Cool News
Guillermo Talks About HAUNTED MANSION...
Merrick here...
Guillermo Del Toro sat down with MTV for a quick chat - their discussion turned to his recently announced moviefication of Disney's Haunted Mansion ride.
"The storyline for 'The Haunted Mansion' and the ride is quite open," he explained. "We are taking sort of the core mythology that you can tap into and saying that there are many mansions around the world and they're all part of a sort of web. The spider sitting at the center of the web is what the fans of 'The Haunted Mansion' would know by the nickname the Hatbox Ghost, which is a beautiful creature that was created but there's a legend that it was discarded on the first day of the ride's operation because it was too scary. I like that legend, but the reality is that the imagineers could not make the illusion work, so they took it out. It's more or less where the bride is in the attic on the way out of the mansion, but it's such a great character that there is literally a cult for the Hatbox Ghost amongst hardcore 'Haunted Mansion' fanatics, and I'm one of them."
...says Guillermo HERE.
Among other interesting tidbits he discussed? He says that, for this film, he's envisioning a complete world with a "heightened reality" - one that's "super designed. I.e. not just a "haunted mansion" in a regular world. Could be quite interesting. Here's an embed of the entire discussion:
Here's a pic of the Hatbox Ghost he's talking about. You can find further images by clicking him to jump to DoomBuggies, and learn more about why the gag failed and was pulled from the ride HERE.
I can totally imagine that design re-interpreted by Guillermo...
--- Follow Merrick on Twitter! ---
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It was the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back and myself and Lady Porkington dressed up as Han and Leia to the weekend. We got multiple trips on loads of rides (including The Haunted Mansion) because of our costumes. It was a great (belated) honeymoon trip!
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Why do you people insist on shouting that shit?
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But this movie might not.
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"bitchessssssss." pssh. what a jackass.
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2003's The Haunted Mansion starring Eddie Murphy. Based on the theme park attraction. Not that you need much justification for "rebooting" this "franchise," but shouldn't the original at least be mentioned in any article discussing Del Toro's version?
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The struggle of living after such an epic fail is punishment enough. Nothing tops RPLocke, though...he's had a couple of great FIRST!Fails that were hilarious.
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hahahaha - well said, sir.
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at the contrary, it should be ignored and avoided like the piece of shit it was.
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For YEARS. Great site. Just the way Del Toro is talking about the legend makes me feel so safe about the movie. I have total confidence in him. I just don't want another movie that attempts to "resolve" the mansion. We want the ghosts to stay in there, for it to be haunted forever...no more sending them off to heaven or unraveling the mystery.
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...but it sucked so they're hiring a guy who's got the chops to do it right.I love the aesthetics of the Haunted Mansion. The way it's ALMOST cartoonish, but not quite is so much more interesting to me than the standard horror tropes
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I think it "failed" because it was constructed as a kid's movie, whereas POTC was given all the weight of it's genre and built safe enough for children but with enough credibility for adults. That's what the HM movie needs, not to be reigned in too much on the scare factor. But if you look at the first one through the lens of a children's movie, it makes more sense. Still a great visual tribute to the ride, just anemic story-wise.
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Gullermo! go back to the HOBBIT! this sounds strange (then again, I thought making a full length film off pirates-the ride-was a flatout shit idea)
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Hope it's good! The 2003 movie was cinematic dog crap.
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Then we're talking.I want my seat to turn, bob,weave and spin.Basically,it's like the original ride, but with much improved effects brought to you by..tim bur...I mean Guillermo DelTorro!
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one scary ass film, Which is going to be awesome!!
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They were the funniest part about the Eddie Murphy one.
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Jul 28, 2010 4:29:15 PM CDT
Hey Merrick, are you the same Merrick they're talking about...
by trip_ellex
...on DoomBuggies?
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A comedy? A horror story? An action movie? Figure that shit out first, ok? Sounds simple, but Emmerich didn't bother to do it when he made 'Godzilla'.
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GDT said it would not be a comedy, but be "scary and fun"
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Just read the hatbox ghost story, but unless I'm imagining things, I distinctly remember the hatbox ghost from Haunted Mansion when I visited as a kid in '77. That place scared the hell out of me, but I loved it. But I find it hard to believe that I happened to be there for the one week the Mansion had the hatbox ghost. I also remember the Haunted Mansion record album we got at Disneyworld.
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What else can explain his blatant errors which continue to satirize and mock standard journalistic conventions. Spell the subject's name correctly, like everyone else? Booooooring. Merrick spices things up by typing to the beat of a different bongo. I thought he would spell Guillermo with a W or maybe leave out an L. Nope. He subtly capitalized del. This must be a running gag he does to to bait trolls -- a trollbaition, if you will. You'd expect an AICN staff writer to get Harry's best friend's name right. This is a highly trafficked site, after all. I get the joke, Merrick. Good show, man. Keep 'em coming. I also appreciated your botched attempt to spell Rhianna yesterday in the Battleship story. And I really appreciate how you never corrected that mistake, much like you won't fix this one.t need to capitalize the i in i.e. Putting that aside in parentheses would be acceptable, though.
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She was the only good thing thing about the first movie. But this time show more than just her head.
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You could always see it coming
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I will lower it for you....
And still I continue to shrink! -
needs to work another genre once or twice here. He made Hellboy II essentially Pan's Labyrinth II stylistically and completely lost the feel for the characters. I think he would've done the same to Middle Earth which is why I'm glad he's dropped the Hobbit. Make a pure ghost story again like Devil's Backbone and I'll be there but don't Disney-fy that: no one will be happy
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I actually feel sorry for Del Toro.
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From the director of Pan's Labyrinth comes - HAUNTED MANSION!
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make the damn Dr. Strange movie already!
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Has he got early dementia or something? Is he this desperate for the money? He could have been the king of the geek community and wider world had he stuck with The Hobbit (the money problems will get solved, its an inevitability). Now he's doing some schlocky horror that no one will bother seeing. Shame, shame, shame.
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I thought the haunted mansion change to Nightmare Before Christmas was a seasonal thing. Goodness help them if it's stuck in Burtonland forever, but I would be surprised if that truly were the case.
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...get Ratzenburger in it and I'm there.
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Yeah that's seasonal only but it does take up almost half a year (including installation and removal). The regular mansion @ Disneyland desperately needs an refurbishment like the Disney World version recently received.
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In my dreamworld, the (what I hope is a ) seasonal change to Nightmare Before Christmas is changed and during that same season, the atmosphere is altered to make the atmosphere more serious and tense, with dimmer lighting, no music or altered music, and added/drastically changed effects, so the Madam Leota room can just go black with glowing skulls or wisps that seem to check out individual riders after approaching from a distance. I don't think it'll ever happen, though. And I recognize that it really might not be a good idea unless there were all kinds of warning signs, and even then, I can imagine angry parents. But, I'll daydream about it.
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...I mean, of all the projects in the world...this?
WHAT THE FUCK? -
I live in Orange County and frequent Disneyland about once a month, so I would know.
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...who am I kidding.
I couldn't pay my rent though...what's your excuse? -
Pans Labyrinth is one of the finest fantasy films of all time. You've made it very clear on multiple talkbacks that you have no idea wtf you're talking about. This is the last bit of troll food you'll get from me, so make it last.
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Jul 28, 2010 6:21:53 PM CDT
Might just be the greatest theme park ride of all time.
by kid idioteque
I hope they do it justice.
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...what a great, unused band name! Now, though, Disney'd sue any band who adopted it, I'm sure. Too bad, chance missed.
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Or Hellboy 3! I mean, what the FUCKING FUCK!?
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... the best rides at Disney by far, the only ones I can really remember riding. There's something iconic about those rides.
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...Stupid-ass Wikipedia has your Hatbox Ghost entry on the fast track to deletion. Just so's you'd know.
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I wonder if he'll have the clout to make that movie if he makes this and it produces Mountains of Money? I actually liked Pan's Labyrinth more than Hellboy 2. Although I liked Hellboy more than Hellboy 2. I thought some sequences of the monster on the loose from the museum in HB went on a little long for me, though.
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does that mean you actually liked that dull and stiff lead cheaters i.e. the new guy whom we see the film through. He added nothing to the film and the simple fact the sequel wrote him out made it a better film.
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I didn't so much care about him either way.
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Shit though that film may have been, it exists. There's a fucking story in the Haunted Mansion that has nothing to do with a web of haunted mansions or anything else like that, and instead it's off to whatever-the-fuck-we-want land, I guess. Disney's been letting Burton rule that land for a while now, so I guess it's just time to let their other properties get "reimagined" in ways that will put asses in seats past the box office and then forgotten 10 minutes down the road. The reason Pirates of the Caribbean worked is because it respected the atmosphere of the original ride without just aping it or even using its locales and imagery too much. But the majority of Disney's golden age was coming up with NEW ideas, not just regurgitating existing ones over and over. Pirates and Haunted Mansion are attractions that exist without a movie to shill for. If Disney wants to get back on the "multimedia experience", how about more rides for Frontierland, some fun westerns (shit, I'd even take a Big Thunder Mountain movie if done right), or Adventureland with (again, I might even be inclined to see something done with the Swiss Family Robinson if done right). Really though, Disney needs to figure out a way to recapture Tomorrowland, that land has totally fallen to shit over the last decade, it has nothing to say anymore, and it lets attractions wither and die. They ripped out the Peoplemover to put in the Rocket Rods which themselves immediately tanked. How about going back to the existing Peoplemover infrastructure that's still there but telling a new story with it? Space Mountain is now the only draw in the whole land (I don't count the Autopia because that line is total bullshit, they designed a horrible queue to ensure a long wait for no reason). There's nothing inspired from Disney regarding the future anymore, and not just space travel, but the future of Earth, there are no ideas so Tomorrowland looks back to Jules Verne's idea of tomorrow - and that's only fun to look at for a little while. That thing that replaced the Rocket Jets doesn't work but it's noisy every 30 minutes, and the new Astro Orbiters are annoying and loud and LOW TO THE FUCKING GROUND! What a rip! Disney has a shitload of potential to make a Tomorrow movie (not animated, they put animation into Tomorrowland recently and it's cardboardy and boring and has an extremely short line) and turn it into a ride and make something out of that real estate. But they won't because that requires being juuuust a little more bold than they know how to be.
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I've got not interest in another movie about short people walking for seven hours and talking about cabbages...on the other hand I don't much care for a "Disneyfied" Del Toro film. It was hard enough to see Burton go Disney, and I love Burton's work.
Hey, Guillermo, if you happen to read this, do everyone a favour and finish the Hellboy trilogy. Please? -
I miss the Adventure through Inner Space ride. I liked the TRON segment of the Peoplemover while it lasted. Ideally, there'll be a TRON ride if the movie's a big success. Although more ideally, the ride itself will also be a big success. I want a room where people are 'digitized' and the queue's changed to be all circuitry-ish and blacklit or something similar.
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The Hobbit movie isn't happening because MGM is broke. That's why GDT jumped ship on it. However, if it makes you all so much more happy to get angry over bullshit that isn't true, have at it. As for MoM, it's still in development according to Guillermo's own fucking website. Did it ever occur to any of you dunderheads that with a success for Disney under his belt, funding for MoM might just be that much easier to get? Of course it didn't. You know why? Because you're all complete morons, that's why.
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All the more reason to hope Legacy does well.
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And otherwise he's gonna get SUED by people he signed a contract for. I don't think he jumped ship to Haunted Mansion because he was like "Fuck this Hobbit noise, my creative muse is saying Haunted Mansion." He had to work or get his ass lawsuited.
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Jul 28, 2010 7:21:49 PM CDT
Gotta say I could go for a Phantom Manor movie too
by creamcheesealchemist
It's Old West themed, being the Disneyland Paris version of the ride, and instead of a graveyard, there's an Old West zombie town.
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... I'll watch anything Memo does. Not only is he a brilliant filmmaker, he is the COOLEST individual working in Hollywood today. If he chose to reimagine 'Swept Away' with Justin Timberdick and Lindsay Lohan in the leads, I would go see that. Not that he would, but somehow, I know he'd make it work.
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He's a funny mofo too
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Jul 28, 2010 7:59:52 PM CDT
So it's just ripping off the first Doctor Strange story, then?
by kevred
Sounds like it. This over Hobbit? Was he promised some kind of Lovecraft trilogy if this is a hit? If so, okay.
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controlled by a spider. This is reminding me so much of the end of Coraline. This will be tamer than 13 ghosts remake. GDT doing kids flicks, which tiny little adult nudges. No thanks.
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...PAN'S LABYRINTH is one of my favorite movies. I'm always hoping for more of the PAN and BACKBONE Del Toro.
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with Eddie Murphy?
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but it was terrible, so now they're making a good version
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Jul 28, 2010 8:20:36 PM CDT
But Guillermo: can you contractually prevent them from changing
by mhulot
(the unfortunate Jack Sparrow nonsense still stings for True Believers)
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Should've said "can you contractually prevent them from changing the ride after the movie's release?!?"
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Ok i get it. Theres tons of mansions, and the characters involved have to find/take something away from each of them to bring someone back from the dead/ or a treasure or some such bullshit. Ok i get the web comment now, and he's a fan ok then... Still at th emoutains of madness should not be rated R- you dont see anyone die, and you are not ment to see the big creature at the end. One of the 2 surviving characters looks back and sees it and tells the other not to do the same. It's lovecraft it inspired the "who goes there" story which begot The Thing From Another Wolrd and The Thing. I get the appeal to see that made into a movie, but it's not that great of a tale. It really isn't. would rather see a necronomicon film.
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Wasn't Del Toro developing Slaughterhouse 5 & Paradise Lost or were those projects simply hallucinations on my part? I suppose I could check the website mentioned earlier or maybe even google it, but that's no fun.
Oh, and Disney needs to get Johnny Depp & squid Davey Jones the fuck out of the Pirates of the Carribean ride. I can't handle change. -
We all know this, and somewhere deep down inside our inner childhearts we dont want it. Like Finding Nemo fucked up both the Submarine Voyage ride and the Living Seas Pavillion. I understand "Get in with the times" But sometimes things are timeless.
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I'd like to see the hatbox ghost and screaming pop-up ghosts return
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but yeah they fucked up the pirates ride
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There's actually a Necronomicon now in Madame Leota's room at the mansion
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Definitely. Because that's the part that got me as a child. Really, a necronomicon? Where is it?
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That would be action packed.
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In front of Leota's table. It was added a few years ago. In a recent book released by Disney, they have a photo of it with the caption "Necronomicon: Book of the Dead"
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davelandweb.com/hauntedmansion/images/seance/DSC_1043.jpg
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it's being reported that he's directing that next, with james cameron producing
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That's also interesting to hear that At the Mountains of Madness, which I wanted to abbreviate to M&Ms for some reason, is due after.
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Here. Now shut the fuck up already.http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-6-motion-captured/posts/guillermo-del-toro-and-james-cameron-come-together-at-the-mountains-of-madness
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I guess he's just producing Haunted Mansion.
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I lol'd. Actually lol'd. Well played, sir.
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I wonder if the idea behind that was that you, the visitor, are trying to escape through the graveyard and in desperation, you check to see if the crypt has a second entrance? I wonder because I dimly remember something like that from a haunted mansion storybook. Something like, "The sight of this crypt would frighten most people, but to us it is a relief because it provides an exit from the living nightmare of the haunted mansion." Or maybe the rationale for entering the crypt was created for the storybook record and it was just there in the ride to have another structure to enter before going to the real world.
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There's no proof that GDT won't be directing Haunted Mansion. He's said he'd love to do it in numerous interviews. Besides, he's said he's got his next directing gig (whatever it might be) coming up soon, so neither THM or MOM may be his next directing project. We'll see.
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Why would he want to prevent them from changing the ride? He said he loves the Hatbox Ghost, and after the film they will HAVE to put him in and make it work.
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You haven't been keeping up. It was revealed this is a "dream project" of his, one that he has passion for, as he has been a huge Haunted Mansion fan forever. Didn't you read Harry's Comic Con news article?
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Bitching about shit you have absolutely no knowledge or information about is a geek standard. You should know that if you hang around here long enough.
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Jul 28, 2010 10:36:34 PM CDT
Does this have the same producers as the first one??
by professor_monster
On IMDB it says Andrew Gunn - who is responsible for a slew of pure fucking garbage, was the guy behind the first movie with Eddie Murphy, I hope they crate this guy and keep him far away from this.
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putting everything down except the stuff you like
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hope not
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...Comic Con news article?".
Uh, no. -
imdb quotes del Toro as saying he is writing and co-producing the movie with Matthew Robbins.
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...he talks about where the fuck "At the Mountains of Madness" is.
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Cap'n Jack just proved my point. Do your research before shooting off your piehole, asswipes.
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It's just a ride, yeah? A kid friendly Disney one to boot, so how come Guillermo is talking about it like it's some cult / geek phenomenon? Love me real horror stuff, but this? Can't get worked up about a ride, but then, I live in the UK so we only get Alton Towers which is kinda lame. You American's get all the good shit though, especially Universal Studios and the those cool Halloween Horror nights. Jeez. Sucks being a Brit.
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sick of people shitting on this. what's so great about batman, the hobbit, hellboy, etc?
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that ride was semi-educational but interesting and a real leap forward in ideas. That could definitely be refreshed to modern standards, and we haven't had a shrunken people movie that worked since "Innerspace" which was quite a while back. The Tron elements of the Peoplemover were amazing, the giant curved rooms with scenes being projected blew my mind from the day they added them until the day they took that ride out. It's a 3-mph ride and yet in those 2 rooms it felt like you were going the speed of light, and it didn't require anything more complicated than a 360 projection. Disney could certainly expand upon that to make a new Tron ride, but I would hope they'd have the sense to make it more colorful than what Tron Legacy seems to be churning out. The Paris Disneyland ride? Really? That's some far-out shit, nobody thinks about that place at all. But a haunted old west ghost town would be pretty fucking interesting if done right, I suppose, and after Jonah Hex blew it, there's an opening for cowbows and ghouls. Shit, we should be Imagineers coming up with this stuff, Disney hasn't blown my mind doing anything better lately.
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Jul 29, 2010 10:01:20 AM CDT
It's pretty bad when the reboot timeline is now
by grammaton cleric binks
only seven years.
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He could even re-use the costume he wore as the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland and save Disney a few bucks that it can then use to buy something else it won't take the risk to create itself, such as more superheroes or puppets or something (is Sid and Marty Krofft for sale?) Anyhoo, seriously, switch the makeup from Day-Glo to black and white and viola! Johnny Depp IS the Hatbox Ghost. Seriously again, I wouldn't be surprised. But at any rate, you can bet that some big name star will portray the ghoulish prankster. It's funny what people will latch onto as icons, isn't it? The Hatbox Ghost was a failed gag and yet he's the most talked-about element from the Haunted Mansion and HE'S NEVER ACTUALLY APPEARED IN IT!!!! Damn weird. You'd think Madame Leota or at least the Hitchhiking Ghosts would be the big stars, but NO. Anyhoo reprise, if del Toro will remember that it's the Haunted Mansion, and not the Haunting, or The House On Haunted Hill, or one of those bloody gory haunted houses people walk through during Halloween in every city in the U.S., this movie could be good. The Mansion DOES have a sense of humor, a playful, rather than wicked, sense of humor. Hopefully del Toro will not violate the Mansion the way those other guys did. We'll see...
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Jul 29, 2010 10:38:53 AM CDT
I agree with you guys about the shititude in the Disney parks
by feralangel
Ever ride the Everest ride? Ever actually SEEN the Yeti? And if you did, did he actually move? NO, because he's been broken for months. That ride's a pathetic reminder of how far Disney has fallen. Universal didn't even have to try as hard as it did with the Potter ride to make Disney look like hucksters; it's to Universal's credit that it poured so much creativity and care into Wizarding World and brought forth a true wonder of immersive entertainment. And how is Disney countering that? With Princesses invading Fantasyland and another Dumbo ride. What a fucking letdown. I've been to WDW and Disneyland, but next trip is to Universal again to ride Wizarding World. It's an incredible experience. Shame on Disney for cheaping out for so long. It'll bite them on the butt one of these days.
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...possibly one of the greatest things ever created by human beings. 40 years on and it's still as effective as ever. Disney needs to go back to making rides like that–high production, big concept, immersive attractions that aren't just about spinning you around in circles.
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People are excited about this because The Haunted Mansion is probably the best "dark ride" ever. Seriously. Take a chunnel ride to France and check out the Eurodisney version. I haven't seen that one, but it's supposed to be just as good as the others.
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Here you go!
http://www.doombuggies.com/phantom1.php -
"I'm your host....your GHOST HOST!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHA HA HA HA HAH AHH!"
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The voice of the Haunted Mansion is the late Paul Frees, one of the greatest voiceover actors of his time. On a level with Mel Blanc, easy. Just FYI.
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