Esmeralda (Disney)
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| Esmeralda | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) |
| Created by | Victor Hugo |
| Voiced by | Demi Moore (speaking) Heidi Mollenhauer (singing) |
| Also known as | |
Esmeralda is a female protagonist from Disney's 1996 animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame and its direct-to-video sequel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II. She is an adaptation of Esmeralda from Victor Hugo's novel Notre Dame de Paris, though her situations, like with the rest of the film's characters, differ greatly from Hugo's version. She was voiced by Demi Moore in both films, and her singing vocals were provided by Heidi Mollenhauer. She and Quasimodo also appear at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as meetable characters. She is also the tallest human female Disney character.
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[edit] Personality
Esmeralda is a gypsy who uses her talents in dancing to earn a living. She has a strong sense of justice, and stands up for what she believes in. This is illustrated by her defiant attitude towards the injustice shown by Judge Claude Frollo towards Quasimodo during the Festival of Fools. This same principled, strong attitude surfaces again when, rather than save herself from the pyre and consent to serve Frollo (whom she despises), she refuses and spits in his face. She is shown as being kind and non judgemental; along with having a high emotional intelligence in dealing with people; aka, drawing the repressed Quasimodo out of his shell. She's quick witted with a somewhat dry sense of humor.
[edit] The Hunchback of Notre Dame
In the first film she becomes friends and a temporary love interest to the film's main character Quasimodo, as well as the object of Frollo's desires, and as a love interest to the Captain Phoebus, whom she ultimately ends up falling in love with. Claude Frollo attempts to have her arrested for assisting Quasimodo during the Festival of Fools, but Esmeralda is given sanctuary when she enters Notre Dame.
Eventually she is captured along with the other gypsies dwelling in the Court of Miracles, and is made to choose between burning at the stake or serving Frollo. She refuses to give in to Frollo, and Quasimodo rescues her. After Frollo is defeated when he attempted to kill both Quasimodo and Esmeralda, she ends up with Captain Phoebus.
[edit] The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
In the second film, she and Quasimodo are still very close friends. She is still an entertainer, and is married to Captain Phoebus. They have a son named Zephyr. Esmeralda’s role in this film is minor in comparison to its predecessor, as the second film is more focused around Quasimodo finding a female interest for himself.
[edit] Differences between the film and the book character
In the book, Esmerlda is much younger (around sixteen), and she is French.
Frollo sends his adopted son Quasimodo to kidnap Esméralda from the streets. Esméralda is rescued by Captain Phoebus, whom she then instantly loves to the point of obsession. Later that night, Clopin prepares to execute a failed poet named Pierre Gringoire for trespassing the Beggars' territory known as The Court of Miracles. In a compassionate act to save his life, Esméralda agrees to marry Gringoire.
When Quasimodo is sentenced to the pillory for his attempted kidnapping, it is Esméralda, his victim, who pities him and serves him water. There, Sister Gudule an anchoress, curses Esméralda, claiming she and the other Gypsies ate her lost child.
Two months later, Esmeralda is walking in the streets when Fleur-de-Lys de Gondlaurier and her wealthy, aristocratic friends spot her from the house de Dondlaurier. Fleur-de-Lys becomes jealous of Esmeralda's beauty and pretends to not see her, but Fleur's friends call Esmeralda to them out of curiosity. When Esmeralda enters the room, tension immediately appears-- the wealthy young women, who all appeared equally pretty when compared to each other, are plain in comparison to Esmeralda. Knowing that Esmeralda's beauty far surpasses their own, the aristocrats make fun of her clothes instead. Phoebus tries to make Esmeralda feel better, but Fleur grabs Esmeralda's bag and opens it. Pieces of wood fall with letters written on them fall out, and Djali moves the letters to spell out "Phoebus". Fleur, realizing that she now has competition, calls Esmeralda a witch and passes out. Esmeralda runs off, and Phoebus follows her.
Later that month, she meets with Phoebus and declares her love for him. Phoebus takes the opportunity to kiss her as she speaks, and he pretends to love her. He asks Esmeralda what the point of marriage is (he had no intentions of leaving his fiance; he just wanted to have sex with Esmeralda), which leaves the girl hurt. Phoebus, seeing the girl's reaction, pretends to be sad and says that Esmeralda must no longer love him. Esmeralda then says that she does love him and will do whatever he asks. Phoebus begins to undo Esmeralda's shirt and kisses her again. Frollo, who was watching from behind a door, bursts into the room in a jealous rage, stabs Pheobus, and flees. Esméralda passes out at the sight of Frollo, and when she comes to, she finds herself framed for murder, for a miscommunication makes the jury believe that Phoebus is in fact dead. Esmeralda proclaims her innocence, but she is tortured by a device that twists and crushes one of her feet. Unable to withstand the pain, she states that she is Phoebus' murderer. The court sentences her to death for murder and witchcraft (the court has seen Djali's spelling trick), and she is locked away in a cell. Frollo visits her, and Esmeralda hides in the corner (before this point in the book, the readers know that Frollo's lustful obsession of the girl has caused him to publicly denounce and stalk her). Frollo tells Esmeralda about his inner conflict about her, and he gives her an ultimatum: give herself to him or face death. Esmeralda is repulsed that Frollo would harm her to this extent for his own selfishness. She refuses. Frollo, mad with emotion, leaves the city. The next day, minutes before she is to be hanged, Quasimodo dramatically arrives from Notre Dame, takes Esméralda, and runs back in while crying sanctuary.
While she stays in the cell at Notre Dame, she slowly becomes friendly to Quasimodo and is able to look past his misshapen exterior. Quasimodo gives her a high-pitched whistle, one of the few things he can still hear, and instructs her to use it whenever she needs help. One day, Esmeralda spots Phoebus walking past the cathedral. She asks Quasimodo to follow the captain, but when Quasimodo finds where Phoebus is, he sees Phoebus leaving his fiancee's house. Quasimodo tells him that Esmeralda is still alive, but Phoebus, believing Esmeralda to be dead, tells him to go away. Quasimodo returns and says he did not find Phoebus. For weeks Esmeralda and Quasimodo live a quiet life, but Frollo unexpectedly comes back and is infuriated to see the pair comfortable with each other. He decides to keep his return a secret from them, and for a few days, Frollo hides in his private chambers thinking about what to do next. One night, he brings his master key to Esmeralda's room. The girl wakes up and is paralyzed with terror until Frollo pins her to the bed with his body and tries to rape her. Unable to fight him off, Esmeralda grabs the whistle and frantically blows it. Before Frollo can make sense of her actions, Quasimodo picks him up, slams him against the wall, and beats him with the intention of killing him. Before Quasimodo can finish, Frollo stumbles into the moonlight pouring in from a far window. Quasimodo sees who Esmeralda's attacker is, and drops him in surprise. Frollo fumes with infuriation, and tells Esmeralda that no one will have her if he cannot before leaving the cathedral.
Frollo finds Gringoire and falsely feeds him information that the Parlement will order soldiers to forcefully remove Esmeralda from Notre Dame. Gringoire, believing that he will save the girl, formulates a plan with Frollo. One night, Gringoire leads all the Parisian Gypsies to Notre Dame to rescue Esméralda. Mistakenly responding to this assault, Quasimodo retaliates and uses Notre Dame's defenses to fight the gypsies, thinking that these people want to turn in Esmeralda.
When the King's advisers see the battle of Notre Dame, Parlement votes to remove Esmeralda from her santuary.
Meanwhile, Quasimodo soon finds that he is outnumbered, but the King's archers come to Notre Dame's aid. They clear the streets of the gypsies while Quasimodo runs to Esmeralda's room. He goes into a panic when she is nowhere to be found.
During the attack, Gringoire and a cloaked stranger had slipped into Notre Dame and found Esmeralda about to sneak out of the cathedral (she had feared that soldiers were trying to take her away when she heard the battle). When Gringoire offered to save the girl, she agreed and went with the two men. The three get into a nearby boat and paddle down the Seine, and she passes out when she hears many people chanting for her death.
When Esmeralda wakes, she finds that Gringoire is gone, and the stranger is Frollo. Frollo once more gives Esmeralda a choice: stay with him or be handed over to the soldiers. The girl asks to be executed. Angry, Frollo casts her into the arms of Gudule. There, the two realize that Esméralda is in fact Gudule's lost child. The guards arrive, and Gudule pleads for them to show Esmeralda and herself mercy. Gudule follows the guards to the scaffold, kicking and biting along the way. A guard pushes her, causing her to hit her head, resulting in her death.
Back at Notre Dame, Quasimodo is still frantically looking for his friend. He goes to the top of the north tower and finds Frollo there. Quasimodo notes Frollo's demented appearance and follows his gaze, where he sees Esméralda in a white dress, hanging from the scaffold.
