The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

[JOHNNYBIX38]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

The new plaque, although much nicer than the old plastic bat, should indeed read "Servants' Quarters". That misspelling is further proof of Disney WDI's further decline.

[Waltzing Ghost]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

After a trip to Downtown Disney I picked up the last copy of Jason Surrell's updated book. Although it hasn't changed much from the original, I really do enjoy the concept art from the 2007 rehab. It's only a matter of time before he updates it again. One thing I don't understand is a picture in the Attic. The picture is a piece of concept art for the 2007 rehab featuring a ghostly bride holding nothing more than a candle and boquet. Yet the caption reads that it's concept art for Constance. Does anyone have an explanation for this?

Would is be this picture? I've had it saved on my computer for quite some time. My only thoughts on the look would be if it was just a first idea sketch to have her look the same. Or maybe they plan on making her like it in the future. I don't think this would be too scary since the bride had always been like that but I can't know for sure...

[MANEATINGWREATH]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

/\ That's the picture. Even if it hasn't been utilized in the attraction, it's a fantastic piece of concept work. It would be great to see it put into any one of the three mansions at some point in the future. Now on to the topic of the servant plaque. Now there are multiple servants in the mansion, but what if (This is just an idea) the Imagineers are trying to imply that back when the mansion was a luxurious manor belonging to some wealthy family, only one servant was present, like Geoffery on Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Over the years the servant died and more hands were hired to help around the house. The plaque was simply left there with no regards to grammar. Part of the mansion experience is letting your imagination make assumptions. How did that corpse get in the coffin? Why is there a coffin in the conservatory? What's the story behind Madame Leota? How the heck did Constance get away with killing five men in a row without having to deal with the police? I'm one of those people that comes up with backstories for the characters in the mansion to satisfy my imagination. I'm going to apply the servant plaque to that mystery.

[WDITrent]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

Well, Constance does hold a bouquet. When she holds her hand up, the bouquet transforms into an axe.

[MANEATINGWREATH]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

True she is holding a boquet. Maybe I'm just used to seeing her hold the boquet/hatchet with both hands.

[JOHNNYBIX38]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

I could also have read: "Servant Quarters". This is just a misspelling and another screw-up from WDI

[HBG2]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

That concept art is of a new bride with minimal alteration from the one already there, a sort-of coked up version of the "middle" bride.

As for the "Servant's Quarters" plaque, it all depends on what is supposed to be behind the door. If it's essentially a one-room apartment, then it's a servant's quarters, and the sign is correct. But if it leads to a whole wing, where the various servants have their various rooms, then the sign is incorrect.

Connie killing five husbands on five wedding nights is remarkable but not inexplicable. She offs Ambrose and comes back teary-eyed, telling how he fell off the bridge and drowned on the way to their honeymoon suite. Body never recovered. No inquest. With Frank, the disappearance is enough to raise suspicions, but she bats her lil ol' eyes (and sleeps with the judge and/or police inspector) and any suspicious paperwork mysteriously disappears. With Reginald, she's beginning to have enough money to shut up any law enforcement and erase any records, and besides, her other assets remain formidable.

From now on, the solution to any pesky problem is money, money, and money. As for the blindness of the latter husbands in not suspecting or investigating a little more before they marry this chick, well, winkety-wink and wiggly-wag, and presto, bye bye male brains.

[FigmentJedi]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

/Now there are multiple servants in the mansion, but what if (This is just an idea) the Imagineers are trying to imply that back when the mansion was a luxurious manor belonging to some wealthy family, only one servant was present, like Geoffery on Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

I'm sorry, but you just got the idea of a ghostly Uncle Phil at the Ballroom's table stuck in my head.

[HMF]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

Gee, who might that be?

Why "ruined"? The only way to avoid the fact that the fundamental concept of the ride has been changed is to ignore Pepe Le Queue like it doesn't exist (and the portrait with the HHG's). That's the solution many are taking and suggesting. Of course, that's the same solution people take who want to insist that Master Gracey is the the Ghost Host or that the widow portrait in the stretchroom is not Constance. You are in the position of telling WDI that they are "wrong" about the HM. But the whole thing is a construct, a ride in a theme park. The only "reality" there is the reality created and authorized by the Imagineers.

Granted, you can distinguish between the original Imagineers (and subsequent ones up until now) and the Carsillo wrecking crew, arguing that they are logically incompatible and forcing you to choose, but I don't think that's so. You can read the HM as Carsillo does, as a fictional world populated by kooky characters, and that world is like a cartoon with a rather loose logical continuity between scenes and events, as everything is subordinated to the comic gags. When I say "wrecked, ruined," I mean the magnificent original has been degraded to this cheap new level.

Have you had your conversation with Carsillo yet?

[HMF]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

The new plaque, although much nicer than the old plastic bat, should indeed read "Servants' Quarters". That misspelling is further proof of Disney WDI's further decline.

Between that and the 2007 Spaceship Earth narration I am beginning to wonder if Imagineers think the guests are dumb or if the Imagineers themselves are dumb.

[JOHNNYBIX38]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

Between that and the 2007 Spaceship Earth narration I am beginning to wonder if Imagineers think the guests are dumb or if the Imagineers themselves are dumb.

A combination of both.

[MANEATINGWREATH]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

Okay let's not talk crap about the Imagineers now.

HBG2, great explanation of Constance's killing spree. I could picture it vividly...in a non-gruesome way.

So I found an article on Wikipedia entitled "List of Haunted Mansion characters." Some of the entries were surprising and some were expected. See for yourself.

The Ghost Host
Master Gracey (Mistaken as the Foyer portrait)
Alexander Nitrokoff (Dynamite man in stretching portrait)
Constance/Abigale Patecleaver (Widow in stretching portrait)
Quicksand Men
Sally Slater (Girl on the tightrope)
Medusa
The Black Prince
Ghost Ship/Flying Dutchman
Werecat Lady
April/December
Sinister Eleven Vampire
Sinister Eleven Couple
Opera Lady with Mask and Cat
The Arsonist
Jack the Ripper
Witch of Walpurgis
Rasputin-man
Aunt Lucretia
The Raven
Coffin Corpse
Corridor of Doors Ghosts
Madame Leota
Grand Hall Ghosts
Pickwick
The Duelists
The Organist
The Bride
Constance Hatchaway
Ambrose Harper
Frank Banks
The Marquis de Doom
Reginald Caine
George Hightower
The Hatbox Ghost
The Caretaker
The Phantom Five
Rollo Rumkin
Uncle Theodore
Cousin Algernon
Ned Nub
Phineas P. Pock
The Opera Singers
The Hitchhiking Ghosts
The Ghost Hostess/Little Leota
Bluebeard
Penelope
Abigail
Anastasia
Prudence
Phoebe
Eugenia
Lucretia
Uncle Jacob
Cousin Maude
The Twins
Aunt Florence
Betie
Whitfield Tarkington Dread
Ruben Dread
Prudence Pock
Captain Culpepper Clyne
Bartholomew Gore
Beauregard
The Black Cat

Then there's a list of characters from Phantom Manor and the movie.

[JOHNNYBIX38]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

"Okay let's not talk crap about the Imagineers now."
Ok, once they start doing a good job again.

[HBG2]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

Have you had your conversation with Carsillo yet?

Nope. Exchanged a few PMs in March, and he said he wanted to talk by phone, but he hasn't called yet.

[Grinning Ghost]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

So I found an article on Wikipedia entitled "List of Haunted Mansion characters." Some of the entries were surprising and some were expected. See for yourself.

The Ghost Host
Master Gracey (Mistaken as the Foyer portrait)
Alexander Nitrokoff (Dynamite man in stretching portrait)
Constance/Abigale Patecleaver (Widow in stretching portrait)
Quicksand Men
Sally Slater (Girl on the tightrope)
Medusa
The Black Prince
Ghost Ship/Flying Dutchman
Werecat Lady
April/December
Sinister Eleven Vampire
Sinister Eleven Couple
Opera Lady with Mask and Cat
The Arsonist
Jack the Ripper
Witch of Walpurgis
Rasputin-man
Aunt Lucretia
The Raven
Coffin Corpse
Corridor of Doors Ghosts
Madame Leota
Grand Hall Ghosts
Pickwick
The Duelists
The Organist
The Bride
Constance Hatchaway
Ambrose Harper
Frank Banks
The Marquis de Doom
Reginald Caine
George Hightower
The Hatbox Ghost
The Caretaker
The Phantom Five
Rollo Rumkin
Uncle Theodore
Cousin Algernon
Ned Nub
Phineas P. Pock
The Opera Singers
The Hitchhiking Ghosts
The Ghost Hostess/Little Leota
Bluebeard
Penelope
Abigail
Anastasia
Prudence
Phoebe
Eugenia
Lucretia
Uncle Jacob
Cousin Maude
The Twins
Aunt Florence
Betie
Whitfield Tarkington Dread
Ruben Dread
Prudence Pock
Captain Culpepper Clyne
Bartholomew Gore
Beauregard
The Black Cat

Then there's a list of characters from Phantom Manor and the movie.

Seems they missed most of the left side of the Graveyard (among others):

The King and Queen on a seesaw, and Princess(?) on the swing
The Ghostly Wolf
The Duke and Duchess
The Bicycle Ghosts
The Tea Party Ghosts
The Mummy and the Old Man

and on the right side:

The Headless Knight
The Executioner
Gus (the Prisoner)
Self-enclosing crypt ghost

The Caretaker and his dog are not ghosts. (The dog appears a second time by the Mummy, but as he is the Caretaker's dog, he only counts as one character.) They are the only two "living" characters in the show, unless you count the cats and owls, and perhaps the former bats in the attic. Is the Raven a "living" character, possessed by another spirit??

How can they count the new queue busts? They're just static busts, not ghosts (so far). The Black Cat is iffy. And Who is Beauregard? Names on tombs/tombstones are not ghosts or really even characters unless appearing as a ghostly manifestation somewhere in the attraction. If you have to count them, count them as former residents. Man, it gets complicated!

I think we should come up with an "official" list based on specific criteria! Corresponding photos would be a nice touch as well.

[MANEATINGWREATH]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

Tell you what...what if we come up with a detailed list of mansion characters, attach pictures to them, and either post that list on Wikipedia or make a website just for them. It could be called the "Haunted Mansion Guest Book" or something like that, only "Guest" would appear with a giant X in the middle, replaced with the word "Ghost." Should we do that? People need to know the truth!

Beauregard is one of the new one-name gravestones. Apparently he was a butler in life. He is derived from one of Ken Anderson's many mansion treatments. The character was called Beuregard the butler and he would take guests on a tour of Gore Manor, the home of Barholomew Gore and his ill-fated wife Priscilla.

Anyone else down to make a full-on thing for every character in the mansion (We should probably include the ghosts outside in the queue too as much as we hate them. There are some people who probably do like them)? I'm down. Should we come up with backstories for them? Or just give a description of who and what they are? I'm fine either way.

[Waltzing Ghost]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

^ That sounds like a good idea. That is a big chore if you want to try and include all the characters but it's probably worth it to have an actual list of all of them. I wouldn't do backstories because there really aren't any except Constance so a short description would be nice. Good luck if you do it (: I like the guest X ghost book idea.

That list up there also forgot Little Leota or maybe they are calling her "The Bride" because there's that and then Constance.

[MANEATINGWREATH]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

/\ The article actually called her "The Ghost Hostess," so I guess they were basing the information off a bit of unused Ghost Host dialogue ("A charming Ghost Hostess will take your applications at the end of the tour").

I've decided that I'm going to do it. I'm going to make a blog dedicated to the ghosts of the Haunted Mansion. Wish me luck everyone. It'll be somewhat of an encyclopedia. It's going to take a lot of work, but I'm going to do it nonetheless. I'll post a link once I get started.

My only problem is the site's banner. Can someone be kind enough to make me a banner reading "Disney's The Haunted Mansion Guest Book" with "Guest" crossed out and replaced with "Ghost." It'd be really great if some of the Sinister Eleven and portraits from the Corridor of Doors could be added. I'd really appreciate it if someone could do this for me.

[FigmentJedi]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

So basically put together a more accurate version of Ghost Gallery?

[MasterGracey13]

Re: The Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect Thread 7: Further Realms of Fright

Master Gracey (Mistaken as the Foyer portrait)

Where are they getting this from?
We've established that MG is not the GH, but never came to the conclusion that he is not the foyer portrait, right?