Mandy Patinkin auditioned for the role of Quasimodo in the Disney version of Le Bossu de Notre-Dame (1996). Patinkin brought his own accompanist to the audition and sang a rearranged version of a Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz song--with Menken and Schwartz in the room! Needless to say, the audition was a disaster. He was cast as Quasimodo in this film and Tom Hulce was cast to voice Quasimodo in the Disney version.
This put an end to Terry Gilliam's rival plans to film this story with Gérard Depardieu.
A lot of lines said by Quasimodo are taken from the 1939 film starring Charles Laughton, including the famous line, "Why wasn't I made of stone, like thee?". Mandy Patinkin, who played Quasimodo, was inspired by Laughton to play the character.