Post by Ninara Poll on Feb 6, 2006 6:30:21 GMT -5
My main, Disney-related fandom's celebrating the 10th anniversary of what brought it into existence. When I realized this July's the 10th anniversary, I started trying to think of something to do a celebratory fic about, an for some reason that produced a brainwave concerning something I'd love for Watts to do a remake of (this idea was subsequently shared with a fan community, complete with unnecessary Watts lyrics quoting and a mention or two of raymondwatts.com and theswining.com. Bow to me. ).
The song I think Watts would do a superlative remake of is "Hellfire" from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Basically Disney's attempt to distill the essence of the Victor Hugo novel in less than five minutes, it's got lust, repression, guilt, a twisted interpretation of Catholicism, self-justification, stalker-level destructive obsession, gratuitous choir singing parts of the Latin penitential rite, and hints of racism, not to mention the overabundant use of fire in the animated sequence that goes along with the song. (Well... okay... I sort of have a bit of a fascination with fire.... ) I will admit the lyrics are a bit simplistic, as is the exploration of Hugo's themes, but let's face it, for a Disney film this is majorly adult stuff.
There's a small .wma of one of the Spanish versions of the song at www.geocities.com/aranxta1/LC-FdI.wma , if you want to get an idea of how the song sounds. And since I'm just feeling too lazy to type out the lyrics, any good Disney lyrics site should have the lyrics for it (it'll most likely be called "Heaven's Light/Hellfire", as it's actually two songs strung together... hmmm, the two comprise a simple study of love vs lust, having Watts do both would be interesting.... ).
Yeah... I know that remake will NEVER happen, it's right up there with men becoming the primary childbearers of the human race, but since that bastard Eisner retired from Disney, I can dream about Disney possibly opening up a little creatively. Not to mention how Disney's developed the habit of having its more memorable songs re-recorded by more recent "artists" every few years as desperate attempts to drain the last cent out of diehard fans.
That's the sort of thought that happens when fandoms of mine randomly and meaninglessly collide... anyone have any other suggestions for Watts Remakes That Will Most Likely Never, EVER Happen, No Matter How Hard You Wish?
NP
Well... okay... here are the lyrics for both parts (Latin translations are mine, if you really want the official translation go look up the Confiteor and its official English translation):
He's-too-cute-to-be-Quasimodo: So many times out there
I've watched a happy pair
Of lovers walking in the night
They had a kind of glow around them
It almost looked like heaven's light
I knew I'd never know
That warm and loving glow
Though I might wish with all my might
No face as hideous as my face
Was ever meant for heaven's light
But suddenly an angel has smiled at me
And kissed my cheek without a trace of fright
I dare to dream that she
Might even care for me
And as I ring these bells tonight
My cold dark tower seems so bright
I swear it must be heaven's light
The monastic choir of doom:
Confiteor Deo Omnipotente (I confess to God the omnipotent)
Beatae Mariae semper Virgini (to blessed Mary always virgin)
Beato Michaeli archangelo (to blessed Archangel Michael)
Sanctis apostolis (to the Holy Apostles)
omnibus sanctis (to all the saints)
Watts, erm, Frollo: Beata Maria
You know I am a righteous man
Of my virtue I am justly proud
TMCOD: Et tibi, Pater (and you, Father)
Frollo: Beata Maria
You know I'm so much purer than
The common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd
TMCOD: Quia peccavi nimis (that I have sinned)
Frollo: Then tell me, Maria
Why I see her dancing there
Why her smold'ring eyes still scorch my soul
TMCOD: Cogitatione (in thought)
Frollo: I feel her, I see her
The sun caught in her raven hair
Is blazing in me out of all control
TMCOD: Verbo et opere (in word and works)*
Frollo: Like fire
Hellfire
This fire in my skin
This burning desire
Is turning me to sin
It's not my fault
TMCOD: Mea culpa (it's my fault)
Frollo: I'm not to blame
TMCOD: Mea culpa (it's my fault)
Frollo: It is the gypsy girl
The witch who sent this flame
TMCOD: Mea maxima culpa (through my most grievous fault)**
Frollo: It's not my fault
TMCOD: Mea culpa (it's my fault)
Frollo: If in God's plan
TMCOD: Mea culpa (it's my fault)
Frollo: He made the devil so much
Stronger than a man
TMCOD: Mea maxima culpa (through my most grievous fault)**
Protect me, Maria
Don't let this siren cast her spell
Don't let her fire sear my flesh and bone
Destroy Esmeralda
And let her taste the fires of hell***
Or else let her be mine and mine alone
(Dialogue here that I'm leaving out, basically Frollo finds out Esmeralda has escaped, after which he declares that if he has to burn Paris to the ground to find her, so be it, he will.)
Frollo: Hellfire
Dark fire
Now gypsy, it's your turn
Choose me or
Your pyre
Be mine or you will burn
TMCOD: Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
God have mercy on her
TMCOD: Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
Frollo: God have mercy on me
TMCOD: Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
But she will be mine
Or she will burn!
*Resist the urge to make the Microsoft jokes.
**Couldn't think of a good way to translate this, so I fell back on the liturgical translation.
***I actually prefer the Latin American Spanish lyrics on this part, very roughly translated they go "Protect me, Maria/from this her cruel spell/if not, her fire is going to kill me/Destroy Esmeralda/who samples the fire of Lucifer [or, "let her taste/try/sample the fire of Lucifer" -- basically, let her be destroyed by Lucifer's fire]. Another song earlier in the movie, from that same translation, describes Frollo as "a shadow of iron like the bells [of Notre-Dame] you hear", which I think says quite a bit more about the character than do the English verses for that part of the song: "At a figure whose clutches/were iron as much as the bells [of Notre Dame]". This is a character whose actions tend to be accompanied on the soundtrack by ironic yet appropriate verbal selections from the Dies Irae, sung by TMCOD. You don't mess with a guy whose accompanying soundtrack is drawn largely from the funeral Mass! Hmmm... Watts should do an arrangement of the funeral Mass, or at least the Dies Irae, I can almost hear what it would sound like ....
The song I think Watts would do a superlative remake of is "Hellfire" from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Basically Disney's attempt to distill the essence of the Victor Hugo novel in less than five minutes, it's got lust, repression, guilt, a twisted interpretation of Catholicism, self-justification, stalker-level destructive obsession, gratuitous choir singing parts of the Latin penitential rite, and hints of racism, not to mention the overabundant use of fire in the animated sequence that goes along with the song. (Well... okay... I sort of have a bit of a fascination with fire.... ) I will admit the lyrics are a bit simplistic, as is the exploration of Hugo's themes, but let's face it, for a Disney film this is majorly adult stuff.
There's a small .wma of one of the Spanish versions of the song at www.geocities.com/aranxta1/LC-FdI.wma , if you want to get an idea of how the song sounds. And since I'm just feeling too lazy to type out the lyrics, any good Disney lyrics site should have the lyrics for it (it'll most likely be called "Heaven's Light/Hellfire", as it's actually two songs strung together... hmmm, the two comprise a simple study of love vs lust, having Watts do both would be interesting.... ).
Yeah... I know that remake will NEVER happen, it's right up there with men becoming the primary childbearers of the human race, but since that bastard Eisner retired from Disney, I can dream about Disney possibly opening up a little creatively. Not to mention how Disney's developed the habit of having its more memorable songs re-recorded by more recent "artists" every few years as desperate attempts to drain the last cent out of diehard fans.
That's the sort of thought that happens when fandoms of mine randomly and meaninglessly collide... anyone have any other suggestions for Watts Remakes That Will Most Likely Never, EVER Happen, No Matter How Hard You Wish?
NP
Well... okay... here are the lyrics for both parts (Latin translations are mine, if you really want the official translation go look up the Confiteor and its official English translation):
He's-too-cute-to-be-Quasimodo: So many times out there
I've watched a happy pair
Of lovers walking in the night
They had a kind of glow around them
It almost looked like heaven's light
I knew I'd never know
That warm and loving glow
Though I might wish with all my might
No face as hideous as my face
Was ever meant for heaven's light
But suddenly an angel has smiled at me
And kissed my cheek without a trace of fright
I dare to dream that she
Might even care for me
And as I ring these bells tonight
My cold dark tower seems so bright
I swear it must be heaven's light
The monastic choir of doom:
Confiteor Deo Omnipotente (I confess to God the omnipotent)
Beatae Mariae semper Virgini (to blessed Mary always virgin)
Beato Michaeli archangelo (to blessed Archangel Michael)
Sanctis apostolis (to the Holy Apostles)
omnibus sanctis (to all the saints)
Watts, erm, Frollo: Beata Maria
You know I am a righteous man
Of my virtue I am justly proud
TMCOD: Et tibi, Pater (and you, Father)
Frollo: Beata Maria
You know I'm so much purer than
The common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd
TMCOD: Quia peccavi nimis (that I have sinned)
Frollo: Then tell me, Maria
Why I see her dancing there
Why her smold'ring eyes still scorch my soul
TMCOD: Cogitatione (in thought)
Frollo: I feel her, I see her
The sun caught in her raven hair
Is blazing in me out of all control
TMCOD: Verbo et opere (in word and works)*
Frollo: Like fire
Hellfire
This fire in my skin
This burning desire
Is turning me to sin
It's not my fault
TMCOD: Mea culpa (it's my fault)
Frollo: I'm not to blame
TMCOD: Mea culpa (it's my fault)
Frollo: It is the gypsy girl
The witch who sent this flame
TMCOD: Mea maxima culpa (through my most grievous fault)**
Frollo: It's not my fault
TMCOD: Mea culpa (it's my fault)
Frollo: If in God's plan
TMCOD: Mea culpa (it's my fault)
Frollo: He made the devil so much
Stronger than a man
TMCOD: Mea maxima culpa (through my most grievous fault)**
Protect me, Maria
Don't let this siren cast her spell
Don't let her fire sear my flesh and bone
Destroy Esmeralda
And let her taste the fires of hell***
Or else let her be mine and mine alone
(Dialogue here that I'm leaving out, basically Frollo finds out Esmeralda has escaped, after which he declares that if he has to burn Paris to the ground to find her, so be it, he will.)
Frollo: Hellfire
Dark fire
Now gypsy, it's your turn
Choose me or
Your pyre
Be mine or you will burn
TMCOD: Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
God have mercy on her
TMCOD: Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
Frollo: God have mercy on me
TMCOD: Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
But she will be mine
Or she will burn!
*Resist the urge to make the Microsoft jokes.
**Couldn't think of a good way to translate this, so I fell back on the liturgical translation.
***I actually prefer the Latin American Spanish lyrics on this part, very roughly translated they go "Protect me, Maria/from this her cruel spell/if not, her fire is going to kill me/Destroy Esmeralda/who samples the fire of Lucifer [or, "let her taste/try/sample the fire of Lucifer" -- basically, let her be destroyed by Lucifer's fire]. Another song earlier in the movie, from that same translation, describes Frollo as "a shadow of iron like the bells [of Notre-Dame] you hear", which I think says quite a bit more about the character than do the English verses for that part of the song: "At a figure whose clutches/were iron as much as the bells [of Notre Dame]". This is a character whose actions tend to be accompanied on the soundtrack by ironic yet appropriate verbal selections from the Dies Irae, sung by TMCOD. You don't mess with a guy whose accompanying soundtrack is drawn largely from the funeral Mass! Hmmm... Watts should do an arrangement of the funeral Mass, or at least the Dies Irae, I can almost hear what it would sound like ....