Walt Disney Books - Aladdin 2: The Return of Jafar

The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules by
John Grant

Walt Disney Character Description of Esmeralda from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996)

If Quasimodo is Disney's ugliest hero, Esmeralda is indubitably the company's sexiest - apart from Jessica Rabbit. Esmeralda, the gupsy dancer who performs in the street in order to earn coppers to feed herself and her pet goat Djali, has a huge mane of black hair, turquoise eyes that flash whenever her ire is roused, a risqué sense of humor, and an approach to life that is underlined by an attitude of steel....

The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules by
John Grant

A recurrent characteristic of the Disney animated features over the past few years - at least since 1989's The Little Mermaid - has been the presence of a strong female character in a central role. Belle, Jasmine and Esmeralda are other examples. None of these, however, can compare with the figure of Pocahontas: She is the movie, to the extent that, when everything else might be forgotten, her image persists in the memory. The reasons for this phenomenon are multiple, involving not only her conceptualization...