Long-forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect?

[Chapter13]

LOL. Well, now I know who "Chapter 13" is.

Oh crap!

Hehe, ok, ok, you got me.....but I was wondering how long it would take you to figure out D-uh, I mean "HBG2"

Really interesting stuff about the date btw. I'd suspect that the true date is the 16th. I mean, there's so much evidence to support that over the 9th.

Nice GRD! I love all the HM related changing portraits on your(?) site and the tomb sweet tomb belongs in many collections.

More pics, someone asked? Well not tonight. I gots to gets to bed or I'll join the dead! (heh, that rhymed)

Maybe tomorrow

[CaitlinMcFly]

I have a freind who supposedly sees what he calls banshees. I think they are shadowy figures. Freaks him out.

If they're shadowy figures, they aren't banshees. They are either imps (if small and, well, "playful," if you will) or shadow people. Technically, I mean.
...I've researched a lot of paranormal activity and the science of it. Just go with it, I got no sleep last night.

[thrax]

are you sure those are banshees, i always thought they were ghouls coming out of the organ. banashees i thought were weomen

[aashee]

Can I officially give this topic the vote of BEST THREAD EVER!

Don't mind me, carry on.

Chad

[lazyboy97O]

Main Entry: ban·shee
Pronunciation: 'ban-(")shE, ban-'
Function: noun
Etymology: Irish bean sídhe & Scottish Gaelic bean sìth, literally, woman of fairyland
: a female spirit in Gaelic folklore whose appearance or wailing warns a family that one of them will soon die

[HBG2]

aashee, yeah, this joint is jumpin' ain't it? Ten thousand hits and still going...

Again I direct your attention, ladies and gentlemen, to "The Banshee" over at DevilsTrampingGround.com. Besides being a nice bit of flash animation, it's a pretty authentic explanation of exactly what a Banshee is in Irish lore.

http://darkartsmedia.com/DevilsTrampingGround.com.html

[GRD999]

As for the Organ ghosts.... yep... they's banshees! At least, thats what they are called in the context of mansiondom.

[HBG2]

When Woodr--, I mean "Chapter 13," suggested that there really are no banshees in the HM (Long-forgotten Haunted Mansion Effect?, I wonder if he was prepared for this avalanche?

That's one way to ferret out that groovycool inside info, though. "Aw, pthhh! Ever'body knows there ain't no _____."

[Mighty Mikerscope]

He lives at my house. I have the figurine. He can be creepy at night, especially when your half awake.

Funny you should mention the Hat Box Ghost. I was listening to an old recording called "Story and Songs from the Haunted Mansion." It features Ron Howard and his date taking refuge in the Mansion from a storm, becoming trapped, and having to make their way through the Mansion to get away. There is a narrator, as well as a ghost host voice (not Paul Frees). When Ron and his terrified date try to escape the attic, here is what the narrator describes:

...and as they turned to run out of the door, another ghostly manifestation appeared and blocked their way. 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 hat box.

Considering all the places it has prominently appeared (recordings, promotional comics, eyewitness accounts, etc.) it appears the Hat Box Ghost was always ticketed to be an important part of the attic and the Mansion. Most accounts I've read say that the "lighting never worked quite right" and so he was removed from the attraction within the first few weeks of operation. That explanation might well be exactly what happened. But I wonder... The Mansion was not rushed into service by any stretch of the imagination. What was it 10 years of work before opening? Surely that was more than enough time to work out "lighting" issues with the HBG. And if that was the sole reason for keeping the Hat Box Ghost out of the attic, we've had more than 35 years to make the effect work, and he's still not back! Was there another reason for its removal? Was it too scary? Was there another shooter on the grassy knoll? Any thoughts?

[aashee]

Good question Mike. I know some things were deemed too scary, I wonder if this is the case. Now if Lee Harvey Oswald's head was in the hat box...

Chad

[HBG2]

Funny you should mention the Hat Box Ghost. I was listening to an old recording called "Story and Songs from the Haunted Mansion." It features Ron Howard and his date taking refuge in the Mansion from a storm, becoming trapped, and having to make their way through the Mansion to get away. There is a narrator, as well as a ghost host voice (not Paul Frees). When Ron and his terrified date try to escape the attic, here is what the narrator describes:

...and as they turned to run out of the door, another ghostly manifestation appeared and blocked their way. 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 hat box.

Considering all the places it has prominently appeared (recordings, promotional comics, eyewitness accounts, etc.) it appears the Hat Box Ghost was always ticketed to be an important part of the attic and the Mansion. Most accounts I've read say that the "lighting never worked quite right" and so he was removed from the attraction within the first few weeks of operation. That explanation might well be exactly what happened. But I wonder... The Mansion was not rushed into service by any stretch of the imagination. What was it 10 years of work before opening? Surely that was more than enough time to work out "lighting" issues with the HBG. And if that was the sole reason for keeping the Hat Box Ghost out of the attic, we've had more than 35 years to make the effect work, and he's still not back! Was there another reason for its removal? Was it too scary? Was there another shooter on the grassy knoll? Any thoughts?

Actually, I'm pretty sure Karl Rove has something to do with it. Something about UFO's too, but I'm not at liberty to say.

That record of which you speak is one of the big HM collectibles, of course. Got mine sometime in the Fall of '69 and still have it. Anyway, those lines you quote are probably the biggest single reason that the HBG is a cult figure today. He is prominent not only in that piece of narration but in the artwork for that very popular album. (This is also true for the little kid's HM record, btw.) So countless kids grew up not only loving the HM but also hearing and reading about a ghost that obviously isn't there, and wondering why. The absence of the HBG is highly conspicuous. Of such things are legends made.

As for the effect, what you've always heard is true. I suppose that they were able to make the face appear and disappear convincingly in the shop, but the ambient black lighting in the attic and the proximity to the riders made it impossible to get the face to truly disappear using only lighting techniques. When I saw the HBG, I had not yet bought the record, and so I had no idea or expectation that his face was supposed to vanish. The head in the hatbox appeared, but I didn't notice that the one on his shoulders was doing much of anything. So yeah, the effect didn't work as planned. I would suppose that they fiddled with the lighting for awhile to see if they could get the thing to fly, but after a week or two or three, they just decided to yank the guy.

[DisneyIPresume]

Actually, I'm pretty sure Karl Rove has something to do with it. Something about UFO's too, but I'm not at liberty to say.

That record of which you speak is one of the big HM collectibles, of course. Got mine sometime in the Fall of '69 and still have it. Anyway, those lines you quote are probably the biggest single reason that the HBG is a cult figure today. He is prominent not only in that piece of narration but in the artwork for that very popular album. (This is also true for the little kid's HM record, btw.) So countless kids grew up not only loving the HM but also hearing and reading about a ghost that obviously isn't there, and wondering why. The absence of the HBG is highly conspicuous. Of such things are legends made.

As for the effect, what you've always heard is true. I suppose that they were able to make the face appear and disappear convincingly in the shop, but the ambient black lighting in the attic and the proximity to the riders made it impossible to get the face to truly disappear using only lighting techniques. When I saw the HBG, I had not yet bought the record, and so I had no idea or expectation that his face was supposed to vanish. The head in the hatbox appeared, but I didn't notice that the one on his shoulders was doing much of anything. So yeah, the effect didn't work as planned. I would suppose that they fiddled with the lighting for awhile to see if they could get the thing to fly, but after a week or two or three, they just decided to yank the guy.

I had that record from when I was a kid in 1969 and for the life of me I don't know where it is anymore.

Even worse, you say it is a collectible. With my luck it is probably worth thousands of dollars!

[HBG2]

I had that record from when I was a kid in 1969 and for the life of me I don't know where it is anymore.

Even worse, you say it is a collectible. With my luck it is probably worth thousands of dollars!

Naw, not by a long way. Based on my casual perusals, it looks like copies in reasonably good shape show up on EBay fairly often and go for anywhere from thirty to maybe a couple hundred bucks, depending on the condition they're in and what edition they are (the first pressing had a purple label with silver printing).

aashee, contrary to various urban legends, I'm not aware of anything in the HM that was deemed too scary and altered as a result.

I will haul out one more factoid that I've discussed more than once elsewhere, but not yet here on the Mother-of-all-HM-threads:

My distinct recollection is that the load area was quite a bit darker on our first visit during HM's opening week. You definitely could NOT see the walls or ceiling, and when you ascended the stairs in the doombuggies you went into pitch blackness. Very scary and disorienting. It is my opinion that the little wobble the doombuggy makes as you turn to the left at the top of the stairs is quite deliberate. If it is genuinely PITCH BLACK at that point, you lose the ability to tell which way you are moving, or even if you are moving at all, when it wobbles around like that.

That's exactly what happened the first time I rode, but never again thereafter. Very scary. Too bad it isn't that way any more. I suppose the lighting was increased pretty early on to prevent people from stumbling around before getting into the buggies.

[CupcakeTerror]

Thanks for the link. Always love learing interesting facts of the Haunted Mansion!

[aashee]

I'll buy that HBG, but we did discuss how much louder the shrieks were with the pop up ghosts. Also the man caught in the spiderweb at DW was supposedly removed because it too scary.

Perhaps Disney just doesn't want to bring up that they are "unscarying" the HM. Easier just to make the things vanish without fanfare than to say we are making it more kid friendly.

Excellent! Another Grassy Knoll Theory!

Chad