Frozen star Josh Gad is still thought to be attached to Disney's planned live-action The Hunchback of Notre Dame movie, though it's been a while since we've heard anything more about the project than the fact the script is finished.
Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz were attached to write the music for this adaptation, with Gad producing and likely to play Quasimodo. However, Menken has now cast doubt on the project becoming a reality, even though the 1996 animated classic was a critical and commercial hit (it was even the fifth highest-grossing movie that year).
Talking to ComicBook.com, the legendary composer shared his belief that the subject matter in The Hunchback of Notre Dame makes it not only difficult, but perhaps even impossible, to adapt in 2023.
"I have no idea," Menken said when asked where things stand with the movie. "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, but the Hercules movie is apparently underway and I got some inklings of what's going on, but just some, and I've been more involved with the Broadway show off of Hercules, which is coming, and it's really exciting."
"Hellfire" was performed by Tony Jay as the villainous Judge Claude Frollo, and the song, while praised as one of best ever produced by Disney, is definitely a tad problematic these days. For example, he sings about wanting to destroy the young Esmeralda so she can "taste the fires of hell" and "be mine and mine alone."
Even back in 1996, alterations had to be made so the movie could receive a "G" rating, but there's a lot in a story like The Hunchback of Notre Dame that, predictably, is likely to cause a stir online these days.
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