Meet the Grim Grinning Ghosts of the Haunted Mansion (Part 3)

Alas, dear reader, all good things must come to their final resting place. And so it is with our examination of the Haunted Mansion’s numerous residents. If you missed the first two installments, you can read Part 1 and Part 2, but do be quick about it. The bells in the churchyard are tolling, and I suspect I know for whom they toll.

But before that long, dark train carries us away, let’s take one more trip to the grounds of the Mansion. There are still a few more spooks to meet. 

What’s in a Name? 

As you approach the Haunted Mansion, you’ll pass through a cemetery. Along with the graves of Madame Leota and Master Gracey (discussed in part one of the series), you’ll find various headstones with droll epitaphs inscribed on them. But the names carved on each stone are anything but random. They pay tribute to Disney Imagineers and artists. Here’s a quick look at who’s who among the boneyard.

Wathel R. Bender – Wathel Rogers, an animator who worked on films like Pinocchio, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, and Sleeping Beauty. He also worked on “Project Little Man,” Disney’s earliest experiment with audio-animatronics. 

Good Ol’ Fred – Fred Joerger, a model builder and set designer known mainly for his work building rock formations.

Cousin Huet – Cliff Huet, lead interior designer for the Haunted Mansion

Francis Xavier – Francis Xavier Atencio, who (among other accomplishments) wrote the lyrics to ‘Grim Grinning Ghosts.’

Brother Dave – Dave Burkhart, a Disney model maker. 

A Man Named Martin – Bill Martin, who helped with the design and building of Disneyland.

Good Friend Gordon – Gordon Williams, responsible for the majority of the Haunted Mansion’s sound effects.

Uncle Myall – Chuck Myall, one of the designers of Walt Disney World.

Mister Sewell – Bob Sewell, a model builder who helped Disney create a number of classic attractions.

Grandpa Marc – Marc Davis, who began his Disney career as an animator and worked as an Imagineer on attractions like the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean

Brother Claude – Claude Coats, who worked as a background painter and contributed to numerous Disney attractions

And Your Little Dog, too!

While he is not among the formerly living residents of the Haunted Mansion, there’s no way to talk about it without mentioning two of its most popular characters: the caretaker and his hound dog. You spot them after leaving the attic, but before entering the cemetery. They stand outside the gates, the caretaker with a terrified look, and the dog looking rather reluctant to investigate further. 

While it’s not entirely official, Silas Crump is frequently used as the name of the caretaker. He owes his existence (and his appearance) to the talented pencil of Marc Davis, who had a special knack for creating figures with comical expressions. An illustration by Collin Campbell gives us a name for the grounds he is tending, as a sign on the gate reads “Glade Cemetery.”

How to Get a Head In Life

As we venture into the Glade Cemetery, where ghosts and ghouls are having a rollicking party, we come across “The Phantom Five,” more commonly referred to as the singing busts. It is here that we must pause to dispense with a rather persistent myth. 

For years, Disney fans have insisted that one (or even all) of the busts are distorted versions of Walt Disney’s face. The most frequent version of the tale states that Walt is the bust that has toppled onto its side. While it may be charming to think about, there’s no truth to the story. Here are the “names” of each of the characters, and the actors who portrayed them:

Uncle Theodore – Thurl Ravenscroft

Rollo Rumkin – Verne Rowe

Cousin Algernon – Chuck Schroeder

Ned Nub – Jay Meyer

Phineas P. Pock – Bob Ebright

Imagineers used the same technique used for Madame Leota in the seance scene to create the illusion of singing statuary. And why are their expressions so cartoon-like? Well, the actors could only use their eyes and mouths to animate their characters. So, like in the silent films of old, everything had to be exaggerated. 

You’ve Got To Be Joking…

After leaving the Mansion, we pass by a series of crypts. The names we encounter here hold no special meaning. They’re simply a series of tortured puns. But as a connoisseur of groan-worthy jokes, I’d be remiss in not mentioning at least a few of them. Among my personal favorites are:

Wee G. Bord

Manny Festation

I. Emma Spook

Asher T. Ashes

Gone But Not Forgotten

Before returning to the land of the living, there is one more sight for Guests to see. The Pet Cemetery. It sits on a hillside behind a fence. It can be rather hard to see all of the headstones, so here’s a list of the dear, departed animals residing there.

Waddle the Duck

Rover the Dog

Eric the Snake

Maisy the Poodle

Whiskers the Cat

Jed the Cockatoo 

An Unnamed Monkey

And last, but certainly not least, the estimable J. Thaddeus Toad. As the central character in Disney’s adaptation of the Wind in the Willows, Toad lived in the Magic Kingdom for many years as part of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. To the dismay of many fans, the attraction closed in 1998, making way for The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh. His presence in the cemetery is a clever, albeit morbid, way to pay tribute to the beloved attraction.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

And with that, my constant readers, we reach the end of our Haunted Mansion journey. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Between you and me, it was an experience to die for… 

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