Captain Phoebus - Tumblr Posts
I’m not saying that Stolas is a bad person, I’m just saying that if he watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame, he would argue that Claude Frollo did nothing wrong and that he’s actually the good guy. He would argue that Esmeralda was in the wrong for loving Phoebus and not him.
psa:
the hunchback of notre dame was not and never should have been intended for children. it’s a complex story about love, lust, power dynamics and racism, and by watering it down into a G-RATED kids’ cartoon (with cute singing gargoyles!) we lost out on all the richness of it. esmeralda is just a pretty dancing girl. phoebus is a nice soldier. against this backdrop, “hellfire” is startlingly frightening and creepy. (because it’s adult!) quasimodo sees esmeralda as an angel, frollo sees her as the Devil incarnate, and there’s little else to bring us to a correct conclusion of her character. victor hugo would’ve been mortified. (also, the hypersexualization of a woman of color…)
that doesn’t apply as much to the disney stage musical. here, disney actually meant this for adults. here, you get sweeping orchestral music, a plethora of lyrically complex songs, a richly textured frollo, and even an emotional glimpse of jehan. it’s not without its faults: despite a little more character development, esmeralda is still a very adult sex symbol (hey! she was supposed to be 16!), and phoebus is rewritten as a heroic little himbo. and gringoire is still Not in the picture. but at least you get a better representation of what victor hugo actually intended.
the thing is, two-hour adaptations of massive novels are probably always going to fall short. but victor hugo chose to write SO in depth about lust, sin, misogyny, hypocrisy, death, racism, unrequited love, etc etc etc! there is so much in this book! and the thing is that i believe children are capable of understanding complex themes, and i believe that they should be exposed to rich media. age-appropriate, of course, and i don’t think that this is a story appropriate for young children — but even if disney was planning to cut out the frollo lust plotline (which they didn’t), at least represent women? and romani people? and racism? and unrequited love? in a way that’s both palatable and well-written. we don’t need to water things down for children to understand them. take mr. roger’s neighborhood! take star trek! take bluey! these are all shows that tackle hard themes in a kid-friendly way. more of this please!!!
and if it comes to a story like hunchback, where the big storyline is that a catholic priest is lusting after a young girl? do us a favor and don’t make it into a kid’s cartoon.
Phoebus hypnotized by Jafar
Jafar is also mischievous and playful like Kaa. His first victim? The brave and attractive Captain Phoebus.
"Everything will be fine..." Jafar said, pointing his snake staff at the captain's eyes.
"Everything...will be...fine.." Phoebus repeated, totally hypnotized.
"You are at my command," continued the vizier.
"I am... at your... command"
"From now on you are my slave and you will obey all my orders"
"Yes, master..." Phoebus finally responded, completely submissive to Jafar.
After hypnotizing him in the cathedral, Jafar decided to take Phoebus to Agrabah to enjoy him and his body. During the first night of sex, while in bed, Phoebus showed signs of coming out of the trance.
"Ehh?... What happened?..."
Jafar, seeing that there was still some will left in the captain, grabbed his snake staff and hypnotized him again.
"Remember, Phoebus, you are mine and you live only to serve me."
"Yes, master. I live only to serve you." Phoebus responded, once again falling victim to the staff's mind control spell.
Sometimes hypnosis spells need to be repeated to continue the trance cycle, Jafar knows this. Phoebus is doomed to be Jafar's puppet forever.