Saturday, November 24, 2007

Famous Monsters of... Disney

Greetings Ghost Fans,

One interesting thing about the concept art for some of the ghosts that Marc Davis created is that, some of them were apparently not to be humanoid spirits, but that of Monsters. Three in particular, as seen in these concepts, are the Hatbox Ghost, Gus the Hitch-hiker and the Executioner.


Sunday, November 18, 2007

Where in the World is... that demon face...

Greetings Ghost Fans,

One interesting detail that is famous of the mansion is the Corridor of Doors demon faced damask designed wallpaper. However, there are currently 3 incarnations of this wallpaper.

First there is the original design which featured a mottled blue background with various asymetrical faces.


Phantom Manor has its own version of the wallpaper featuring a fully symetrical design.


Lastly, recently added to the refurbished WDW Haunted Mansion is a printed out design with a flat blue background.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

The Tower of Terror

Greetings Ghost Fans,


No, this weeks post isn't about another amazing Disney Attraction, so fear not, its about Mansion!


While browsing through my usual favorites on the internet, I came across a posting on BoingBoing for a blog that features animation backgrounds. This blog featured some pretty neat stuff. One set of backgrounds was from the 1937 Disney short, The Lonesome Ghosts. As some know, the Lonesome ghosts have been known to be connected in ways of the Mansion, such as certain sound effects from their short and also being featured in merchandise.



One thing I found interesting about one background featuring their favorite haunt was an architectural detail that looked somewhat fammiliar... Was this detail something later used in the 1971 incarnation of the Mansion? I don't know. You be the judge.



To see more animation backgrounds, please visit this amazing blog.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Faces Faces Everywhere

Greetings Ghost Fans,

I must apoligize for my lack of posts here recently. I just returned from my trip to see the new Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion. I must say, I had seen the mansion prior to rehab, and now. It's a world of difference. The effects are working, the audio is clear and everything shines as though new. If you haven't seen the new mansion yet, I urge you to go take a look if possible. You won't be disappointed.

This week's post is about the new portraits hanging in the Corridor of Doors. These portraits aren't new to Disneyland, in fact, they have been hanging there since opening day. Walt Disney World's corridor has been barren for decades. As mentioned in an earlier post, one corridor portrait was stashed away in the attic, and while a smaller duplicate portrait is now in the corridor, I am not sure of the originals whereabouts. However, in this new collection of photos are a few never before seen.





I must say, I am glad that the Walt Disney World corridor has these. It has always seemed a little empty and adding these great photographs was a simple addition that made the experience more magical.