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Spoiler Free Synopsis: Danny is a quiet boy
whose grandpa is his best friend. They talk about exploration, mysteries, and
collect tales of the creepy mansion no one in town dares to go near.When his
grandpa’s life is cut short in a climbing accident, both Danny and his parents
have trouble moving past their grief and grow apart from one another. Through
mysterious means of her own, Madame Leota attempts to break through the vail
and reach Danny. After several failed attempts, she is able to reach Danny, and
he learns that his grandpa is in trouble in the afterlife and he must come to
the mansion straight away to help him.
Slowly but surely, the denizens of The
Haunted Mansion make themselves known to Danny as he makes his way to Madame
Leota, who with her own magic gives Danny the gift to see all of the mansions
999 haunts. It appears, however, that they are not as happy as we would expect.
Danny’s story weaves through the mansion, and its infamous residents, as he
finds his own journey is inexplicably linked to afterlives of four of the
mansion’s most powerful ghosts: The Hatbox Ghost, Madame Leota, The Captain, and
Constance (aka The Bride). Can he find his grandfather and return mirth to ghosts
trapped within the walls of The Haunted Mansion or will the malevolent spirits claim
Danny as the 1,000th soul to be locked under the mysterious curse?
Disney Source Material: The inspiration
for this volume is in the title, isn’t it? There are nods to multiple versions
of The Haunted Mansion attractions, but this tale centers firmly upon the
Disneyland incarnation of the experience. Not only does Danny’s story take
place in New Orleans, the house is modeled after Disneyland’s mansion, and
story is structured around the flow of California embodiment of the attraction.
All of this is to say nothing of the brief scene that takes place on the Matterhorn.
The Haunted Mansion, or rather the story
of its creation, has been around since the earliest days of Disneyland. From
the haunted house on the hill, to a walkthrough attraction of weird artifacts,
to the eventual attraction we know today, the history or The Haunted Mansion has
as many stories about it as there are ghosts who inhabit it. What is most
critical to this comic story, however, is that while Walt Disney was alive no
one could craft a single, cohesive narrative for The Haunted Mansion that he
found to be good enough this attraction.
Marvel Storytelling: If no tale was good
enough for Walt, then the job of Joshua Williamson has a hard row to hoe, but
it also leaves him free of any narrative constraints another attraction might
have attached to it. Well, aside from a few well-crafted quotes from the
attraction that every reader will be holding their breath for. Williamson has
the framework of the attraction to build off of, along with archetype characters
that have been imbedded in The Haunted Mansion mythos since it opened its doors
in 1969.
Another development that makes
Williamson and artist Jorge Coelho’s jobs a bit easier is the number of ghosts
developed for the attraction. While we know that there are 999 grim, grinning
ghosts, only a handful more than 100 were given lives as actual figures within
The Haunted Mansion experience, giving the pair more than enough room to
incorporate the spirits of other characters into their story. True, many, many
more socialize with guests via artwork, photographs, busts, or their unseen
forms, but there is plenty of room here for the story Williamson and Coelho are
trying to tell.
The use of The Haunted Mansion famous
inhabitants, even beyond the four recorded above, is handled with the upmost
respect. I suspect many of the characteristics inherent to the ghosts’
personalities that bleed over onto the page comes from the input provided by
Imagineers Andy Digenova, Tom Morris, and Josh Shipley, in addition to the
research skills of Williamson and Coelho. The Bride, Madame Leota, and Pickwick
(the scarf-clad, chandlier-swinging ghost from the wake) in particular read
just as I would have expected them to.
All of that said, however, this story
isn’t taking as many risks as it could with a house filled to overflowing with
mystery and secrets. Danny progresses from one room of The Haunted Mansion to
the next in a manner that is almost identical to how the attraction is laid out
for guests. This may have been an intentional choice, but it leaves very little
to keep the reader guessing, who can ignore breadcrumbs as they know where we’re
off to in the next page or chapter.
The artwork of Coelho and the coloring
of Jean-Francois Beaulieu give the mansion a suitably creepy, almost lifelike,
presence. Aside from the obvious difference in color schemes, they also do an
extraordinary job of working between the corporal form of Danny and the
otherworldly, sometimes translucent, elements of the ghosts. Everything within
the pages fits within the established walls of The Haunted Mansion as guests
know and love it.
Bonus Time: The cover and variant cover
images that one would expect within a collected volume are all here, but that’s
not what you’re here for. 11 pages of concept artwork, including several two-page
splash pages, from Walt Disney Imagineering are included towards the back of
the collection. Sam McKim, Claude Coats, and Chris Runco, in addition to a
healthy dose of Marc Davis, are all represented in those pages. There is also a
one page letter of introduction from Marty Sklar that covers a sliver of The
Haunted Mansion’s storied history.
Conclusion: Any story of The Haunted
Mansion would have multiple decks stacked against it. Enthusiasts of the
attraction have their own belief of what the story of the house on the hill
really is; whether they’ve heard it from Cast Members, their own
interpretations, or from one of the multitude of tales that have been collected
throughout the years, making any new tale difficult to break through that barrier. Yet, this volume gives you one such story as could have taken
place within The Haunted Mansion, but in doing so it also boxes in, or out, a number of
those other tales held deep within the hearts of some readers. It plays it safe, where The Haunted Mansion
is, by its very existence, the epitome of not playing it safe. I would have
loved to have seen a riskier take on this story, but it is a fine version of
what could have assembled all of our ghosts for a swinging wake. As Marty Sklar relates in his introduction, Walt, when asked about the pristine nature of The Haunted Mansion's exterior, would quip, "We take care of the outside - the ghosts take care of the inside!" In this instance, the ghosts definitely could have been given more room to take care of their tales.
Further Reading:
Tell a Good Story – Issue #2: The
Haunted Mansion
Tell a Good Story – Issue #3: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Tell a Good Story – Issue #3: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
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