In 1982, the eighth film adaptation of Victor Hugo's famous novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame was produced as a part of the long-running Hallmark Hall of Fame series. It featured a number of legendary actors such as Anthony Hopkins as Quasimodo, Derek Jacobi as Claude Frollo, John Gielgud as Jacques Charmolue and David Suchet as Clopin Trouillefou.
This film contains examples of:
- Abled in the Adaptation: Downplayed. Quasimodo still has most of his disabilities, save for being half-blind in that the wart does not cover his left eye as it did in the book.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: In a manner of speaking. In the original novel, Frollo was completely bald with only a few white hairs on his head, in other words he was Younger Than They Look. As portrayed by a forty-four-year-old Derek Jacobi, Frollo does not look nearly so old.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In contrast to the book where Phoebus was not yet married, in the film itself he reveals to Esmeralda that he already is married, turning him from a simple womanizer to an adulterous husband.
- Adapted Out: Sister Gudule, Jehan Frollo and Louis XI are all omitted.
- Age Lift: Quasimodo was 16-20 years of age in the novel while he is 25 in the film. Likewise, Frollo is a tad bit older than 36, being 44 going by Derek Jacobi's age, as he is a young man when he adopts Frollo rather than an eleven-year-old boy.
- Agony of the Feet: Esmeralda has her bare foot crushed in a torturing device known as the Boot to get her to confess to Phoebus' murder. Needless to say, it works.
- Ambiguously Brown: Due to her literary counterpart having been an example of Ambiguously Brown, it is uncertain if this portrayal of Esmeralda is truly a Race Lift or still an example of Roma by adoption with her backstory having been cut.
- Ambiguous Situation: Due to Esmeralda's age never being brought up, it is unclear if she is still 16-20 or has also been subject to an Age Lift like Quasimodo, thus making her 25. That Lesley-Anne Down was 28 at the time suggests the latter, however
Dawson Casting may be in effect. - Barefoot Captives: Esmeralda has her shoes taken from her during her torture scene and spends the rest of the film barefoot. She doesn't really seem to mind, though.
- Disney Villain Death: Inverted, with Quasimodo dying by falling rather than Frollo.
- Hot Gypsy Woman: Esmeralda is definitely perceived as this, which is hardly surprising as she's portrayed by a young Lesley-Anne Down. Whether or not she's supposed to be of actual Roma descent is another matter.
- The Ghost: What Fleur-de-Lys was demoted to, being referred to when Phoebus says he is already married.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In contrast to the original novel, Frollo is impaled on a hook in the bell tower by Quasimodo in self-defense.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Pierre Gringoire is promoted to the position of Esmeralda's love interest, with a scene even devoted to her realizing she is in love with him rather than Phoebus.
