Quasimodo 1986 Hunchback Notre Dame picture image

Quasimodo

I have been bitching about the characters in the 1986 version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame for a few weeks and before I start bitching about the real main problem with the 1986 version, I wanted to talk about a slight positive; the voice acting.

Esmeralda and Gringoire 1986 the Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Esmeralda and Gringoire

The voice acting on the whole is okay. I hesitate to call it good but condone an okay. I think the voice actors do a good job with the material they are given. I mean they aren’t given a masterful script by any means, they really don’t have much to work with.

Esmeralda 1986 Hunchback Notre Dame picture image

1986 Esmeralda

Each actor pretty much gets their character. I would say that Esmeralda sounds older than she should but she has a fairly soft voice. Phoebus is not memorable but he he’s just relegated to being handsome so who really cares. I also like Gringoire kind of like whiney moaning voice.

Frollo 1986 Hunchback Notre Dame picture image

Frollo

Even the British accents but the don’t bother me. I mean half the time they use British actors for at least Frollo. Also considering this is an Australian production, British is not too far off.

Phoebus 1986 Hunchback Notre Dame picture image

Phoebus

While I don’t think this piece is a masterwork of voice acting I think all things considered in this version the voice acting is fine.

Next Time – The Character Designs, you KNOW what they look like

Frollo 1986 Hunchback Notre Dame picture image

Frollo

Esmeralda and Frollo in Kingdom Hearts picture image

Esmeralda and Frollo in Kingdom Hearts

Let us re-address Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance and discuss Frollo’s voice. Part of the greatness Frollo is Tony Jay’s rich baritone. But who did they get to play Frollo for this game?

The answer is Corey Burton. Burton is veteran voice actor but it is worth mentioning that Burton voiced the Brutish guard in the Disney movie. Which I find slightly amusing.  But Burton doesn’t do a bad job as Frollo is it just different than Jay.

Video of Frollo voiced by Burton.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OalfxY6Xe4s

In Japanese, he is played by Shouzou Sasaki. Sasaki hasn’t lent his voice to much and it seems that this is his biggest role to date.

The Other Voice actors
Quasimodo – Ari Rubin (En)/Sousuke Komori (Jp)
Esmeralda – Renee Faia (En)/Urara Takano (Jp)
Phoebus – Phil LaMarr (En)/Souma Suzuki (Jp)
Hugo- Jason Alexander (En)/Atsushi Haruta (Jp)
Victor- Charles Kimbrough (En)/Kiyotaka Imai (Jp)
Laverne – Patricia Lentz (En)/Hisako Kyouda (Jp)

Some Interesting Notes,
– Jason Alexander and Charles Kimbrough were the only former cast members to reprise their roles.
– Renee Faia appeared in an episode of Seinfeld which stared Jason Alexander.
– Phil LaMarr is also a popular voice actor who was also on MADTv.
– Urara Takano is a well known voice actress who appeared in the musical stage shows of Sakura Taisen (I loved these shows)
– Kiyotaka Imai played the Phantom in the Japanese version of the Phantom of the Opera. Listen here
– Hisako Kyouda oftens plays old ladies in anime.

 

Esmeralda Crying after Frollo stabs Phoebus Jetlag Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Esmeralda Crying after Frollo stabs Phoebus Jetlag Hunchback of Notre Dame

The voice acting in the Jetlag version of the Hunchback  is delightfully bad. Most of the lines are delivered with all the passion of a elementary school play. Though make no mistake it does get hammy at some points, like when Esmeralda utters “No” after Phoebus gets stab. But for the most part it’s dull and passionless.

 

Jetlag Frollo and Garamel from The Smurf picture

Garamel from The Smurfs & Jetlag Frollo

 

Also the style of voice the actors use are laughable. Frollo sounds like Gargamel, the bad guy from the Smurfs (kind of looks like him too), Phoebus and Fleur de Lys have terrible fake french accents, and the Duke of Egypt sounds like a mix of Ganon from the Legend of Zelda cartoon and a Pirate at a bad Ren-Faire.

 

Gringoire tries to score a kiss Jetlag version Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Gringoire tries to score a kiss

Maybe the voice actors were not trying but I kind of get the feeling that they tried to sound bad. Like they were just having fun and didn’t care that much it because the quality of the this product was fairly low anyway. I can’t say I blame them. The voice acting is probably the one aspect that delights in its badness.

 

Next Jetlag Article- The Songs, (Help Me)

Esmeralda dancing Jetlag Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Esmeralda dancing Jetlag Hunchback of Notre Dame

Ah, the voice acting in Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. Some of it’s great, some it is just ok and some of the casting is off, which seems to weaken the believability of the characters. This is more or less in the order of rank, as I see it or hear it.. yeah.. I know lame joke.

 

Tony Jay picture image

Tony Jay

The highlight of the voices in the movie is Tony Jay’s rendition of Judge Claude Frollo. Jay’s cold sounding baritone mixed with his british accent makes for the perfect bad guy voice. He gives Frollo’s voice an air calm control that at any second could explode into fevered anger. Also his voice is seductive, you can believe this guy is a charmer and yet he speaks with command and authority. Jay’s voice helps make Frollo a more interesting character.

Jay had been a veteran Disney voice actor and voice actor in general. He’s been in a number of Disney related films and television shows as well many other non disney films, television and recordings of broadway shows.  On his IMDB page he has 150 credits but I think he most known for Frollo mainly because Frollo is a horrible person and his voice accentuates brilliantly.

Tony Jay  was  nominated for an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting.

 

Paul Kandel picture image

Paul Kandel

Paul Kandel voiced Clopin and is a Broadway performer. He’s probably the best singer in the film (the crescendo at the end of Bells of Notre Dame gets me every single time) and that’s probably why he ended up with the most songs in the movie. In fact Clopin sings more than he actually speaks. Kandel gives Clopin a sense of fun and whimsy but he also gives him a flair for the dramatics which is a boon for the introductory scene since it’s not funny.

 

 

David Ogden Stiers picture image

David Ogden Stiers

David Ogden Stiers voiced the Archdeacon. Stiers like Jay is a veteran voice actor and has been in many major Disney movies. He’s also primarily a  television actor. Stiers runs the gambit of tones  with the Archdeacon’s voice; tenderness, command, authority, concern and a little amusement (the Archdeacon sounded a little amused when he thinking about Esmeralda’s merry chase). Just because the Archdeacon is by all account a glorified extra Stiers’ voice helps makes the character more interesting.

 

 

Kevin Kline picture image

Kevin Kline

Kevin Kline voiced Phoebus. Kline does well as Phoebus but I think he falls short of Jay and Kandel because I mean really, Phoebus isn’t a hard role to play. Phoebus has a dry wit but so Kline, I mean Kline is practically playing himself.  I give Kline credit, he made Phoebus funnier than probably was originally intended which makes him more interesting as character. Because without the humor would Phoebus have been memorable? My guess is no.  Kline is also partly responsible for Achilles’ name. He insistent that horse have a name, so they gave the Phoebus’ horse a name at Kline’s insistent.

 

Fun Fact about Kline’s process – to get into the character of playing a knight, Kline held a sword in hand during recording sessions. He even ruined some recordings because he would hit the microphone (accidently, I’m sure.)

 

 

Jason Alexander picture image

Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander voiced Hugo. As much as I dislike the gargoyles, I think the voice acting is fine. Jason Alexander is best known as George Costanza on Seinfeld. George is uptight and neurotic, the total opposite of Hugo. Hugo is fun-loving and laid back. I think Alexander does very well in the role. But again, is a fun-loving partier a demanding role?  No, not really.

 

 

Charles Kimbrough picture image

Charles Kimbrough

Charles Kimbrough voiced Victor.  Kimbrough  has been in many types of media; film, TV and voice acting. Kimbrough does well enough as the prim, more serious-minded Victor, but it’s hard to lay out Victor’s personality compare to Hugo and Laverne. So it’s hard to identify how well Kimbrough did as Victor.

 

 

 

Mary Wickes picture image

Mary Wickes

Mary Wickes voiced Laverne. Later in Wickes’ career she played cranky old ladies. Two of the movies I remember her in were Little Women (Aunt March) and Sister Act (Sister Mary Lazarus), both characters are tell-it-like-it-is, cranky old ladies much like Laverne. So while she does well in the role she definitely playing her type of role.

 

 

 

Jane Withers picture image

Jane Withers

I want to mention Jane Withers briefly. Mary Wickes died as the film was being recorded and so Jane Withers stepped in to finish the recording and took over the role of Laverne. There are some lines where Wickes started and Withers finished, which is testament to Withers; acting to able to sound almost identical to Wickes.

 

 

 

Tom Hulce picture image

Tom Hulce

Tom Hulce voiced of Quasimodo. Tom Hulce is most known for his role in Amadeus Mozart. I do not find any fault with Hulce’s acting, I think he does a good job giving Quasimodo tenderness, gentleness and a bit of pitiable emo-ness. I also think Hulce does well exhibiting both Quasimodo’s natural disposition and in contrast to his attitude when he’s with Frollo.  So Why is Hulce’s performance second to the last on this Blog post? Well that is because I wonder what the directors were smoking in making  Quasimodo a school boy that’s gentle and sweet. Quasimodo is suppose to be gentle but only to Esmeralda. He’s not suppose have a school boy. I can understand why Disney did this and I understand why Hulce’s voice is good for this type of role but just because I can understand it doesn’t mean I have to condone it. Honestly they made Quasimodo into a Disney Princess. Hulce has a clear voice which is a commonality to the Disney Princess trope. Think about, Quasimodo is a Disney princess, he just a male and not very pretty.

 

Demi Moore image picture

Demi Moore

Demi Moore voiced of Esmeralda.  Like Quasimodo, I think casting was way off. I get that they wanted something different. The directors liked Moore’s husky and rough tone of voice and they liked that she also had a tenderness to it, but Moore ages the character. It’s weird looking at the concept art, how youthful Esmeralda started and how mature she looks/acts in the movie. I understand that the decision to cast Moore was intentional and as part the process of animation is that Esmeralda took on Moore’s looks and mannerism but I don’t think the pay off was good in the long run. I think Esmeralda is too much like Moore and effectively Moore was playing herself  (or at the most her type-cast role) so she didn’t exactly have to exert her acting prowess. Also I think Moore got the role due to sex appeal and popularity. And point Deductions for being the only one of the cast not able to sing her character’s song, though if can’t sing than she can’t sing, but they could have just had Heidi Mollenhauer do the role in it enitety, she is an singer/actress after all. They fact they they didn’t just mean that Moore was cast for her popularity and appeal.

 

Shout Outs/Kudos to:

Gary Trousdale picture image

Gary Trousdale

 

 

-Shout out/Kudos to Gary Trousdale voice of Djali (that not a bleat) and the Old Heretic.

 

 

Corey Burton picture

Corey Burton

Bill Fagerbakke picture image

Bill Fagerbakke

 

 

 

 

 

-Shout out/Kudos to Corey Burton and Bill Fagerbakke, Brutish and Oafish Guards these two made those characters hilarious.

 

 

Agree or Disagree, I’d love to know your opinions

 

Next Time- Going to Start Looking  Music/Songs,  starting off with beginning “The Bells of Notre Dame”