Acclaimed Notre Dame tour guide Emily MacKinnon joins us to discuss Disney’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” which celebrates its 30th birthday this month!
Often called Disney's darkest animated movie, this black sheep of the Disney renaissance spawned a multi-million-dollar merchandising campaign, a direct-to-video sequel, a live show at the Disney parks, two stage musicals, and an announced but quietly canceled live-action remake.
Whose idea was it to turn “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” by Victor Hugo into a Disney movie? Why didn’t Quasimodo and Esmeralda end up together? Are we ever getting a live-action remake of this film, and should we?
Listen along to learn the answers to these questions and more!
Watch our LIVE Q&A with lyricist Stephen Schwartz, producer Don Hahn, directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, story writer Tab Murphy, and supervising animator Kathy Zielenski on SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET on https://www.YouTube.com/@Hunchback30thAnniversary!
RING THE NOTIFICATION BELL to be automatically updated when new episodes are released!
BOOK A TOUR WITH EMILY: https://www.quasimodoandhiscathedraltours.com/
JOIN THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME SUBREDDIT: https://www.reddit.com/r/HunchbackOfNotreDame/
JOIN THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME DISCORD SERVER: https://discord.gg/uRa88pfFTF
FOLLOW OUR SOCIALS:
EPISODE SOURCES:
- “'The Hunchback Of Notre Dame' At 25: An Oral History Of Disney's Darkest Animated Classic” by Josh Spiegel
- Alan Menken Interviews with ComicBook.com (May 11, 2023) and The Standard (Feb 24, 2025)
- Audio Commentary by Don Hahn, Gary Trousdale, and Kirk Wise
- “The Art of The Hunchback of Notre Dame” by Stephen Rebello
- Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, Issue 10
EPISODE CHAPTERS:
(00:00) Special Announcement
(01:00) Intro
(02:07) Emily’s Story
(17:16) How Did This Movie Get Made?
(25:25) Plot Synopsis
(29:45) How Loose Is This Adaptation?
(33:33) Quasimodo’s Role
(43:02) Claude Frollo’s Role
(49:45) Box Office Performance + Controversies
(52:52) The Gargoyles
(57:38) History of the Announced Live-Action Remake + Our Thoughts
(01:12:29) Clopin’s Role
(01:18:40) Phoebus’s Role
(01:25:31) Should Quasimodo and Esmeralda Have Ended Up Together?
(01:35:55) Duets Between Phoebus and Esmeralda
(01:37:59) Esmeralda’s Role
(01:46:02) Ranking the Songs
(02:09:04) Historical Inaccuracies
(02:12:51) Overall Thoughts + Inn, Dust, Throw
(02:25:32) Outro
Podcast logo by Ryan Grimm (Instagram: @grimmstar2002).
