In the audio commentary on The Hunchback of Notre Dame DVD, Wise described his fear that he would have to plea with Feature Animation chairman Roy E. Disney and Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner to let them do the sequence.
Wise also indicated that he and visual effects artistic supervisor Chris Jenkins wanted to make sure the "fire-spirit" shots of Esmeralda in the sequence would not endanger the film's possibilities of earning a "G" rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.