Today, Disneyland's Haunted Mansion is celebrating it's 55th anniversary!
In honor of this anniversary, let's take a look at some Haunted Mansion-related articles, which appeared in Disney News Magazine over the years.
From the Summer 1969 issue:
I believe this was the publication's earliest mention of the Haunted Mansion. As the article states, the attraction was "to be completed in late summer." It also mentions a new fleet of Disneyland-Alweg Monorail trains, which would also be debuting that summer. These would have been the Mark III five-car trains. Oh, and that's Yale Gracey, posing with the original Hat Box Ghost figure!
From the Fall 1969 issue:
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This issue's article is entirely about Ciro Rolando Santana y Arrite, a Cuban sculptor who was hired to carve "wooden furniture and ornamentation for Disneyland's Haunted Mansion." The attraction would have been open at this point, but the caption for the photos below the article states, "Here is a sneak preview of the Haunted Mansion."
The blog, "Long Forgotten" has provided some additional info about the work of Ciro Rolado Santa y Arrite, in a blog post from August of 2010.
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From the Winter 1969-1970 issue:
This article includes quotes from a few children who were interviewed prior to entering the Haunted Mansion, and also upon exiting. The child in the photo is hiding behind a tombstone with an epitaph that reads, "Here Lies Phineas Pock - Laid To Rest Beneath This Rock - R.I.P." I clearly remember this headstone during my childhood visits to Disneyland. At that time, it was located on the hillside, or "berm," to the west of the Haunted Mansion, along with other headstones. I remember returning to the park at some point, and the headstones were noticeably missing.
Once again, the "Long Forgotten" blog has an excellent and thorough post, about the disappearing, reappearing, and relocation of the headstones over the years.
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From the Fall 1974 issue:
By this time, a second Haunted Mansion had opened at Walt Disney World, in Florida. This article discusses both versions, including the influence for the two different exteriors.
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The article also describes how the dust and cobwebs are applied throughout the attraction.
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Happy 55th anniversary, to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion!
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17 comments:
The Haunted Mansion is one of the most popular rides in Disneyland and definitely in my top 5 Disney attractions.
I love the lore behind the making of the mansion and the different vibes that Marc Davis and Claude Coates wanted to showcase. The fact that it laid dormant for six years after the facade and the mad dash the imagineers must have been in after Walt had passed to try to figure what they wanted to do with this already planned piece of real estate. In those two years after he was gone, they had to create 80 percent of the attraction and change it from a walkthrough to a ride.
I just wish they didn’t close the attraction six months out of the year to put in Haunted Mansion Holiday. I don’t hate the layover but 3 months out of the year should be max.
On the Winter '69-'70 page (Phineas Pock's headstone) there is that coloring book inset (or whatever it is). I see a couple of those goofy reindeer, but no Christmas trees... I guess you weren't important enough to be included. ;-p (Before your time, I know.)
A nice Haunted Mansion retrospective, Tokyo!, thanks.
DisneyMike, it is kind of amazing when you think about how long the Mansion's facade just sat there, before they finished the rest of the attraction.
I agree with you about the length of time that the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay is around. I do like the overlay, but I like the regular version better, and not being able to enjoy it for half of the year is way too long!
JB, that inset was actually of the cover of the magazine. Maybe I should have included a larger image of it. I only did that for the two issues that had the Haunted Mansion on their covers. That cover isn't very exciting, because it has just simple line drawings of the different floats and characters from "Fantasy On Parade." I think there were "Christmas Trees" in the parade back then, but I guess they didn't want to include them in the drawing. BOOOOOOO!!! :-)
I think they should completely redo the Haunted Mansion and call it Tiana's Bayou Mansion.
Ken, I agree! And they should also rename New Orleans Square, "Tiana's Bayou Square." Then they can fill in the Rivers of America with dirt and concrete, and build a giant "Tiana's Bayou Coaster"! ;-)
I’m sorry I missed the actual 55th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion! But I am typically bad at remembering anniversaries. While I am old enough to have probably seen the Mansion before it opened, I don’t have any memories of it at all, sadly. My family seemed to not go to the extreme west side of the park for some reason, which is why I never saw the Indian Village, for instance. I love issues of Disney News from the early years, and was the happy recipient of MANY issues from somebody, recently.
That weird purple cover for the Fall 1969 issue! So odd! And yet perhaps apt for 1969, when crazy colors were in fashion. And it is cool to see details in those old issues that were later changed or removed. I don’t like change! But at least there is a record of those things.
I wonder who painted that cover for the Fall 1974 issue? Most magazines would give the artist credit inside, but I assume that Disney News did not. Let’s pretend Walt Disney drew and painted everything himself, even though he died in 1966!
Thanks for this fun post.
Major, I don't usually remember specific dates of attraction anniversaries, and have to look them up. But for some reason, I do remember that the HM opened in August. Maybe that's because my family visited the park in August of '69, shortly after it opened.
I guess that purple cover is kind of odd, but you are probably right about it being a reflection of the times. I can't think of another issue that has that much of one color on it's cover. I'm glad to hear that you received a large batch of issues. I think I have every issue with the exception of the first two. When they changed the name of the magazine from "Disney News" to "The Disney Magazine," they got rid of their stock of back issues and made them available to the public, for the very first time. I ordered all of the issues that I didn't have, but they no longer had copies of issues #1 and #2.
I'll have to dig out that issue from Fall of 1974, and see if the artist is mentioned on the inside cover. I somehow doubt it though. Although, they did mention on the inside cover of the Winter '82/'82 issue, that Charles Boyer had done the artwork for that issue's cover (an aerial view of the entire Jungle Cruise layout). Maybe they were giving credit to the artists by then, or maybe they only did that for him? Now I'm wondering if that 1974 Haunted Mansion cover could have been his work? Or maybe the ghost of Walt Disney did ALL of the "Disney News" covers, post-1966! Maybe they will teach the new A.A. of Walt to draw and paint. And also to sing and dance.
This is a great tribute post to our beloved Haunted Mansion.
I remember the excitement and anticipation, waiting a loooong time for the Haunted Mansion to open. My cousin, Stu, who lived in California at the time, was the first person my family knew to go through it. He later came to visit us and told us all about it...and we were glued to him, listening to all the exciting and spooky details.
I also enjoyed all the articles and links, TM! Fun read - thank you!
Sue, even though my family went to the park some time within that first month of the Haunted Mansion's opening, my brother had a friend who had already been on it. He relayed his experience, and the one thing that stood out in my four-year old mind was, "Things pop out at you!" Of course we know that things pop "up," but not "out." Unfortunately, that was all I needed to hear, so I skipped the Haunted Mansion during that visit. My dad took my brother on it, while my mom and I rode the DL R.R. I think if my brother's "stupid" friend hadn't said that part about "things popping out at you," I probably would have gone inside. We visited again the following year and by that time, I was brave enough to go inside.
I remember at a young age, my family tried to make me go on it and I remember freaking out and holding on to the gates for dear life outside lol, not my best moment and needless to say, I didn’t go on it. A year or two later it would go on to be one of my favorite rides. It certainly wasn’t too intense for the younger generation but things popping out or up would definitely scare someone at 4 years old. I did read that when the Mansion first opened, there was little strings hanging in the basement that would brush through your hair and you would get an eerie tingling sensation. That must have got kids trying to jump out of their seat. I remember going on the Calico Mine ride when they used to dress it up for Halloween Haunt and on the first lift hill, those strings would run through your hair and I remember it did not feel good and you immediately start itching at your scalp praying there’s not a bat in there or something.
Mike, I regret not going in the Haunted Mansion that first month that it was open! I had no problem with anything inside, just one year later. It's too bad that friend of my brother's said that part about "things jump out at you."
I have been through mazes at Knott's Halloween Haunt events (and other independent Halloween mazes elsewhere), where they had strings hanging from the ceiling. I also remember the Calico Mine Ride having them on the lift hill! It's definitely a creepy feeling! And maybe this is a little odd, but I also think about all the other faces and scalps that those strings have been dragged over throughout the entire Halloween season, and that grosses me out a bit!
Mike, I forgot to mention that I think I have also read that about the strings hanging from the ceiling, in parts of the Haunted Mansion. I don't remember that. But I do remember the "knight in armor" who jumped out at riders for a short time, in the 1980s. That was kind of different, and it was also surprising that Disney chose to add something like that. I wonder why they stopped it? Complaints from startled guests, maybe?
Yes, I do recall the Living Knight back in 1985 where a live actor would jump out at you. I can only imagine they got rid of the character is because it was just too unexpected. You probably had guests trying to attack him from sheer surprise on a daily basis. He probably caught people in provocative positions as well and that must have been awkward lol. Inner Space also had that problem too where couples couldn't keep their hands off each other in a dark space. Oh I wonder how many babies were conceived on that ride, they should have called it Adventure thru Innards instead. The closet thing that came to a live actor on a ride after that was the Great Movie Ride. Not too many changes have occurred on the ride over its 55 year history. Mostly just the attic but that portion of the ride has always been a mess. I’m not a fan of the rumors of CGI imagery of the hitchhiking ghosts replacing the physical animatronics as well as getting rid of the hanging corpse in the elevator portrait gallery. You don’t improve a ride by making it worse.
I'm guessing that the Living Knight stayed far enough back so that guests couldn't punch him. I've heard a lot of stories about the monsters in Haunt mazes at Knott's, getting punched by some guy, because they scared his girlfriend. How stupid are some people?
I hope that rumor about Anaheim's Mansion getting the CGI hitchhiking ghosts in the mirror is wrong! That effect looks absolutely horrible in Walt Disney World's version. But then, Disney does seem to enjoy ruining EVERYTHING! :-)
I like the poster tagline, In Horrifying Sight and Sound! Very 1960s, along with Doom Buggies and the Bob Crewe beat to the graveyard music.
I remember the HM opening date for a morbid association: the Manson family murders of that weekend (though I was too young at the time to know). A week later on Saturday August 16th, Disneyland hit an attendance record that stood for many years; most of those extra folks thronging to see the new Mansion must have been Southern Californians, very on edge. Like scary books and movies, it would be a relief to be pleasurably scared, at one of the safest places on the planet.
I was well primed, getting the famous record album for my October birthday and sneaking up on it when my courage allowed. For Halloween, some neighborhood teens created a black light cemetery extravaganza on their front lawn, obviously inspired by the HM (and most tombstone decorations were DIY in those days). When I finally rode the HM in January 1970, it caused little anxiety. It was the first edition of Snow White's Adventures that dropped my jaw in shock; waaay scarier than the HM! Also SWA had slithery hanging cords for riders to brush by, after the witch shadow and "Have an apple dearie!" scenes.
On that first visit the outdoor cemetery was to the left of the mansion at ground level; it couldn't have lasted more than a year, when the need for queue space exhumed those laid to rest. There is a good photo of this original in THE ART OF WALT DISNEY.
In August 1984, right after the Olympics, the HM finally gave a fright; the Phantom of the Opera character which terrorized people outside the Main Street Cinema was doing the grabby bit in the HM Hallway, just before the Conservatory scene. My voice had changed by then, but I let out a very unmanly yell; under his mask, I discerned the cast member apparently chuckling at his success. Embarrassing then, a fond memory today.
Stefano
Stefano, that is a cool tagline on the attraction poster! I also don't remember hearing anyone talk about the Manson murders at that time. It wasn't until much later in life that I became aware of them, and of them sharing a date with the HM's opening. I remember hearing someone say that most people didn't lock their doors, prior to the Summer of 1969. I wonder if that was really true? Were people THAT trusting? Maybe it depended on where you lived?
I didn't get the HM album until I was an adult, but I had all the other DL soundtracks. I'm not sure why I was missing that one. Maybe it was because I was given the smaller Haunted Mansion "Little Long-Playing Record" with the storybook. It's the one that had the Disneyland "story reader" narrating and when it was time to turn the page, Tinker Bell would "ring her little bells like this......" I posted the story book and the audio, back in August of 2011.
I can see where the original Snow White attraction could have been scary to the little ones. I didn't go on it until I was in 5th grade, so I don't remember being too scared. I did love that original version!
Wow....I must have missed the Phantom of the Opera in the HM! I do remember the "live" Knight, but I think I only saw him about half a dozen times before they got rid of him.
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