Disneyland: The Movie - THE HAUNTED MANSION

In recognition of Walt Disney Pictures' new film, TOMORROWLAND, more or less "based" on the futuristic themed land in Disney theme parks, I'm taking a look back at the films based on or inspired by Disneyland attractions.

THE HAUNTED MANSION
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Family, Mystery
Released 26 November 2003
Directed by Rob Minkoff
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp, Nathaniel Parker, Marsha Thomason, Jennifer Tilly, Wallace Shawn, Dina Waters, Marc John Jefferies, Aree Davis, Jim Doughan, Heather Juergensen, Jeremy Howard, Deep Roy, Clay Martinez
Rated PG for frightening images, thematic elements and language.
88 minutes

In all the dozens of iconic attractions that Disneyland has to offer, and has had to offer during its 60 years of operation, there's always been something special about the Haunted Mansion, which has captured the fascination of fans since several years before the attraction even opened to guests.  Its history is one of the most unusual, and its effects are among the park's most elaborate; over the decades, Haunted Mansion lore has built elaborate backstories for the many characters and details of the attraction that fans obsess over.
A haunted house attraction was in the cards for Disneyland from the beginning, appearing on the original concept art created by Disney artist Harper Goff in collaboration with Walt Disney prior to a pitch for potential investors.  With a rushed construction schedule and limited funds, the haunted house fell victim to higher priorities before the park first opened, but when plans for the new themed land "New Orleans Square" began, one of the priority attractions was that old haunted house.  As early as 1961, the Haunted Mansion was advertised to open in 1963, but even as the facade of an old Southern mansion went up, Disney's commitments to the 1964 New York World's Fair, redesigns and Walt Disney's death in 1967 meant that the house remained a perpetually coming attraction until nearly the end of the decade, when it finally opened (to the living) in August 1969.

Image via DoomBuggies.com

Guests enter the Southern plantation-style manor house through the courtyard, clean and kempt (as per Walt's specification that the outside, at least, be consistent with the park's standard of neatness) but populated with cheeky gravestones and exotic flora, and are greeted by the "Ghost Host" (voiced by iconic voice actor Paul Frees), a disembodied spirit who teases guests with the view of his still-hanging corpse in the rafters before narrating a tour of the mansion.  Guests pass through the famous "Stretching Room", where seemingly benign paintings stretch to reveal sinister perils to their portraits, and is in fact an elevator that takes guests from the house seen from outside into the much larger, hidden main section of the ride.  Boarding ride vehicles called "Doom Buggies", guests are taken through the hallways of the spooky house, home to "999 happy haunts" (not all of them are that happy).  The Haunted Mansion is noted for its two-part ride narrative split between the separate domineering visions of Imagineers Claude Coats and Marc Davis, with Coats envisioning an eerie and genuinely scary attraction, and Davis' being more kooky and gag-based.  The first half, primarily Coats', is stylishly creepy, including the Stretching Room, where little children in mouse ears hats are traumatized by the body in the rafters, then onto the "Corridor of Doors", with rattling doors, a corpse struggling to escape a coffin and a clock striking a 13th hour.  There's a seance room filled with flying musical instruments as "Madame Leota" (voiced by Eleanor Audley, recognizable as the voice of the Wicked Stepmother in Disney's 1950 animated classic CINDERELLA, and the wicked fairy Maleficent in Disney's 1959 SLEEPING BEAUTY), a gypsy's head in a floating crystal ball, summons spirits from "somewhere beyond", and a grand ballroom hosts a party of waltzing ghosts.  Although lightened up somewhat by 50th anniversary additions in 2005, one of the most ominous segments of the ride is "The Attic", with a character formerly known simply as "The Bride", now known as "Constance", and the noted villain of the Haunted Mansion, resides.  Constance, dressed in a bridal gown, wields an ax, as the heads disappear from multiple grooms in multiple wedding photos of her.  As Constance swings her ax, the Doom Buggies fly through the attic window and "outside" into "The Graveyard", where the attraction takes on a distinctly sillier tone, as the widely varied spirits hold a jamboree while singing the attraction's theme song (written by Xavier "X" Atencio), "Grim Grinning Ghosts".  Full of gags and ghosts that include a mummy, a band and a quintet of singing busts, among others, as a quivering caretaker and his dog look on, the graveyard concludes with the famous "Hitchhiking Ghosts" (the Prisoner, aka "Gus", the Skeleton, aka "Ezra" and the Traveler, aka "Phineas") who guests see via a mirror riding alongside themselves in their Doom Buggies.  The Doom Buggies then bring guests to the exit through a crypt.
The Haunted Mansion is one of Disneyland's signature attractions, the kind that has fostered an entire surrounding mythos and lore, and is arguably more richly suited to cinematic adaptation than any other Disney Parks' attraction.  Unfortunately, Disney's 2003 film version of THE HAUNTED MANSION squanders that potential in a truly remarkable misfire.

Eddie Murphy stars as Jim Evers, a very successful real estate agent whose obsession with work has put a strain on his relationship to wife, Sara (Marsha Thomason), and kids, Michael (Marc John Jefferies) and Megan (Aree Davis).  As reconciliation for all the family events he's missed because of work recently, Jim plans a family trip, but at the last minute, the Evers get a call from a mysterious client looking to sell Gracey Manor, an historic mansion, and Jim can't pass that up.  So on the way to the family cabin for their trip, Jim drags the family along to meet with Master Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), the owner of the estate, which turns out to be an imposing and decrepit estate in the Louisiana backwoods.  Catered to by the uptight and mysterious head butler, Ramsley (Terence Stamp), the Evers are forced to stay the night in Gracey Manor when a rainstorm floods the nearby river, and soon it becomes clear that the Evers have been called in on false pretenses.  The house is inhabited by ghosts from the 19th century, trapped in purgatory following the death of Master Gracey's fiance, Elizabeth Henshaw, many years ago, and Sara Evers is the exact image of Gracey's lost lady love, leading him and Ramsley to believe she is the reincarnation of Elizabeth and the key to freeing them from their curse.

If nothing else, THE HAUNTED MANSION is a handsome production, with beautiful set decoration and good special effects, as well as makeup designed by movie makeup legend Rick Baker.  Otherwise, there is very little to recommend in it, with a terrible script blamed on David Berenbaum (who had previously written the modern holiday classic ELF, but then went on to write the dreadful superhero kids movie ZOOM), a disingenuous cast led by Eddie Murphy, and the typically dull, family-friendly tone that defines the majority of director Rob Minkoff's work.
Minkoff's directorial debut was none other than Disney's THE LION KING, one of the biggest hit movies of all time and one of my all time favorites, but it would seem that Minkoff is a one-hit wonder.  Prior to THE LION KING, Minkoff directed a couple of excellent animated shorts based on the characters of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, Tummy Trouble and Roller Coaster Rabbit, but perhaps it's evidence of the high level of collaboration involved at Walt Disney Animation Studios, because he's since made the very middle-of-the-road family films STUART LITTLE and STUART LITTLE 2, the anti-climactic teaming-up of Jet Li and Jackie Chan in THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, and Minkoff's ho-hum return to animation in 2014's MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN.  While none of them rise above vanilla fare, the only one of Minkoff's films that can honestly be described as "bad" is THE HAUNTED MANSION.
The greatest of this film's many flaws is its incredible misreading, or perhaps disregarding, of the beloved and rich source material.  Walt Disney's Haunted Mansion is a haunted house, a Disneyland take on a haunted house, but a haunted house nonetheless, and making the movie a comedy was their first mistake.  The Haunted Mansion is a horror story with a thick comedic vein, but THE HAUNTED MANSION is a comedy with a thick vein of horror.  Their second mistake was making it an dreadfully unfunny comedy.
THE HAUNTED MANSION's story is actually fairly dark, and probably the most interesting thing about the movie, involving an Antebellum Southern aristocrat who fell in love with a black woman, and when she was murdered by a man attempting to preserve his master's status and made it look like a suicide, the aristocrat hanged himself.  There's a lot of potential there, but the execution of the story is weirdly family friendly, ignoring the obvious politics of the plot, and relying very heavily on sight gags that amount to little more than calling attention to the beloved source material.
For as out of step with the park attraction's tone as the movie it is, the subtlety and charm of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL's homages to its source material is traded out for an incredibly thick display of maladroit references to its theme park origins.

The Many, Many References to the Disney Theme Parks 
To be fair to THE HAUNTED MANSION, it's based on a theme park attraction that's a lot more specific to its setting and in at least a number of its characters than Pirates of the Caribbean was.  But more than half the film is comprised of putting familiar scenes from the attraction (and even some moments that pay tribute to other Disneyland attractions) on film in very direct translations:

• Opening Credits: Wasting no time, the movie opens with the words "Welcome, foolish mortals," the first lines of the Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion, performed in voice-over by Corey Burton, who plays the Ghost Host THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS-themed seasonal overlay, Haunted Mansion Holiday.  The opening credits sequence then features a floating candelabra, akin to the one in the "Endless Hallway", a montage including a ballroom dance, a la the grand ballroom party sequence in the ride, and the body of Master Gracey hanging in the rafters like the body of the Ghost Host in the Stretching Room.

  

  Image via toursdepartingdaily.com

• Master Gracey: The character of Master Gracey is taken from a gravestone that reads "Master Gracey laid to rest. No mourning please, at his request." and appears in the queue graveyard at the Walt Disney World version of the ride, and formerly at the Disneyland version.  The mansion in the film, referred to as Gracey Manor, also features an expansive graveyard in the back.
• Gracey Manor: The exterior of the "haunted mansion" as depicted in the film, Gracey Manor, is a combination of the architectural features of the Haunted Mansions at Disneyland and at Walt Disney World.  The film also takes place in Louisiana near the bayou, in reference to the Disneyland version's placement in the New Orleans Square themed area.
• Music: While an original musical score composed by Mark Mancina is used in the film, there are also portions of the attraction's own soundtrack, including the theme song, Grim Grinning Ghosts, sung by the "Singing Busts" who are voiced in the film by Disneyland's resident barbershop quartet, The Dapper Dans.
• The Hallway: When Jim Evers accidentally discovers a hidden passageway in Master Gracey's library (modeled after the library from the Walt Disney World version of the ride), it leads him down a hallway chock-full of theme park references, such as the changing portraits of a woman who transforms into a tiger and a man on a rearing horse (modeled after Napoleon in the movie) who both turn to skeletons, the "Watchful Busts" who turn and stare at him as he walks past, the "Breathing Door" that bulges at the center, and the raven.
• A Wedding: Michael and Megan go into the attic and find storage including the portrait of a woman and an old wedding dress, somewhat in reference to "Constance" the Bride, from the attic in the attraction, albeit more benign.  The climax of the film also involves a wedding, accompanied by a discordant wedding march.
• Madame Leota: Madame Leota, the gypsy psychic's head in a crystal ball, is portrayed in the film by Jennifer Tilly, and is introduced in a scene modeled after her scene in the attraction, in a wild seance with musical instruments whirling through the air.
• Ezra: One of the house servants, Ezra (portrayed by Wallace Shawn), is named for the popular apocryphal named of the skeletal Hitchhiking Ghost, and in assisting Jim to get to get outside of the house, quotes the Ghost Host from the attraction: "Well, there's always...my way." 
• The Graveyard: The graveyard sequence in the film is filled to the gills with characters and sight gags taken from the Grand Ballroom and the Graveyard sequences from the attraction, including but not limited to: the attraction's most famous characters, the Hitchhiking Ghosts (portrayed by Deep Roy, Jeremy Howard and Clay Martinez), the Duelists from the Grand Ballroom, the Tea Party Ghosts, the Caretaker and his Dog (depicted as flesh and blood characters in the attraction, but as ghosts in the film), the teeter-tottering Royalty, the Decapitated Knight and Executioner, and the aforementioned Singing Busts voiced by the Dapper Dans, all while Jim and the kids ride through in a ghostly carriage like the one displayed outside the Disneyland attraction.
• The Crypt: Jim and Megan look for a key in a crypt similar to the one that appears in the Haunted Mansion's queue, and one of the zombies emerges from a coffin similarly to the trapped corpse in the Conservatory.
• Tiki Bar: The tiki-themed drink spot where Jim meets to close a deal with some clients pays homage to the Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room animatronic musical show in Disney Parks.

THE HAUNTED MANSION was a very modest success, not nearly that of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, released four months earlier.  Seven years later, in 2007, Disney announced a planned remake, as it were, to be overseen by genuinely visionary creative talent and Haunted Mansion fanboy, Guillermo del Toro.  The prospect of an edgier del Toro-guided film version of the theme park attraction was very exciting at the time, but being spread so thin between his many projects, the developments have been very slow coming.  Occasionally, a minor update will crop up on the development of the new Haunted Mansion movie, but so far, production isn't starting anytime soon.

Top 3 of THE HAUNTED MANSION 

1. The Production -  The look and visual style of THE HAUNTED MANSION is fittingly gorgeous, rarely deviating from the theme park attraction, but appropriating the environments for the screen.
2. Zombies -  One of the few moments when the film actually ventures into real horror territory, the zombies in the crypt, makeup creations of movie makeup legend Rick Baker, are just the right level of creepy and kooky.
3. Wallace Shawn - As the houseman Ezra, Wallace Shawn finds unlikely humor in the terrible script, delivering lines with slightly self-aware, sardonic crankiness like, "Yes, sir, what a fool!" and "Trespassers don't get cookies!"

All images via Disney, unless otherwise noted.