Quasimodo is a literary character coming from Victor Hugo's 1831 gothic-novel Notre Dame de Paris (French: Our lady of Paris) or as it is better known in English, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (a title that Hugo greatly disapproved of).
Description[]
Origins[]
In the original novel set in 15th century Paris, Quasimodo was a Romani boy who was born hideously deformed with among other malformations, a twisted spine and giant, "Wart" covering most of his left-eye. Due to this his parents swapped him out with another infant that they would name Esmeralda. In horror and disgust of Quasimodo, the baby hunchback was abandoned in Notre-Dame Cathedral where he was raised by the corrupt Archdeacon Claude Frollo and his younger brother Jehann Frollo.
The boy would be named Quasimodo due to having been found on the Quasimodo Sunday of the Christian Eastertide though his name had a double-meaning as it translated to, "Partly-formed" in reference to his malformations. He would be raised in relative isolation in the bell-towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral where it was his duty to ring the bells, an occupation which caused him to become deaf but incredibly strong. As a young-man, Quasimodo would leave the tower to try and partake in the festivities of Paris and becomes infatuated with Esmeralda only for the hunchback be arrested. Due to being completely deaf, Quasimodo was unable to hear the charges against him and his monstrous appearance lead the the courts treating him as a monster to be stripped down and flogged. Esmeralda stopped them from doing so however, showing kindness to Quasimodo when no-one else would.
Quasimodo's adoptive parent Frollo would become infatuated with Esmeralda however and try to manipulate Quasimodo into kidnapping her for him while also having Esmeralda falsely accused of the murder of one Captain Phoebus, a misogynistic captain of the guard who also pursued Esmeralda and was attacked by Frollo in a jealous rage. When Esmeralda rebuked Frollo's advances he left her to the gallows only for her to be saved by Quasimodo, swinging from a rope to save her as she saved him and using the law of sanctuary to keep her protected in Notre-Dame. Later when the king's guard tries to raid the cathedral to forcefully remove Esmeralda, Quasimodo notices Frollo's evils and pushes him off the bell tower to his death before fleeing and never being seen again. Years later, Quasimodo's skeleton would be found in the destitute no-man's land burial-grounds of Paris embracing the remains of Esmeralda who had died trying to flee the city.
Notable Appearances[]
- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1929): This was a silent universal monster-movie starring horror-legend Lon Chaney as Quasimodo.
- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1939): A remake of the 1929 film, this adaptation was in sound and had Charles Laughton as the titular hunchback.
- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1996): Quasimodo is the protagonist of this Disney film which does take many liberties from the original story. Of note, Esmeralda is a Romani woman rather than being secretly white, Frollo is a racist catholic judge who murdered Quasimodo's Romani parents and took in the boy out of fear of judgement, Phoebus is Esmeralda's heroic love-interest rather than an antagonist, and no-one but Frollo dies at the end.
Appearances[]
The Haunted Mansion[]
Unused[]
One of Ken Anderson’s proposed scripts for the Haunted Mansion involved cameo appearances from famous literary and historical villains and ghosts. Quasimodo was one of these characters, alongside Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, Captain Hook, the Phantom of the Opera, Anne Boleyn, Lucrezia Borgia, Anne Bonny, Jack the Ripper, King Tut, Jacob Marley, Ebenezer Scrooge, the Canterville Ghost, Simon Legree, Little Eva, the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow, Great Ceasar's Ghost and the Lonesome Ghosts. It is likely that Quasimodo would have been modelled after one of his Universal monster-movie appearances considering how they were used as reference by Anderson when designing his interpretations of monsters such as Frankenstein's monster or a Mr. Hyde inspired scientist.[1]
Legacy[]
On Main Street, U.S.A. there is a fortune-teller machine containing a Romani woman by the name of Esmeralda which has several connections to the Haunted Mansion such as her cards containing Stretching Room portraits or her role in the Ghost Post interactive game. It is more than likely that she took her name from Esmeralda in Victor Hugo's story.
The character of Phineas the Hitchhiking Ghost is often shown with a hunchback and squashed face with a growth covering his left eye. It is possible that Marc Davis and Blaine Gibson were inspired at-least in-part by Quasimodo when designing him.
Other Disney Park Appearances[]
- Quasimodo's likeness can be found in Clopin's Music-Box in the Fantasy Faire area of Disneyland's Fantasyland. A cut-out of him appearing in the background, peeking out from Notre-Dame Cathedral's bell-tower.
- Quasimodo was the protagonist of Disneyland's Frontierland musical-show The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Festival of Fools which ran from 1996-1998 in Big Thunder Ranch.
Trivia[]
- The Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein's monster, Quasimodo, Count Dracula and Mister Hyde are the only classic Universal movie monsters known to have been proposed to appear in the Haunted Mansion. Of them, only Count Dracula and an alternate version of Mr. Hyde would appear.
- It should be noted that the arsonist portrait was originally planned to be a werewolf, a mummy appears in the attraction, and a Creature from the Black Lagoon inspired monster once was depicted in Phantom Manor.