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The Hunchback of Notre Dame is among the many Disney animated classics set to be remade as a live-action feature by the studio. Roy Conli, who was a producer on the animated version, recently voiced his thoughts on the live-action remake following a lack of updates on the project since its initial 2019 announcement.

Speaking with Screen Rant to promote the Disneynature documentary, Tiger, Conli shared that he doesn't know if a live-action Hunchback of Notre Dame remake is actually in development at Disney. "I too have heard rumor of that. I don't have any solid information on that," he said, which will likely come as a disappointment to fans hoping for a more concrete update. "But I do think it's interesting. I would love to. I think that could be a stunning one. I think that's Alan Menken's most beautiful score. I absolutely adore that score." Conli also stated that Disney's 2002 animated movie,...

What's the best Disney villain song? I love Scar's devious rallying call "Be Prepared" from "The Lion King." For the feminine villains, "Mother Knows Best" from "Tangled" (sung by Tony winner Donna Murphy as Gothel) is deliciously theatrical.

Ultimately, still, the crown can't go anywhere but to "Hellfire" from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," as Claude Frollo (the late Tony Jay) sings before a searing fireplace about his lust for Romani "witch" Esmeralda (Demi Moore). Jay's mellifluous baritone was like no other — the actor's voice was so powerful it lifted the song with its echoes.

Now, the "Hunchback" soundtrack is nothing to sneer at, but "Hellfire" is on another level of daring ambition. "Out There" (by Tom Hulce as Quasimodo) is the "yearning song" seen in many a Disney movie, a la "Part of Your World" from "The Little Mermaid" or "Belle's Reprise" from "Beauty and the Beast." Esmeralda's...

When something goes into the public domain, it often becomes a target for filmmakers to snatch and adapt however they see fit. A notable example dropped in 2023 with Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, a slasher horror gorefest utilizing characters like Winnie, Piglet, and other beloved childhood icons from A. A. Milne. It’s a modern trend for filmmakers to jump on copyright-free opportunities.

Copyright laws do a lot to protect artists and their intellectual property, preventing the media from being snatched or reused without permission. But intellectual property laws don’t stick with something for all eternity, including copyright and trademarks. Once a copyright expires, often 95 years after publication or 70 years after the author’s death, a project is in the public domain, meaning owned by the public. Disney has a long list of those movies. Many of them even stemmed from public domain stories.

Updated on February 1, 2024, by...

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Disney’s live-action Hunchback of Notre Dame adaptation has been in development for several years, and despite Josh Gad’s involvement and considerable fan demand there’s still much uncertainty around its future. The original animated The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released by Disney in 1996, starring Kevin Kline as Phoebus, Demi Moore as Esmeralda, Tom Hulce as Quasimodo, and the late Tony Jay as villain Judge Claude Frollo. It was notoriously dark for a Disney animated feature, and definitely sits among their more controversial releases.

In 2019 it was announced that The Hunchback of Notre Dame was up for the now-notorious Disney live-action remake treatment. The news was met...

Several live-action remakes of classic films from the Disney Renaissance are currently in development, though at least one of them, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, has hit a stop and all because of what has been suggested to be a major story issue.

Composer Alan Menken, who has worked on films such as the animated The Little Mermaid, recently spoke with ComicBook.com and offered an unfortunate update on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He stated, "It's a tough one, because the Hunchback movie, Hunchback story involves a lot of real, real issues that are important issues and should be explored to be discussed. And there has to be an agreement about how we deal with those issues. You know, do we do a Hunchback without 'Hellfire?' I don't think so ... So it sits in this limbo right now."

Related: Why Disney Originally Thought Lion King Would Fail

Disney's...

Disney composer Alan Menken explains why a live-action The Hunchback of Notre Dame film may never happen. Loosely based on the 1831 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, Disney's animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame premiered in 1996 to massive critical acclaim, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of the year. In January 2019, a live-action remake of the film was announced, titled Hunchback, with actor Josh Gad set to produce.

In an interview with Comicbook.com, Menken says that progress has halted on Hunchback and that he isn't certain the film will ever happen. Menken admits that The Hunchback of Notre Dame is difficult to adapt because of the subject matter and the range of real-world issues the film deals with. He references "Hellfire," an iconic song from The Hunchback of Notre Dame that might not be appropriate to include in a remake of the film. Read Menken's full comment below:

"I have no idea.

Whenever people whine about movies that "couldn't be made today," they're usually referring to comedy films with a grossly outdated sense of humor or storylines that are blatantly discriminatory. Seldom are they referring to the truly ridiculous swings of comedy films made from the 1970s-1990s, a style that has mostly dissolved into our collective memories and only reappears when some brave soul makes an absurd laugh riot like "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar."

The sad result of every blockbuster franchise slowly attempting to push us into a nostalgia-mad monoculture has been a lack of weirdo cinema. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of folks out there making unique films, but they're typically released independently and without the marketing budget or publicity they deserve. This makes greenlighting offbeat comedies a risky move for studios and denies audiences fresh, experimental comedy adventures. The Broken Lizard comedy troupe...

New Girl is new to Hulu this April. That's right, all seven seasons of the Zooey Deschanel-led comedy will be leaving Netflix and heading to Hulu this coming month. Though that's not the only title inbound for Hulu in the coming weeks, the Lil' Dicky series Dave will be returning for Season 3 after a nearly two-year hiatus and follows the comedian/rapper going on tour. After being the bonafide scene-stealer in recent hit films and shows such as WandaVision and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Kathryn Hahn will lead the Hulu original limited series Tiny Beautiful Things, based on the best-selling novel of the same name. Broken Lizard, the team behind the cult classic comedy Super Troopers, are reuniting for the medieval comedy Quasi, which promises to be an R-rated take on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Fan-favorite films such as American Psycho, Despicable Me 1 and 2, Shrek 1 and 2, Bridesmaids,...

Walt Disney Studios reportedly rejected Michael Jackson’s pitch to provide the soundtrack for the 1996 animated favorite “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” As a Slash Film oral history of the cartoon classic adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel reveals, Jackson attempted to provide songs for the movie in 1995.

But the singer/songwriter’s controversial public profile at the time, which saw child sexual abuse allegations begin to emerge in 1993, turned the studio off, as composer Alan Menken details in the story. (Via NME.) Menken won Oscars prior to the release of “Hunchback” for “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” and “Pocahontas,” and most recently provided music to the 2019 reboot of “Aladdin.”

“I get a call out of nowhere from Michael’s assistant, when Michael was at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York,” Menken said. “He had to [deal with] allegations about inappropriate behavior with underage kids, and the breakup with Lisa Marie Presley.

The Disney film called Hercules took a deep dive into various aspects of Greek Mythology, with one of them being the various gods they worshipped. One of these beings was known as Hades, and he was the evil villain in the film. Fans instantly took to his unique looks as he sported a blue facade and flames for hair, which has led them to create several pieces of fan art in his honor.

Related: Disney: 5 Reasons Hercules' Hades is the scariest Disney Villain (& 5 It's Hunchback's Frollo)

The art these fans have created is incredible as it paints this character in a new light. They use a variety of tools and techniques, as well as their own imaginations, to bring this character to life in new and interesting ways.

In most classic Disney animations, the themes are light, the story is sweet, and the guy gets the girl by the end. However, Walt Disney Pictures broke all the rules with the release of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996. Based on the Victor Hugo novel of the same name, this musical drama follows a deformed bell-ringer living in Notre Dame cathedral named Quasimodo, who hopes to one day be accepted into society. While The Hunchback of Notre Dame had a lot going for it, not every detail of the film is perfect. We’re here to focus on these now.

Related: Disney: 10 Things That Don’t Make Sense About The Little Mermaid

Before we get started, it’s worth noting that we will only focus on the original Hunchback and will also fully ignore the direct-to-video sequel. With that said, it’s time to jump back to the 1400s and head to Paris.