The Hauntingly Interesting Origin of the Hatbox Ghost

On August 9th, 1969, The Haunted Mansion attraction opened in the New Orleans Square at Disneyland. If you’ve visited the attraction, you probably remember that attraction is known for having “999 happy haunts.” In today’s blog, I’d like to tell you about the fascinating history of one of those many “haunts,” that originally was part of the attraction upon opening but was removed not long after. Thankfully, it was restored on May 9th 2015, six years ago today: “The Hatbox Ghost.”

When WED (Walter Elias Disney) Enterprises (now known as Walt Disney Imagineering) designed The Haunted Mansion, they designed “The Hatbox Ghost,” as the highlight of the “attic scene” in the attraction. His head design was the same as Ezra the Hitchhiking Ghost. He was to appear directly across from the Bride Ghost and a special lighting effect was designed to make his head disappear from the top of his body and reappear in the hatbox he held. Although the effect worked perfectly fine in early tests, everyone at WED felt that it wasn’t quite as impactful due to guests viewing it from different angles and the other lighting of the attraction. Hence, the apparition was removed within weeks of opening, and the “Bride Ghost” took over his spot.

However, on April 10th, 2015, it was announced that “Hatty,” (his fan-given nickname) would return to his original spot at The Haunted Mansion, in honor of Disneyland’s 60th anniversary. When he was restored, everyone at Walt Disney Imagineering made improvements on the character. The original “Hatty’s” only moving body part was his shaking hand that held his cane. The 2015 “Hatty” can move all of his body parts. His signature move starts with his face being projected on a blank head, then it falls down his body and is re-projected in the hatbox, then after seconds is back on his shoulders. Corey Burton, who has done significant voice work for Disney (he is the current voice of Donald Duck’s uncle, Professor Ludwig Von Drake), provides the character’s voice, succeeding the original voice, Paul Frees, who coincidentally originated the voice of Professor Ludwig Von Drake.

Although the Hatbox Ghost does not appear in the Disney World version of The Haunted Mansion, when guests get their picture taken during the Haunted Mansion’s “Portrait Hall” sequence, the pictures show the Hatbox Ghost overlooking their “Doom Buggies.” He is also known for making guest appearances on Disney’s House of Mouse (2001-2003), The Haunted Mansion Comic Book series, and he is a prominent feature in “The Haunted Mansion Holiday,” in which The Haunted Mansion is decorated for Halloween with a theme inspired by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), which has been a tradition of the park for almost 20 years. The ghost appears with a Halloween pin on his hat.

“The Hatbox Ghost,” certainly is a special asset to The Haunted Mansion. It’s a shame that it was removed not long after the ride had initially open but it’s great news that Walt Disney Imagineering was able to improve upon it and make it more fun than ever before. Who would have thought a ghost like that could also have such an intriguing history at Disney? 

 

 

Review: "22 vs. Earth"

Disney/Pixar’s Soul (2020) was very fortunate to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar last Sunday, April 25th, 2021, along with the Oscar for Best Original Score. On April 30th, 2021, Pixar released a new short, and a prequel film to “Soul,” on Disney+. Titled 22 vs. Earth (2021), it tells a story of Tina Fey’s “Soul 22” character’s time in “The Great Before,” before she meets Joe Gardner’s soul, and acknowledges why she doesn’t want to go to Earth. Here’s my review of this short film.

The short opens with Soul 22 explaining why she doesn’t want to go Earth. As she speaks to another random soul, she says she doesn’t want to go because she believes that it’s a “dirty, wet, and lonely” planet and that it’s just not worth visiting and she decides to rebel against going to Earth by rounding up five young souls to steal the inspiration of life from other souls in “The Great Before.” However, even when the five young souls steal the inspiration from the other souls, they wind up becoming inspired themselves and going to Earth, abandoning Soul 22 in a humorous way.

Just like “Soul,” the movie, “22 vs. Earth,” is inspiring because it reminds us that life on Earth can have all kinds of different meanings and/or inspirations. But beyond that, it shows that life’s many inspirations make life on Earth worth living. People often question the true meaning of life, but the truth is, life can have all kinds of different meanings.

“22 vs. Earth,” continues the beautiful visuals of “Soul.” Going on this 3D Animation journey, we get to see a bunch of different “souls” that couldn’t be more cute to look at, and by the time we see them head off to Earth, it’s as though the audience is in outer space. It’s a brief, but fun adventure.

“22 vs. Earth,” also continues the clever humor of “Soul.” It was written by Josh Cooley, who won the Best Animated Feature Oscar last year for his direction of Toy Story 4 (2019) and the short was directed by Kevin Nolting who edited “Soul,” as well as Disney/Pixar’s Up (2009) and Inside Out (2015), both of which were awarded the Best Animated Feature Oscar and written and directed by “Soul,” director Pete Docter, who also executive produced the short. Reprising her role from the film as the voice of Soul 22, Tina Fey appears alongside Richard Ayoade and Alice Braga, as the Counselor Jerries. The short film was scored by Trent Raznor and Atticus Ross, who won both the Best Original Score Oscar and Best Original Score Golden Globe for “Soul,” awards they shared with Jon Batiste.

“22 vs. Earth,” is a beautiful animated short film. As it reunites many of the same talent from “Soul,” along with the same visuals, it continues the same inspiring message from “Soul,” that life is full of all kinds of meaningful inspirations. Hats off to Pixar for making both a film and a short with such a unique message!