Posted in: Games, Recent Updates | Tagged: Claude Coats, Disney Park, disneyland, Ken Anderson, Lauren Looks Back, Marc Davis, The Haunted Mansion, walt disney, X Atencio

Lauren Looks Back: Disneyland's The Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion is easily one of the most classic rides in Disney Park history. Almost every Disney Park has their own version of the mansion with varying background stories. But today I'll be focusing on the one that started it all–The Haunted Mansion in New Orlean's Square in Disneyland.

Walt Disney had Harper Goff come up with a concept of the Haunted Mansion in 1951, for his original park that would have been across from Walt Disney Studios called "Mickey Mouse Park". That idea eventually blossomed into Disneyland  The original haunted attraction would have had a broken down church, graveyard, and a house. If you've been to any Haunted Mansion most do have graveyards around the grounds. The church idea was scrapped. It would have also been a walk through attraction.

Walt went to Ken Anderson (who's previous works include Cinderella and The Jungle Book) to flesh out a better idea for the attraction. Anderson–who has an architecture background–looked to the Evergreen House in Baltimore, MD and the Winchester Mansion in San Jose, California for inspiration. The Winchester Mansion is easily the craziest of the two, as the former owner claimed that in order for spirits to not haunt their home, the home must never stop being under construction. Anderson's groundwork for the mansion was influential throughout the 14 year construction of the ride. According to Theme Park Tourist.com, Anderson was influential in the scene where you fall to your death from the attic, and most notably, the bride seen in the attic.

The first story concept for the mansion was based around a pirate captain, Captain Gore. One day Gore's bride is in the attic of their home and comes across a trunk full of vestiges. When the captain learns of his bride's poking around he promptly kills her. There's different stories to how she was killed, one of which he threw her out of a window. But due to his guilt later on, the captain hangs himself. While this story was scrapped there are remnants of it lingering. In the beginning of the ride while you're still in the stretching room, you can see a body hanging from the rafters. When you get to the bride in the attic of the mansion, she is standing near a window. If you read my review of The Haunted Mansion from Marvel comics, you'll know that the antagonist of the story was a pirate captain looking for hidden treasure. He assumes the treasure is in the attic, but won't go up there out of fear of the bride. It's worth noting that no idea ever truly dies in the Disney universe.

A few other ideas were tossed to the way side for the mansion. In one version, Disney himself provided the narration of the ghost host. In a way I'm glad this specific idea fell through. The creepy factor would be too much for even me. Imagineers also toyed with the idea of a Sleepy Hollow retelling, with of course the Headless Horseman being the main antagonist. Anderson's story ideas were all scrapped, but their influence lives on within the many versions of the mansion seen throughout the world. There were wax figures, a museum of weird, and a whole plethora of other creepy items that were ultimately scrapped.

Before a story idea was finalized though, construction began for the facade of the mansion in 1961, and finished in 1963. The mansion was going to be a decrepit run down building but Walt shot that idea down. He didn't want the exterior of the building to clash with the pristine landscape of Disneyland. Imagineers were still coming up with concepts and ideas for the ride, but Walt was still not convinced by any of them. Walt turned to Marc Davis and Claude Coats for help with finalizing the ride. Davis took a humorous approach, while Coats wanted more of a traditional scary feel. For a family friendly park, straight horror can not work. I can personally attest that yes, elements of the ride are scary. If I had a dime for every time a child screamed in my ear when the hanging body was revealed at the end of the stretching room…well I could buy maybe one cheeseburger. Davis probably knew that screaming people in general was terribly annoying.

The two came to some kind of agreement though, as both of them had a heavy hand in the completion of the ride. The beginning of the ride is heavily influenced by Coats' desire for a spooky house, but once you reach the ballroom scene, Davis's lighthearted take is more obvious. His work on the graveyard scene at the end of the ride is one of the greatest pieces is Disney Park history. The song played throughout the ride, "Grim Grinning Ghosts" by X Atencio helps lighten the mood through the ride. The whole theme of the song is that the spooks are silly, which is what the ride portrays the deeper you go inside.

Unfortunately Walt never got to see the final product as he passed away on December 15, 1966. The attraction oficially opened on August 9. 1969. The ride has mostly stayed untouched with the exception of the Hat Box Ghost being taken out…and then put back in for Disneyland's 60th Anniversary. The ride also gets a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay between Halloween and Christmas, and it's awesome. If you're ever at Disneyland (or any Disney Park) the Haunted Mansion is definately one of the "must do" rides. It's been thrilling people for generations, and I guarantee you'll love it too.

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