Clopin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clopin Trouillefou is a fictional character of the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame by French author Victor Hugo.
In the story, Clopin disrupts Gringoire's play, begging the audience for money. Later that night, Gringoire runs into him once again in the Court of Miracles, where Clopin is revealed not as a beggar, but as King of Truands. He prepares to execute Gringoire for trespassing, until the beautiful Esmeralda agrees to marry him in order to save him.
Near the end of the novel, Clopin receives news of Esmeralda's upcoming execution for the framed murder of Captain Phoebus. In order to rescue her, he rounds all of the Truands to attack Notre Dame Cathedral where Esmeralda is protected by Quasimodo. In response to the assault, Quasimodo retaliates with stones, timber, and molten lead. Finally, the author notes that Clopin dies courageously during the attack.
[edit] Modern portrayal
- Ernest Torrence, in the 1923 silent film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- Thomas Mitchell, in the 1939 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- Philippe Clay, in the 1956 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- David Suchet, in the 1982 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- Paul Kandel, voice actor for Clopin in the 1996 Disney animation The Hunchback of Notre Dame and its sequel.
- Luck Mervil, in the French musical stage performance Notre-Dame de Paris in 1998.
[edit] Disney portrayal
Clopin is also present in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, in which he is a gypsy who is more jovial and less sinister than in the novel. He is voiced by Paul Kandel.
As well as narrating the whole film, Clopin introduces the film and begins the story with the song 'The Bells of Notre Dame.' He also sings 'Topsy Turvy' about the traditional Parisian 'Feast of Fools', held every year on January 6.
Clopin wears two costumes during the film: a purple, pink, and yellow jester suit with gold bells, a gold earring, and blue hat with a yellow feather and curly-toed shoes (also with gold bells), which he wears at the Festival of Fools. He also wears one similar to the aforementioned costume, but instead almost completely purple with gold trim.
He appears in the film five times. The first appearance is when Clopin sings "Bells of Notre Dame," which tells the tale of how Frollo killed Quasimodo's mother, but was stopped by the Archdeacon before he could kill Quasimodo by drowning him in a well.
The second appearance is at the Festival of Fools, where he sings "Topsy Turvy," a riveting dance number that explains that it is "the day we do the things that we deplore on the other three-hundred-and-sixty-four." It is also during this song that he crowns Quasimodo the King of Fools.
His third appearance is much later in the film, at the Court of Miracles, which is where he and a large group of Gypsies believe Quasimodo and Phoebus to be spies. They sing the song "Court of Miracles" as Clopin puts Quasi and Phoebus on trial. He eventually finds them "totally innocent, which is the worst crime of all." He prepares to hang them, but Esmeralda arrives in time to stop him and tell the Gypsies of their good intentions.
His fourth appearance is briefly during the climax of the film where Esmeralda is at the pyre before Notre Dame. When Quasimodo rescues Esmeralda, Pheobus releases all of the Gypsies, including Clopin, from their cages and along with the civilians they attack Frollo's soldiers.
His fifth and final appearance is at the end, where he sings a reprise of "Bells of Notre Dame."
Not only is Clopin the narrator in the story, he is also the king of the Gypsies, who at the time were being rounded up and murdered in an act of 'purification' by Judge Claude Frollo, the evil character of the film. He nearly executes Quasimodo and Phoebus who entered the gypsy sanctuary, called the Court of Miracles, with the intent to warn the people of Frollo's invasion. Clopin also appeared in the straight-to-video sequel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2.
Clopin has quite a large cult following on the internet; many fan sites are dedicated to him and feature fan art and fan fiction. There are many reasons as to why Clopin is so popular to The Hunchback of Notre Dame fans. One main reason is that he is given very little screen time and not much is ever said about him or his past. This fact leaves viewers to speculate all kinds of things about his life before and after the movies. Also, unlike many Disney characters who's personalities are very defined (being a good or bad person), Clopin's is not. One moment he's entertaining and singing to children, the next he's attempting to hang the movie's heroes. His character has many layers, which is somehow appealing to viewers.
