Ken Reviews: The Secrets of Disney's Haunted Mansion
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Inside the book you will find:
Introduction - by Baham, touching on his interest and the popularity of the attraction.
Welcome, Foolish Mortals, to the Haunted Mansion – Provides some history to the attraction, but mostly a flow-through of the attraction experience, complete with spoiler technical details.
Don't Forget Your Death Certificate – An official Death Certificate of your own from DoomBuggies.com.
Museum of the Weird – by John Flink, a look at Rolly Crump's far-out concept that is closely associated with the Haunted Mansion.
The Ghost Host with the Most – Discusses the Haunted Mansion narration and related recordings sold to consumers, with the talents of "X" Atencio, Paul Frees, Pete Renoudet, and Corey Burton.
Needful Things From the Disney Parks – Collectibles associated with the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland Park and the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom.
A DoomBuggies.com Scrapbook – Media from the DoomBuggies.com archives, including a newspaper clipping, sheet music for "Grim Grinning Ghosts", an elevation of the Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion exterior, and more.
Afterword – by Paul Sanders, talks about his contributions to the Haunted Mansion and how it tied in to his personal life.
The attraction is often oversimplified as "Claude Coats atmosphere followed by Marc Davis characters", which is why it is nice to have this book to explain that yes, the fingerprints of Coats and Davis are prominently displayed, but the brilliance of many others also factors in to this recipe of greatness. I admire sites like DoomBuggies.com and books like this, because it is nice to have an independent place to go to explore the history, present, and possible future of an attraction without the filter of corporate approval and spin.
The chapter on the voices of the Mansion dates itself in the first paragraph, yet is still current.
Two additional things that make this book different is an account of a private party that was held inside the Mansion, and the personal accounts in general.
As I wrote above, the book's main focus is the original attraction at Disneyland Park. If you are partial to the Walt Disney World version, you can still get a lot out of this book due to the similarities in the two versions.
There were recently changes to the attraction, so this book can help you preserve the memory of what the attraction was like before the changes.
DoomBuggies.com Presents: The Secrets of
Disney's Haunted Mansion
By Jeff Baham
64 pages
Softcover
8.5" x 11" x 3/16"
Plenty of pictures and images
Black & white, paper is not glossy
Bottom line: If you are a fan of the original Haunted Mansion or Disney park collectibles, this book is for you. It is different enough in focus to warrant buying it even if you have Surrell's book.
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- Purchase at the LaughingPlace Store: DoomBuggies.com Presents: The Secrets of Disney's Haunted Mansion or The Haunted Mansion – From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies
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-- Ken Pellman
Ken Pellman is a Public Information Officer, freelance writer, and media critic who lives with his wife in Anaheim, California. He is a Disneyland Annual Passholder and a Disney shareholder. Ken can be reached directly at Kenversations[at]flash[dot]net or at http://www.Pellman.net, where you can learn more about him.
The views, opinions and comments of Ken Pellman, and all of our columnists and reviewers, are not necessarily those of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
--Posted May 9, 2006
©2006 Ken Pellman, all rights reserved. Licensed to LaughingPlace.com.