> > > "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was the last Disney animated film that I thought was truly inspired.
> >
> > Inspired by what? Certainly not Hugo....
>
> Does it have to be?

In a breath: Yes. If it's CALLED "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," then I think it ought to be.

Obviously, it's intuitive that not all plots and scenes and concepts, and character dialogue, as found in a novel/narrative/biography are translatable to a visual media. So yeah, it's always been traditional for filmmakers to take what they can (and want) from a given work, and adapt it for their own purposes to the silver screen. Nothing new there.

But I would argue that borrowing *not just* ideas from Hugo's work, but the name title itself, seems somewhat fuzzily ethically dishonest to me. It's as if the director is saying, "This is how Disney thinks the tragic story of THoND ought to be rewritten, with some kinda dark violent lustful images, but that's okay... it's STILL UPBEAT with song and dance and a happy flower sunshine ending!" I don't know why directors want to play with fire like this using particularly well-known works.

For example, wintermute mentioned he's used to seeing films like Braveheart, The Patriot, and U-571 not being true to the events upon which they are based. I suppose that I, too, don't have that much of a problem with this genre, because they are what you could call "historical fiction." It's obvious that these are fiction because all three directors took blatant -- to the point of laughable -- liberties with which-side-did-what in each of these films. But I think I'd be irked if the big studios had chosen to market these films as The True Story of William Wallace, The Revolutionary War 1781, and The Capture of Enigma.

Maybe this is just a technicality; but I really do think that Disney could well have followed in the same path, avoiding the pillaging of viewer's expectations regarding THoND. Heck, instead of locating the story in the dark and dismal streets of Paris, how about moving it over to any French cathedral town along the sunny shores of the mediterranean Cote d'Azur? I'm sure there's some sleepy coastal bourg which would LOVE to get the tourist interest (and moolah) generated by a major Disney flick. A name like "The Hunchback of Marseillan" carries about as much punch as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," and I doubt that the children would notice the difference. This WAS a children's animation, right?

Don't get me wrong. I personally liked THoND, although as I mentioned, I thought some scenes were a bit too heavy and disturbingly graphic, as well as it having those... emotive heart-throb songs. It just wasn't like the novel. :-)

Wolf "maybe a more accurate title would have been 'Quasimodo Gets a Make-over'" spirit