The Case of The Haunted Mansion (2003)
We’ve seen movies based on books, comic books, fairy tales, myths, and even songs. But this week, we’re looking into another Disney film that was based on a theme park ride! Last year, we did an episode on The Hollywood Tower of Terror, a 1997 made-for-TV film based on an iconic ride at Walt Disney World (the one at Walt Disney Land is no more.) Since Tower of Terror made its debut, Disney has produced several films based on some of its most popular theme park attractions, the most successful being Pirates of the Caribbean. In the Fall of 2003, Disney released a live-action film based on its spookiest ride: The Haunted Mansion.
This family-friendly adventure was a fascinating display of physical and practical effects and featured many callbacks to the original ride. However, it was heavily criticized by critics and fans alike for its “unimaginative” and “simple” plot, and for having a “laughless” script. But in recent years, many fans have revisited the once-hated Haunted Mansion and have defended it against the overwhelming negativity surrounding the film.
So, we have decided to revisit the movie as well. Not as critics, mind you, but as spooky historians uncovering its past and how it came to be. So, be sure to bring your death certificate and follow us into the terrifying halls of The Haunted Mansion!
History of the Haunted Mansion
Before we get into the story behind the film The Haunted Mansion, we need to talk about the history behind the ride!
Sometime in the late 1950s, as Walt Disney pushed his Imagineers to create the most visually stunning and mechanically complex attractions for his new theme park, imagineer Rolly Crump joined the team tasked with creating a “museum of the weird.” As the attraction developed, it evolved into a haunted house filled with ghosts and other strange phenomena.
Construction on the exterior of the ride began in 1961 and lasted only two years. Imagineers took inspiration from an unlabeled image of the Shipley-Lydecker House located in Maryland for the mansion’s design. The house also has influences from homes in Louisiana at the turn of the century. Walt specifically wanted the exterior to remain neat and clean reportedly saying, “we’ll take care of the outside, and let the ghosts take care of the inside.”
Although the exterior had been completed in 1963, it sat dormant for several years. Park visitors could see the attraction, but the only indicator of what they could expect from the inside was a sign alerting all passing spirits that post-lifetime leases were available in the Haunted Mansion.
Rolly Crump continued to make hundreds of sketches for the interior of the ride. He and another imagineer named Yal Gracey used new technology and age-old illusions to fill the sound stages with haunting scenes. They and their team built audio animatronics of the ghostly characters. To make them appear ethereal, Crump and Gracey used a technique called the “Pepper’s Ghost Illusion.” Named for a 19th century scientist, this trick uses a large piece of glass that sits at an angle between a well-lit room and a hidden one. Guests of the Haunted Mansion look straight on at the lit staged room, as the glass reflects the hidden room. When the lights are dimmed in the staged room, and the dark hidden room is illuminated, the scene in the hidden room appears to the audience.
Disney’s imagineers also developed the “Doom Buggy,” which is the seat that carries guests through the house. This ride system is a variation of the omnimover, which means the cars can swivel in all directions while still staying on the track. Because of this, riders only see what the imagineers wanted them to see.
Work on The Haunted Mansion halted in 1966 after the death of Walt Disney left the team with no direction in terms of the tone of the ride. Imagineer Marc Davis eventually decided that a mixture of scares and silliness would be the way to go. He also pushed for the ride to be more character driven, with featured ghosts that stood out to the park guests. In August of 1969, The Haunted Mansion opened its doors. The ride was a huge hit and continues to be one of the most iconic attractions at Disneyland.
Summary
In an attempt to prove to his wife that he isn’t neglecting his children for work, real estate agent Jim Evers agrees to take the family on a weekend getaway. Just before leaving, the couple receive a call from a mysterious potential client, asking the Evers to meet him at his mansion. Soon after the family arrives, they discover that the mansion is haunted by several ghosts. One of which is Master Gracey, who believes that Jim’s wife, Sara, is the living embodiment of his lost love. Jim must find a way to navigate the halls of this strange and terrifying house, reunite with his family, and save his wife from falling under Gracey’s spell.
Making of
Like most films that come out of Hollywood, the idea for a film adaptation of The Haunted Mansion was several years in the making. Disney first started working on the idea back in the early 90s, and an early version of the script was drafted by Sheila Greenburg and James Hill. This version of the film focused on a storyline that wasn’t used in the final ride, about a sea captain. But, because of the unsuccessful showing of Hocus Pocus in 1993, Disney decided to scrap any horror comedy projects.
Several years later in 2001, Disney began a push to turn many of their theme park rides into films. The Haunted Mansion was optioned once again, but with an entirely different storyline that wouldn’t have anything to do with the original script.
David Berenbaum, the screenwriter behind the hit holiday classic Elf, was responsible for the new screenplay. Producer and director Rob Minkoff, who directed The Lion King in 1994, took the director’s chair.
Berenbaum channeled the spirit of horror comedies of the past by using references to films like Young Frankenstein, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and the various Abbott and Costello horror comedies.
It was clear from the beginning that the most important piece of the film was its title character: The Haunted Mansion. Although the film’s version of the mansion doesn’t follow the design of the ride exactly, a lot of care and attention went into building the set.
The exterior of the mansion was made to look like the swamps of New Orleans (to fit the original location of the ride). The exterior trees were built in, and set decorators hung moss from them.
The first three floors of the exterior mansion were built, with the attic, chimney, and spires digitally added. Production designer John Myhre created the illusion that the house is always watching by placing eyes in the metal framework, wallpaper, and any other location.
The designers began sketching the interiors of the mansion, and then built foam core models. They then used a “lipstick” camera (which is a very small camera that’s roughly the size and shape as a tube of lipstick) to mimic certain shots that they wanted to create. Then they created a 3D computer visual of the mansion before beginning construction.
The interior sets were located on sound stages in Barwick Studios. It’s so rare that film crews get to work on gigantic sets like this one, so the team was often in awe of the expansive rooms and their meticulous detail.
Set decorators Rosemary Brandenburg and Jeff Williams filled the mansion with all kinds of strange and creepy objects. One featured item is the red couch in the library, which was actually a set piece from Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. There was also a webbing team, which came in and sprayed cobwebs and dust all throughout the set to maintain that dirty, dingy look.
Costume Designer Mona May created all the outfits from the whimsical spirits to the 19th century ball gowns. In the opening sequence, there is a ballroom scene filled with actors in period costume. Later on, the ghosts wear the exact same costumes. Mona May has worked as a costume designer on over 70 projects, including Enchanted and Clueless.
Filming for The Haunted Mansion began in January of 2003 and wrapped in June of the same year. The film starred comedian and actor Eddie Murphy. Several years earlier, Murphy delivered a stand-up routine explaining why he would never stay in a haunted house, so casting him in this film added an extra layer of subtle humor.
British actress Marsha Thomason played Sara Evers. She essentially had to play two characters, the modern-day Sara and her 19th century counterpart. Thomason perfected an American accent for one character, and used an English accent for the other.
Aree Davis played Megan Evers, the snarky daughter to Eddie Murphy’s Jim. In her introductory scene, she smashed a spider with a magazine. The spider was made of plastic and filled with custard that spilled once it was crushed.
Marc John Jefferies played Michael. Even though his character was younger than his sister, Jefferies is actually older than his costar, Aree Davis.
The mansion staff and ghostly characters were played by a group of character actors that despite what the critics said, gave comedic performances.
Wallace Shawn and Dina Spybey-Waters played Ezra and Emma, the bumbling house staff that helps the Evers.
Jennifer Tilly used her distinctive voice to play the mesmerizing Madame Leotta. You might recognize Tilly’s voice from Monsters Inc.
Terence Stamp played the villainous Ramsley, the proper butler of Master Gracey. Stamp is a proper British gentleman that has had many roles, including parts in Star Wars and the His Dark Materials series.
Nathaniel Parker plays the brooding Master Gracey, who attempts to woo Sara in order to find his way back to his love, Elizabeth. While filming one scene where Parker carries Elizabeth’s body up the stairs, Parker dropped the actress because her dress was slippery and he had to perform the scene several times.
Special Effects
You can’t have The Haunted Mansion without the 999 haunts that lurk within its walls and among the grounds. The special effects team had the daunting task of recreating the fantastic visuals of the original ride for the screen.
The look of the ghosts and ghouls in the film were largely due to Rick Baker, a legendary special effects make-up artist that is famous for his creature designs. Baker is a huge fan of The Haunted Mansion ride and wanted the film to look as close to the ride as possible.
He designed make-up that mirrored the fantastical designs of Disney’s imagineers, including a painting by Marc Davis. Baker himself is unrecognizable in the scene as one of the ghosts!
Rick Baker was also responsible for the zombies that rise from the mausoleum and chase the Evers family. He started by creating paintings of what the zombies should look like, making them match the ghosts in terms of family friendliness. But, Disney told him that they wanted them to actually be scary and not to hold back his monster-making abilities.
Baker and his team made zombie molds of the thin actors that would play the undead. They sculpted clay bones over the actors’ clothes, and made sure that the actors could easily move in the body suits. There were about 15-20 zombies, and the actors all went through “zombie school” to learn how to act undead.
One of the most complex sequences in the film is when the living characters take a ghostly trip through the graveyard. The graveyard scene was a combination of motion control photography, matte painting, blur screen photography, and steady cam. The scene was one continuous shot that was filmed over several days and in several locations. The film crew led the camera through the physical graveyard, holding the camera in certain places just long enough for the audience to see each ghost (which at the time were played by stand-in actors).
All of the ghost actors wore special effects make-up that captured the look of the spirits on the original ride and shot their scenes in front of a blue screen. Their costumes were covered in a special paint that reflected light, giving them a more ethereal effect. The team had to stage the ghost actors on blue boxes to make sure they matched up with the physical scene that they shot a month ago, making them appear on tree branches, on tombstones, and sitting on coffins. The crew also had to film a passing shot of each ghost in the scene, which could require several takes. The final product lasted for about two minutes of film.
One of the most recognizable ghosts in the mansion is Madame Leota, played by Jennifer Tilly. Leota was originally named for Disney imagineer Leota Toombs, and her looks were based on Toombs as well.
In order to get Jennifer Tilly’s head into a crystal ball, they had Eddie Murphy carry around a glowing orb while filming. This way, the special effects team didn’t have to add Leota’s glowing light to the faces of surrounding characters, but just had to composite Tilly's face into the ball. They filmed Eddie’s scene first, and then Tilly filmed her parts while wearing a blue bib and sitting in front of a blue screen.
Although most of the mansion was an elaborate set, certain rooms were completely computer-generated. One scene shows Eddie Murphy being spun in a chair with floating instruments. Only Eddie and the chair were physically there, and the rest was added later.
Music
Since The Haunted Mansion ride was telling a story, there needed to be music that helped the guests know what was happening along the way.
The help of composer Buddy Baker was enlisted by the story writer X Atencio. Baker had experience in composing for Disney movies like The Apple Dumpling Gang(1975), The Fox and the Hound(1981), and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh(1977.) In his career he composed more than 200 scores for Disney. These were not just for movies and television, he also scored many theme parks including The Haunted Mansion.
The final result of their collaboration was called “Grim Grinning Ghosts.” The title of the song came from Shakespeare, and actor Paul Frees recorded the spoken intro. The song is iconic and has appeared in several other Disney films.
The film music
Mark Mancina is known for composing music for movies like Speed, Tarzan, Brother Bear, Moana, and more. Mancina was excited to work with the director, Rob Minkoff, because they had known each other while working on the movies Lion King and Speed together. Minkoff really wanted to work in the ride's original music, Grim Grinning Ghosts, as he and Mancina enjoyed the original ride.
In order to get a sense of what the score should be, Mancina was able to visit the set and even meet with some of the actors.
The film’s composition was quite large and used several different instruments. Some of these included the harpsichord, choir, pipe organ, and a full orchestra. It was really centered around classical instruments.
Mancina then worked with Dave Metzger to orchestrate the composition at his favorite recording place, Sony studios. Minkoff was very supportive of this decision both practically and financially.
The scene with the famous singing heads uses a barber shop quartet. Mancina, although he knew that it was perfect for the talking heads, was not actually a fan of barbershop quartets. While Mancina took a bathroom break, the group was told of his dislike. They went into the restroom and freaked Mancina out when he sat down by beginning to sing right there. When he came running out of the stall and the bathroom, Minkoff and Don Hahn were there laughing.
The quartet appeared again at the premier where they would sing, especially people’s names like Mark Mancinas.
Reception
At first, the film didn’t look like a financial success. With a big budget of $90 million, it only grossed about $24 million on its opening weekend and earned a domestic total of just under $76 million. However, the film did much better in international markets, grossing an additional $106 million. That's a total of over $206 million.
Unfortunately though, critics are not kind to this film. It has a score of 14% on rotten tomatoes and an average rating of 4.2 out of 10. Many critics say the film is neither scary nor funny.
And the audience score is not much better at 32%.
It’s not all bad news though! Many fans of the movie say it’s a perfect spooky film to break out for Halloween. Including Sheri Linden of Hollywood Reporter who called the film "A pleasant and atmospheric family romp, offering enough mildly chilling thrills to keep everyone entertained during its brief running time."
Additionally, The Haunted Mansion has grown in popularity since its original theatrical run and to many, has achieved cult status. Author and Disney historian Jeff Baham notes that The Haunted Mansion's has increased in popularity in part because its original target audience have grown up with an appreciation for the film, and who now, as adults are introducing it to their children.
Fun Facts
The DVD release came with several special features, including a virtual interactive ride of the film's Haunted Mansion with Emma and Ezra as hosts.
In one of the film’s scenes at a tiki bar, all three hitchhiking ghosts can be seen as background actors
Originally the film’s mansion was to be based on the ride in Disney World, and take place in upstate New York. However many in production including director Rob Minkoff felt it would be better suited to use the original Disneyland attraction as inspiration, as well as move it to New Orleans to reference the ride’s park location at New Orleans Square.
The Dapper Dans, the barbershop quartet that performs in Disneyland's Main Street USA, make a special appearance as the voices of the singing busts.
The three tarot cards that appear in the opening credits are:
The Lovers, which represents love, harmony, relationships, values alignment, and choices.
Death, which represents endings, change, transformation, and transition.
3 of Swords, which represents heartbreak, emotional pain, sorrow, grief, and betrayal.
The Haunted Mansion is an interesting case. It’s a film that didn’t live up to the expectations of fans, yet still has enough staying power to be revisited every Halloween. It was created by an incredible team of filmmaking artists that were dedicated to giving viewers a delightfully frightening experience.
Often when a film premieres, we might provide too much criticism or too much praise based on the trends of the time. It’s very possible that The Haunted Mansion is a victim of the former, and it may be a film that deserves a second chance. So if you’re so inclined, consider resurrecting this ghostly delight this Halloween season and decide for yourself if it belongs in the grave.