Quasimodo Kitteh
This is pretty much purr-fect!
LoL by: Winnie-Wonka (Picture by: Lorraine S)
This week’s fan art is by SamaHatter. It depicts a conversation Frollo and Gringoire have about Esmeralda fr0m the book. Gringoire mentions how he peaked in on Esmeralda changing and Frollo becomes enraged . I love the expressions in this work. It’s awesome
Once I Peeked at her through the Keyhole by Samahatter
http://samahatter.deviantart.com/art/Once-I-peeked-at-her-through-the-keyhole-381154850
Check out more by SamaHatter
The Bechdel test is a litmus test used to identify gender bias in fiction but its main application is for movies. The test was named after Alison Bechdel for her 1985 comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out for. Passing or failing the Bechdel test does not indicate the quality of the movie, a great movie will fail and a terrible movie will pass.
To pass the Bechdel test a work needs to meet 3 criteria; 1) It has to have at least two named female characters, 2) That talk to each other 3) About something other than a male. Though some people thinks the duration of the conversation should be at least a minute. Most movies fail the Bechdel test.
Esmeralda and Sister Gudule by Benjamin Lacombe from Notre Dame de Paris Tome 2
Most versions of the Hunchback fail the Bechdel test because there is typically only one to three named women in the movie; Esmeralda, Fleur de Lys, and Madame de Gondelaurier (given name Aloyse) and they never speak to one another in a conversion. Interestingly enough the novel passes as Esmeralda and her mother, Sister Gudule, (a.k.a Paquette Guybertaut, a.k.a. “La Chantefleurie” {talk about being named}) have a conversation about their identities. .
Gudule (Gladys Brockwell) Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923
With exclusion of Sister Gudule’s character the story loses its overall female presence. Only three works maintain Gudule (or the mother figure) has a character; the 1923 version, the awful Enchanted tales version, and the abysmal Dingo version.
Marie; Queen of the Gypsies (Eulalie Jenson) Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923
The 1923 version, out of all the Hunchback versions has the biggest female presence as it has five named females; Esmeralda, Madame de Gondelaurier, Fleur de Lys, Sister Gudule and Marie. Esmeralda, Marie and Sister Gudule have a scene where they sort of converse and Esmeralda and Marie have a conversation in another scene but it’s very unclear what it’s about. Fleur de Lys and Madame de Gondelaurier are always in scenes with Phoebus and they never really converse with other. But the scene with Marie, Esmeralda and Gudule would give it a pass for Bechdel test.
Genevieve with the Annoying Instruments, Enchanted Tales Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Enchanted tales version has Melody (Esmeralda) and her mother, Genevieve but they don’t have an conversation with each other plus those annoying instruments are in the way. So it doesn’t pass.
Esmeralda and her mother, Dingo Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Dingo version for all its badness does have Esmeralda and Sister Gudule speaking to each other about who there are so it sort of gets a pass and sort of fails because Sister Gudule isn’t referred to by name it only if you make the connection to the book that you know her name. Though this could be an oversight in the dub.
Helene Whitney as Fleur de Lys, 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame
The other Hunchback movies fail. In the 1939 version it’s really only Esmeralda. Fleur de Lys is a featured extra that is mentioned by name but they share no dialogue with other.
Danielle Dumont as Fleur de Lys, 1956 Hunchback of Notre dame
In the 1956 version there is Esmeralda, Aloyse de Gondelaurier, and Fleur de Lys. Aloyse de Gondelaurier, and Fleur de Lys only shared dialogue is about Phoebus and Madame de Gondelaurier’s husband.
Hetty Baynes as Fleur de Lys, Ruth Goring as Madame de Gondelaurier, and Richard Morant as Phoebus, 1977 Hunchback of Notre Dame
The 1977 has Fleur de Lys and Madame Gondelaurier but Phoebus is in all their scenes.
Lesley-Anne Down as Esmeralda, 1982 Hunchback of Notre Dame
Salma Hayek as Esmeralda, 1997 Hunchback of Notre Dame
The 1982 and the 1997 version only really have Esmeralda as the only female character.
Esmeralda, Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
Laverne Guy like you Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame
Madeline Hunchback of Notre Dame II Disney
The Disney version has two named females; Esmeralda and Laverne and they never speak to each other. This goes for Der Glöckner von Notre Dame as well. As for the Disney sequel we get three females with the addition of Madeline. However none of these characters speak to each other. 3 Fails.
Juie Zenatti as Fleur de Lys & Helene Segara as Esmeralda, Notre Dame de Paris Original Cast
The musical Notre Dame de Paris has Esmeralda and Fleur de Lys and while they share a song Beau Comme Le Soleil it’s clear that they singing isolation and it’s very much about Phoebus. So it fails.
Mélanie Thierry as Esmeralda/Agnes and Axelle Abbadie as Mme Le Gouverneur, Quasimodo d’el Paris
The parody version Quasimodo d’El Paris has a few named females characters Esmeralda/Agnes, Mme Le Gouverneur (if that counts as a name), Gudule, and Mme Jackson. They don’t really have a conversation with each other. Esmeralda and Mme Le Gouverneur exchange a line of dialogue before it shifts to a man. Fail
Illustration Sister Gudule and Esmeralda by Luc Oliver Merson
The point of The Bechdel test isn’t to pass or fail, its point is to show the overall presence of females in media and how integral they are to the story but it mainly shows gender bias. The Hunchback is at a core a story of how one women impacts men, so by its very concept it has to have more males. However even though it’s a story that center around a women it’s still a male driven story. With Sister Gudule there is a more female presence and the exclusion of character from the majority of the retellings does pretty much kills female presence in the story.
Sandra Anderson, left, Alexx Draper and Lily of Paris all have parts in Her Majesty’s Players production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Wishbone hasn’t been the only dog to play a pivotal role in the Hunchback of Notre Dame. In May 2013, Lily a 5 year old Yorkish Terrier was casted in the Hunchback of Notre Dame for the Majesty Player’s. Lily’s owner, Sandra Anderson played Madame Falourdel. Alexx Darper played her daughter.
Lilly brought a comic relief to this version by chasing soldiers across the stage.
Lily’s next role was Toto in Brant Theatre Workshop’s Wizard of Oz.
World Renowned Photographer, Annie Leibovitz, has taken many photographs for Disney using celebrity as iconic Disney Characters. To date she has done;
Rachel Weisz as Snow White from Snow White, by Annie Leibovitz
– Taylor Swift as Rapunzel from Tangled
– Julie Andrews as the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio with Abigail Breslin as an “Apprentice Fairy”
– Whoopi Goldberg as the Genie from Aladdin
– Jennifer Lopez as Jasmine and Marc Anthony as Aladdin from Aladdin
– Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella from Cinderella
– Julianne Moore as Ariel from The Little Mermaid
– Queen Latifah as Ursula from The Little Mermaid
– Jessica Biel as Pocahontas from Pocahontas
– Tina Fey as Tinkerbell, Giselle Bündchen as Wendy, and Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peter Pan from Peter Pan
– Russell Brand as Captain Hook from Peter Pan
– Olivia Wilde as the Evil Queen and Alec Bladwin as the Magic Mirror from Snow White
– Rachel Weisz as Snow White from Snow White
– Penelope Cruz as Belle and Jeff Bridges as the Beast from Beauty and the Beast
– Roger Federer as King Arthur from the Sword in the Stone
РBeyonc̩ Knowles as Alice, Lyle Lovett as the march Hare, and Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland
– David Beckham as Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty
– Jack Black as Phineas, Will Ferrel as Ezra and Jason Segal as Gus from the Haunted Mansion Ride
First off a few things that irritate me. First, The Haunted Mansion? Really? You people have 38 movies you haven’t touch yet and you do a ride? Second, two from Peter Pan and a cop-out of Pinocchio? Third, the Stone and the Stone one is way off, did they even watch the movie? Because I don’t think they did. Also I have say a lot of these don’t care for a lot of these images. They look too fake, the celebrities look awkward a lot of the time and the CG work is meh-ish. Also does any one else think it’s odd that based on this series that Snow White, Ariel and Peter Pan are older than Evil Queen, Ursula and Captain Hook? Just a thought.
But anyway getting to my point, Hunchback. Annie Leibovitz hasn’t done a Hunchback one as of yet. But if she does which Hunchback characters would you like to see represented? And who would you like representing them?
Personally they should have two, one of Frollo in the Hellfire Scene and the other Quasimodo and Esmeralda. Since this whole series is based more on who is popular and fits the character in more of a brand way I don’t know who for Esmeralda or Frollo but Peter Dinklage comes to mind for Quasimodo. I think there is some pull for Angelina Jolie for Esmeralda and she could work but she could easily be another character? Like Maleficent. Anyway your thoughts?
The Wishbone episode “The Hunchdog of Notre Dame
Wishbone as Quasimodo, The Hunchdog of Notre Dame
The whole point of Wishbone is to communicate classic novels and stories to children and make them accessible so children will in turn want to read them. The wishbone version cares about the source and does make the novel accessible for children.
Esmeralda (Lanell Pena) and Wishbone as Quasimodo, The Hunchdog of Notre Dame
We do get the lesson about inner beauty but it doesn’t feel as forced or as hammered in as some other versions (Disney). And despite its lack of budget and the lackluster complimentary story about an underdog learning to play hockey it’s an enjoyable short version.
Wishbone as Quasimodo, The Hunchdog of Notre Dame
Plus this version has the cutest Quasimodo ever!
Next Version – That’s up to you. Vote in the poll.
Which Version should be reviewed next?
Recently so-call Honest Posters of some Disney movies have come out. They were made by Christine Gritmon and Nick Nadel from TheFW. The Poster were of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
This is the Hunchback one,
“Honest” Hunchback of Notre Dame Poster
Gah……… where do I start? Because I have a few issues with this.
First here is the write-up on it “Different take: This poster highlights how Esmeralda chooses the handsome but insincere soldier, Phoebus, over the crippled Quasimodo. The phrase emphasizes how Esmeralda chooses the handsome but insincere soldier, Phoebus, over the crippled ‘nice guy’ Quasimodo.”
How was Phoebus insincere? What does Phoebus do that warrants that adjective? Besides Phoebus may have a saratic personality but I guess saving a family doesn’t qualify him as “Nice guy”? But why do people still bring this up over and over? Esmeralda picking Phoebus over Quasimodo. Why can’t they deal with a protagonist not getting the girl? Why is Esmeralda considered some prize that Quasimodo is entitled to base on the fact that he is the protagonist? I get that is this meant to be funny but this comes back to the Esmeralda not picking Quasimodo because he both ugly and nice. When the point is she treats me more like a brother than a romantic interest. Quasimodo as anything but a friend never enters her mind. This line of thinking that Esmeralda is shallow because she didn’t reciprocate Quasimodo’s half baked crushed is sexist. Shame on you.
Just a little info on the Actor who appeared in the Wishbone version Hunchback.
Soccer the Dog as Wishbone
Soccer the Dog was a veteran Jack Russell actor. He was most known for playing Wishbone on the PBS show. He beat out 100 dog who audition for the role. He was also in many commercials for such companies like Nike and Mighty Dog Food.
Larry Brantley
Larry Brantley is a former stand-up comedian and radio spokesman. He specializes in character voices. He currently works on Boz the bear.
Lanell Pena
Lanell Pena played a lot parts on Wishbone in the literary segments of the show. Mostly notably she played Scheherazade in the Wishbone version of Thousand and one nights (One Thousand and One Tails). Pena has also appears in a few television series and movie. Currently she teaches acting at A &M University and KD Studios/College.
Sean Hennigan
Sean Hennigan, like Pena also played a lot parts on Wishbone in the literary segments of the show. Hennigan appeared in 24 episode of Wishbone and notably played he played a lot of the villains. Hennigan has appeared in a lot Television shows and he has been voice acting in anime dubs. Notably in immensely popular One Piece, Baccano! and Romeo x Juliet. he has appeared in a movies like 3:10 to Yuma.
The acting is the Wishbone version is decent. I don’t think any of the roles were that much of challenge since the materials is very much at its core basics, so you don’t get the rich complexity of Quasimodo, Frollo or even Esmeralda in this version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Frollo (Sean Hennigan), The Hunchdog of Notre Dame
That said, there are moments where the actors showcase the characters very well. Sean Hennigan, who played Frollo, does a great job communicating Frollo’s obsession in both a menacing way and in a more coxing way. He goes back and forth between facets with great ease.
Esmeralda (Lanell Pena), The Hunchdog of Notre Dame
Lanell Pena, who played Esmeralda, also does a good job of showing how she starts as put-off by Quasimodo and gradually comes to see him for the soul he is (I hesitate to say person because Quasimodo is a puppy). I also like how she tells off Frollo.
Wishbone as Quasimodo, The Hunchdog of Notre Dame
Then we have Wishbone as Quasimodo. Wishbone is played by a few entities. First, the dogs. Wishbone was mainly played by a veteran dog actor “Soccer” though I believe they used a few other dogs for a shots. Wishbone’s voice was played Larry Brantley. Brantley has great comic timing and his quips make the literary tales fun. Animal acting it hard to say if it “good” or not because the looks and movements are all tricks. All in all though I think the depiction of Quasimodo in this version is a fine one. Plus it’s the cutest depiction of Quasimodo ever. (I’m a dog person, although Quasimodo as a cute would be adorable as well)
Next Time Wishbone Article- Conclusions
Wishbone as Quasimodo, The Hunchdog of Notre Dame