Celebrating 47 years of the Haunted Mansion
Now the Haunted Mansion and I have had a long history together throughout the years.It makes up some of my earliest and most vivid memories of Disneyland.The only other attractions that I can say I can remember that well are the Matterhorn,the Enchanted Tiki Room,Pirates of the Caribbean,and Mr.Toad’s Wild Ride but none of those are as vivid as the Haunted Mansion.The ironic thing is that the Haunted Mansion really scared me as a child.Even the humorously dark ending of Mr.Toad’s Wild Ride never affected me as vividly as the Haunted Mansion did.In fact,my fear of the Haunted Mansion eventually evolved into my love of Disneyland history and lead me to start studying themed design.This blog wouldn’t even exist without the Haunted Mansion.Now this article today is meant to discuss my belief that the Haunted Mansion is basically the ultimate American Haunted House.
The Old House on the Hill
Disneyland,since it’s conception,has been a tapestry of American culture and history.All of the five original lands are based off American values and interests.This fact has been well documented in books and blogs on Disneyland pretty well.Another fact that is now fairly well known is that the Haunted Mansion was originally conceived to be part of Main Street USA.
The Main Street Haunted Mansion would have been a run-down Victorian mansion complete with a church and graveyard.This mansion would been coupled with a different sort of Main Street,one that was not a 1890s midwestern boom town,but something that was much less prosperous.However,the idea of a Main Street Haunted Mansion is appealing considering that the Haunted Mansion is based off one of the classic cultural memories of the US:The Haunted House.
The American Haunted House
Cultural memories and ideas,like I mentioned above,have provided the basis for many attractions.For example Americans fascination with pirates lead to Pirates of the Caribbean or the idea of exploring an exotic jungle was used in the Jungle Cruise.The Haunted Mansion is based off the Haunted House.Seemingly every neighborhood has one.For instance,there was a house near my elementary school and people would say that it was haunted and that a killer lived there.The Haunted House is the old,run-down house that nobody lives in and just seems creepy.That’s why,in my opinion,there is a certain appeal to having a run-down mansion next to a church and graveyard down an offshoot road of Main Street.If Main Street is the ideal town of Walt Disney’s childhood,then the Haunted Mansion could be the ideal haunted house of that ideal childhood town.
The Ideal Haunted House
Now haunted houses,or at least old scary houses, appear very often in literature and cinema.Movies such as The Haunting or The Bat both take place in a haunted or at least a creepy house.The house in The Bat was not haunted by ghosts,but it was old and had an unsettling feel to it.The key to what makes the Haunted Mansion so wonderful is the fact that the scenes and imagery are unique and interesting but yet they are based on cliches of haunted houses and old Coney Island dark rides.One example is the Bride and the Hatbox Ghost.The original concept of having the two paired together is extremely evocative of the stories that haunted houses usually have involving murder and romance.Another example is the hanged body of the Ghost Host,which recalls stories of people commiting suicide for some reason or another and their unhappy souls still residing in their old home.Even Edgar Allen Poe has had an influence on the Mansion with a raven following around.The raven was originally supposed to speak and was intended to say more than one “nevermore”
Conclusion
In conclusion,I feel that the Haunted Mansion is the ideal haunted house and provides an archetype for haunted houses after it.Whether you grew up with a beautiful Antebellum mansion or an imposing brick New England mansion,the Haunted Mansion will always be the eternal “old haunted house on the hill” and 47 years later it’s inhabitants are still following you home.
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