“So you’re from DoomBuggies.com… yeah, the sounds!” said Haunted Mansion Production Designer John Myhre, still warm from the glow of his Oscar, which he won for his Art Direction for the Academy-Award-winning best picture of 2002, Chicago. “We’d been hearing those sounds all through the halls during pre-production. We were sitting with [the film’s director] Rob Minkoff, and he typed ‘Haunted Mansion’ into the computer and there you were.”

“Yeah, DoomBuggies was a big part of the process,” continued Don Hahn, producer for The Haunted Mansion. “We referred back to your site many times as we were in development.”

As the webmaster and creator of DoomBuggies.com, it was gratifying for me to hear that the website, a tribute to Disney’s Haunted Mansion theme park attraction, was a useful resource to the creators of the upcoming film. I assume it would be a source of pride for any Disney fan, of which I am one, to have the opportunity to speak with men who are responsible for such Disney classics as The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast-but even more satisfying was the realization that these two men, Minkoff and Hahn, are true Haunted Mansion fans at heart. In my conversation with Hahn, not a minute detail nor an inside joke about the classic Disney attraction escaped his notice.

“The thing that is so wonderful about the Mansion [attraction] is that it is one show, yet it is placed in four different theme parks-Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Tokyo, and Paris-and each of the four shows has its very subtle distinctions that make it a different and interesting part of the family,” Hahn said. “What I hope we can do with this film is create a fifth Mansion-another creation, a different part of the family that retains the feel of the others but builds on the premise.”

And so began DoomBuggies.com’s tour through the massive sets of the Haunted Mansion movie, which was in production as I visited the non-descript independent soundstage just south of Burbank in which filming was taking place. Nestled in the heart of an industrial neighborhood, the studio was a flurry of activity on the day I arrived during filming in early spring. While walking the halls with the film’s publicist, we ran into Nathaniel Parker, who is playing the film’s protagonist, Master Edward Gracey, the owner of the Haunted Mansion. In full costume, Parker was clearly well cast as a 19th century aristocrat (and he even passes for the man portrayed in a painting on the wall of the Walt Disney World attraction’s foyer remarkably well.) The publicist noted to Parker that we were about to tour “his” majestic home. Popping into character, Parker responded “Yes, then, well please see that you wipe the dust off of your shoes before you enter,” and was off in a whirl.

Art Department
At the invitation of Production Designer John Myrhe, we walked the halls of the film’s art department and inspected the many production drawings, sketches, and storyboards that coated the walls. There were many conceptual illustrations of the movie sets. Architectural renderings and photographs of grand old manors and turn-of-the-century Louisiana architecture were fairly represented, as were a good number of photos and sketches of the Disneyland Haunted Mansion façade, upon which the look of the movie’s mansion is based.

The conceptual sketches of the Mansion’s various rooms demonstrated an amazing faithfulness to the feel of the attraction, while enriching the spaces with ornate decoration and lush detail. Rich, carved wood is evident throughout the artwork, as are macabre marble statues-beings with veiled visages, and enshrouded guardians. Blueprints of the Mansion’s rooms littered some walls and tables, while foamcore maquettes of the sets allowed the viewer to look through the camera’s perspective at shapes and dimensions of the proposed spaces. Various fabrics and wall coverings covered one wall of a hallway, with samples for lush draperies in rich, deep tones and embroidered patters that resembled eerie creatures. One wall contained a storyboard of a scene from the script, in which a man falling from atop the roof catches himself on a stone gargoyle, losing grip as the gargoyle tips and regurgitates its load of swampy water all over him. Hundreds of such sketches of scenes from the film are created in the storyboarding process, enabling the film’s creators to visualize scenes as they are developed into a cohesive story.

Costuming
Next we visited the costuming department, headed by Costume Designer Mona May, who had previously worked on films as varied as the frothy Clueless with Alicia Silverstone and the grim 8MM with Nicholas Cage. Such experience would seem to be the perfect background for this picture, as it is ostensibly a family comedy, though it is becoming obvious that there will be some sinister, eerie elements to the frivolity.

The day before my visit, a massive scene had been filmed in the Mansion’s “Grand Hall,” entailing dozens of 19th century characters dancing at a macabre ball. The costume department showed evidence of the weighty scene, as colorful fancy gowns and velvet coats were scattered everywhere. A large number of these costumes were borrowed and leased from theatre companies overseas, while some were created specifically for the scene by May’s department. In a few cases, authentic period dresses and outfits were restored by May specifically for the film, with a very delicate touch, so that the restorations could be undone to leave the clothing in its original state.

May’s studio was a whirlwind of color and texture. Along the walls, May’s collages of “inspirations” were displayed for the various settings in the film. One collage, titled “Graveyard,” was covered with all sorts of aged and distressed fabrics and laces, in mossy, silvery, and earthy hues. In between the fabrics, photos and illustrations described the feelings the graveyard costumes were to invoke-gothic images and eerie characters that represented gloom and decay. Another collage depicted the costume ideas for the “ghosts” of the Mansion, including many characters made famous by the ride itself (yes, even the three famous spooks out looking for a lift were included.) These rich costumes were, in some cases, evolved from the clothing worn by the audio-animatronic characters in the attraction created by Disney’s Imagineers, and are sure to bring a chuckle of recognition to any hard-core Haunted Mansion fan.

May’s costumes are innovative, and her creations are quite unique. Part of her challenge was to create a new method by which to portray ghosts, as the Haunted Mansion is filled with them; in fact, there are “999 happy haunts,” according to the theme park lore. The Haunted Mansion ride itself uses an amazing special effect to imitate spectral beings that involves reflection, making the characters seem semitransparent-an amazing effect in real life. But on film, see-through ghosts are a Hollywood cliché. Meeting the challenge head-on, May has developed a fascinating physical effect that gives the ghostly costumes an iridescent, almost bioluminescent appearance on film (and to the naked eye, in fact.) By weaving a reflective substance (similar to that found on the backs of jogging shoes) into the fabric, each roll and twist of the cloth glistens in the dark. When augmented with digital visual effects, the ghosts should shimmer in a way never before seen on film.

While May has worked hard to costume the Mansion’s residents, Academy-Award-winning make up artist Rick Baker (Planet of the Apes, The Ring) has worked hard to create fascinating characters for the film. In addition to the ghosts familiar to fans of the attraction, there are some new apparitions and Baker creations as well. Drawing from the ride’s predetermination that the Mansion entertains ghosts from many historical periods, some new characters in the film hail from distinct past eras.

Baker also recreated the zombie for this film. By avoiding grue (as the film hopes to secure a PG rating), the Haunted Mansion’s zombies are crusty and bony, and appear in various states of decay. Utilizing an innovative technique, Baker has also created a practical prosthetic effect that hosts a startling skeletal neck no wider than the vertebrae it consists of-an amazing feat, since prosthetic effects typically appear oversized and out of proportion when worn by the actor.

The Sets
The most striking thing about walking through the sets of the Haunted Mansion film is the scale. Each room has been super-sized, it seems. The grand entrance hall is a lush, vaulted wonder of polished hardwood and marble statues. Majestic staircases lead up to a library atop the hall on the second floor. Gilded detail abounds. However, at the time I was visiting the sets, this set was being dressed for the present time, so the 19th century splendor was reduced to a dusty, musky palace of decay. At the end of the hall, the room opens out into an armory, lined with rare specimens of all types of armor from around the world.

The plot of the film takes the viewer back and forth through time, so the sets were all designed to be shiny and extravagant, yet convertible to drab and dreary from the passage of the years. This is no small feat, as the Haunted Mansion seems infinitely enormous from inside (much like the ride that inspired it.) As I was walking through the grand ballroom, the set was in the process of being redressed. Rich tapestry and curtains were being distressed and shredded, and cobwebs were being liberally applied to the posts, molding and details of the room. In the center of one of the walls, an enormous (and fully operational) walk-in fireplace stood empty, waiting to be set ablaze for another scene.

At the end of the ballroom, two large spiraling staircases wrapped their way up either side of the room, while an enormous pipe organ was nestled in between them… another popular feature of the ride that wasn’t forgotten. Large columns and plenty of marble finished the details-although the room maintained an open, spacious feel, which is necessary for the heavily populated scenes that occur in that space.

For a fan of the Haunted Mansion attraction, moving through these sets was an exercise in restraint. Each set clearly reminded the viewer of the corresponding site in the ride-yet the airy, livable space made me want to run and around and hide in the dusty corners, play in the cobwebs, and finally realize what it might be like to actually inhabit the ride I’ve enjoyed since my childhood. At one point as we were making our way to the attic set, I found myself walking through an immense, seemingly endless corridor of heavy, dark doors with complex carved decorations-a fantastic recreation of a memorable moment in the ride.

Passing the master bedroom set, the guide noted that the bed that they had obtained for the scene was valued at over $50,000. However, it was only being rented, and wasn’t a property owned by the production. Finally entering the attic, we could scarcely move through the massive collection of hatboxes, bundles, and baubles of all shapes and sizes. Old Asian paper parasols hang in a row next to piles of blown glass bottles of various shapes and sizes. All manner of old toys, dusty furniture and antique goods cluttered the room to overflowing, although a passageway through the junk was carefully taped to the floor to establish marks for the actors, as the attic was still a hot set in the midst of production.

The attic also provided one of the clearest examples of the work that cinematographer Remi Adefarasin (About a Boy, HBO’s Band of Brothers) has put into the production to create an eerily-lit atmosphere of fear and mystery. The high windows of the cupola would give the setting a ghostly, stormy hue, while beaten and broken shutter slats in another corner of the attic will let in slices of light that form sharp beams in the attic dust when lightning flashes.

Finally leaving the attic set, we moved past an overgrown glass-walled conservatory and paused in front of an enormous stone mausoleum façade, which was guarded by two stone statues, shrouded in a perpetual state of mourning. They each held a bronze torch, illuminating the passageway into the crypt. This façade had been used in exterior shots of the Mansion’s graveyard, but was now being stored inside of the studio warehouse. Not far beyond it was the entrance to the mausoleum’s interior set-a massive showcase, detailed far beyond the effort put into most film sets. The crypt seen in the exteriors of the graveyard is simply the means to enter this massive underground home to generations upon generations of Gracey family descendants. True to its New Orleans setting, the underground mausoleum is completely flooded, and the heights of the underground tomb are decorated with intricate cast iron adornments, while a large iron bridge sets in the corner of the room over the swampy water. Roots from the trees and plants that choke the graveyard have invaded the space and run down the sides of the stone room, mingling with wispy cobwebs. All around the walls, hundreds of urns are set into recessed spots in the stones, while coffins are set on stone platforms that rise out of the murky liquid. The urns and coffins are, of course, rigged for practical special effects-for, as any fan of the ride knows, the ghosts that haunt this particular family legacy are “dying to meet you;” in fact, they can “hardly contain themselves,” as the ride narration goes.

Finally leaving the sets behind, I inspected a model of the production’s enormous graveyard set (which was filmed separately on location). Age upon age of stone markers and monuments were piled around raised graves and tombs (which is common among graveyards in New Orleans, as the ground water would otherwise disturb coffins buried underground.) Willows drooped mournfully over the gravestones, and a row of suspiciously familiar statue busts was set amid the memorials. I prepared to leave the studio with a new respect for the creative team assembled to put this film together. Sharing a few last words with producer Don Hahn, I discovered that Hahn hoped to move the sets to one of Disney’s Hollywood-themed amusement parks to become a walk-through experience for guests in anticipation of the film’s release this fall. The sets certainly deserve the closer scrutiny, and the team deserves a lot of credit for their faithfulness to the classic attraction that the film is based on-faithfulness that promises to make this film a treasure for long-time fans of the world-famous ride.

Jeff Baham is the creator of DoomBuggies.com and TellNoTales.com, websites dedicated to Disney’s Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean attractions. He lives in San Jose, California.