by Jeff Baham
Happy haunts materialize,
For a swinging wake,
Glowing pumpkins harmonize,
Joyful screams we'll make!”
In 2016, Jack’s ragdoll admirer Sally was installed in the graveyard as well, staring wistfully at Jack from behind a nearby tombstone. The Audio-Animatronics were created by Garner Holt Productions, which is the company that creates most of Disney’s Audio-Animatronics. Oogie Boogie is another of Garner Holt’s creations who makes a surprise appearance at the end of the attraction.
Opening in September and running all the way through the first week of January, Haunted Mansion Holiday is in place for about a third of the Haunted Mansion’s entire operating season (when the time required to set up and remove the overlay is taken into consideration). There aren’t many folks with lukewarm opinions of the overlay. It seems that most Haunted Mansion fans either love it or hate it, with precious few anywhere near the middle. But love it or hate it, one thing is indisputable – the overlay is popular. Lines get long every year during the Halloween season through Christmas – with over three-hour waits on busy days—and the attraction is filled with patrons from the park’s opening rope-drop to the end of the day.
On opening day back on October 3, 2001, the creative team didn’t know what to expect from the public – partly due to the proximity of the date to the recent horrific 9/11 attacks in the United States – so Wollwebber went out to New Orleans Square to spy on the crowds, which had started gathering before the park even opened. Tim Burton fans and Nightmare Before Christmas devotees turned out in droves, and from that moment on, there would be no looking back.
“We were besides ourselves watching the stampede,” Wollwebber recalled. “It reminded me of the opening of Indiana Jones Adventure. It was a big deal, and it was great to be a part of that.”
Notes
Author's Note
Chapter One
5 Randy Bright, Disneyland: Inside Story , Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987, page 39.
11 Art Marroquin, Mark Eades and Sarah Tully, “Oldest Disney daughter dies at 79; helped inspire park,” Orange County Register , Nov. 19, 2013.
12 Lou Heldman, “Tivoli Gardens Inspired Walt Disney,” Tallahassee Democrat , May 23, 1993.
13 Coney Island: History, http://www.coneyislandpark.com/history.php
14 John M. Olinskey and Leigh Ann Little, Kansas City’s Fairmount Park , Vintage Antique Classics Publishing Co., 2012
15 Doug Higley, Scary Dark Rides , Encinitas, CA, 1999.
16 Ibid.
Chapter Two
1 Jeff Kurtti, Walt Disney’s Imagineering Legends , Disney Editions, 2008.
2 “Walt Disney’s Haunted House,” The “E” Ticket , No. 13. Summer 1992, p. 5.
3 Ibid.
4 Disney’s official D23 web site lists an overview of the accomplishments of many of the pioneers in the creation of Disney’s theme parks. More information about Marvin Davis can be found at https://d23.com/marvin-davis, and more information about Dick Irvine can be found at https://d23.com/richard-irvine.
5 Sam McKim, “The Art of the Haunted Mansion: The Haunted Mansion’s 30th Anniversary,” June 26, 1999, Disneyland Park.
6 Ed Squair, “Tales of Ghoulish Delight: Creating the Haunted Mansion.” Panel discussion at the Walt Disney Family Museum, Oct. 15, 2016. Squair discussed pages found in the Disney archives taken by Dick Irvine that contained many hints at the progress of the development of the Haunted Mansion and notes on Ken Anderson’s concepts in 1957-1958.
7 Alice Davis, “The Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary: Spirited Seance,” August 9, 2009, Disneyland Park.
8 Francis Lichten, Decorative Art of Victoria’s Era , Bonanza Books, New York, 1950.
9 Ibid.
10 Jason Surrell, “The Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary: Room for One More,” October 1, 2011, Contemporary Hotel at Walt Disney World Resort.
11 Ibid.
12 “Walt Disney’s Haunted House,” The “E” Ticket , page 6.
13 “Walt Disney’s Haunted House,” The “E” Ticket , page 8.
14 Jason Surrell, The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic to the Movies , Disney Editions, 2003. For a closer look at Ken Anderson’s various storylines, Surrell’s official books contain material accessed directly from the Disney Archives, and more importantly, many samples of his original concept sketches.
15 Ed Squair, “Disneyland’s Ghost House,” The “E” Ticket , Fall 2004.
16 Ed Squair, “Celebrating 40 Years of Frights and Delights at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion,” D23 Magazine , Fall 2009.
17 Multimedia presentation, “The Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary: Room for One More,” 2011.
18 Wade Sampson (Jim Korkis), “Ken Anderson and the Haunted Mansion, Part II,” Oct. 29, 2003. http://jimhillmedia.com/alumni1/b/wade_sampson/archive/2003/10/30/1234.aspx
19 Ken Anderson, “The Haunted House at Disneyland: Test Instructions,” transcript. Oct. 16, 1957. http://www.doombuggies.com/history_andersontreatment.php
20 Eyvind Earle, Horizon Bound on a Bicycle , Earle and Bane, 1990.
21 Michael Barrier, The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney , University of California Press, 2007, page 275.
22 Eric Goodman, “The Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary: Room for One More,” October 1, 2011, Contemporary Hotel at Walt Disney World Resort.
23 Surrell, “The Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary: Room for One More,” 2011.
24 Jason Grandt, “The Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary: Room for One More,” October 1, 2011, Contemporary Hotel at Walt Disney World Resort.
Chapter Three
1 John Hench, video taped presentation, “The Art of the Haunted Mansion: The Haunted Mansion’s 30th Anniversary,” June 26, 1999, Disneyland Park.
2 Rolly Crump, interview with author, January 2014. Unless otherwise noted, any other quotes attributed to Rolly Crump in this chapter are from this interview.
3 John Henry Pepper, True History of the Ghost: And All About Metempsychosis , Cambridge University Press, 2012, page 1.
4 H. H. Windsor, The Boy Mechanic Vol. 1 , Popular Mechanics Co., 1913.
5 Ken Anderson, “The Haunted House at Disneyland: Test Instructions,” transcript. Oct. 16, 1957. http://www.doombuggies.com/history_andersontreatment.php
6 “Disneyland’s House of Horrors,” Famous Monsters , February 1971.
7 “Ex-Disney Special Effects Expert Slain” (AP), Toledo Blade , Sept. 7, 1983.
Chapter Four
1 Neil Gabler, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination , Alfred A. Knopf, 2006, page 619.
2 Ashley Vance, “New Orleans Woman Runs for Mayor of Disneyland,” The Register , April 15, 2006: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/15/disney_butler
3 Jason Surrell, The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies , Disney Editions, 2003, page 15.
4 Jason Schultz, “The Shipley-Lydecker House,” Disneyland Nomenclature, March 19, 2008. http://disneylandcompendium.blogspot.com/2008/03/shipley-lydecker-house.html
5 John Hench, Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show , Disney Editions, 2008.
6 Kim Irvine, “Tales of Ghoulish Delight: Creating the Haunted Mansion.” Panel discussion at the Walt Disney Family Museum, Oct. 15, 2016.
7 Amy Boothe Green and Howard E. Green, Remembering Walt: Favorite Memories of Walt Disney , Disney Editions, 1999, page 169.
8 Martin Sklar, Dream It! Do It!: My Half-Century Creating Disneys Magic Kingdoms , Disney Editions Deluxe, 2013.
9 Gabler, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination , page 579.
10 “Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room and the Invention of Audio-Animatronics,” http://entertainmentdesigner.com/history-of-theme-parks/disneylands-enchanted-tiki-room-and-the-invention-of-audio-animatronics
11 Bob Gurr, “A Swinging Wake: DoomBuggies.com’s Tenth Anniversary,” Disneyland Park, Feb. 25, 2008
12 Bob Gurr, Design: Just For Fun , APP-GurrDesig
n Publishing, 2012, page 84.
13 Gurr, “A Swinging Wake: DoomBuggies.com’s Tenth Anniversary,” Disneyland Park.
14 Tony Baxter, Mousetalgia Episode 298 (podcast interview), July 7, 2014.
15 Rolly Crump, Modern Mouse Radio #11 (podcast interview), May 18, 2013.
16 Dan Olson, “The Haunted Mansion Boat Ride,” The Long Forgotten Haunted Mansion blog: https://longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-haunted-mansion-boat-ride.html
17 X. Atencio, Mousetalgia Episode 39 (podcast interview), August 3, 2009.
Chapter Five
1 Marty Sklar, Mousetalgia Episode 198 (podcast interview), August 12, 2012.
2 Disneyland: The First Quarter Century , Walt Disney Productions, 1979.
3 Tony Baxter, “The Haunted Mansion: 40th Anniversary,” Disneyland Park, Sept. 9, 2009.
4 Rolly Crump, interview with author, January 2014. Unless otherwise noted, any other quotes attributed to Rolly Crump in this chapter are from this interview.
5 Ed Squair, “Celebrating 40 Years of Frights and Delights at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion,” Disney Twenty-three , Fall 2009, page 26.
6 Patrick Macias, “Nobuo Nakagawa: Director,” TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion , Cadence Books, 2001. page 87.
7 X. Atencio, Mousetalgia Episode 39 (podcast interview), August 3, 2009.
8 Ibid.
9 Jason Surrell, The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies (Updated 40th Anniversary Edition) , Disney Editions, 2003, 2009, page 25.
10 Ed Squair, “Tales of Ghoulish Delight: Creating the Haunted Mansion.” Panel discussion at the Walt Disney Family Museum, Oct. 15, 2016.
11 X. Atencio, “A Swinging Wake: DoomBuggies.com’s Tenth Anniversary,” Disneyland Park, Feb. 25, 2008.
12 Tony Baxter, Internal Disney training video, archived on DoomBuggies.com, http://www.doombuggies.com/history4.php.
13 Tony Baxter, Mousetalgia Episode 298 (podcast interview), July 7, 2014.
14 Randy Bright, Disneyland: Inside Story , Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987, page 192.
15 Sam Gennawey, The Disneyland Story: The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney’s Dream , Keen Communications, 2014, page 85.
16 Bob Welbaum, “Rolly Crump—One Special Imagineer, Part III”, http://www.laughingplace.com/News-PID512700-512702.asp
17 Andreas Deja, Mousetalgia Episode 290 (podcast interview), May 12, 2014.
18 Paul Saunders, Interview with the author, http://www.doombuggies.com/insiders_saunders.php
19 Tony Baxter, Season Pass Podcast: The Tony Baxter Interview—Part 1, July 16, 2013.
20 Jason Grandt, “The Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary: Room for One More,” October 1, 2011, Contemporary Hotel at Walt Disney World Resort.
21 Frank Allnutt, “The Haunted Mansion: An Audio-Animatronics Adventure,” Internal WED Enterprises, Inc. information publication, April 8, 1969.
22 “Leading Ladies and Femme Fatales: The Art of Marc Davis,” the Walt Disney Family Museum. http://www.waltdisney.org/marc-davis
23 Alice Davis, interview with author, April 2014.
24 Alice Davis, “The Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary: Spirited Seance,” August 9, 2009, Disneyland Park.
25 Rolly Crump with Jeff Heimbuch, It’s Kind of a Cute Story , Bamboo Forrest, 2012, page 50.
26 Jeff Kurtti, Walt Disney’s Imagineering Legends , Disney Editions, 2008, page 58.
27 Baxter, Mousetalgia Episode 298.
28 Rolly Crump, Extinct Attractions interview, published Oct. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D5XC7f8hz8
29 Jason Surrell, “The Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary: Room for One More,” October 1, 2011, Contemporary Hotel at Walt Disney World Resort.
30 Christopher Merritt, “Marc Davis and the Art of the Haunted Mansion,” Haunted Attraction Magazine Issue 30-31, page 36.
31 Marc Davis, Mousetalgia Episode 230 (podcast interview), March 24, 2013.
32 Bright, Disneyland: Inside Story , page 192.
33 Baxter, Mousetalgia Episode 298.
34 Rolly Crump, Modern Mouse Radio #11 (podcast interview), May 18, 2013.
Chapter Six
1 X. Atencio, Mousetalgia Episode 39 (podcast interview), August 3, 2009.
2 Ed Squair, “Tales of Ghoulish Delight: Creating the Haunted Mansion.” Panel discussion at the Walt Disney Family Museum, Oct. 15, 2016.
3 Scott Weitz, “X. Atencio: Disneyland’s X Factor,” Haunted Attraction Magazine , issue 30-31, page 41.
4 Brian Kistler, interview with the author.
5 Pete Renoudet, interview with Jesse Guiher, DoomBuggies.com, http://doombuggies.com/insiders_renoudet.php
6 X. Atencio, “The Story of the Haunted Mansion,” Extinct Attraction Club DVD, 2008.
7 Fred Frees, Mousetalgia Episode 209 (podcast interview), Oct. 29, 2012.
8 Buddy Baker, “The Art of the Haunted Mansion: The Haunted Mansion’s 30th Anniversary,” June 26, 1999, Disneyland Park.
9 Ibid.
10 Tish Eastman, “Haunting Melody: The Story Behind Buddy Baker’s Score for the Haunted Mansion,” Persistence of Vision , Issue 9, 1997, page 38.
11 X. Atencio, “The Haunted Mansion: 40th Anniversary,” Disneyland Park, Sept. 9, 2009
12 X. Atencio, Mousetalgia Episode 39 (podcast interview), August 3, 2009.
Chapter Seven
1 Paul F. Anderson, “A Disney History Halloween,” October 31, 2013. http://www.disneyhistoryinstitute.com/2013/10/happy-halloweenthe-disney-history-way.html
2 David Mumford, “Grim Grinning Ghosts Toast 25 Years at Disneyland’s Happy Haunting Grounds,” Disney News , Winter 1994, page 53.
3 Steve Simmons, Mousetalgia Episode 291 (podcast interview), May 19, 2014.
4 “Summoning Memories of the Haunted Mansion’s Opening Night,” D23 online, August 8, 2009, https://d23.com/summoning-memories-of-the-haunted-mansions-opening-night
5 Bob Thomas, “Dave McIntyre’s Front Row,” San Diego Evening Tribune , August 19, 1969.
Chapter Eight
1 Tony Baxter, Internal Disney training video, archived on DoomBuggies.com, http://doombuggies.com/secrets_facade.php
2 Kim Irvine, “Tales of Ghoulish Delight: Creating the Haunted Mansion.” Panel discussion at the Walt Disney Family Museum, Oct. 15, 2016.
3 Frank Allnutt, “The Haunted Mansion: An Audio-Animatronics Adventure,” Internal WED Enterprises, Inc. information publication, April 8, 1969.
4 “Early Illusions for the Haunted Mansion: An Interview with Rolly Crump,” The “E” Ticket , Number 9, Summer 1990, page 30.
5 Allnutt, “The Haunted Mansion: An Audio-Animatronics Adventure.”
6 “The Haunted Mansion Fact Sheet,” part of a package of press fact and figures distributed widely to news publications in 1969 and 1970 directly from Disneyland’s publicity department.
7 Richard Tremblay, interview with the author. Many of the technical details discussed here and throughout the rest of the book were supplied in emails and on message boards at DoomBuggies.com by Tremblay, a veteran Disney technician who has worked on the Haunted Mansion attraction for years.
8 “Cuban Sculptor Carves Furniture for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion,” The Disney News, Fall 1969, page 10.
9 Rolly Crump, interview with author, January 2014.
10 “Marc Davis and the Haunted Mansion,” The “E” Ticket , Number 16, Summer 1993, page 25.
11 For more information about the various knights that have performed in the Haunted Mansion, and to hear more of the interviews, listen to The DoomBuggies Spook Show #8, March 28, 2014.
12 Tim O’Day, from an online conversation with the author.
13 Blaine Gibson, “A Swinging Wake: DoomBuggies.com’s Tenth Anniversary,” Disneyland Park, Feb. 25, 2008.
14 Paul Saunders, interview with the author, March 2014. Vic Green was Saunder’s supervisor, and a WED Imagineer that had worked on the New York World’s Fair and returned to work
on the Haunted Mansion project—another of the countless talented designers, architects and engineers that contributed to the Haunted Mansion.
Chapter Nine
1 Rolly Crump, “The Art of the Haunted Mansion: The Haunted Mansion’s 30th Anniversary,” June 26, 1999, Disneyland Park.
2 Kim Irvine, “The Haunted Mansion: 40th Anniversary,” Disneyland Park, Sept. 9, 2009.
3 David Mumford, “Grim Grinning Ghosts Toast 25 Years at Disneyland’s Happy Haunting Grounds,” Disney News , Winter 1994, page 53.
4 Dan Olson, "On the Web," http://longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2014/09/on-web.html
5 Floyd Norman, podcast interview, Mousetalgia Episode 370, Nov. 22, 2015.
6 Christopher Merritt, “Marc Davis and the Art of the Haunted Mansion,” Haunted Attraction Magazine Issue 30-31, page 36.
7 Mumford, “Grim Grinning Ghosts Toast 25 Years at Disneyland’s Happy Haunting Grounds.”
8 In 2001, DoomBuggies.com posted a photograph of the Hat Box Ghost submitted by Paul Clemons, which can be seen at http://www.doombuggies.com/myths2.php. In 2011, Todd J. Pierce posted an actual home movie of the character in position in the attic, which can be viewed at http://www.disneyhistoryinstitute.com/2011/07/actual-home-movies-of-hatbox-ghost-1969.html
9 Daniel Joseph, podcast interview, The DoomBuggies Spook Show Episode 14, October 5, 2015.
10 Howard Wornom, “The Haunted Mansion: Part II”, Storyboard Magazine , Vol.2 No. 6, November/December 1989, page 17.
Chapter Ten
1 Daniel Olson has investigated the graveyard trees in depth in his Long Forgotten Blog: http://longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2012/06/into-dark-forest.html
2 Frank Allnutt, “The Haunted Mansion: An Audio-Animatronics Adventure,” Internal WED Enterprises, Inc. information publication, April 8, 1969.
3 Dick Ebright, letter to the author.
4 Tish Eastman, “Haunting Melody: The Story Behind Buddy Baker’s Score for the Haunted Mansion,” Persistence of Vision , Issue 9, 1997, page 55.
5 Tony Baxter, “The Haunted Mansion: 40th Anniversary,” Disneyland Park, Sept. 9, 2009.
