2023 Haunted Mansion film

Couldn’t find a forum thread for this so I’m starting one. If there is one, please go ahead and link to it. Here’s the trailers:

From Wikipedia: “A single mother and her son move into a mansion, only to find that it is haunted. To combat the spirits, they hire a former paranormal investigator turned tour guide, a priest, a psychic, and a college history professor.”

Page is here.

The Owl House and Coyote Vs Acme are my Roman Empire.

I'm excited to eventually see it. I'm someone who admittedly has a soft spot for the 2003 film and think it's overhated, so there you go. This one being PG-13 and wanting to balance the comedy more so that it takes a bit of a backseat to the thrills does seem to look like it's gonna help.

I just got back. It’s not a perfect movie but I loved its atmosphere and how heartwarming it could get. Could become part of my Halloween rotation…

And yes. It SHOULD have been released at Halloween. I imagine it would have had a better box office. But hopefully it’ll have strong legs.

The Owl House and Coyote Vs Acme are my Roman Empire.

I think there's plenty to loathe about the 2003 version, but I also think the first, like, 5 mins of the 2003 movie are perfect and the production design of the mansion is also un-matched. It borrowed just enough from the ride while adding plenty to make the mansion not feel like a carbon copy.

Which actually disappointed me about some shots of the film in the trailers; I worry it has too much loyalty to the ride to the point of it being a detriment. There's a balance you need to strike in adaptation vs. copy-pasting something whole-sale. Especially in the jump between a theme park ride and a film.

Pirates of the Caribbean has only so much in common with the ride and I think it's to the film's benefit; it's still recognizably related but has the freedom to breathe.

Oh yeah, this exists.

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I’ve made a character page.

The Owl House and Coyote Vs Acme are my Roman Empire.

When it comes to adaptations, it's a case-by-case thing. In one case, you want loyalty to the prior material, but in another, you might want more noticeable changes to give the work a different feel.

To me, the 2003 film is an early 2000s Disney animated movie in live action. This one may kind of be that too, but a better one though—or like a haunted house version of Pirates of the Caribbean instead.

I’d say the first one.

The Owl House and Coyote Vs Acme are my Roman Empire.

I can only think of a single shot that is clearly ripped from the ride: the guy being pulled up and dropped back into the well. (The room with Crotez's treasure has similar vibes to the first parts of the ride but iirc doesn't directly copy any particular scene.) The film does its own thing otherwise.

I'm kind of interested in seeing this film just to see what they do.

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?

I can think of plenty of others. The dog in the prison scene is ripped whole-sale from the ride. The sacking of Port Royal by Blackbeard was clearly the basis from where the film starts it's concept even if it's much more serious in the film. The skeleton-zombie pirates were also inspired largely from the use of skeleton anamatronics in the early half of the ride.

The zombie pirates bit was actually apparently a risky enough decision that Eisner wrote the film off as a flop during production because of it and then many of the character decisions Depp kept suggesting. And those in-production decisions ended up helping the film rather than hindering it.

I think a lot of the film works because it loves the ride, but doesn't treat the ride as pure gospel to telling the story.

I think that's one of the reasons why I think people have struggled with "What would a Haunted Mansion movie look like?" for years; the ride doesn't provide an inherent conflict or storyline for a 90-min movie. Much like Pirates, you absolutely have HUGE blanks to fill in with something.

And you're also dealing with ideas that many might even find counter to the ride's concept; many fans like the "Retirement home for ghosts" and insist "The house isn't supposed to be scary". But, personally, I'd find those ideas extremely limiting as a script writer if mostly because they don't have an inherent plot thrust to them or are counter to a narrative conflict.

Edited by InkDagger on Jul 28th 2023 at 7:04:38 AM

I kind of want to see this based on the cast alone.

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From those who have seen it. Is it any good?

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Yeah it’s pretty good. Not perfect but very atmospheric and fun.

The Owl House and Coyote Vs Acme are my Roman Empire.

Is it better then the version with eddy Murphy?

New theme music also a box

I would say yes.

The Owl House and Coyote Vs Acme are my Roman Empire.

As someone who again likes the 2003 film and thinks it's over-hated, the 2023 film looks like it's gonna be really good. I'm definitely optimistic.

Was curious, so here are the metrics

another critic/audience dissonance

Edited by Ookamikun on Jul 30th 2023 at 2:30:23 AM

Likely due to the release of this film, Hatbox Ghost is being added to Disney World's Haunted Mansion.

His placement is gonna be strange. He'll be near the endless hallway.

I sure hope he doesn't look like Jared Leto.

With all the memes about women choosing a bear over a man, Hollywood might wanna get on an 'East of the Sun and West of the Moon' adaptation

The Hatbox Ghost is certainly a memorable villain. I just got back from the movie and he really is menacing and creepy in terms of looks and actions, being the metaphor for depression and suicidal thoughts.

I think this is what The Haunted Mansion (2003) was lacking. A memorable villain with a kickass design.

I mean, Pirates had Captain Barbossa, who looks distinct as the classic pirate captain (with beard and hat) and a nice contrast to Jack Sparrow. Plus you can tell he's supposed to based on the Captain of the Wicked Wench in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Meanwhile, Terrance Stamp's character looks like a regular and creepy butler. If he was silhouetted, nobody would know who this Big Bad is since he has no distinct outfit or cool features unlike the Hatbox Ghost.

True, but I do think the film does a lot to build Ramsley up. He's constantly framed pretty well, especially his introduction. I think 2003 Haunted Mansion would have been worse off if they had, like, the villain from the video game.

Also, wow, I hate placing Hatbox at the Endless Hallway. That's... I know the article brings up that rules for the ride have always changed (i.e. The ghosts used to be ALL Happy Haunts, but then we got Constance.) but it's a REALLY bizarre placement. NO ghosts appear before the séance room. You'd go through multiple show scenes between Hattie and then seeing your next ghost.

It disrupts the pacing and feels weird. I feel like you'd have to do a lot more work to justify why Hatbox is in that scene than... just putting him somewhere else???

Was putting him close to the bride just not an option?

With all the memes about women choosing a bear over a man, Hollywood might wanna get on an 'East of the Sun and West of the Moon' adaptation

Ramsley was the best part of that film. The problem with the 2003 film, other than Eddie Murphy being in it, is that for most of it, it’s not very recognizably Haunted Mansion. It took until the changing portrait hall for things to become recognizable, which is almost half way through.

Hatbox Ghost in the Endless Hallway? Yeah, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go overt that early. Just put him in the attic like in Disneyland.

Edited by SatoshiBakura on Jul 30th 2023 at 10:53:12 AM

The problem is how the Hatbox Ghost was originally developed and removed from the ride.

Here's the short version;

He was in the ride when it was first opened in exactly the same location as he was in the LA Mansion; outside the attic right after the Bride. The idea was that his head would disappear and re-appear with the beating of the bride's heart.

The problem was that the effects related to the ghosts were achieved via a lot of lighting, paint that would become more solid when lit, etc. Which works great from a distance but the Hatbox Ghost was too close to the guests and you'd basically always see his face no matter what.

So, he was quickly removed within maybe a month of the mansion opening. Probably less. The spot that hosted his animatronic was just left empty and became more of a look out over the graveyard beat.

When the Orlando Mansion was developed during the 70s, they already knew that effect was a dud and would not be transferring to the east coast. If I had to guess (especially since I keep finding Disneyland Mansion layouts and not the Orlando ones), they probably deviated the layout of the attic to a degree because they knew the space wouldn't be used.

So, where there's basically a missing puzzle piece to the Disneyland version they could just plop the "actor" into, there's probably no such space inherent to the Orlando version, necessitating the creation of such a space in Orlando.

Just... the Endless Hallway is a really stupid place for him. Like mentioned, the ride is basically split in two halves; pre- and post- séance. The ghosts don't "materialize" until Leotta calls upon them. So having exactly ONE ghost before that ruins the entire development of the ride. It would be the equivalent of... like, Pirates of the Caribbean starting with the sacking of Port Royale, continuing into the skeleton caves, and still ending with the burning town. Something is out of order.

If I had to guess why it's the Hallway, it's probably a lack of sufficient other options that don't demand a remodel/refurb to the ride. Part of the Hatbox's effect is that he's really close to the audience and it makes his effect cooler; it disappears before your eyes.

But there's probably very few places where they could put him after the séance where he's close enough to the track for that to occur. You have four show scenes left; Ballroom, Attic, Graveyard, and Mausoleum. Ballroom is a massive distance spectacle with literally no room in front of the track anyway (let alone logic), the attic has already been ruled out unless you want to put him infront of Constance (which might not be a terrible idea), the Graveyard is another distance spectacle piece, but his character pacing (the beat-disappear-beat-reappear) would be off from the music, and then the Mausoleum is dedicated to the Hitchhikers and I don't think upgrading Hattie to a Hitchhiker is an option (especially if the movie is taken into account?).

Anything better would require, like, actually remodeling a scene to create a new space and that's probably beyond the budget for the project per higher-up decisions. Which... I don't like because you're making a major permanent change to a beloved ride; don't fuck it up please.

Just checked out this video of the Disney World version of Haunted Mansion.

If they're placing him just past the endless hallway, I wonder if that means the "Donald Duck chair" is gonna be done away with.

I feel like they still could have put the Hatbox Ghost in the attic scene. There's a ton of clutter in that scene they could have cleared out and made room for "Hattie".

With all the memes about women choosing a bear over a man, Hollywood might wanna get on an 'East of the Sun and West of the Moon' adaptation

Yes, he's referring to the Donald Duck Chair.

The only reason I can think of that they don't want to put him in the attic is that the scene is building to Constance; you have the portraits and gifts and "I do"s and everything leading to her.

Tossing Hattie in the middle does sort of muddy the build up to her. ESPECIALLY since he's far more impressive of a sight than she is these days.

I can see the argument for where you'd be ruining the scene there.

However, counter point, the entire mansion needs a renovation to get the rest of the house onto Hattie's tech level.

Edited by InkDagger on Jul 30th 2023 at 10:59:18 AM