Disney's Live-Action Thread

> For years I swore Frollo in the film was a priest.

He is called a judge at beginning,in the book from what I've gathered he was a priest but for the film they spilt in role in half,his good side becomes the priest in white and the bad is Frollo in black

In doing so, it made the Archdeacon a superfluous character, and kinda created a Plot Hole as to why he didn't just take Quasimodo in himself.

Good thing they made that change from the novel, because that was a big "f*ck you" that really needed to be said at the time. You know I really should see that movie as well, because then I can compare it side by side with the Disney animated version.

I think making Esmerelda Romani is the biggest service the adaptions have done, since it hammers in the message about caring for the outcast.

In one idea, I was thinking the new movie would have both the archdeacon and Frollo raise him. With the archdeacon protesting Frollo's mistreatment of the boy, but Frollo rebuffs his complaints.

Edited by firewriter on Jan 20th 2019 at 11:24:20 AM

> and kinda created a Plot Hole as to why he didn't just take Quasimodo in himself.

Maybe he thought being made to raise Quasimodo would be sufficient atonement for the death of his mother?,this is spelled at when the priest holds the dead woman in his arms and stops him killing the infant

(x4) I watched it as a kid so the difference between a judge and priest didn't really stick with me. He was highly religious so he seemed like a priest to me.

Interesting enough there was a deaf judge character in the book.

During the period that the book is set priests could be judges in church courts,so Frollo being a Judge as well as priest makes even more sense

The plot hole is more: Where the f.. is the arch decon in all this?

he's busy in rome

I wouldn't say its a plot hole as maybe it just paints the character in a different light. Maybe he's either ignorant to Frollo's cruelty to Quasimodo; willfully or genuinely, or maybe he's too stuck in the whole 'Raise him as your own to atone for your sins' and letting Frollo fail at the task to actually protect the child in this atonement.

Again, the muasical fixed a lot of these problems including making Frollo the Archdecon, changing the gargoyles drastically, and exploring the themes a lot better.

I'd point out that also the book's themes are mostly unintelligible in a film format or most other mediums so focusing on Esmerelda and adapting that into the main thrust of the story was inevitable.

@Ultimatum

They still did have non-priest judges as well. You know funny enough I think Dreamworks had priests as villains in two of their 2D movies.

With Frollo, him becoming a judge-priest could be interesting.

I liked the contrast between the Arch-deacon and Frollo but it's under-used in the movie (as you already have all this Frollo-Esmeralda-Phoebus-Quasimodo business to deal with). If they went for a longer Adaptation Expansion, the Archdeacon is one of the main things I'd expand upon, seeing more of his contrasting and antagonistic role with Frollo and paternal relationship with Quasimodo. Maybe have Frollo actually kill him during the climax at Notre Dame to add some torque to it (as the character effectively vanishes after Frollo tosses him off the stairs) and even more weight to Quasi considering murdering Frollo.

I wouldn't remove him both because I quite like the moments of contrast he does get (like him pointedly declaring Frollo "learned to respect the sanctity of the church" to Frollo's disdain) and because does get what I consider the most powerful moment of the entire film, right in the opening: "You can lie to yourself and your minions! You can claim you haven't a qualm! But you never can run from nor hide what you've done from the eyes....THE VERY EYES...OF NOTRE DAME!" and Frollo quivering in fear of divine justice.

That moment doesn't quite have the same punch if you remove the Archdeacon's powerful words channeling that divine justice. He's a character primed for expansion.

Edited by Gaon on Jan 20th 2019 at 5:26:19 AM

Yeah I know,point was Priests could be Judges in their own church courts,which is how I would have explained Frollo if he had remained a priest

@Gaon

It would be just good to adapt the Garogyles into being motionless statues, while the Archdeacon could be made more of a figure that Quasi could talk to. And maybe even influence him to go out.

I could see one scene where the Archdeacon could catch Quasi talking to the gargoyles, and then goes along with it because he understands that Quasi considers them his only friends.

I also agree that Archdeacon's powerful scene in the beginning should be a reason why he should be kept.

Edited by firewriter on Jan 20th 2019 at 5:43:25 AM

Random thought: It would be hilarious if Emma Watson had a cameo in the film, walking through the town square, reading a book, dressed as Belle.

I hate her performance as Belle, so I am not interested in her making a cameo.

Hunchback takes place in 1482, while Beauty and the Beast is estimated to take place around the mid 1700s.

Edited by Tuckerscreator on Jan 20th 2019 at 7:30:51 AM

@firewriter: I'd actually quite like to see the Archdeacon taking the role of the Gargoyles as Quasi's confidant and perhaps occasional comic relief.

There's a deleted scene somewhere that heavily implies that the gargoyles are just figments of Quasimodo's decaying mental state, IIRC.

@Gaon

Funny enough in some adaptions when Frollo is not made a priest. The archdeacon is his own character and is a father figure to Quasimodo. The Secret Of the Hunchback from UAV Entertainment is one example. It means the Archdeacon would also be a case of Adaptional Comic Relief as well, since he would be taking over the comedic role of the gargoyles. As said before, maybe have the archdeacon be at the climax of the battle between Quasi and Frollo, which has him die during the event. It gives a sense of loss for Quasimodo.

Also it would mean cutting out "A Guy Like You", and maybe replacing it with the archdeacon trying to console that everything will be okay as Paris is burning.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfTheHunchback

Edited by firewriter on Jan 20th 2019 at 9:14:27 AM

Oh lord, that was the film where Quasimodo was revealed to be an angel at the end and his hunchback was where he was hiding his wings.

No, I'm not joking. Look it up. That scene is amazing to watch unfurl.

I remember catching the end of that movie when it was on t.v. one Christmas.

@chasemaddigan

90's Mockbusters were something to behold.

Tell me I'm not the only one who wants a Pinnochio remake. By Disney, because there have been other live action films about the puppet who wants to be a real boy. They weren't too good.

Supposedly one was greenlit.

However, Netflix is resurrecting Del Toro's Stop-Motion adaptation too.