Great post HBG. Being youger, my most vivid memoriy of the bride was her candle & veil. I see that it isn't needed, however it fit the mood perfect with the dark attic and the dim flickering cadle.
With the attic not being as dark anymore it lends to your theory of being unecessary, but it is a tiny feature that I do miss. When the bride wasn't an obvious murderer it gave the illusion that she was in search of something. Most likely her true love.
Chad
I'm one of the monkeys too actually. Ours is low budget too but we were lucky enough to have friends who had done the show last year and so we got to use their costumes--some amazing things in there, too! Gertrude's dress is just perfect, and the Whoville costumes are all amazing, especially the Mayor's wife (it's an a-line hoop skirt, with a hula hoop sewn into the bottom hem!). The sets are good--not as fantastic as my original design, but that wasn't functional or some nonsense like that my director used to justify not using them despite me having the responsability of designing sets according to my job assignment in play production class.Originally Posted by Ess-Eff-Aitch
Sorry. Bitter run-on there. But the sets really aren't bad. If you go (BassBone) be sure to check out the clovers--my lovely and talented friend Betty made about 90% of them. She is the clover master and I'm taking her to see 'Cloverfield' at some point because of this.
I always thought of the candle because she was lost, not because she was looking for something, that she wants someone to find her and save her from...well, whatever she needs to be saved from.
Wow, who'da thought that I'd be on MC and doing schoolwork at the same time? I'm doing a presentation on Disneyland stuff tomorrow and I need to finish it before 5:00 tonight...but I still don't know a good topic to talk about. I was thinking HM history because it's rather interesting and a lot of information, but I'm not sure. Any ideas? EDIT: I'm doing the ol' reliable, HM. Lots to talk about, very interesting, and I know it really well. But I hit DB.com to take notes just in case I freeze up
Last edited by CaitlinMcFly; 01-17-2008 at 04:17 PM.
dreams. come. true.
Interesting that you bring this up, HBG2. As my first official foray into professional writing, I scribed a quick and dirty novella on The Haunted Mansion; mainly in retaliation to the lackluster film (I've brought up the 220-page book before, so I apologize for the blatant self-promoting).
The bride at the time was still Smurfette, so I chose to pattern the bride after that of the classic fare: wispy, isolated, alone, and waiting for someone to find her. The candle sat at her side each night for the last 160 years, waiting for her groom to finally return back to the mansion, the flicker through a dusty window of a single candle the beacon to her lover.
I always felt that a certain tragic romance surrounded the original bride and wanted to spur a plot from that, hearkening back to the bits and pieces left by a sequence of abandoned themes drafted by Imagineers. While I have no protests to the Constance version, I still have a place in my heart for the sad, forlorn bride who never found her husband.
As long as we're kicking around in the attic, here's an example of how clever those old Imagineers were.
A few pages back I reposted this pic from Davelandweb and pointed out that you can see the blast-up's wires on the right. Just a basket on a small table from which a banshee-like head pops up.
But wait a sec. That basket seems barely big enough to conceal the head. What about the apparatus for the air-blast? As it turns out, that apparatus is sizable:
See? There's a long tube to shoot a concentrated jet of compressed air, directly under the head. But in the picture, there's only a shallow basket on a little table. Where's that long air pipe and the rest of the assembly?
Heh, heh...they fooled you. Twiddle a few knobs, and let's take another look at that "table":
That compressed air is what made it so scary. Scared the crap out of me when I was young. The loud blast got your attention.
Yeah, they made a virtue out of necessity. The hissing air was just another startling sound effect among the shrieks and squeals.
A couple more shots of that first attic blast-up, the best pop-up ever, IMO, since it was the first one you ever encountered and could really surprise you--at least once.
*sigh* Only one of these blast-ups is left in the entire Disney universe, popping out of the same crypt as the alcoholic arm in front of the DL HM tea party, if you'll recall. They better not ever get rid of it. I'd love to see someone get a photo of it for The Thread 2.
Separated at birth?
Separated at birth?
Or maybe, separated at death.
Pretty brazen rip-off, isn't it?
Incidentally, they did a pretty good job of simulating the blast-ups at the Haunted Mansion Movie official website
Last edited by HBG2; 01-18-2008 at 10:29 AM. Reason: add stuff
The Scream mask is based on Edvard Munch's painting The Scream. I'd be willing to bet the blastup comes from the same source.
The Right Honorable Count Boogie Bonz of Random, at your service.
On Track for Weight Loss!
Interesting, I hadn't been to the website enough to even explore it for references to the ride. But that does bring up a good question: What iconic ghosts does the film take from its namesake?"
I count a few:
WDW's Master Gracey - Edward Gracey
The Bride - Mrs. Sara Evers
The Organist - Ezra the Butler
Ezra (HHG) - Ezra the Butler (in name representation, only)
Madame Leota - Madame Leota
The Singing Busts - The Singing Busts
The Raven - A single raven cameo as the Evers near the mansion
The Conservatory Coffin Ghost - Zombie in the black crypt in the mausoleum
Ballroom Dancers - Alive in the prologue and ghosts before the faux wedding
Pipe organ Wraiths -Bursting through the ballroom windows in the climax
Hitchhiking Ghosts - As the Evers enter the graveyard
Entrance Queue Hearse and Ghost Horses - How Evers get to graveyard
Bicycle Wraiths - Victorian ghosts on vintage bicycles
Possessed Musical Instruments - Attack Jim Evers
Tiger Woman (Changing Portrait) - Single changing portrait shown in film
COD Grandfather Clock - Clock face in prologue with "13"
Are there any other ghosts from the rides shown (or in spirit) that I've left out?
Isn't there a raven in the mansion as well? Sitting on a mirror or something.
Fascinating look at the "table"! I love it! Thank you for posting that.
Yup. The raven makes an appearance just before Eddie Murphy looks at the mirror and finds himself briefly transported into the world of a far superior Disney-attraction-based film.Isn't there a raven in the mansion as well? Sitting on a mirror or something.
Ha! Very good point. But at least the zombie Jim Evers animatronic never showed up in the POTC.
The Headsman is busy chopping away in the graveyard.
That would have been...odd. Woulda been kinda fun as an Easter egg, though.But at least the zombie Jim Evers animatronic never showed up in the POTC.
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