Tom Fitzerald présente la rénovation de Phantom Manor

MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
I hope the changes don't include a "rework" of the story to dumb it down at all. Paris' Phantom Manor is much more dark than the other Mansions, and very unique. It would be a shame if the atmosphere is compromised.

Looking further into the backstory the imagineers had in mind, it gets even more disturbing than the ride actually tells you. The bride in this version had a rich father who owned the mansion near a gold mine (which is Thunder Mesa and Big Thunder Mountain). The daughter wanted to marry a man, but the father wouldn't allow it. The father died suddenly in an earthquake from mining gold, and the daughter is then able to get engaged. But an evil phantom appears in the house out of nowhere and kills him on her wedding day. The husband replaced the corpse in the stretching room, the Phantom now hanging him from the rafters. It is never stated explicitly, but it's pretty obvious that the imagineers intended the Phantom to be the angry spirit of the father returned to take his revenge on his daughter's disobedience. He murders her lover and goes on to torment her throughout the rest of her life. There are even elements that remind me of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, including Miss Havisham.

Of course those specific details aren't actually confirmed in the ride. But it's still much more serious and dark than the other Haunted Mansions. There are a lot of realistic looking skeletons in the underground caverns, and the characters are all more realistically designed compared to the Marc Davis designs of the originals. Even the soundtrack is very different and wonderful, it takes on a more orchestral waltz-like style. Hauntingly beautiful, including the lovely music box version of the song playing as you approach from the outside.



I'm not saying one Mansion is better than the other, because obviously the original Haunted Mansion itself is a wonderful classic. But just that Phantom Manor is a very unique and also great new spin on the original. I feel they should maintain its original darker tone.
 
RobotWolf

RobotWolf

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I hope they re-do the shadow piano player. He's a gobo like in Florida. But he only rocks back and forth. He doesn't strike the keys, synced to the audio track and looks unconvincing as a result. They should update these with projectors.



Similarly, I wish the "xylophone" player in the graveyard would play the skulls "realistically." But due to the tempo, it seems unlikely. They would probably have to go with electric actuators for the accuracy and speed.

A great effect a lot of people miss is the organ player in their ballroom. While playing, he glances up at the guests. It's a simple mechanical effect. But it reads really well. I wish this simple change could propagate to the other Mansions. (I also wish Florida would get the page-turning book from Toyko...)
 
K

KIGhostGuy

Active Member
I’m very interested to hear what the new illusions and scenes(?) will be. Hopefully it will be soon...we only had to wait four months for any news... :rolleyes:
 
britain

britain

Well-Known Member
My wish list:

I personally think there are like two too many Bride animatronics. When we see her but nothing particular happens with her, (hallway corner, vanity mirror) it’s a wasted opportunity.

Also, the Phantom needs a different mask. Rule #1 in theme design (ok, not rule number one, but you know what I mean): Never include in-universe faux objects. By that I mean, when you display things that the characters in the story would consider fake (be they Jingle Cruise decorations, or Spaceship Earth Greek theatre masks) complexity is introduced to the suspension of disbelief. It becomes very easy for the brain to shortcut to attribute the fake object as a real part of whole themed scene. It’s super easy to think the Greek masks were the “real” faces of the animatronics in the scene. The Jingle Cruise reindeer obviously aren’t read as real, but I’d argue that the whole layover feels cheap, random and cluttered - the very attributes of the story’s ‘scattered holiday cargo’ now being applied to the whole attraction.

The Phantom’s black skull mask is too easily read at first as the ghost’s real face. I would add the same fleshy head from the finale figure to the previous Phantoms but with a black bandanna covering his face. You’d still clearly see his glowing eyes. (I’d probably then remove the bandanna from the cowboy with the stubborn horse in the finale to avoid confusion.)
 
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Old Mouseketeer

Old Mouseketeer

Well-Known Member
KIGhostGuy said:
More news from Tom Fitzgerald:
Click to expand...


This is interesting news. I remember one of my last conversations with David Mumford (before we lost contact with each other) we talked about Phantom Manor pre-opening. My recollection is that he said it ended up being something of a publicity stunt. I know it's part of the lore that they brought in this iconic horror film actor (and he was legendary) and that he even spoke French, so he recorded the tracks in both languages. David's take on this was that Mr. Price was no longer in his peak form and that it was decided that his work wasn't useable. I don't recall if his French was up to par. In the end, it seems that the chief value of this exercise was the feel-good PR value. That's how I remember it from 25+ years ago.
 
Robbiem

Robbiem

Well-Known Member
Old Mouseketeer said:
This is interesting news. I remember one of my last conversations with David Mumford (before we lost contact with each other) we talked about Phantom Manor pre-opening. My recollection is that he said it ended up being something of a publicity stunt. I know it's part of the lore that they brought in this iconic horror film actor (and he was legendary) and that he even spoke French, so he recorded the tracks in both languages. David's take on this was that Mr. Price was no longer in his peak form and that it was decided that his work wasn't useable. I don't recall if his French was up to par. In the end, it seems that the chief value of this exercise was the feel-good PR value. That's how I remember it from 25+ years ago.
Click to expand...

Interesting anecdote. I assume that Vincent Price also did his recordings for the old Disney MGM fireworks show sorcery in the sky around the same time. I remember listening to that and thinking he sounded very frail but they kept his narration for quite a few years so it must have passed fhe usability standards
 
cjkeating

cjkeating

Well-Known Member
Old Mouseketeer said:
This is interesting news. I remember one of my last conversations with David Mumford (before we lost contact with each other) we talked about Phantom Manor pre-opening. My recollection is that he said it ended up being something of a publicity stunt. I know it's part of the lore that they brought in this iconic horror film actor (and he was legendary) and that he even spoke French, so he recorded the tracks in both languages. David's take on this was that Mr. Price was no longer in his peak form and that it was decided that his work wasn't useable. I don't recall if his French was up to par. In the end, it seems that the chief value of this exercise was the feel-good PR value. That's how I remember it from 25+ years ago.
Click to expand...

He sounds good in the widely available version of his narration... unless I'm just not used to what he is meant to sound like?
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
Animaniac93-98 said:
Boot Hill and the area around Phantom Manor have reopened. Jack Skellington is doing meet and greets in the new gazebo in the queue area. FastPass is coming to the ride when it reopens. FP queue will be on the stairs to your right just pass the main gate.
Click to expand...
I so hate that TWDC took control.

Disney parks shouldn't be run by Disney...
 

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