Taken from a 1972 interview.
.....(Left: Jacket art for Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery by Fred Banbery [NY: Random House, 1962]. Right: Rolly Crump concept art)
..........................A big hat-tip to "Great Movie Rider" at Micechat for bringing the interview to our attention.
There are a few more Mansion connections with this book. First off, obviously the title itself, Ghostly Gallery (which is what the gallery room in the Mansion ends up being referred to). Also, in Hitchcock's first person preface to this book, he refers to himself as a "ghost host", and his first words, just like the ghost host in the Haunted Mansion, are "Good evening." Do you think the Imagineers might have been influenced by Hitchcock?
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say, but 1962 (the year of publication) is early enough for the book to be part of the Imagineers' general research, and you would think they'd take a look at a Hitchcock book of "spooky stories for young people." "Ghostly gallery," "ghost host," and "Good evening" as an opening line are all X Atencio coinages in his early show script, so it's possible that X was influenced consciously or subconsciously by the book, if he saw it. I think it's a good deal less likely that the chair artwork influenced Rolly Crump.
ReplyDeleteI still have my copy of this book (bought it new). Excellent stories, gave me nightmares throughout youth. I often read it in the car on the way to Disneyland, but never made a connection to the HM till now.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, I was thinking about one of the stories last week, and then I see this post.
Thanks.
JG
The was a skit one Jim Hensons "Sam & Friends" where a puppet version of Hitchhike boasts about his rare collectibles and antiques ...and declare "his arm chair is made form real arm".
ReplyDeleteI wonder who inspired who?