Long-forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect?

[DisneyIPresume]

Originally Posted by HBG2

DisneyIPresume, check out this: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/415325...nted_painting/

If you google "haunted painting moving eyes" and a few other suggestive combinations, lots of interesting things show up.

Ha! Thanks! That painting is beautiful, yet there is something that emanates from it, definitely. Can't say its bad but you definitely feel something especially when you see the real thing...

[Chapter13]

GRD,

I have read your blog, and most likely (because I had to read it somewhere), I probably retained a lot from it and subconciously thought I read it somewhere else.

Cool stuff, btw. Think it's a great site!

[HBG2]

Originally Posted by Chapter13

I'm going to quickly talk about the connection to constance and the stretching room portrait. I honestly think it's just a tribute to past imagineers who created the place. Afterall, they based the other husbands off the other four stretching room men (3 quicksand guys and TNT guy). As for Al Gal, we have yet to see her "appear".

About the "tattered drapes" only being in the ballroom, I'm afraid that's not so (at least not for the WDW version). As you make your way through (right before you see the endless hallway), you should see a doorway of sorts with a torn and worn sheet billowing from a fan behind it. There's also one located directly by the endless hallway, opposite the knight. They are there for a fact at WDW, but I'd need confirmation about DL.
http://bp2.blogger.com/_Ic-sQEZUXMs/...ing-Sound1.jpg

Let's talk about the "does this happen often or scarcely" thing. Sure the caretaker and dog are spooked, but is it possible that it's just a gag? The guy should be use to it after years of "service", yet he's still spooked. Kinda like how the mansion has been about since 1969, yet they sell pens with mickey and the gang getting scarred by the happy haunts. Ok, ok, sure, you could go into this big thing about the girl celebrating her birthday, but then you could also argue "is this what she does because that's what she did when she died or is it really her birthday?"

Speaking of the ballroom, the duelists have had a lot of attention over a small movement of the head...uhhh, has anyone considered that maybe he was just aiming? The professional (who aims) vs. the amature (who doesn't aim, yet gets his shot every time) kinda thing?

Some other random stuff:

Someone told me that once, they had a cheap little trick when you entered the attic, that you'd feel fishing line or something of that nature rub against your face as it hung above your doombug, supposidly tring to make it feel as if you just went through a spider-web.......HB2, you remember anything like that?

Something neat is that, supposidly, there are two walls in the Corridor of Doors that can be removed if a cameraman/woman needs a shot of the doombugs from a wierd angle. I believe I saw some blueprints somewhere, but alas, can't remember where.

Spiderwebs reminds me of something else. Anyone heard the myth of the "man in the webs" at WDW HM? As some of you know, there's a (rather pathetic waste of space) spider room that was supposidly suppose to have a corpse caught in the webs crying out for help in muffled yelps. Of course this was too graphic for the ride, so it was never installed. Don't believe me? Look at this check list:
http://bp1.blogger.com/_Ic-sQEZUXMs/...ing-Sound7.jpg
If that wasn't enough, there is someone (sorry, can't remember who) at doombuggies.com message board that has claimed that he is still in storage under the doombug tracks!

Point by point:

1) I agree that Constance's various husbands are inspired by the stretchroom guys:

I also think that this is a case of inside-joking, a tribute to Marc Davis and the original Imagineers. And that's all it is; the stretchroom guys cannot actually be identified as Constance's husbands, because when you're looking at Reginald, for example, you're looking at a man with less than two years to live, whereas his stretchroom counterpart is obviously a much older man. But in my opinion, the fifth and last husband is indeed a genuine identification with the stretchroom portrait. The correspondences are too many and too explicit--down to the name "George"--to be nothing more than an inside joke or tribute.

2) The billowing drapes at the endless hallway are drab and dingy, but are they tattered?

3) I'm sorry, but that caretaker is stupified as well as scared. He's never seen anything like this before. No amount of "well, maybe this and maybe that" can get around this (to me) obvious fact. Check this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amRH05vuZ-c

4) Your suggestion regarding the duelists is EXCELLENT, in my opinion. If you check the video GRD posted earlier, the head tilt takes place AT THE SAME TIME that he adjusts his aim by lowering his gun. You may well be right that he is taking a bead with that little head movement.

5) X Atencio himself mentions the strings hanging down in an interview somewhere (I think it's on the first Extinct Attractions HM DVD), and I believe he says that they were all pulled out by guests within a day. They would have been gone by the time I rode, Thursday of opening week.

6) The removable walls are called "wild walls," and yes, GRD discusses them on his blog: http://ghostrelationsdept.blogspot.c...1_archive.html

7) Spider Web Man is discussed at DB.com (http://www.doombuggies.com/secrets_conservatory.html ):

"Long ago when the Magic Kindgom first opened, there was a man trapped in the spider web to the right of the Doom Buggy path, near the Grand Staircase. However, it was felt that this effect was too scary, which was probably due mostly to the fact that there was a hideous screaming sound that accompanied the effect. The man's figure was stashed under an Omnimover motor in the graveyard, and was often used to scare maintenance men. By the way... scaring each other was a very common pasttime for Cast Members at the Haunted Mansion..." —Submitted by Shawn Potts

Also discussed here (GRD's blog): http://ghostrelationsdept.blogspot.c...an-in-web.html
Also discussed here (scroll down to comment by "Robotwolf"; possibly this is Shawn Potts?): http://p080.ezboard.com/In-need-of-a...cID=6640.topic

So we have reasonably reliable reports that the figure really was there, and documentation that it was on a maintenance chart, but it is claimed that it was never installed. This claim, however, is only as good as the (unnamed) source who says so. Were they in a position to know this absolutely? We don't know. We have to balance this claim against those who say that they do remember seeing it. You'll find one of those in the "comments" following GRD's blog entry, and he has told me of others who vaguely remember it as well. So it's not a settled issue, by any means.

[GRD999]

I just made a post about the black strings on the old bloggeroo...

Not much more news than what is read here, but it does have a blueprint cropping! WOO!

[aashee]

OK, got a chance to ride in the old doombuggy today and I noticed something new. In the attic, inbetween the piano shadow player and Constance it almost looks like the is a person there with it's back to you. Any idea what this is? Didn't have a camera, sorry.

Chad

[GRD999]

That would be a small statue of David.

[aashee]

Originally Posted by GRD999

That would be a small statue of David.

Thank you, Thank you. Isn't a ride where you see something new every time awesome? HM, POTC, Indy, Splash all rides where if you look hard enough you can find something new.

Chad

[HBG2]

Originally Posted by aashee

Isn't a ride where you see something new every time awesome? HM, POTC, Indy, Splash all rides where if you look hard enough you can find something new.

Yes. That's why I don't really understand one of the complaints about the new attic, that's it's just too crammed to take it all in. Well, of course it is. The main gag is plain enough on one pass: Disappearing heads of husbands in old pictures followed by an axe-wielding bride ghost. Beyond that, there's always something new to notice, an enormous wealth of details and whimsical surprises.

That's classic Disneyland.

[aashee]

Originally Posted by HBG2

Yes. That's why I don't really understand one of the complaints about the new attic, that's it's just too crammed to take it all in. Well, of course it is. The main gag is plain enough on one pass: Disappearing heads of husbands in old pictures followed by an axe-wielding bride ghost. Beyond that, there's always something new to notice, an enormous wealth of details and whimsical surprises.

That's classic Disneyland.

Absolutley HBG. I was temporarily detained by cranky sprits in the attic and spent the whole 2 minutes studying the wedding presents of an unfortunate husband. Flat out awesome detail.

Chad

[DisneyIPresume]

Originally Posted by GRD999

That would be a small statue of David.

I am hoping this statue is not anatomically correct!

[HBG2]

Originally Posted by DisneyIPresume

I am hoping this statue is not anatomically correct!

LOL. With his back turned toward us, you'll just have to wonder.

A couple of examples of whimsical attic detail. These have been commented on before, but for those who have perhaps never noticed them: See the porcelain figurines in this picture? The male has fallen and his head is broken off, while the female strikes an "Oh my goodness; how did that happen?" pose.



Heh, heh. And in this picture, notice how the goblet labelled "groom" is tipped over, while "bride" still stands:

[aashee]

Great picture HBG. like most, I have never noticed those little touches. Thanks for the shots.

Chad

[BellhopPrincess]

Okay okay...I've said I don't like the new attic, but I guess....meh. I think the shock of "where is the lovely and eerie beating heart specter I love?" is wearing off....

The attention to detail is indeed amazing. Someone I was talking with a while back mentioned that a lot of the props in Disney rides--at least a while ago--weren't made but bought from estate sales and thrift shops. Of course, some were made, but not all. Makes me wonder about the bride and groom figurines, if they were made or bought!

Question: What are the years of the marriages?

[Joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

Originally Posted by HBG2

LOL. With his back turned toward us, you'll just have to wonder.

A couple of examples of whimsical attic detail. These have been commented on before, but for those who have perhaps never noticed them: See the porcelain figurines in this picture? The male has fallen and his head is broken off, while the female strikes an "Oh my goodness; how did that happen?" pose.



Heh, heh. And in this picture, notice how the goblet labelled "groom" is tipped over, while "bride" still stands:

Hehe, those are great. Fantastic little touches like these are the main reason why Disney is a head above everybody else in the theme park biz.

Note: That pun was unintentional but very welcomed.

[RobotWolf]

Originally Posted by HBG2

So we have reasonably reliable reports that the figure really was there, and documentation that it was on a maintenance chart, but it is claimed that it was never installed. This claim, however, is only as good as the (unnamed) source who says so. Were they in a position to know this absolutely? We don't know. We have to balance this claim against those who say that they do remember seeing it. You'll find one of those in the "comments" following GRD's blog entry, and he has told me of others who vaguely remember it as well. So it's not a settled issue, by any means.

I hate to further unsettle the issue. But I was told that he was never installed when I was shown the figure. And as I'm well aware, being told something is not the same as knowing it as irrefutable fact. The only way one could know for certain is to have been there opening day. Which I was not. I have edited my post at DB to reflect this qualification.

PS: This thread delivers!!