Credit: DisneyDisney’s new Haunted Mansion film is proving to be a ghoulish delight with fans. Despite critics panning it on social media platforms, most viewers state that the film is an absolutely eerie and enjoyable experience with a dark side we haven’t seen from Disney in years. Still, for a movie so heavily inspired by a Disney Parks attraction, many are likely wondering just how it connects to the rides in Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Even Dwayne Johnson’s Jungle Cruise movie kept several ride-centric elements to the original attraction, including the corny puns from the skipper. The new cinematic adaptation of Gracey Manor certainly looks like the version at Disneyland, but what separates this haunted house from every other piece of ghost-infested real estate in the horror movie genre?
Related: Murderous Bride and Ghost Host Casting Revealed For ‘Muppets Haunted Mansion’
The original Haunted Mansion is one of the most prolific attractions in all the Disney Parks. While some might consider Pirates of the Caribbean as the most significant contribution from Disney Imagineering, the manor goes leaps and bounds further in terms of characters, storytelling, and atmosphere. The new movie definitely took notes from multiple variations of the classic ride and all that needed to be added were the Doom Buggies.
The Haunted Mansion Without the Disney Parks
If you’ve embarked on the tour through Gracey Manor as many times as we have, you’re bound to see more than a few familiar elements scattered across the film’s runtime. While there’s certainly more than a few references and nods, this article attempts to list all the major hidden haunts shared in both the ride and the movie.
Although this is the studio second attempt at adapting their famous haunted attraction into a full length feature film, Disney has come along way since the Eddie Murphy version back in 2003. This new, decidedly more horror-inspired variation of the Disney Parks ride pulls far more from its inspiration than the previous variant.
WARNING!: Spoilers for Disney’s Haunted Mansion beyond this point!
The film concerns mother and son Gabbie and Travis moving into the infamous Gracey Manor in New Orleans, Louisiana. After uncovering a centuries-old curse, they enlist the aid of a team of rag-tag paranormal experts to help free 999 spirits from a dark and demonic entity.
While certainly entertaining, the plot is utterly secondary as the Mansion itself takes center stage. The performances from stars like Rosario Dawson, LaKeith Stanfield, Danny DeVito, and Jamie Lee Curtis are all simply set-dressing as the titular manor takes a life force all its own.
At the end of the day, the Haunted Mansion is a Disney experience first and a movie second. However, the filmmakers that brought this adaptation to life certainly did beyond their due diligence.
Related: ‘Haunted Mansion’ Director Breaks Silence on Guillermo del Toro’s Axed Disney Movie
This writer can attest that the film has all the thrills, chills, and spills that Disney Park veterans can expect from the Disneyland and Walt Disney World attractions. The question is, how much influence did the Parks have on the movie?
Gracey Manor Come to Life
Without the titular mansion, there would be no movie. The version of Gracey Manor in the film takes a lot of inspiration from the one seen at Disneyland, particularly the outside facade, but it doesn’t just end once the characters cross its haunted threshold.
The outside structure is without a doubt, a recreation of the Disneyland ride, but the interior decorators went regions beyond to incorporate elements seen in nearly all versions of the attraction. Additionally, the house owned by Alistair Crump (the Hatbox Ghost) is a near carbon-copy recreation of the mansion seen in the Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square.
If it’s a scene on the layout of the original ride, it’s in the film. As the Hatbox Ghost works his twisted magic throughout the house, the movie becomes a cinematic simulation of the iconic attraction, with every single twist and turn that goes with it.
Viewers are treated to elongated portraits in the foyer that reference the stretching room, a shifting staircase that mirrors the additional scene in the version at Walt Disney World, as well as darker renditions of the ballroom and graveyard sequence seen in nearly all versions of the ride. Of course, it doesn’t end there.
“I Do Like Surprises…”
Disney has a long history of incorporating easter eggs, nods, references, and winks to the audience in many of their movies, but Haunted Mansion has perhaps the most this writer has ever seen. Seasoned Disney Park veterans will instantly be able to catch every minuscule detail that litters the halls of Gracey Manor.
Related: ‘Haunted Mansion’ Mascots Cast Out to Sea at Disney Resort
What should really grab their attention is just how much the movie devotes to recreating the experience of being on the ride. Along with being addressed as “Foolish Mortals” from the opening sequence, the film carries over several atmospheric details that help give the Mansion its distinct and palpable presence.
Just as if the viewers and the film’s characters were on the ride, they’ll hear ominous whispers in the walls, portraits on the wall will shift in the background, ghoulish busts will watch characters walk by, and possessed chairs mimic the Doom Buggies in one of the more comedic scenes of the movie. Contrariwise, the pun-filled graveyard that makes up the queue for the ride has been converted into the mass grave of Alistair Crump’s victims towards the third act.
The House That Crump Built
A special mention has to be given to the late Disney Legend, Rolly Crump. Not only does Crump share a last name with the film’s villain, but he was one of the quintessential Disney imagineers that helped bring the Haunted Mansion to life. References to both Crump and his work can be found both in and out of the movie’s manor.
Leftovers from his unmade Museum of the Weird are featured in the manor’s decor, such as the face chair, wallpaper designs, and one of the spirits even takes the form of a Candle Man while hiding from the evil Hatbox Ghost. While Mr. Crump might not have lived to see his work put on the big screen in such a way, the Imagineer’s legacy lives on.
Spells and Incantations
There’s no movie without a script, and Justin Simien and Katie Dippold definitely had have ridden the ride more than once to get all the little nuances of the attraction’s dialogue to fit into their script. References to “regions beyond,” “hurry back, hurry back” and even “My Way” find themselves slipped into conversations.
Related: Historic Disneyland Ride Suddenly Malfunctions, Traps Guests on Board
While it might seem like a minor inclusion to some, the extra effort Disney made to incorporate this element from the attraction truly does help set the tone. Like the ride that inspired it, Haunted Mansion is nothing without its legends and lore, and the writing paints a vivid picture that all fans of the attraction will surely recognize.
Grim Grinning Ghosts
Of course, what would the Haunted Mansion be without its 999 Happy Haunts? Along with that famous haunting refrain being present throughout the film’s score, nearly every ghost seen over the course of the film has a counterpart in the ride. Although Madame Leota, the Hatbox Ghost, the Mariner, Master Gracey, and Constance are the main ghosts mentioned by name, the following ghosts can be seen in both the movie and the ride:
-
- The Duelists
- The Hatchet Man/Ghost Host
- The Evil Armor
- The Headless Knight
- The Graveyard Opera Singers
- The Mummy
- The Exocutioner
- Victor Geist the Organist
- The Tightrope Walker
- Pickwick
- The Caretaker and His Dog
- The Ballroom Dancers
- The Portrait Ghosts
- Phineas, Ezra, and Gus (The Hitchhiking Ghosts)
Naturally, these were not all the ghosts featured in the film, only the ones that were instantly recognizable by name or appearance. The film is positively loaded and lousy with ghosts, spirits, and specters that chew every piece of scenery they inhabit, and that alone earns this movie an amplified re-watchability.
Hurry Back, Hurry Back…
Jumping off that previous statement, there’s one element from the ride that the 2023 film captures better than any previous adaptation. In order to get the full effect, viewers can’t just see it once. Just like with any version of the Haunted Mansion in any Disney Park, there’s bound to be something or someone somewhere they’ve missed with the initial viewing.
Related: Haunted Mansion Hatbox Ghost tiki mug coming to Disneyland
Speaking as a Haunted Mansion fan who knows his way around a Doom Buggy and makes it a ritual to ride it a minimum of three times per trip, I still find something new every time, and I can promise I didn’t notice every single finite detail in the movie.
Still, that just gives me and other fans a reason to go see it again or do multiple viewings when the film eventually arrives on Disney+. Either way, it means that the experience will have more than just an extensive and active afterlife.
Related: Stretching Room Characters, Constance Hatchaway Appearing in ‘Haunted Mansion’ Film
Haunted Mansion is a ghoulish delight that pays more than adequate tribute to the ride that inspired it. Whether your home Park is Disneyland in California or Walt Disney World in Florida, you’re bound to find something comfortingly creepy in Disney’s newest adaptation. For a more in depth dive into the boundless realm of the supernatural, be sure to read Inside the Magic’s official review.
How many Disney Park easter eggs did you find in Haunted Mansion? Were there any we missed? Tell Inside the Magic in the comments below!