Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Haunted Organs and Ghostly Hitchhikers

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Update: New art added February 21, 2013.

As we've said before, the Imagineers responsible for creating the Haunted Mansion scoured the nooks and crannies of popular culture looking for ideas, reading ghost stories, looking at spooky films, and even thumbing through old comic books.  A number of inspirations—possible, probable, and nearly certain—have surfaced in our searches for these sources.  They're always interesting, because they enable us to retrace the creative process to some degree as well as connect the Mansion to the larger world of images and ideas within the human experience of the supernatural and the uncanny.

Besides, it's just plain fun, and that's that.

One of our regular readers, and a solid HM fan, is Craig Conley, a prolific author and an astoundingly voracious reader.  During his perusals of old journals and other forgotten literature, he's come across a pair of possible sources of inspiration for things in the Mansion and kindly brought them to my attention.  And so, with our thanks to Mr. C, let's take a look.

The Demonized Organ

In our review of old movies that may have inspired the Imagineers, we noted that the figure of the mad organist probably owes a debt to Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera, but the notion of ghostly figures emerging from the pipes as the organ plays seems like an original idea.  And it probably is.  But check out this illustration from The Cosmopolitan 33/5 (Sept 1902):


It's an illustration for a short story, "The Canonic Curse," by Arthur E.
McFarlane.  But in fact it isn't found with the story itself, which is deep
inside the volume (pp 515-523).  In that location you find this:


The organ sketch, on the other hand, is actually used as a frontispiece for the whole volume, so it stands apart by itself:


"The Canonic Curse" is a better than average supernatural thriller about a demonic, medieval musical composition that has a rather nasty effect on anyone who plays it three times.  You can read the whole thing HERE.  However, there's nothing in the story that looks to me like a direct inspiration for the Haunted Mansion's ghost-infested organ.  For one thing, it's not the organ but the musical score that's demonic.  For another, no visible ghostly forms emerge from either the sheet music or the organ in the story itself.  If there's a HM inspiration, it's more likely coming from the illustration above rather than from the actual tale.  The sketch shows a ghostly figure emerging from the musical text, but without looking closely the figure could easily be read as coming from the organ.  (Frankly, it's not a great drawing.)  And the caption reads, "From the smaller organ raved up a pandemonium of...ghoulish execrations."  (There are two organs in the room.)  In the story, the "ghoulish execrations" are sinister presences in the form of sound, but the illustrator has to draw something to represent that.

Whether or not Marc Davis or one of the others saw this sketch, it is the only depiction I have seen of an organ spewing out spirits as it is played.

But hold on a sec.  "The Canonic Curse" sends me back to the ballroom for a fresh look.  For some stupid reason, it never occurred to me to think of the musical composition as the thing that actually summons the banshees up and out of the pipes.  The tune grows more frenzied as it sails along and disintegrates into a mad improvisation as it reaches its climax.  It's as if the music were the thing compelling them to appear.


Not only that, but the diabolical nature of the music itself may perhaps be suggested by the wicked, bat-shaped, music stand:

(pic from Doombuggies.com)


Before you musicians go blind from eye strain, here's a close-up,
courtesy of Brandon "Ghost Relations Department" Champlin:


Furthermore, the concept can be found elsewhere, as in this
striking book illustration by Nikolay Samokish (1860-1944):

Hat tip to Conley for this one also, originally from To Dust You Shall Return

So if we were to conclude that the musical score is the key that unlocks the ghost-infested organ, the storyline of "The Canonic Curse" might be relevant after all, as well as the illustration.  Whatever the case may be, I think Conley has brought forward a respectable candidate as a possible source of inspiration for the Haunted Mansion.

By the way, the seldom-seen maquette figure of the organist, used in the scale model, isn't really the wild-haired crazy man that you see in Marc Davis and Collin Campbell artwork.  Curiously enough, he's more of a thin, haughty, Liberace-type of guy.



The actual organist seems to follow the demented model, but since
you can hardly see any part of his face, it doesn't matter that much.

"What do you mean, 'It doesn't matter that much'?"

.        The Ghostly Hitchhiker

Here's that famous trio, already in place and thumbing for a ride even before the Mansion opened, in the summer of 1969.


There are so many urban legends about ghostly hitchhikers that they have been categorized into groups and subgroups and subjected to scholarly study.  Such stories pre-date the advent of the automobile, going back to horse and buggy days.  Here's one of the most common varieties:


This isn't the Disney version, obviously.  The idea of being followed by a hitchhiker who gives you the creeps and whom you do NOT want to pick up is a less-frequent variety, but it's there.  Once again we are indebted to Brandon "GRD" Champlin, who stumbled across an interesting example and posted it at his now-defunct blogsite.  (You can still read the original post HERE.)  In a 1960 episode of the Twilight Zone ("The Hitchhiker"), a young woman driving from New York to California keeps seeing the same hitchhiker.


Finally, she can't stand it and stops to call home to mother.  Another woman answers and explains that the mother is recovering from a nervous breakdown, having learned that her daughter died in an auto accident six days earlier (deedle deedle deedle deedle). The woman who delivers the bad news, incidentally, is none other than Eleanor Audley, voice of Madame Leota (deedle deedle deedle deedle again).

GRD doesn't mention it, but there are two occasions in the episode when the phantom hitchhiker is visible to the woman only in a mirror...


...and the second time, he's sitting invisibly in the car with her!



Now let's take a look at the illustration Conley found in an 1891 issue of The Strand magazine:


Unless that's supposed to be a church pew, it looks to me like it could be a railway
carriage seat.  Even if it isn't, the similarity to the ghost-in-the-mirror gag is plain.


The Haunted Mansion version may best be described as an amalgam of several different elements from
several different ghost stories and urban legends.  It is possible that the Strand illustration  was one
source of inspiration contributing a few ingredients to the finished recipe, but we'll probably never know.

Needless to say, the new CG hitchhikers at WDW take their inspiration from different sources altogether.  





25 comments:

  1. Some very astute observations! I never made the connection to the Hitchhiker tale and our famous trio. I even have two audio versions of the story, one of which is on a cardboard cereal box cut-out record that I've listened to many times, and the other version in a collection of "Ghost Stories for Young People" hosted by Alfred Hitchcock on an Lp, and still it never dawned on me.

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  2. Fascinating post! At the end of my time as a WDW cast member, I got a chance to tour the Mansion before park opening. They allowed us to ride through and take flash pictures, so I got some clear shots of details, and told us some very interesting trivia, how would I submit that to you to help future posts? This is my favorite Mansion site by far.

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    1. Ugh. I see you tried to make contact but my box at Micechat was full. It's empty now.

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  3. Hi dancin'. I'm a chatboard member at both Micechat and WDWMagic (I'm HBG2, as here), so one easy way would be to PM me at either of those, and I could give you my email.

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  4. Pretty sure the Twilight Zone episode you reference is actually based on a radio play starring Orsen Welles. I'll have to look up exactly which Radio series it appeared in.

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  5. I think you're right. It may have been "Suspense."

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  6. http://www.escape-suspense.com/2007/03/suspense_the_hi.html Yup. Here it is. Gotta love Orson Welles, one of the great performers of the 20th century.

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  7. The Episode and radio show actually have their roots in a short story by Lucille Fletcher entitled "The Hitchhiker"

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  8. "The Canonic Curse" sounds like the sheet music version of The Ring!

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  9. Always fun Dan. Consider also that in the late 60's a generational shift was occurring sure to be noticed by someone Marc Davis age. Hitchhikers were a very common site then, and were the type of people one my not want to "follow you home." one would often be warned of the danger of picking up strangers- particularly a trio who are all trying so hard to look respectable when they clearly are not. It's no wonder the three ghosts would be at the forefront of another generational shift, towards interactivity. No surprise that more traditional riders (who prefer a passive relationship) would have the same reaction a mature family may have had to hippies along the freeway, heading to San Francisco. In 1969.

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  10. ...And what with you riding in a dune-, I mean doom- buggy, no doubt you caught their eye. Only one of them looks like a hippie, however.

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  11. It just astounds me that they messed with the basic elements of that visual scenario by placing the CGI ghosts *outside* the car with you. If they're not in the car with you, most of the point of the gag is lost. I've actually noticed that the variants where one of the ghosts ride alongside you / on the roof have become less frequent and others have vanished entirely... perhaps our complaints have been heard. I do know that WDI went so far as to make "holiday variants" for all three of the hitch-hikers which mercifully have yet to materialize.

    By the way, just as mysteriously as they were removed, the original graveyard audio tracks have returned to WDW. I have no idea what all of that was about. I've only run into a few people who share my opinion, by the way, but that first day WDW re-opened, the Ghost Host didn't sound right.... differently pitched, and almost as if it was somebody doing a very close Ghost Host voice, just different enough to distract you. By day 2 it was back to 'normal'. I've never seen a mention of this online and in the excitement of the ride re-opening I almost forgot about it. So there was a lot of weirdness about Mansion voices going on in 2007. I wonder if we'll ever find out what happened.

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  12. "...perhaps our complaints have been heard." Let me know when Ezra gets his hands back and head fixed, and then I'll believe they're listening to us. Whether one likes the new effect or not, I don't see how anyone can deny that that CG rendering is badly botched.

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  13. And yeah, the diddling with the vocal tracks is a real puzzler.

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  14. I was at WDW on April 1st. The 2007 vocals were still there. Did they revert to the originals in the last few days?

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  15. Insightful point about the "doom" buggy being a reference straight out of the late 60's. As interesting as all this theorizing is (and it is very interesting) sometimes it seems they just go with what's fun. Other than the doom buggy audio, your vehicle or carriage is invisible. You may just as well be walking through the show... Having the ghosts follow you home is the key point, not that they are in the car, or outside of it. The ghosts are most typically outside the car when there are three people in it. This helps so the ghost does not cover up the person, typically a child, in the center. At least that's what I noticed.
    I agree it would be nice to fix "Ezera's" hands, and it seems that would be easy to do.

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  16. Yeah, I think the doombuggy is "nothing" in the ride, and you're supposed to imagine you're still on foot, but the HHG gag was so good that they went with it, even though it introduces an inconsistency. Suddenly, it's a vehicle. I know Mike S. (a dedicated Mansionite) argues that the doombuggy is a real vehicle, and this gag must be counted in his favor, but I would still explain it as a minor inconsistency for the sake of a great gag.

    Incidentally, lest anyone think the mirror gag is entirely beholden to that 1960 Twilight Zone episode, remember that Ken Anderson essentially invented the gag, with the guests on foot, walking past the mirrors, and that was in 1957-58.

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  17. Such a delightful post, HBG2! I'm nothing short of thrilled to have played this game of haunted leapfrog with you!

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  18. When I was a little girl, long before I ever heard of the Haunted Mansion, the spare bathroom in our house was arranged so that when you were sitting there, you were looking in a morror that showed both your face and the window right behind your head. I was always afraid to open my eyes, because I was sure I would see some horrible, ghostly creature behind me in the mirror. I was flashed back to that the first time I exoerienced the Hitchhiking Ghosts gag, so it packed an extra punch!

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  19. Another excellent post. I saw that twilight zone episode years ago but never even thought about comparing it to the ghost hitchhikers. It brought to mind this haunted mansion youtube channel.(take a good look at the background image). (Not a hitch hiking ghost, but still, a little familiar)

    http://www.youtube.com/stretchinggallery

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  20. I loved that Twilight Zone episode. By the way, a super-awesome post! Um... I was gonna say something else but I forgot what it was. Oh well. Keep up the great work anyway!

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  21. Great post, HBG2! Some of the pictures are broken though. I'd love to see them.

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  22. I'm having some trouble with Photobucket links today. Hopefully, it will be cleared up soon.

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