She did a reading with Disney’s casting department, then met with the film’s directors, Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale. But to be considered the perfect person to portray an ugly stone statue didn’t seem like much of a compliment to Lauper.īut Cyndi - who still dreamed of achieved screen immortality as a character in a Disney animated film - shrugged off the perceived insult and threw herself into the audition process. I mean, she knew that her voice and her looks were … somewhat unconventional. Credit: Wikipedia CommonsĬyndi was somewhat taken aback by this request. Disney wanted Lauper to audition to be the voice of one of Quasimodo’s made-of-stone friends: Quinn, a gargoyle. On the drive over, Cyndi wondered: “They couldn’t be thinking of me for the voice of Esmerelda … could they?”Īh … actually, no. Lauper practically flew over to Burbank, so eager was she to find out what the Mouse had in store for her. Disney was just beginning development of a musical cartoon version of Victor Hugo’s “ The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” The folks over at Feature Animation were wondering whether Lauper would be interesting in being a part of the project. They promised Lauper that - once the right project came along - she would be the first person that the Mouse would call.Ĭyndi pestered the Mouse for years until in late 1993, that phone call she’d been waiting for finally came. Whenever she went to one of the studio’s film openings or attended a Disneyland press event with her family, Lauper would badger company executives, repeatedly telling them “I want to do a cartoon with you guys.” The executives all assured Cyndi that they knew about her interest. Cyndi Lauper – Voice of Gargoyle QuinnĪll her life, this colorful pop star had wanted to be in an animated film for Disney.

The reality of the job is considerably different - particularly when you’re working on a film that’s in trouble.

The hardest part of the job would seem to be that long walk out to the mailbox, where you have to pick up that oversized check.Īt least that’s what people seem to think happens when actors are hired to do voices for Disney films. I mean, what do you do? You show up at the studio, schmooze with the director, say a few jokes, take an hour for lunch, do a few more jokes, break for tea, do another couple of jokes, then - ooops - it’s time to go home. How tough can it be to do the voicework for the comic relief in a Disney animated film?

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