bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

With a tale too dark, one hero too ugly, a heroine too sexy and a villain too lust-driven, one would think that the directors for Disney's summer biggie The Hunchback of Notre Dame would have more to worry about than whether or not their leading man should sport a beard.

  'But believe it or not, after all the controversy, the biggest argument we had with the executives was whether or not Phoebus should have a beard,' laughed Kirk Wise, in Hong Kong recently with his co-director Gary Trousdale to promote the animated feature.

  'In the 1930s and 40s, it was not the fashion for Hollywood leading men to have beards and moustaches, and Disney's heroes have always been patterned after them. They got in a rut,' added Trousdale, who sports a beard himself.

  It is obvious from the finished version of the film, where Phoebus sports an interesting goatee, that Wise and Trousdale won their battle.

  The Hunchback of Notre Dame is based on Victor Hugo's book about deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo (the voice of Tom Hulce) who is secluded by his repressive guardian Judge Claude Frollo (Tony Jay) in the towers of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

   On a disastrous outing to revel in the fun of the Festival of Fools, Quasi meets gypsy dancer Esmeralda (Demi Moore) and Frollo's new captain of the guards, Phoebus (Kevin Kline).

  Quasi loses his heart to the defiant Esmeralda after she saves him from a mob lynching. But then so do Phoebus and Frollo, but Esmeralda only has eyes for the former, thus provoking a jealous Frollo into leading a witch-hunt for Esmeralda that leaves Paris burning and Quasi torn between his love for a woman he knows he can never have and loyalty, albeit misguided, towards his lifelong guardian.

  Wise and Trousdale had actually been developing another story idea - on the migration of humpback whales - for an animated feature, when Quasimodo and company were dropped into their studios.

  It did not take long for the duo to agree to move from humpback to hunchback because they were excited by the material which suggested so many visual possibilities. The only real misgiving they had was that their art crew who had spent some months working on the humpback project would feel their work had been wasted. They were given the thumbs-up.

  Wise and Trousdale's main concern was how they were going to bring the novel alive. Both knew that they would have to contend with lots of competition.

   There have been nine film adaptations of Hugo's novel, not to mention countless theatrical versions and musicals. The 1939 film starring Charles Laughton had also become more or less the definitive adaptation of the book and there were bound to be comparisons.

  'We looked at as many of the versions as we could. They were all different from each other. None of them did the novel either,' said Trousdale.

  'It kind of heartened us because after seeing that, we realised that we were free to do a little more adaptation. We're not constrained. We just made sure that we didn't do another 1939 version.'   'There are no singing gargoyles in that version. We're pretty sure of that!' quipped Wise.

  'This is definitely an interpretation through a Disney filter. While we wanted to remain true to the story, we wanted to make sure there were enough elements of fun and fantasy, music and humour. We wanted to make sure there was that kind of balance.'   Still, no sooner had The Hunchback of Notre Dame been released in the United States than it began stirring up another storm of controversy for Walt Disney Pictures. Controversy seems to be the norm of late for Disney's animated features and Wise and Trousdale have not been particularly bothered by it.

  'Audiences are evolving and becoming more mature and sophisticated. We're trying to speak to them and not do talking bunnies every time. We're trying to stretch and, yeah, it makes some people nervous,' Trousdale said.

  Wise admitted that Notre Dame has made a few ripples but he still thinks it is all right for them to stretch and 'grow a little bit' as a studio.

  'Hopefully the audience will follow us. There will be some who will be a little confused, but I think at the heart of everything we're doing the things that really give Disney movies a lasting quality: the appeal of the characters, the emotion of the story, the drama . . . all these things are all intact,' he said.

  'Every time we make one of these [animated features], we're always trying to push in new directions in story-telling or technology.'   And The Hunchback of Notre Dame has really allowed Wise, Trousdale and their crew of 620 to do this to the fullest.

   Technically, the film takes animation to dizzying heights. The duo introduced computer-generated animation to Beauty And The Beast where they used the camera to pan around the ballroom where Belle and the Beast share their first dance.

  In Notre Dame, the computer-generated graphics and the traditional hand-drawn and hand-painted animation are blended so smoothly that it is difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins.

  'I think that is the future of Disney animation. You'll see more and more computer graphics blended into traditional animation and vice versa,' predicted Wise.

  He and Trousdale are most proud of the scene where Quasimodo swings from the top of his tower down into an angry mob to save Esmeralda from being burnt alive and then carry her to the sanctuary of his towers.

  'That scene shows us at our best. In that shot, every technique we have is utilised - the 3-D computer graphics of [Notre Dame] and the people blended with the traditional hand-painted background,' Wise said.

  With the benefit of real-life buildings and scenery to draw from, Notre Dame's backgrounds are more vivid and realistic than most of its Disney predecessors.

  'In an animated feature, you don't often get to visit the actual location. We spent about 10 days in Notre Dame, taking photographs from every angle,' Wise said.

  The excellent animation, however, has not been able to tone down the dissenting voices over their choice of story and what they had done with it.

   Critics have complained about them changing the endings and others have queried the suitability of the material as an animated feature for general audience because in Hugo's book, Frollo is a priest depicted as being sexually obsessed with Esmeralda.

  Wise added: 'It has to be equally entertaining for audiences on different levels, from the oldest to the youngest, not just the children. Walt Disney understood that you had to make a movie that entertained all ages [because] he said 'If I made films just for children, I would be out of business'.'   Having said that, Wise pointed out that they would never make a film that would exclude children since they were an important part of their audience.

  'Even in a story as complex as Notre Dame, we wanted to make sure it was accessible to children and entertaining for them. In particular, they would be able to sympathise with and feel affection for Quasimodo and I think we succeeded,' he said.

  'I think adults can see some of the darker sub-text but most of it should sail right over the children's heads. It's presented in a way the kids can understand but not something from which they will get all the shadings . . . We made sure the story was told tastefully.'   On most film sets, the presence of two directors might lead to a major ego crisis, but Wise and Trousdale have found that they work best when they have each other to bounce ideas off.

   Because of the massive amount of complicated work that goes into it, Wise says it needs two people just to keep track of the 'complex machinery'. Even then The Hunchback of Notre Dame has taken the two directors almost three years.

   Trousdale generally takes care of the special effects and the layout while Wise looks after the characters and clean-up work. Both get their hands dirty, however, with the story development, the editorial, colouring and drawing.

  But both are satisfied with the outcome of their efforts. 'For me, the most satisfying is kind of a combination of the elements and seeing them up on the screen and being swept away in the story,' Wise said.

  'The idea that drawings coloured in with paint can make an audience laugh or cry and forget that they're watching a cartoon is a remarkable thing,' Trousdale added.

  Despite the controversies, Trousdale and Wise will be back for more after a break away from work. Already there is talk there will be a science fiction-based feature with producer Don Hahn.

 And the humpbacks? 'I think we'll put it on the shelf for the time being.' The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Intercontinental circuit) 



From humpback to hunchback