“He was a cloaked figure, with an evil, grinning face. A hatbox hung from his hand. With each beat of his bride’s heart, his head disappeared from his body, and appeared in the hatbox.” The Haunted Mansion record, narrated brilliantly by Thurl Ravenscroft, was the first exposure I ever had to the Hatbox Ghost, a sinister character created by the late Disney Legend, Marc Davis.
I was born in 1970, about half a year after The Haunted Mansion opened at Disneyland. My own memories of the attraction wouldn’t begin until later visits in the late ’70s. Those fortunate enough to already be alive for the opening of the attraction may have also been fortunate enough to come face-to-face with the most elusive character in Disney attraction history – the Hatbox Ghost.
Developed by Marc Davis and Yale Gracey at WED in Glendale for the Mansion, the Hatbox Ghost was initially installed in the ride’s attic scene, within close proximity to the Bride, who used to have a loudly-beating heart. As stated in the narration of the record, with each heartbeat of his bride, the male specter’s head would vanish, reappearing below in a large hatbox hanging from his skeletal hand. There are several historical images of Disney’s master illusionist, Yale Gracey, working on the mock-up of the figure at their WED facility (now Walt Disney Imagineering) in Glendale, California.
Yale Gracey and Hatbox Ghost
Unfortunately, when Imagineers (the team working on The Haunted Mansion was often dubbed “Illusioneers”) installed the Hatbox Ghost in the show building in Anaheim, they encountered many lighting and sight line issues with the figure that they’d not anticipated back in their Glendale shop. In short, the Hatbox Ghost didn’t work as well as planned, and the team grew increasingly unhappy and frustrated with it once the ride had opened to the public. Tweaks were ill-fated, and within days of the Mansion being opened in August, 1969, the decision came to remove the Hatbox Ghost from the attraction. It was likely destroyed and discarded shortly after its removal, and never returned.
Yet, its legend has lived on in the hearts and minds of Disney fans for more than four decades. It’s simply remarkable that such a short-lived character could maintain such a high-profile following, considering the only thing that most fans had ever seen were Marc Davis’ drawings, the historical pictures of Yale Gracey adjusting the figure, and various reproductions of the ghoul on shirts and as collectible figurines over the years.
Disney attraction characters over the years have captured a special place in our hearts as fans – the Auctioneer from Pirates; Figment and Dreamfinder from Journey Into Imagination at Epcot; Henry from Country Bear Jamboree; Jose from the Tiki Room; Captain Rex from Star Tours; Father from Carousel of Progress; Trader Sam from The Jungle Cruise; Sam the eagle from America Sings; and countless others. Yet, ever-present in that discussion, the fabled Hatbox Ghost from The Haunted Mansion has always been near the top of that list, regardless of the fact that he only physically existed in the attraction for a few weeks at most. That’s pretty remarkable.
In the late 1980s, I worked at Disneyland an attractions host; one of the rides I worked on was The Haunted Mansion. Even back then in the ’80s, rumors seemed to always persist that the Hatbox Ghost would be returning to the attraction. Every time we had a lengthy rehab on the ride, someone inevitably said, “I hear they’re bringing the Hatbox Ghost back finally.” Yet, as the years went on, “Hattie” as some fans have taken to calling him, never came home.
In 2003, The Walt Disney Company released The Haunted Mansion, a dark comedy film starring Eddie Murphy. The film received a chilling response, and while it grossed over $75 million at the domestic box office, it’s always been deemed a bad movie by fans and critics alike. Unlike the successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, The Haunted Mansion seemed to be a huge flop and left fans of the attraction begging Disney to stop basing movies off of beloved theme park experiences.
That sentiment changed in 2010, when in was announced during Comic-Con that film maker Guillermo del Toro, a huge fan of The Haunted Mansion, would be writing and directing his own version of the attraction. Almost immediately, fans cheered on and welcomed this announcement, feeling that if anyone could bring a Haunted Mansion story properly to the silver screen, it would be super-fan del Toro. Further elevating the legend of the Hatbox Ghost, del Toro announced that he would write the character to be the film’s main spook, stating that his movie would be frightening and would feature “a heightened reality.” The Hatbox Ghost frenzy had reached an all-time high with this revelation, and fans waited anxiously for what would come next. What came next were years of radio silence regarding the progress being made on the Haunted Mansion film. Slowly, excitement waned, and the idea of a new Mansion-inspired film pretty much faded.
In recent years, there was renewed rumbling of Walt Disney Imagineering working on a brand new Hatbox Ghost figure. This was met by a wave of new park merchandise featuring the infamous figure. As it was back in the ’80s when I worked at the Mansion, each time the attraction would go down for rehab, whispers came that Imagineers were going to be installing the Hatbox Ghost. And, just like in the ’80s (and ’90s, and 2000s), each time the Mansion opened back up, there was no new figure to see.
As the popularity and ease of sharing images and video via social media continued to grow, a stunning home movie was shared on the YouTube channel belonging to fan-based DisneyHistoryInstitute.com; the title of the video is Mystery of the Hatbox Ghost. To date, it is the only true footage of the figure in the Disneyland attraction just days after the opening of The Haunted Mansion. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a fascinating and exciting video!
Adding to the lore surrounding the Hatbox Ghost, a fan film appeared in October of 2012 on YouTube by Daws Brothers Studios by the name of Missing in the Mansion. It is an exceptionally well-made “found footage” film of a couple that is terrorized by the Hatbox Ghost in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. Rightfully so, the short film went viral, and to date, has had more than 600,000 views.
The rumor mill kicked in to high gear again as Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary started to be the focus of the company’s attention. With no new major rides or park expansions scheduled for 2015, word came that many of the park’s iconic attractions would be plussed – they would receive major upgrades and enhancements in honor of the property’s 60th Anniversary. It seemed plausible that this time, all of the conditions were right for the Hatbox Ghost to finally come home.
Last month, word came that the del Toro Haunted Mansion film project was switched back on, and that the Hatbox Ghost was still the story’s most sinister focal point. This news seemed to fan the flames and almost set the certainty of Disneyland’s Hatbox Ghost in cement. At about the same time, a large, temporary work wall appeared inside The Haunted Mansion, just outside of the attic scene. In everyone’s minds, it seemed almost a sure bet that the legendary character was about to materialize some 46 years after it was removed from the Mansion.
In the weeks to follow, Disney finally announced what we’d all be waiting for; that after a four-decade hiatus, the infamous Hatbox Ghost would be returning to Disneyland, just in time for the park’s 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration.
On Saturday, May 9th, thousands of Disneyland fans crowded Main Street prior to park opening, and more came throughout the day to celebrate the re-opening of The Haunted Mansion, and to finally come face-to-face with the most infamous of the attraction’s 999 Happy Haunts. From home, we re-tweeted photos and statements being made by other bloggers and fans already at the park to our own followers. By 9am, #HatboxGhost was trending on Twitter here in Southern California, there was such strong social media presence.
We visited the Mansion just at dusk on Saturday, tweeting images and broadcasting a few live Periscope videos from outside the attraction, and in line. Hundreds of viewers tuned in from around the world and everyone seemed genuinely excited that we were there and discussing the history of the Hatbox Ghost with them. Just before entering the attraction we signed off, saying that we’d have another live broadcast once we exited the ride and had collected our own thoughts about the Hatbox Ghost.
As we made our way toward the Doom Buggies, we absolutely were excited – and nervous at the same time. In 2011, Disney updated the Hitchhiking Ghosts gag at the end of the ride at Walt Disney World. Rather than seeing a ghost sitting in the Doom Buggy with them, digital technology was implemented so that the ghosts appeared to be extremely mischievous, appearing to swap guests’ heads and other cartoon-like gags. While the tech behind the enhancements is impressive, it completely destroys the cohesive feel of the entire Haunted Mansion experience, in our opinion. It’s visually jarring, and stands out as something quite different than what is seen throughout the rest of the Mansion. With that in mind, we were very concerned that Walt Disney Imagineering might have taken the character over-the-top with digital imagery, rather than keep him true to his legend. I’ve been saying for weeks that fans simply want the Hatbox Ghost to do just what he’s always supposed to have done; anything else, would take away from the character and the lore surrounding him, and hard core fans wouldn’t have been very happy about it. You’d be hard-pressed to find any other group of fans more passionate about their home park than Disneylanders. Disney really needed to get this one right, or else I was certain fans would freak.
Entering the attic scene, I almost immediately heard a new soundtrack emanating from the far side of the room, past the Bride. It was a male’s deep chuckle, and though we couldn’t see anything yet, I knew right away that it was the Hatbox Ghost’s! Finally, passing from the attic, we found ourselves right in front of the grinning spook, who was rocking from side to side, balancing himself with a cane. His head vanished from his body and appeared in the large hatbox dangling from his hand. Once inside the hatbox, the ghoul’s head looked around and grinned, and then vanished, only to re-appear on the apparition’s glowing body!
The Hatbox Ghost is extremely well done. The animatronic figure itself is beautifully animated and detailed; it moves a lot more than we thought it was going to, which is a pleasant surprise. The head on his body appears to be internal projection, just like Disney introduced on its figures in the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Orlando. The head that appears in the hatbox itself appears to be a digital gag. That said, it isn’t at all over-the-top, and lends itself very nicely to the practical figure. Show lighting is bright black light, and is blended perfectly so that the Hatbox Ghost is extremely visible and looks really good. Most importantly, the figure feels appropriate – just right – for The Haunted Mansion. It’s not jarring in any way, except for the fact that it’s a legendary character that has finally come home after so very long and so many years of speculation.
There likely will be tweaks and adjustments made to the figure in the days and weeks to come. One thing we’d like to see is the head moving between the hatbox and the ghost’s body sped up; currently, only every fifth or so ride vehicle really gets to see that happen. It would be nice to know more guests actually get to witness that, since that is the figure’s reason for being in the ride to begin with.
We left the Haunted Mansion feeling extremely satisfied, and relayed that to our followers via social media and a couple more live Periscope broadcasts. The team behind this project should feel extremely proud – they’ve absolutely hit the mark, and brought back one of the most iconic attraction characters in Disney history.
Get on out to Disneyland to check it out – the Hatbox Ghost is ready and waiting for you, and he’s got 46 years of pent-up haunting that he’s been dying to get on with!
– Rick West
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