Woods acknowledged that some Disneyland fans love the “Nightmare Before Christmas” overlay, whereas purists continue to prefer the original attraction as it stands for the rest of the year. That brings us to one of the biggest challenges Imagineers face when it comes to this particular attraction: How far is too far when it’s time to update the ride? Many Disney fans embrace the park’s traditions as one of its central tenets, and in an era in which fan voices are louder than ever, how does the Imagineering department handle an attraction like the Haunted Mansion being under a fan microscope?
“We have to tread carefully in the Haunted Mansion,” John Gritz told me. “It was cutting edge technology when built, but the technology was carefully crafted to support the mood and story of the attraction … to be ‘invisible.’ We always strive very hard to preserve that tradition today.”
“Our jobs as Imagineers are to constantly keep Disneyland relevant and growing and exciting and tweaking things just enough so the next time you come back, it’s maybe a little bit of a different experience, but still with all of your favorite memories,” said Kim Irvine. “And with Mansion, I think the thing that we always try to do is maintain the original intent … it’s so important to really understand what was in the original Imagineers’ heads when they built it. Research, research, research. Lots of books, lots of talking. When we actually put together a new concept, we do big storyboards, just like the original Imagineers did with the story, then start building on top of that with, ‘What is it going to look like? What is it going to feel like? How does it fit in with the original story?’ Just to make sure that nothing ever feels like, ‘Ooh, what is that? That doesn’t belong in there. That doesn’t fit with the non-tech way that it looks.’ We never want to put high technology in there because the beauty of it, with the Pepper’s ghost [effect] and a lot of the tech that Yale Gracey and Rolly Crump used, is so low-tech that it’s invisible and it needs to stay that way. So, I think that is the key, is understanding and always staying within the original intent.”
“There is a beautiful analog aesthetic to the Haunted Mansion and we work very hard to keep it that way,” Daniel Joseph agreed. “Since its opening so long ago, our Illusion Development team has come up with all kinds of new special effects and wonders that would wow guests in the Haunted Mansion. We have added new illusions over the years as new techniques and technologies come around. It’s always with a careful eye for cohesiveness with the rest of the attraction, though, that these new moments are added.”
One of those additions is The Hatbox Ghost, a character with a storied history in Haunted Mansion lore. Daniel Joseph was a member of the team that was responsible for restoring the character to its former glory.
“The Hatbox Ghost has sort of a cult following, and this was primarily due to the fact that he was only [originally] in the Haunted Mansion for about a week in 1969 when the attraction first opened,” he explained. “For many, the question of ‘Did he really exist?’ loomed. For us Imagineers and illusion designers, he became sort of our ‘white whale.’ The original version of the Hatbox Ghost was designed by Disney Legend Marc Davis, and brought to ‘after life’ by another Disney Legend, and my personal lifelong hero, Yale Gracey. When the figure was installed in August 1969, Yale noticed his illusion wasn’t working the way he had mocked it up in Glendale. The head wasn’t fully disappearing from the body, and the Doom Buggy was way too close for the effect to work well. Yale, being a perfectionist, took the figure out of commission. It wasn’t until around 2013 that myself and a few other passionate Imagineers developed some new techniques to bring him back. It was really a combination of modern technology and some clever stagecraft that enabled him to rise once again. This time we wanted to celebrate putting him as close to the guest as possible, and truly show that ‘there is nothing up our sleeves.’ It was incredible to see the guest response for the Hatbox Ghost returning, especially since it was such a passion project for us at Walt Disney Imagineering.”
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