a younger boy to a teenaged girl named Billie. And that Billie’s characterization is too much like other characters in turns of looks and personality. That her character type is played out. That Hexed is Disney at its safest.
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Another big Anniversary for Disney is 1986’s The Great Mouse Detective. It was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. The duo has directed seven Disney movies together including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Moana but The Great Mouse Detective was their directorial debut. The movie was based on a series of books Basil of Baker Street written by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone.
The Great Mouse Detective does get a bit lost amongst the other titles in the Disney pantheon as it came out at the tail end of Bronze/Dark Age and aside from the villain there isn’t a lot buzz around it.
But is it a bad movie that deserves to be forgotten?
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Thirty years ago today Disney’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” was released in movie theaters.
Its legacy, not to be confused with the album of the same name, is fairly mixed. It lauded for being Disney’s darkest work that deals with more serious issues. It’s also criticized for its attempt of levity with gargoyles. The gargoyles especially Hugo adds cognitive dissonance to the narrative and tone. Frollo and “Hellfire” are praised for being one of best Disney villains and “Hellfire” is considered by many to be the best villain song of all times not just in Disney movies. It’s also criticized for its representation of the Romani people as well as Esmeralda picking Phoebus over Quasimodo as well as hyper sexualizing Esmeralda.
It’s simultaneously an underrated gem yet the most well-known film adaptation of the novel.
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Way back in December 2024 I watched all the Theatrical Disney movies to see which ones were my personal top 20 and my 7 least favorites. However there were a few surprises. So here is 5 surprises I had from my Disney movie-a-thon.
And despite the date this is NOT an April fools, I’m being truthful.
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I’ve done many articles ranking costumes by colors from different types of movies (period, fantasy, etc). And for the most part they were hosted on Hubpages, long story super short, they will we be rolling out here in the near future.
But one type of movie I’ve neglected in those articles was animated movies. So since it’s January and it’s cold and snowy, I thought let’s rank silvery, gray and/or white costumes from Disney Animated Movies that are not Wedding Gowns. In the future we’ll rank non-Disney dresses because there are a lot great opinions out there.
There actually not as many costume in this color palette as one might think but there is enough for a compelling list. Also an old rule I had was one character from one movie but not in this case, only requirements are a female costumes, not a wedding gown, from a Disney Animated Movie and mostly reads as silver, white, or grayish. Mostly cool shades are the name of the game but one be slight.
There at least one weird take
List subject to change
Read More →We all love Disney Villain songs. They are very often the best songs in the movie. But which Villain has the best of the Best song? Of Course that is a matter of preference. Or is it?
The Stats Don’t Lie
This list ranks the 10 Best Disney Villain Songs. It was not based on my own opinions. Instead I looked at 40 different Villain ranked lists and found the mean score for each song based on the 1-10 ranking and how often the song appeared across the 40 list. So a song that appeared more often didn’t necessarily ranked higher but being on more of the lists did help. Only one of the songs featured on all 40 lists.
I tried to get lists that were as recent as I could and the only requirement was that the song was is currently under the Disney Studio and it about or sung by a villain. This means sequels, remakes and 20th Century Fox movies are all eligible. I’ll also include some honorable mentions at the end because why not.
So which of the Villains songs made cut?
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In honor of Zootopia 2, I’m do a list of my top favorite Disney Reptiles plus one technical amphibian because it was too cute not to include.
These rules or strictly speaking guidelines that are not to strict. I had wanted this ranked list to only in closed non-magical, non anamorphic reptiles but that went out the window pretty quickly. SO really the only rule is no dragons (sorry Mushu.) Though that gives me another idea for another list for another day and maybe more animal types because I happen to love animals of all kinds.
Also because not including Pixar as it’s “the other” studio BUT there will a Pixar honorable mention to two.
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