Team Mist, Project Three: SYWTBAI Season 14

[MANEATINGWREATH]

PROJECT THREE: HOLIDAYS CAN BE A REAL NIGHTMARE

- Inspired by the Haunted Mansion Holiday Project of Season Eight -



"Saint Nicholas is not coming this year. Instead, a much darker, ancient spirit. His name is Krampus. He and his helpers did not come to give, but to take. He is the shadow of Saint Nicholas." - Omi, Krampus (2015)

In homage to my favorite prompt of Season Eight, we'll step back from the futuristic carnival of Project Two and travel into the moldering sanctum of the spirit world: The Haunted Mansion. For this round, we'll explore the ever-popular, but decidedly controversial advent of a holiday overlay for our favorite Disney spookhouse. But, rather than have each team focus on the same Nightmare Before Christmas prompt of Season Eight, Sandy Claws has prepared a few tricks and treats up his crooked sleeve...

Having opened Walt's Vault, @Basketbuddy101 - I mean, "Sandy Claws" - has unwrapped and re-gifted a unique, frightfully festive prompt for each team to explore. That's right, boys and ghouls... Each team will do something COMPLETELY different, as per Sandy's selection! Hee-hee-hee!

You will explore the Haunted Mansion of Liberty Square, found in Walt Disney World. With Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas as your central theme, you are to craft an overlay for the Mansion that takes NO existing scenes, ideas or effects from the existing Nightmare overlays in Anaheim or Tokyo. We are seeking originality in your overlay's design and execution. Essentially, we want you to create an overlay from scratch that still retains the Nightmare Before Christmas colliding with the Haunted Mansion. Here are the rules:

- Each scene in your overlay should share no similarities or features with the existing overlays. No borrowing. However, you can reutilize the concepts found in the existing HMH Ballroom and Graveyard (i.e. snow in the graveyard, the curled hill, a dead tree, etc.). Everything else must be original.
- Create an original, non-IP creature or character to replace the Raven as the ride's unofficial mascot. We want a character that fits the style of Nightmare, but isn't from Nightmare. Scary Teddy, the usual mascot of HMH can be used elsewhere in your overlay.
- We want an old-fashioned ride-through, right down to the dialogue. Take us on this journey with you.

Also, this round will be a DOUBLE ELIMINATION. This means that the team in second and third place will both lose a contestant. Unlike the past two rounds, we will NOT announce a nominee(s) until the time comes to actually eliminate someone. So, stay on your toes!

Lastly, congratulations to @Basketbuddy101 - you have been selected for this round's PoMVP!

Good luck, Teams! I will start the work threads shortly. This most festive project is due on Saturday, February 25th @ 11:59 PM (ET), 8:59 PM (PT).

 

[RMichael21]

Alright! Let's get too it! Also, congrats on the win guys, we deserved it!

We definitely have the hardest prompt of the 3, IMO, so we need to try our best to pull out another win!

I've never seen the movie though eek:), so I'll have to watch it before I can give any good input.

 

[mickeyfan5534]

I'll start working on an icon if no one has a problem with that.

 

[Snoopy]

So first things first, congratulations to everyone on winning round two!

I guess the immediate thought that I had was a potential "sequel" to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Holiday. Perhaps Jack Skellington has decided to arrange a "Meeting of the Holidays" convention for himself and the other holiday mascots, but being Jack he of course selects the Haunted Mansion to do it in. In the movie we saw how Santa reacted to Halloweentown, so I think we could have a lot of fun playing around with how the different holidays would react and interact with this unintentionally spooky meeting that they've been invited to.

Just a thought, and I'd love to hear other ideas.

 

[JokersWild]

I agree about this being the hardest. It's especially difficult for me because I've done literally this project when we did it the first time, so it's going to be difficult working around ideas I've already had and presented. But, c'est la vie.

I think that Snoopy has a very interesting point in exploring the other holidays. MEW said that this was Haunted Mansion Holiday, but never explicitly stated WHICH holiday it was. It'd be bending the rules, but perhaps we could try to explore something other than Christmas. For at least part of the attraction.

 

[JokersWild]

With the ride mascot, could we perhaps personify Christopher Lee's narrator from the movie?

 

[Snoopy]

With the ride mascot, could we perhaps personify Christopher Lee's narrator from the movie?

That would be cool. Maybe he is Krampus? Not our prompt, I know.

And since I see that the other teams are posting the blueprints for their overlays, here is the blueprint to the Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion for reference:

http://www.disneyeveryday.com/wp-co...rida-Haunted-mansion-Blueprints-Track-Map.jpg

 

[JokersWild]

That would be cool. Maybe he is Krampus? Not our prompt, I know.

And since I see that the other teams are posting the blueprints for their overlays, here is the blueprint to the Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion for reference:

http://www.disneyeveryday.com/wp-co...rida-Haunted-mansion-Blueprints-Track-Map.jpg

I've gotten word that Christopher Lee was not the narrator of the film. Oops.

I've also gotten confirmation that we don't technically have to make this a Christmas overlay. So, we basically have free reign with the Nightmare universe.

 

[JokersWild]

Could we perhaps make this a Halloween ride? I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the idea, but it could be interesting.

 

[MANEATINGWREATH]

I'll post a Mansion video in each respective work thread. This one doesn't have the Stretch Room and Foyer, but I'm sure you know what they look like.

 

[RMichael21]

I agree about this being the hardest. It's especially difficult for me because I've done literally this project when we did it the first time, so it's going to be difficult working around ideas I've already had and presented. But, c'est la vie.

I think that Snoopy has a very interesting point in exploring the other holidays. MEW said that this was Haunted Mansion Holiday, but never explicitly stated WHICH holiday it was. It'd be bending the rules, but perhaps we could try to explore something other than Christmas. For at least part of the attraction.

I actually really like this idea... like a lot. There'd be a ton more options and we wouldn't have to worry about overlap from the current ride.

 

[JokersWild]

I actually really like this idea... like a lot. There'd be a ton more options and we wouldn't have to worry about overlap from the current ride.

Absolutely. Perhaps all of the holiday could be meeting? I'm just picturing the ballroom, with the dinner table being full of holiday mascots, with Jack at the head. Like Jack at the head, Santa at the other. Perhaps Behemoth could be heavily petting a disgruntled Easter Bunny. Things like that. We could really make this a celebration of ALL holidays.

I do think that it'd be best (and natural) to start with Halloween, though. Like, Have the stretching room and first scene or two be strictly halloween.

 

[DisneyManOne]

I absolutely adore Nightmare Before Christmas, so I've got a ton of ideas in store.

I'm just throwing out a few preliminary ideas here...

What if Oogie Boogie (instead of appearing in one scene only) was the main villain, trying once again to thwart Jack's holiday celebrations? That could be an overall story arc for the ride. And maybe our new Raven-replacing character could aid Jack in defeating him.

As for scenes in the ride itself, I think the attic scene could be filled with all the demented Halloween toys (Scary Teddy, the Vampire Duck-on-Wheels, the Jack-in-the-Boxes, etc.) They could pop up out of presents (a la the ghosts behind the tombstones in the graveyard). Or, we could have Lock, Shock and Barrel use this room as their "playroom", and entice the guests to come play with them...

Maybe for Madame Leota's scene, we could re-theme the room as Dr. Finklestein's lab, and in the place of the crystal ball, we could have Sally working on a potion or something (maybe involving a little Deathly Nightshade?)

 

[JokersWild]

I absolutely adore Nightmare Before Christmas, so I've got a ton of ideas in store.

I'm just throwing out a few preliminary ideas here...

What if Oogie Boogie (instead of appearing in one scene only) was the main villain, trying once again to thwart Jack's holiday celebrations? That could be an overall story arc for the ride. And maybe our new Raven-replacing character could aid Jack in defeating him.

As for scenes in the ride itself, I think the attic scene could be filled with all the demented Halloween toys (Scary Teddy, the Vampire Duck-on-Wheels, the Jack-in-the-Boxes, etc.) They could pop up out of presents (a la the ghosts behind the tombstones in the graveyard). Or, we could have Lock, Shock and Barrel use this room as their "playroom", and entice the guests to come play with them...

Maybe for Madame Leota's scene, we could re-theme the room as Dr. Finklestein's lab, and in the place of the crystal ball, we could have Sally working on a potion or something (maybe involving a little Deathly Nightshade?)

I really like the idea for the story, though I would personally rather the mascot character be more a narrator than an integral character.

I also really like the idea of Finklestein being in Leota's room, but I don't think it'd be wise to remove Leota from the room. What if Finklestein set up shop, and is trying to experiment on Leota to understand how she works? I think that could be hilarious.

On that note, I also think it would be cool if all of these characters sort of invaded the Haunted Mansion to host their meeting/ celebration thing (should we go the route I suggested above.) Could be cool, and cool lead to some interesting juxtapose.


We also need a team leader. Any volunteers?

 

[mickeyfan5534]

Here's a raven replacement idea:
Petit/Grand Harlequin
A small clown doll with a painted face that becomes bigger and bigger throughout the ride. Is human size at the end and replaces the hitchhiking ghosts and the mirrors.

 

[Basketbuddy101]

For the sake of originality, we should probably keep the Christmas elements of Nightmare to a minimum and focus on some of the darker elements. We can include more characters as animatronics (i.g. Mayor). We could actually make this a prequel to the Nightmare Before Christmas altogether and remove the characters' knowledge of Christmas. The characters could stumble upon the Haunted Mansion and decide to use it as a base of operations of sorts. We could also establish a rivalry between Jack and Oogie, which in turn could offer insight as to why Jack seems so repulsed by him in the first place. Just an idea lol

 

[DisneyManOne]

I just wanna put this out there. As much as I enjoy the idea of all these different holiday characters coming together, I sincerely hope we don't recycle the Behemoth/Easter Bunny gag from the film.

 

[JokersWild]

I just wanna put this out there. As much as I enjoy the idea of all these different holiday characters coming together, I sincerely hope we don't recycle the Behemoth/Easter Bunny gag from the film.

I mean, I think that something like I suggested earlier, assuming that that's what you're referring to, isn't a terrible idea, and could be a nice, small callback to the film. But we probably shouldn't focus on gags right now. We should definitely solidify a premise first. I still really like the idea of Jack bringing all of the holidays together at the Haunted Mansion, personally, but I'm a bit biased

 

[TrevorA]

Whew, ok, congrats everyone! I think we really improved in the two categories we set out to do last round

Things We Totally Nailed in Project 2:

- slick presentation (we should do that website format every time if we have the resources (read:time) to!)
- balanced and consistent brainstorming in the thread (seriously, everybody really showed up)

Things that We Can Totally Nail in Project 3:

- getting into thorough detail on all of our write-ups (should be an easy thing to accomplish with this detail-oriented project!)
- tiki asked for one more diagram on one of the extra credit rides to clarify its function, so I suppose we can look for "needs" when it comes to how we can communicate our ideas best, e.g. whether we should do it visually or in text.

I've only been gone three-quarters of a day and I feel like I'm already behind on the 'storming!

I guess the immediate thought that I had was a potential "sequel" to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Holiday. Perhaps Jack Skellington has decided to arrange a "Meeting of the Holidays" convention for himself and the other holiday mascots, but being Jack he of course selects the Haunted Mansion to do it in. In the movie we saw how Santa reacted to Halloweentown, so I think we could have a lot of fun playing around with how the different holidays would react and interact with this unintentionally spooky meeting that they've been invited to.

I like this idea very much! It would be fun to explore some/most/all of the other holiday in addition the original ones. Perhaps in the fiction of the overlay, Haunted Mansion exists in Halloweentown and the meeting of all the people is called there on behalf of Jack and co. But for what? Hmm.

Also, this Project would be a good time to bring up that I am pretty good with maps and would love draw one for us. Also I have been backstage at the Florida HM multiple times; maybe that will help or not idk.


---TrevorA

 

[JokersWild]

Whew, ok, congrats everyone! I think we really improved in the two categories we set out to do last round

Things We Totally Nailed in Project 2:

- slick presentation (we should do that website format every time if we have the resources (read:time) to!)
- balanced and consistent brainstorming in the thread (seriously, everybody really showed up)

Things that We Can Totally Nail in Project 3:

- getting into thorough detail on all of our write-ups (should be an easy thing to accomplish with this detail-oriented project!)
- tiki asked for one more diagram on one of the extra credit rides to clarify its function, so I suppose we can look for "needs" when it comes to how we can communicate our ideas best, e.g. whether we should do it visually or in text.

I've only been gone three-quarters of a day and I feel like I'm already behind on the 'storming!



I like this idea very much! It would be fun to explore some/most/all of the other holiday in addition the original ones. Perhaps in the fiction of the overlay, Haunted Mansion exists in Halloweentown and the meeting of all the people is called there on behalf of Jack and co. But for what? Hmm.

Also, this Project would be a good time to bring up that I am pretty good with maps and would love draw one for us. Also I have been backstage at the Florida HM multiple times; maybe that will help or not idk.


---TrevorA

I think it would be an interesting setup for Jack to basically invite all of the other holidays for a holiday colloquium of sorts, so they may introduce each other and gain a better understanding of each other. That sounds oddly political and serious for a dark ride, but if we convey the story in the right way it should work pretty well.

And, of course, mayhem everywhere. The only thing I'm not necessarily with you on is that the Haunted Mansion is in Halloweentown. I personally like the idea of Jack kinda invading it uninvited and just inviting people over. I think that it could be kinda fitting with his character for inspiration to strike him and him getting out of control with his excitement. I dunno. I think it could be fun.