Report: Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Evening
Page 4 of 18

Panel Discussion - Page 2

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Jack took the stage welcoming those gathered, "ghouls, goblins and guests". He then went on to begin the Halloween Town meeting so that he could introduce us to "something so amazing, something so spectacular, that it chills me to my very bones." As he continued to explain Disneyland to his citizens, "the lands are themed and they each have a purpose, one land has a measure of fright."

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In introducing the first guest, Jack noted, "now please allow me to introduce you to the ruler, it’s the lady who oversees... she’s the hostess with the mostest… the ruler over this magic land. Who gives sweet tight hugs with fearless smiles, at least that’s what I’ve witnessed first hand. And she works every day through a castle house walking arm in arm with a great, big mouse… I hope you’re all excited, as I very truly am, to meet this kind lady of Disneyland. The president of this entire resort, Cynthia Harriss."

Cynthia Harriss
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To applause Cynthia was escorted into the performance as she welcomed the audience to the meeting. "As Jack was beginning to explain, we’ve been working hard to create the plan for this Christmas to be a very unique and different experience for all of you, our guests. And we know that Jack and Sandy Claws is sure to delight us all… So this year, our gift to you comes early as we open our brand new holiday attraction this month, ‘The Haunted Mansion Holiday’." She added, "And we know that with Jack’s own unique magic, we’re going to put a very special spin on the holiday spirit. We hope that, for all of you, this will become a great tradition, every single year."

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It was up to Cynthia to address the single biggest disappointment of the event, the absence of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman. "Well, I think you know that two of our very special guests deeply regret that they weren’t able to join us this evening (to audience boos). OK. But they wanted to be with us in spirit, so - I’m going to introduce, first… we’re going to hear from the creative force behind our favorite Nightmare. He’s one of the most instinctive and influential directors of our time and he’s continued to be heralded as just that most innovative film-maker… I am extremely pleased to introduce to you, via video, the creator, that man behind jack Skellington, Sally, Zero and all of these other cast of truly enchanting, and kind of scary, characters from Halloween Town, Tim Burton."

Tim - via video - remembers the process of the storyline and the basics of the film.
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