Haunted Mansion Holiday

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Haunted Mansion Holiday
The Pumpkin King statue outside of the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland in 2004.
Disneyland
Land New Orleans Square
Music Disneyland: Haunted Mansion Holiday (2003 CD)
A Musical History of Disneyland
FASTPASS available
Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare
Tokyo Disneyland
Land Fantasyland
FASTPASS available

Haunted Mansion Holiday is a seasonal attraction at the Disneyland park in California and Japan. Called Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare in Japan, it is a blend of Haunted Mansion and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Since 2001, Disneyland has closed The Haunted Mansion during the month of September to convert it into the Haunted Mansion Holiday. The ride is closed again during January to return the Haunted Mansion to its original state.

Haunted Mansion Holiday at Disneyland park in California is scheduled to open on September 26, 2008. Haunted Mansion will be closed from September 8 through September 25, 2008, to install the overlay.

Contents

[edit] History

 The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia.
Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(April 2008)

Without any doubts, the holiday overlay for It's a Small World was a smash hit with guests, and proved that Imagineers could "play" with classic attractions and give guests an all new experience. That's when Disney began searching for attractions that could be given a new hoiday overlay. One of the first attractions picked was none other than The Haunted Mansion. First ideas for a Haunted Mansion overlay would be a retelling of A Christmas Carol and The Night Before Christmas. Well a Christmas Carol overlay wouldn't make much sense in New Orleans, and The Haunted Mansion wasn't a cheery environment for Santa Claus to play in. That's when someone suggested using Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Steve Davidson took the idea and worked with fellow Imagineers to make one of the most popular rides in Disney history. Imagineers faced two problems: Paul Frees, Leota Thomas, and Eleanor Audley, had passed away years earlier, which meant that there would be no Ghost Host or Madame Leota. But in a twist of fate, Imagineers found Corey Burton, who had done voice over acts with Disney before, and Kim Irvine, Leota's daughter who looked like her mother a lot. Burton who could do a ghoulishly good Paul Frees imitation, took the place of the Ghost Host, and Kim Irvine became Madame Leota, and in no time creepy decorations began to cover the mansion in head to toe, as curious guests read a sign on the mansion's gate that read; "Sandy Claws is busy decking our halls."

In September 2001, The Haunted Mansion Holiday opened its decorated doors to the public. It was a smash hit, guests from all over came to see what the 999 happy haunts' Christmas present was for them. Eerie garland and pumpkins decorated the facade, and a Countdown to Christmas Clock rested on the front of the mansion. The Ghost Host told a rhyming tale of the holidays, and the Stretching portraits and changing portraits had been replaced with holiday scenes. Jack Skellington hung where the hanging corpse once did, and a giant animated mural sat in the load area. Scary Teddy, a vampire teddy bear replaced the ride's mascot the raven, and Zero the ghost dog reindeer replaced the floating candelabra. Man eating plants took over the Conservatory and Corridor of Doors, as Madame Leota sung the 13 Days of Christmas. A giant Christmas tree and monstrous gingerbread house rested in the Grand Hall as ghosts danced to an organ version of Carol of the Bells. Evil toys came to life in the attic as a giant snake took the place of the bride. Once in the snow covered graveyard, Jack Skellington greeted guests, pumpkins sang Christmas "scarols", ghost frolicked in the snow and made Christmas trees, green snowflakes fell, as giant ghoulish angels trumpeted into the night sky. Oogie Boogie replaced three familiar ghosts and gave out unwanted presents to unsuspecting guests, as Lock, Shock, and Barrel played pranks on guests. Sally the living rag doll bid the happy guests happy holidays as they reached a dead end, and exited to the world of the living.

[edit] Storyline

The story of the new overlay of the Haunted Mansion follows the story of the Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack Skellington wants to show everyone that he can make a Christmas too and sets out from Halloween Town like he does in the movie. Apparently the attraction is a cut scene from the movie that we don't see, the first house Jack lands on is The Haunted Mansion.

[edit] Popularity

This yearly holiday overlay is very popular with guests in California and Tokyo. Waits of up to two hours are not uncommon. Waits range from forty five minutes to the aforementioned two hours, usually longer than The Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.

[edit] The attraction

The outside of the mansion has been covered in both jack-o-lanterns and Christmas decorations. On the roof is Jack Skellington's coffin sleigh and stretched from the roof to the floor is his comical Christmas equation. There is also a clock with bat wings for hands that tells how many days are left until Christmas. As guests wind through the outside line, creepy yet peaceful carols constantly play.

At Tokyo Disneyland the mansion does not have a countdown to Christmas clock or sprawling comical list hanging from the roof because of the design differences between the mansions . Pumpkin made snowmen can be seen and orchestrations from the movie play while waiting.

Guests are then ushered into the foyer, which has been decorated with skull wreaths and such. The Ghost Host (voiced at Disneyland by Corey Burton) begins to tell us the story and then leads us into one of the 2 galleries. At Tokyo, the painting of Pumpkin King Jack to Santa Jack replaces the portrait of Master Gracey.

The stretching portraits have been fully replaced with beautiful stained-glass pictures depicting innocent Christmas scenes with wreaths as their frames. When the doors close, the room goes dark and begins to stretch. The pictures make sounds as if bursting into shards, and luminescent portraits of a Halloween version Christmas' emerge, showing scary toys, a fearsome wreath, a giant carnivorous snake, Jack with ghosts, and the coffin sleigh. The Ghost Host begins telling the "Nightmare Before Christmas" poem as eerily-made carols are sung in the background. The suspense builds with the music and story until lightning crashes and Jack's enormous face with a Santa Claus hat appears above us, yelling "Happy Holidays Everyone!" His creepy laughter fills the room and everything goes pitch black.

Next, the doors open, leading into the hallway. The changing portraits here have also been replaced with new ones. These ones depict Jack, Sally, the mansion, a snowman, and Santa in his sleigh. The choir returns as the song "Kidnap the Sandy Claus" begins to play. It appears to be snowing outside and the musicians from the movie are also outside. The staring busts are pretty much unchanged and have spiderwebs on them that glisten "NOEL", and "HOHOHO." The big loading area is now decorated with more Christmas decor and there is a huge animated mural with all the characters from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" celebrating the season.

At Tokyo, there is no Portrait Corridor like Disneyland's, so instead after the Stretching Room the guests enter a load area decorated by orange Christmas lights and pumpkins. After boarding the guests glide underneath a balcony where Jack, Sally, and Scary Teddy, greet guests from the balcony. The ride through Portrait Corridor features portraits of the film's characters performing various activities. Orange Christmas lights wrap around the busts of the library as Zero barks at a floating tree made out of books. In the music room guests see a life size animatronic Sally seeming depressed and sitting on a chair next to the ghostly piano that Scary Teddy plays. Your Doom Buggy moves up the stairs and passes the green bugs from the movie which are shaking in cages with gift tags that read: "For Oogie." At the very top of the stairs Oogie Boogie's shadow appears dancing and turning into Christmas tree shapes on the full moon above. The rubber spiders remain.

Upon boarding your Doom Buggy in Disneyland, you move up the stairs. At the top are piles of presents with Scary Teddy sitting on them fishing for humans! The Ghost Host continues the story. Zero is now seen floating in the endless hallway. The suit of armor wears a pumpkin mask and has garland wrapped around it. A pile of dog bones are in front of the hall and a wreath of dog bones adorns the top of the hall. Presents sit in the chair and pointsetas reside next to the chair. The corpse trapped in the coffin is the same but Scary Teddy now sits on it, hammering nails into it. A tag reading: "Do Not Open Till X-Mas", hangs from the lid. The dead funeral flowers have sprung to life and now sing the song. The corridor of doors is now filled with comically vicious-looking flowers all singing lalala-ing to "Kidnap the Sandy Claus". Guests then pass underneath a huge yellow eyed monstrous wreath with teeth, which all the flowers seem to be connected to. For some reason, in 2001 the portrait of the man in the hallway holding a hatchet and a noose was taken down for the overlay and replaced with a portrait of Jack. The Jack portrait never returned.

Madame Leota now chants about the "13 Days of Christmas". At Disneyland Scary Teddy sits on the back of a chair ringing two tiny bells with the seance. At Tokyo the raven remains in this scene and Leota is covered in candles. Also at Tokyo Lock, Shock, and Barrel appear in the very back of the room dancing. A bewitched nutcracker with eyes glowing green moves its mouth in unison with her. The floating instruments have been replaced with huge tarot cards, depicting what Madame Leota is chanting. The Doom Buggies now move into the grand hall. The ghosts here are the same, but the decorations have changed. The table is set for a Christmas party and a huge gingerbread mansion cake (which seems to have come alive) sits in the center. An immense dead Christmas tree covered in candles and spiders with lights now sits in the middle of the dance floor, but the waltzing ghosts dance right through it. Zero floats above the scene near the tree at both parks, and at Tokyo Jack and Sally's shadows are seen exchanging presents behind a curtain. This is the only scene where the raven remains at Disneyland.

Guests are then taken to the attic. Almost all traces of Constance,the Black-Widow Bride and her theming are gone. The attic is now cluttered with all sorts of creepy toys and presents. A huge snake coils around the room with a naughty and nice list in its mouth. Throughout the room, various evil toys pop up as the guests pass by, including Jack-o-Lantern in the boxes, bullet hole ridden ducks, a cymbol crashing Oogie doll, and a monstrous train on tentacle tracks. Despite the fact it is a toy, Scary Teddy doesn't appear at all in the attic because there is no raven in the Attic scene during the regular show.

As you fall out of the mansion's attic, snowflakes are seen falling instead of ghosts rising. Going down the hill, the guests witness Scary Teddy chewing on Christmas lights threatening to blow a fuze, plunging the holiday into chaos! As the Doom Buggies descend and reach the bottom, they pass by a very lifelike audio-animatronic figure of Jack in his Santa suit, wishing the guests a Merry Christmas and so on. The graveyard is now covered in snow. The ghosts, ghouls, and goblins make Christmas trees and sing the new song. The curled hill from the movie is covered in glowing pumpkins. The music is now a combination of "Grim Grinning Ghosts", "Jingle Bells", "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Jolly Old St. Nicholas". The cars pass under huge angels made of snow with pumpkin heads. The singing busts' heads have been replaced with singing jack-o-lanterns. Before entering the crypt, guests find Scary Teddy one last time, playing a trumpet with a pumpkin headed snow angel.

The Doom Buggies then enter the crypt, where an audio-animatronic Oogie Boogie stands next to a Roulette machine, laughing evilly. The guests now see bizarre presents instead of ghosts when they go by the mirrors. Lock, Shock and Barrel sometimes pop out. Lastly, Little Leota has been replaced with Sally, who thanks Jack and tells guests to hurry back.

At Tokyo Oogie is nowhere in sight, instead Lock, Shock, and Barrel are seen inside some presents and hitch a ride with guests. Sally bids goodbye, and the guests are left off the ride at a wreath adorned mausoleum.

[edit] Soundtrack

The attraction's musical score was originally composed by Gordon Goodwin. It was replaced in 2002 with an adapted score by John Debney, based on themes from the film's soundtrack composed by Danny Elfman. Several characters in the ride are voiced by the original actors from the film.

[edit] Hidden Mickeys

  • In the ballroom scene, a few piles of snow are gathered around on the floor by the hearse. One of the piles is in the shape of Mickey's head.
  • One set of plates on the ballroom table is in the shape of Mickey's head: One large plate for the head and two smaller plates for the ears. This, however, is typical of the Haunted Mansion on all occasions, and not just in the holiday theme.
  • In one of the stretching portraits, the Scary Teddy from the Nightmare Before Christmas has a head with two small ears that resemble Mickey's ears. Scary Teddy was also in the movie, and frequently featured in the ride, replacing the ride's mascot raven. It appears seven times at Disneyland, and six times at Tokyo.
  • Again in the stretching portraits, a "regular" Teddy Bear wrapped around the snake can be seen as a Hidden Mickey.
  • One of the "pre-stretched" portraits has a Christmas tree, where two tiny ornaments line up with a larger one.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The raven may seem to be on vacation but it is not, at Disneyland it resides in the Grand Hall on the balcony, and at Tokyo resides in the Seance Circle and Grand Hall.
  • In the attic scene, only two names are marked naughty on the list: Tim (obviously Tim Burton) and Vincent (from the short film of the same name, and Vincent Price, famous horror actor and friend of Tim Burton. He also provided the original Phantom Manor narraration).
  • Early concepts for the ride were overlays based on Twas the Night Before Christmas, and A Christmas Carol. Both ideas declined because A Christmas Carol would not make sense in New Orleans and it would be weird if Santa was introduced into such a macabre area.
  • The Tokyo version props were intended for Walt Disney World, but when the park neglected the attraction, Tokyo which features a carbon copy of their Haunted Mansion, received all the props.
  • The attraction has had a rather infamous transition of music. In 2001, the music was composed by Gordon Goodwin and featured original music, incorporating classic holiday songs such as Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, and Carol of the Bells. From 2002 on, new music was used, written by John Debney, based on themes from the movie. This has had a polarizing effect on fans, drawing both criticism and praise. Since 2003, Goodwin's original music has been used in the Stretching Rooms and the Crypt/Mirror Room (Where Goodwin's Attic music is used for Oogie's Holiday Tricks and Treats), while the rest of Debney's score remains.
  • At Disneyland the eerie music in the beginning is from Phantom Manor, from the gazebo scene. The Manor doesn't have the overlay, even though it dresses for Halloween with the rest of the park.
  • Many fans speculated the attraction wouldn't come back in 2007 due to request of Tim Burton, but Disney stated that wasn't true.[citation needed]
  • The holiday overlay increased the popularity of The Haunted Mansion and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
  • The overlay was intended as a one time thing since that's what Tim wanted, but when Disney found how popular it was they requested to Tim to do it again. The deal is now that Disney must put something new in each year to keep doing it or Tim will retire the overlay.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links