Haunted Mansion stretching portraits

[91JLovesDisney]

This came up while talking about haunted mansion in the car. Are the stretching portraits in the stretching room of HM original, or were the Disneyland 1959 versions any different? I can’t find anything about this on the Disney wiki, or online in general, so thought I’d consult the nerds of WDWMagic. Also who painted/designed them? Thanks!

 

[Master Yoda]

I might be a little off on the details, but I should be able to fill in some of the blanks. @marni1971 and/or several others can correct any mistakes I make.

I believe it was Marc Davis who did the original design of the portraits, and artist Clem Hall that did the original attraction used paintings. They were later replaced by near identical paintings done by Ed Kohn.

Regardless of that, the paintings were redone many times as they were originally painted on canvas. These would wear out after being and unrolled and rolled up a couple of hundred times a day and would have to be repainted.

These retired original paintings fetch 6 figures on the collectors market. Some of the more notable owners of said paintings would be Neil Patrick Harris and Chris Hardwick.

Neil Patrick Harris dropped over $170K on Disney Haunted Mansion painting

How much does it take to outbid a billionaire for a beloved painting from Disneyland? Just ask Neil Patrick Harris.

www.yahoo.com

The pictures used today are machine printed so they no longer vary in appearance from artist to artist.

It is my understanding that all 4 stretching room portraits are the same in both Disneyland and WDW, but I know they are different in the Phantom Manor in Paris. I am not sure about the other parks.

If you want more info on HM, there is no better source I know of than Doombuggies.com

 

[PhantomTeaMistress999]

Yes, much of the above is correct. Regarding Phantom Manor in DLP, since it is a darker theme and also more tied into DLP's nearby version of BTMRR, and Thunder Mesa, which is also more based off of the original never built Western River Expedition.

From 1992 to 2018 the photos were of a young Melanie Ravenswood in 4 scenes:
1: having a picnic with her lone suitor (from that version) Jake Evans, meanwhile ants, a rattlesnake, scorpion, spiders and beetles invade their meal.
2: Melanie picking roses with a tombstone below that a skeleton is emerging from the ground beneath.
3: Swimming through a stream as a water monster grabs for her foot.
4: Holding a parasol in a canoe that is about to go over a waterfall.

Since the major refurb the stretching photos are of each of her suitors:
Iggy Knight standing on crates of TNT with a barrel of such about to explode
Sawyer Bottom on a log about to be sawed in half
Barry Claude sitting in a tree missing a shoe while bears growl at him from down below
Capt. Rowan D. Falls in rowboat about to crash over a waterfall

The attic "hanging scene" in that room also changed, originally it was the Phantom hanging Melanie's Fiance Jake, now it is just the Phantom evilly laughing and holding a noose.

 

[91JLovesDisney]

Alright! Thanks to both of you. To be honest Marc Davis was the only answer I was looking for, but I love learning about this things.Now that you mention it I do remember the lady with the canoe going over the waterfall in DLP. Thanks!

 

[VicariousCorpse]

These two articles talk about the portraits and their variations based on different artist's interpretations of the portraits.. I had to use waybackmachine because the pictures links are broken on the original website. But Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion blog is really great and goes into the tiniest details found in the HM.

It is my understanding that all 4 stretching room portraits are the same in both Disneyland and WDW, but I know they are different in the Phantom Manor in Paris. I am not sure about the other parks.

If you want more info on HM, there is no better source I know of than Doombuggies.com

Tokyo has the same portraits as DL and WDW.