Celebrate Disney's THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME's 22nd Birthday With a Look Back on its Stage Adaptations

Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released 22 years ago today. The film, based on a novel by Victor Hugo, inspired many stage and screen adaptations. In honor of the movie's birthday, we're taking you on a look back through the history of Hunchback!

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame was originally a French Romantic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. The original French title refers to Notre Dame Cathedral. Frederic Shoberl's 1833 English translation was published as The Hunchback of Notre Dame which became the generally used title in English. The story is set in Paris in 1482 during the reign of Louis XI.

The Walt Disney animated musical film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, was released in 1996.

The plot centers on Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer of Notre Dame, and his struggle to gain acceptance into society. Directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale and produced by Don Hahn, the film's voice cast features Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, Kevin Kline, Paul Kandel, Jason Alexander, Charles Kimbrough, David Ogden Stiers, and Mary Wickes in her final film role.

Watch the original trailer below:

The first English-language musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame had its debut at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California on October 28, 2014 and ran until December 7, 2014.

The musical features a score by the multiple Academy, Grammy and Tony Award-winning team of composer Alan Menken (Newsies, Little Shop of Horrors) and lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin), book by Peter Parnell (The West Wing, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever) and direction by Scott Schwartz (Playhouse's Jane Eyre, Broadway's Golda's Balcony). It starred Michael Arden as Quasimodo.

Subsequently, the show went on to open on March 4, 2015 at the Paper Mill Playhouse, with much of the same cast, including Arden. The show closed on April 5, 2015, after it was announced that it would not move to Broadway. However, the show did release a cast album following the Paper Mill production.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is currently staging a new production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame starring Joshua Castille as Quasimodo. A Deaf actor, Castille is celebrated for his performances in Tribes at ACT Theatre in Seattle and in Spring Awakening with Deaf West on Broadway.

Quasimodo, who is deaf in Victor Hugo's literary masterpiece, is a character that Castille and The 5th are delving more deeply into with the real-life experiences and stories of a deaf actor leading the way. Castille is using American Sign Language (ASL) throughout his performance, and E.J. Cardona portrays one of the cathedral's gargoyles and Quasimodo's "voice" in song.