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Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how

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Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy Vie Wilson, and it's

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Speaker 1: Halloween time. Uh. Two years ago in October, we did

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Speaker 1: a two parter on the history of Disney's Haunted Mansion

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Speaker 1: around Halloween and those are two of our most popular

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Speaker 1: episodes of all time. And then I have to make

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Speaker 1: a little true confession, which is the earlier this year

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Speaker 1: for my birthday, as a present to myself, I was

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Speaker 1: thinking that I would do another Disney related episode because

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Speaker 1: we do also get request for those, and that seems

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Speaker 1: like a good thing. Uh. So my birthday was actually

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Speaker 1: back in May, and I obviously never forgot around doing that. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And then at the end of this summer, the third

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Speaker 1: edition of Disney's Haunted Mansion book came out, and so

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Speaker 1: my brain just kind of went, you need to do

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Speaker 1: something about this. So I asked writer Jason Serell to

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Speaker 1: come and chat with us about the book. So it

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Speaker 1: made this perfect late birthday slash early Halloween present for me.

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Speaker 1: So he is now the creative director for Universal Creative,

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Speaker 1: but for fifteen years Jason was part of the Disney

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Speaker 1: Imagineering team, So that's right, we're talking to an actual,

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Speaker 1: real life imagineer. Today, he's worked as a senior show

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Speaker 1: writer and a show director as well, so you can

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Speaker 1: see why he is the perfect person to write a

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Speaker 1: book about a Disney attraction and why I, in particular,

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Speaker 1: would be super excited to talk with him. First, we

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Speaker 1: will hear about Jason start at Disney, how his career

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Speaker 1: developed and eventually landed him in imagineering, and how he

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Speaker 1: ended up writing a book about the Haunted Mansion. What's

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Speaker 1: really fun for me, and I think for any of

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Speaker 1: the hardcore Disney fans in the audience is that as

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Speaker 1: he's talking about sort of getting some of this stuff

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Speaker 1: up and running and whose mentors were, he's gonna be

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Speaker 1: name dropping people that you will find familiar first if

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Speaker 1: you listen to our two parter and if you're a

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Speaker 1: hardcore Disney fans. So it's very very cool to kind

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Speaker 1: of hear that those people are still mentoring other image

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Speaker 1: and years. Yes, it's also a totally different take from

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Speaker 1: what we talked about a couple of years ago. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: we're not really rehashing any of the history. We will

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Speaker 1: touch back on some of the things that happened along

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Speaker 1: the way that we talked about in that but it's

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Speaker 1: from definitely a different point of view. So this isn't

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Speaker 1: gonna be a rerun material. It is all new and exciting,

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Speaker 1: so let's hop rate it. So I am. I feel

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Speaker 1: insanely lucky today because I have Jason Surrell with me

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Speaker 1: to chat about, among other things, his new edition of

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Speaker 1: his book about the Haunted Mansion called The Haunted Mansion

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Speaker 1: Imagineering a Disney Classic. But first we're gonna talk a

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Speaker 1: little bit about have your time at Disney. So you

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Speaker 1: worked with Disney for a long time, though not in

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Speaker 1: a continuous stretch, because, if I am not mistaken, you

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Speaker 1: first worked as a Jungle cruise skipper in the college

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Speaker 1: program in the eighties. Am I right? Yes? And thank

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Speaker 1: you for using the word eighties that days of both

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Speaker 1: video now. Yeah, actually, I was on college program in

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Speaker 1: the summer of nineteen nine. Let's just get it out there, Uh,

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Speaker 1: the first Bush administration. Um, yeah, that's when I started.

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Speaker 1: And you know, to this day, it's it's something I'm

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Speaker 1: incredibly proud of because, as you might imagine, being a

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Speaker 1: Jungle cruise skipper is one of not only one of

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Speaker 1: the great Disney theme park jobs, but if you wind

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Speaker 1: up spending any time there as a career, it's a

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Speaker 1: great first job. You know, it was John Lasker's first job.

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Speaker 1: You know, there's this kind of lineage and it just

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Speaker 1: that it makes you feel good to be part of

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Speaker 1: that that history. I was going to mention that that

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Speaker 1: is apparently like the magical stepping stone, since Leicester also

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Speaker 1: did it. I have a friend that did it in

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Speaker 1: the college program recently. He is the son of one

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Speaker 1: of my friends. And I'm waiting for the great things

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Speaker 1: to happen next. Uh. Yeah, it's no, it's it's it's unbelievable,

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Speaker 1: and you know, it's still as a as a nineteen

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Speaker 1: year old kid. I think back on it, and well,

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Speaker 1: not a nineteen year old kids now, obviously, but when

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Speaker 1: I think back on you being nineteen years old spending

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Speaker 1: your summer in Walt Disney World. Uh, and then that

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Speaker 1: was the summer that Pleasure Island, Disney MGM Studios, and

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Speaker 1: Typhoon Lagoon all opened. It was just an amazing time

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Speaker 1: to be on the property and to have that job,

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Speaker 1: you know, to boot was just unbelievable, you know, because

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Speaker 1: I had we'd all, in addition to growing up with

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Speaker 1: the attraction, we'd all seen that iconic imagery from the

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Speaker 1: Sunday Night Show, and all of a sudden, I was like, there,

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Speaker 1: I was nineteen years old, you know, pulling out the

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Speaker 1: gun to fire at the hippo and still pull out

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Speaker 1: the fire at the hippo. Uh, and just all of

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Speaker 1: those iconic images, you know, pulling out of the temple

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Speaker 1: into the sacred bathing pool of the idea. It was

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Speaker 1: just a dream come true. I love that ride. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And later on you ended up working in imagineering, which

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Speaker 1: to most people sounds like an amazing dream situation as

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Speaker 1: both a senior show writer and a show director. So

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Speaker 1: can you talk about kind of how you ended up

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Speaker 1: there and what sorts of things you did. Yeah. Absolutely.

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Speaker 1: I actually began my career in live entertainment writing and directing,

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Speaker 1: which is the natural stepping stone in to creative direction

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Speaker 1: and a lot of the other things that I wound

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Speaker 1: up doing. I also found that it was a great

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Speaker 1: transition into imagineering, specifically because growing up like a lot

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Speaker 1: of Disney fans, that was always my dream job. But

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Speaker 1: for the For the longest time, I never thought I

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Speaker 1: could do it because I wasn't an artist and architect

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Speaker 1: or an engineer. And as I started doing creative work

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Speaker 1: on the entertainment side of the house, writing and directing,

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Speaker 1: I found that those skills were every bit as transferable

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Speaker 1: and every bit as ballad as being an artist an

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Speaker 1: architect for an engineer. So uh, that was pretty much

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Speaker 1: what allowed me to to break in. So I broke

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Speaker 1: in as a as a writer, and uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: I spent fifteen years there writing, producing, creative directing. Uh,

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Speaker 1: and it was an absolute dream come true the entire

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Speaker 1: time I was there. Now, when it comes to something

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Speaker 1: like the Haunted Mansion book, did you get tapped to

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Speaker 1: write that or was that something you had to pitch? Now,

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Speaker 1: that's kind of an interesting story. You know. It was

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Speaker 1: the summer of two thousand two. We knew that Pirates

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Speaker 1: of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion films were coming

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Speaker 1: in the following year, and it was really one of

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Speaker 1: those classic situations. You know. I grew up, like a

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Speaker 1: lot of us, just craving the next Disney book, you know,

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Speaker 1: whether it was the Bob Thomas autobiography or the Art

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Speaker 1: of Walt Disney by Christopher Finch, you know, but there

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Speaker 1: weren't as many titles as certainly as there are now.

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Speaker 1: So I stopped. I was literally walking down the hall

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Speaker 1: and I poked my head into our vice president's office

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Speaker 1: and I just said, how would we go about pitching

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Speaker 1: a book? And he just kind of shrugged. He's like,

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Speaker 1: I don't know, asked Marty. Marty of course being Marty

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Speaker 1: splar So, uh. I emailed Marty slar Um, you know

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Speaker 1: who obviously, being a former writer himself, was kind of

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Speaker 1: a mentor to a lot of us anyway, you know,

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Speaker 1: so I had a relationship and I just emailed Marty

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Speaker 1: and said, um, I would really love to write a

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Speaker 1: book about the Haunted Mansion, primarily because I'd really love

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Speaker 1: to read a book about the Haunted Mansion. So it

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Speaker 1: was a classic situation of writing it because you wanted

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Speaker 1: to have it, you wanted it on your shelf, and

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Speaker 1: no one else was doing it. So Marty wrote back

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Speaker 1: immediately and said, write up a book proposal. This is

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Speaker 1: a great idea, and I said, great, how do I

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Speaker 1: do that. I've never written a book proposal before, so

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Speaker 1: essentially approached it like a treatment that we would create

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Speaker 1: for an attraction, you know, just taking the the audience

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Speaker 1: through its step by step. I broke it up into chapters.

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Speaker 1: And the other thing I should point out about the

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Speaker 1: movie being on the horizon was in my mind that

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Speaker 1: was the hook that would allow it to happen, because

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Speaker 1: at the time I wasn't sure if the company would

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Speaker 1: go for a book about the making of an attraction alone.

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Speaker 1: But obviously we know how popular movies hie in merchandise.

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Speaker 1: This so I purposely piggybacked on the upcoming film. So

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Speaker 1: half or three quarters of the book would be about

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Speaker 1: the making of the attraction in all of its incarnations

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Speaker 1: around the world, and then the remaining half or quarter

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Speaker 1: would be about the making of the film, and then

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Speaker 1: you could bring it out with the film. Uh So, anyway,

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Speaker 1: I wound up writing up a full proposal that went

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Speaker 1: into the entire history of the attraction all over the world.

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Speaker 1: And then I always wanted that middle section, the scene

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Speaker 1: by scene, where I through really get into the nitty

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Speaker 1: gritty of each scene, you know, describing narratively what happens,

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Speaker 1: and then going into the making of material. And then

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Speaker 1: the last section, of course, would be about the making

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Speaker 1: of the film. So I sent that off to Marty.

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Speaker 1: He wrote back. Had a couple of weeks, I made

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Speaker 1: some revisions, and then finally I get an email saying,

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Speaker 1: this is great. I love it. Now write a letter,

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Speaker 1: a proposal letter to our publishing folks in New York.

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Speaker 1: So again I'm like, great, how do I do that.

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Speaker 1: I've never done that either. So just like I treated

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Speaker 1: the proposal like uh treatment or something we do for

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Speaker 1: an attraction, I treated the proposal letter like a pitch.

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Speaker 1: So instead of the verbal, in person pitch that I

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Speaker 1: would do for an attraction or a show, I put

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Speaker 1: that all into a letter to Wendy left On at

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Speaker 1: Disney Editions, and I got a response almost immediately. They said,

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Speaker 1: this is a great idea. We love it. We're going

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Speaker 1: to take it to our sales and acquisitions meeting on

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Speaker 1: Wednesday and we'll let you know. So I'm like, oh

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Speaker 1: my gosh, you know, because this was such a whirlwind thing.

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Speaker 1: So then by the end of the day Wednesday, I

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Speaker 1: get a call from Jody Rebinson, who would become my

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Speaker 1: editor on the book, and said, I have good news

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Speaker 1: and bad news, And you know that's always that always

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Speaker 1: sends up red flags, and she's like, the good news is,

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Speaker 1: we love this idea and we're going to do the book.

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Speaker 1: The bad news is, in order to bring it out

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Speaker 1: with the film, we need the manuscript by January. And

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Speaker 1: this was October exactly. Um what the good news is Now,

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Speaker 1: I know how else spend my Christmas vacation. Um, So

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Speaker 1: it was it was great news, but it was a whirlwind.

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Speaker 1: And then, as you can imagine, I dove into the

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Speaker 1: intense research and interviews immediately, and then January turned out

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Speaker 1: to be a little bit of a misnomer because January

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Speaker 1: was actually when the film was going into principal photography.

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Speaker 1: So I did wind up with a little extra time

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Speaker 1: because I got to fly out to California, spend a

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Speaker 1: lot of time on the set, you know, do all

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Speaker 1: my interviews with cast and crew and all that sort

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Speaker 1: of thing. And then we did wind up, you know,

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Speaker 1: putting the attraction portion in the film portion together and

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Speaker 1: then revising, rewriting and editing, and then I think by

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Speaker 1: early spring we had locked the manuscript and then you know,

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Speaker 1: we uh got to go through the process of selecting

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Speaker 1: all the wonderful artwork and photography, which for any Disney

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Speaker 1: fan inside or outside the company was a dream come true,

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Speaker 1: you know, having free reign in the Walt Walt Disney

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Speaker 1: Imagineering Art Library. And that's pretty much how the book

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Speaker 1: came together. That's so fabulous. And I know at that point,

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Speaker 1: of course, you're already very steeped in disney culture and

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Speaker 1: you had a lot of knowledge and clearly had a

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Speaker 1: love for it. Uh. But where's and you mentioned doing interviews,

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Speaker 1: But where did your research on the history of it

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Speaker 1: really start? Like how much did you already just have

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Speaker 1: in your head versus how much did you have to

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Speaker 1: go through the archives and look up. Well, I had

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Speaker 1: a good deal of history already in my head. And then,

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Speaker 1: to be honest with you, I think one of the

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Speaker 1: uh previously written books, which is a wonderful book if

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Speaker 1: you can get your hands on it, is Disneyland the

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Speaker 1: Nickel Tour by UH Bruce Gordon and David Mumford. Absolute

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Speaker 1: UH to me, it's one of the bibles on Disneyland.

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Speaker 1: It's not only filled with amazing art and photography and postcards,

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Speaker 1: but they really have one of the definitive histories of Disneyland.

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Speaker 1: And as I started reading through their Haunted Mansion section,

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Speaker 1: that was when I started to realize, oh, there's a

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Speaker 1: lot more to this story than I'm aware of, and

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Speaker 1: I thought I knew a decent amount about it. So

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Speaker 1: in addition to the interviews, I went into the Walt

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Speaker 1: Disney archives at the studios and go through all sorts

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Speaker 1: of folders, unearthing memos, you know, from from Dick Irvine

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Speaker 1: and Ken Anderson, memos from Walt Disney to members of

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Speaker 1: his staff. Uh. And that was when the real in

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Speaker 1: depth story started to emerge, and I I became aware

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Speaker 1: of the fact that the Haunted Mansion as a concept

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Speaker 1: actually predates the founding of Walt Disney imagineering. You know.

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Speaker 1: It's there's that old dark house on the hill, the

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Speaker 1: kind of Adam's family mansion in one of Harpard Gooff's

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Speaker 1: first pencil sketches for the earliest earliest concepts of Disneyland.

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Speaker 1: So it's a very old concept. And that really turned

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Speaker 1: me onto all of the things that I felt that

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Speaker 1: I needed to investigate. And I was actually a pretty

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Speaker 1: good word because it started to feel a little bit

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Speaker 1: like investigative reporting. You're reading these memos, you're reading I

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Speaker 1: read all of Ken Anderson's early treatments from the late

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Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, and then you would do your in it.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes the interview subjects would contradict each other, and you

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Speaker 1: had to try to you know, because decades have passed

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Speaker 1: and everyone has their own recollection of events, you know,

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Speaker 1: so I would have to compare the memories against one

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Speaker 1: of one another and then try to figure out what

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Speaker 1: the actual story was. And that was really one of

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Speaker 1: the most fun parts about it. He seeing together, you know,

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Speaker 1: the story like there's and they're like Angela Landsberger or something.

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Speaker 1: One of the things why I went with Angela lands Right,

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Speaker 1: I could have chosen a mail detective, but that's fine.

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Speaker 1: You know, the heart wants what it wants and nobody's

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Speaker 1: going to judge exact I'm living my one of the

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Speaker 1: things the first time I read the first edition of

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Speaker 1: the book, which um uh is kind of hilarious, and

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Speaker 1: that my husband bought it for me while we were

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Speaker 1: on vacation in Disney World, and I sat down on

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Speaker 1: the bed and just was kind of gone for hours,

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Speaker 1: where He's like, we have to get up and do

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Speaker 1: a race in the morning. You have to go to sleep,

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Speaker 1: I mean, but I was so uh taken by the

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Speaker 1: story of the creative differences that really emerged after Walt

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Speaker 1: passed away. It just surprised me because I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: as a consumer of Disney things, in a Disney fan,

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Speaker 1: even when you know a lot, you kind of imagine

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Speaker 1: it as this magical wonderland where everybody gets along and

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Speaker 1: creativity just flows and it's all good. But in fact, no, Um,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I'm a creative person. My husband is created.

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Speaker 1: We certain bicker over projects we do together. So I

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Speaker 1: don't know why I would think that magically other people

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Speaker 1: would not. Uh did that surprise you? Or were there

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Speaker 1: any other elements of the research that popped out the

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Speaker 1: way you went? WHOA? I did not know that happened.

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Speaker 1: The debate didn't surprise me because there was an episode

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Speaker 1: of Disney Family Album, an old Disney Channel TV series

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Speaker 1: which was wonderful that uh I grew up with U,

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Speaker 1: and one of the episodes that focused there were two episodes,

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Speaker 1: one focused on the imagineers, one focused on what they

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Speaker 1: called the Disneyland designers. And between those two episodes, I

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Speaker 1: can't remember, but uh, they told the story about the

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Speaker 1: great funny versus scary debate. You know, Mark Davis led

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Speaker 1: the camp that felt the attraction should be funnier because

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Speaker 1: he thought, well, it's the Haunted Mansion. You know, kids

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Speaker 1: in particular are already going to have a little trepidation

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Speaker 1: going in, so we don't want to tip the scales

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Speaker 1: and horrify them. And then on the other side you

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Speaker 1: had plot Coats saying same thing, Well, it's called the

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Speaker 1: Haunted Mansion. That brings with it a certain expectation, so

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Speaker 1: we have to pay off on the scary part of it.

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Speaker 1: And when Walt was alive, he was there to govern and,

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Speaker 1: as we all can imagine, quickly settle those debates. UM.

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Speaker 1: But I also think that that Walt, to some extent

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Speaker 1: would use that tension to try to arrive at the

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Speaker 1: best idea. And I think that is something that happened

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Speaker 1: even though he passed away in the middle of development

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Speaker 1: of the Haunted Mansion. UM. And then you asked about

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Speaker 1: other revelations. I think the single biggest revelation for me

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Speaker 1: was that Walt Disney was a lot more aware of

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Speaker 1: the Haunted Mansion in individual scenes, individual gags than we

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Speaker 1: ever thought before. And I think that's because Pirates of

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Speaker 1: the Caribbean has for so long been billed as a

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Speaker 1: quote last Attraction personally supervised by Walt Disney, and I

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Speaker 1: actually think that's a little bit of a misnomer because

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Speaker 1: there is a lot of Walt Disney in the Haunted Mansion,

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Speaker 1: which came along two years after Pirates, So that actually

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Speaker 1: made me feel a lot closer to the action knowing

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Speaker 1: how much of Walt was it. It just made something

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Speaker 1: that I already loved even more the loves And then

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Speaker 1: the other surprise would would be that Ken Anderson for me,

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Speaker 1: turned out to be the unsung hero of the Haunted Mansion,

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Speaker 1: because we all for years have heard about Mark Davis,

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Speaker 1: Claude Coats, ex Detensio, Blaine Gibson, but Ken Anderson did

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Speaker 1: so much too determine the outcome of the Final Attraction

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Speaker 1: would be with some of his treatments and sketches and

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Speaker 1: concepts that you know, date back to seven or so.

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Speaker 1: So those were the two biggest things, the fact that

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of Walt Disney and the Haunted Mansion,

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Speaker 1: and that we owe a lot of what we love

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Speaker 1: about the Haunted Mansion to Ken Anderson. Don't you wish

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Speaker 1: sometimes that you could see some of those alternate treatments

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Speaker 1: like as a fully realized ride. Yeah, absolutely, specifically, you

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Speaker 1: know the one version that famously had the headless horseman

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Speaker 1: galloping through a graveyard through the wind, you know, up

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Speaker 1: towards the house. The legend of Sleepy Hollow from these

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Speaker 1: centers of pick About Mr. Toad is one of my

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Speaker 1: all time favorite Disney things in any medium. So to

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Speaker 1: see even a sliver of that realized in a park

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Speaker 1: absolutely within a dream come true. And they're all sorts

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Speaker 1: of other things, even some of the spookier stuff, like,

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Speaker 1: you know, because I'm a Halloween guy, horror film guy,

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Speaker 1: you know, worked on Halloween horror nights for five years,

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Speaker 1: so that's definitely my world. So I would I would

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Speaker 1: actually say, love to see a theme park attraction, regardless

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Speaker 1: of the company that does it, truly set their sights

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Speaker 1: on horrifying people. Yeah, that's kind of my dream one day.

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Speaker 1: I don't know where I would do it or what

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Speaker 1: the circumstances would be, but to create an old dark

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Speaker 1: house on a hill that is truly terrifying, I love it.

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Speaker 1: One day we will go to the Jason Sorrel Park

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Speaker 1: and we will all have our pants scared off just

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Speaker 1: in case you did not know his reference to shooting

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Speaker 1: the hippo on the Juggle Cruise. Uh. The skippers on

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Speaker 1: the boats that take the guests through the Jungle Cruise

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Speaker 1: attraction used to shoot at this animatronic hippo that emerges

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Speaker 1: from the water as part of the the storyline of

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Speaker 1: the the attraction with this prop gun. But there was

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Speaker 1: a decision made at one point that the cast members

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Speaker 1: would no longer carry those props. Uh. And allegedly I

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Speaker 1: have read online that those prop guns have returned, but

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Speaker 1: the hippo shooting still does not take place, So I

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Speaker 1: haven't written that one recently to verify, but next time

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Speaker 1: I'm there, which will be next month, I will check.

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Speaker 1: There are also some great insights there about the process

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Speaker 1: of getting a book off the ground. Um, even if

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Speaker 1: you're working from within a company like Disney, there's still

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Speaker 1: so many hoops to jump through and so many steps

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Speaker 1: which the answer the question why are you and I

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Speaker 1: just don't spontaneously write a book about our show. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And I'm also really glad that Jason brought up just

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Speaker 1: how much Walt really was involved in the mansion, since

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Speaker 1: it does sometimes get framed as though he really didn't

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Speaker 1: get very far on that project, but he really was very,

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Speaker 1: very involved. So if you want to take a second

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Speaker 1: to pause for a word from one of our sponsors

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Speaker 1: before we go on, I would love to. Next up,

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Speaker 1: we are going to talk about why this book has

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Speaker 1: needed two different updates and pretty rapid succession. And one

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Speaker 1: of the great things that comes up right away in

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Speaker 1: this segment is the source for the inspiration of the

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Speaker 1: exterior of the mansion. And if you recall from listening

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Speaker 1: to our two part around the Haunted Mansion a couple

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Speaker 1: of years ago, I got a detail wrong in our

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Speaker 1: original podcast about what that inspiration was because I was

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Speaker 1: using the first edition, And now you are going to

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Speaker 1: know why that was wrong and needed an update. So

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Speaker 1: let's jump right back into talking with Jason. You've just

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Speaker 1: released the third edition of this book because there have

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Speaker 1: been a lot of enhancements and developments related to the

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Speaker 1: Haunted Mansion in the recent past that in this sitated

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Speaker 1: some updates. Can you talk a little bit about the

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Speaker 1: updates that made those two subsequent editions have to happen

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Speaker 1: since the first came out. Yeah. Absolutely, And I think

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Speaker 1: you can trace it to the fact that the Disney

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Speaker 1: theme parks, as as Walts said of Disneyland, are always

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Speaker 1: in a state of becoming. You know, they're always changing,

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Speaker 1: They're always getting plused, you know, to use an imagineering term.

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Speaker 1: So almost immediately upon putting the book out, there were

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Speaker 1: things that were instantly outdated. Yeah. I think it was

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Speaker 1: literally within weeks of publication. Uh. But one of the

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Speaker 1: imagineers in the Glendale office stumbled upon this catalog, this

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Speaker 1: book of Victorian Architecture and Ornamentation, and and and in

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Speaker 1: that book, one of the imagineers found a picture of

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Speaker 1: the mansion in Baltimore that Ken Anderson used as a reference.

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Speaker 1: And it's the spitting image of the Disneyland haunt admagion.

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Speaker 1: I think it's called the shipley Lie Decker House. I

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Speaker 1: don't have it in front of me. Uh, you know,

404
00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:59,240
Speaker 1: as you get older. Um So, anyway, they tracked down

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Speaker 1: this photo. I'm like, you have got to be kidding me.

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Speaker 1: I just put out a book that talked about how

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Speaker 1: it was influenced by Evergreen House and you know, some

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Speaker 1: of these other locations. And as it turned out that

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00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,960
Speaker 1: that wasn't untrue because Ken was influenced by a lot

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Speaker 1: of the Southern plantation houses, but it was clear that

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Speaker 1: this was the house. And then I was reminded as

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Speaker 1: soon as I saw it. I mean my interview with

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Speaker 1: Marty's fla where he kind of looked at me slyly

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Speaker 1: and said, well, you know, Ken just copied that house,

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Speaker 1: and H I kind of innocently going, I've seen pictures

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Speaker 1: of Evergreen House and there there's some similarities and and

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Speaker 1: there's some similarities to other mansions I've seen that I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't say he copied it. And then when I saw

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Speaker 1: this picture of the Shipley Live Decker House and like, yeah, so, um,

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Speaker 1: you know, things like that. Uh, there were things that

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Speaker 1: that I was regrettably not able to include in the

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Speaker 1: in the first edition. And uh, I also because of

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Speaker 1: the quick turnaround time, felt like there was a period

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Speaker 1: of development in the mid sixties around the time and

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Speaker 1: immediately after the fair. Uh that that got a little

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Speaker 1: bit short trips. So in the first um enhancement or

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00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,600
Speaker 1: a updated addition in OH nine, I got to cover

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Speaker 1: the Shipley Lie Decker House. And then, uh, chronically, when

429
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,800
Speaker 1: I was looking through that same catalog of Victorian architecture,

430
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:21,199
Speaker 1: I found another illustration that was the spitting image of

431
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,800
Speaker 1: the Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion, and you know, so

432
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,639
Speaker 1: that was in the new addition because when you see that,

433
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:30,400
Speaker 1: you're like, there's no way Quod Coats wasn't influenced. Um.

434
00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:32,720
Speaker 1: And then of course we covered the big enhancements, which

435
00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:37,040
Speaker 1: of course we're floating Liota and uh, you know, the

436
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,000
Speaker 1: the Black Widow Bride in the attic. And then so

437
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:41,879
Speaker 1: that was the oh nine edition, which we build as

438
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,760
Speaker 1: the fortieth anniversary edition, and then of course in the

439
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,159
Speaker 1: subsequent years we have the hat Box post, we have

440
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,800
Speaker 1: an entirely new incarnation of the Haunted Mansion Mystic manner, uh,

441
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:55,720
Speaker 1: and then of course the Walt Disney World que enhancement

442
00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,040
Speaker 1: and the new final scene with the interactive hitch hiking.

443
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:03,359
Speaker 1: So the Haunted Mansion has gotten infusions of new blood

444
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,280
Speaker 1: no pun intended over the years, and that's been the

445
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,119
Speaker 1: motivation for these multiple editions and the fact that people

446
00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,720
Speaker 1: just loved the attraction, which has given the book lasting

447
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:14,920
Speaker 1: life beyond what what I think any of us would

448
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,600
Speaker 1: have expected. And one of the major updates that you

449
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 1: just mentioned in the book is the new section on

450
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,439
Speaker 1: Mystic manner, and this is a major departure from the

451
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,240
Speaker 1: Haunted House plotline that the Haunted Mansion embodies in other

452
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,479
Speaker 1: Magic Kingdoms. Can you talk a little bit about how

453
00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:32,280
Speaker 1: the culture geographically had to inform the change to a

454
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,200
Speaker 1: more mystic adventure theme. Yeah. Absolutely. I got a lot

455
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:40,040
Speaker 1: of wonderful insight into that from Joe Lann Cicero, who was,

456
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,800
Speaker 1: you know, the portfolio leader for the for the Asia

457
00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,959
Speaker 1: parts at the time, Hong Kong Disneyland in particular, and

458
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:50,320
Speaker 1: Robert Coltran, who's a creative director at w d I

459
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,800
Speaker 1: UH and he's one of the unsung heroes of present

460
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:57,280
Speaker 1: day w d I and I think he's our modern

461
00:23:57,359 --> 00:23:59,639
Speaker 1: day answer to Quad Coasts. I've been in meetings with

462
00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,840
Speaker 1: him where he's just a genius at layout. You know,

463
00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,560
Speaker 1: this guy can sit down and you know, take the

464
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,040
Speaker 1: ideas and story and story that you've been playing around

465
00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,800
Speaker 1: with for an attract and and sometimes it seems within

466
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,359
Speaker 1: minutes put it in a show box in a way

467
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,119
Speaker 1: that that makes perfect sense and works logistically, you know,

468
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:19,400
Speaker 1: with the footprint you have to work with. And both

469
00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,800
Speaker 1: of those guys spoke of how initially the park said, oh, well,

470
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,159
Speaker 1: you know, Hong Kong Disneyland was ready for expansion, it

471
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:30,360
Speaker 1: needed additional attractions, and one of the comments for management was, oh, well,

472
00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:32,440
Speaker 1: why don't we do the Haunted mansion. And when they

473
00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:36,119
Speaker 1: got into it, they realized that the Chinese view of

474
00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:40,360
Speaker 1: ghosts and the afterlife was very different from our Western

475
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,000
Speaker 1: views of it. And it's even very very different from

476
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,159
Speaker 1: the Japanese view of it, which uh, you know, they

477
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,680
Speaker 1: view it more in the realm of fables and fairy tales,

478
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,080
Speaker 1: which is why it's in fantasy Land in Tokyo. So

479
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,359
Speaker 1: they knew they couldn't uh. What they said was the

480
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 1: swinging Graveyard jamboree just wasn't going to fly with the

481
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 1: Chinese audience, and that's what tip them more towards towards

482
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: this idea of mystical objects that kind of bring the

483
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,040
Speaker 1: house to life around you. So it's not ghosts per se,

484
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,800
Speaker 1: it's it's other worldly forces, but it's definitely uh, something

485
00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,639
Speaker 1: that's more accessible to the Chinese audience, and that's what

486
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:21,360
Speaker 1: motivated that change. And that attraction has a really cool

487
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 1: track list system versus like the doom Buggies that those

488
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:26,439
Speaker 1: of us who grew up in the US going to

489
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,080
Speaker 1: the U s parks are used to can you talk

490
00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:31,240
Speaker 1: about that just a little bit. Yeah, absolutely that. You know,

491
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 1: the track list system is something that's kind of swept

492
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:36,399
Speaker 1: the industry a little bit because it's a it's a

493
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,240
Speaker 1: new way to tell stories, and it seemed like a

494
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,919
Speaker 1: perfect match for the Mystic Manner story with the you know,

495
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 1: the title character Mystic. You know, he came up with

496
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,760
Speaker 1: this invention, this contraction that you could tour his house

497
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,840
Speaker 1: and his collections with. And you know, the other thing

498
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,080
Speaker 1: to bear in mind, and this is something Robert and

499
00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:58,639
Speaker 1: and and company took full advantage of with the ride system,

500
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,000
Speaker 1: was you want to use it for what it's capable of,

501
00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:05,600
Speaker 1: which is you depart from the linear path of an

502
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,000
Speaker 1: omnimover and you can kind of split guests up so

503
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,000
Speaker 1: that you you could have as many, you say as

504
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,880
Speaker 1: four vehicles in one show space having a different experience,

505
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:19,359
Speaker 1: which again makes the attraction repeatable. It's a variable experience

506
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,600
Speaker 1: because you know, you never know quite sure where your

507
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,760
Speaker 1: particular vehicle is going to go. Uh, And it's perfect

508
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,160
Speaker 1: for something like the Mystic Manner storyline where things get

509
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,920
Speaker 1: out of control pretty quickly, and it just it supports

510
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 1: the story you're telling. So like anything in film, television

511
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,640
Speaker 1: and what we do in theme park design. You want

512
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,040
Speaker 1: to use the tool to tell the story and not

513
00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:43,679
Speaker 1: just use it for its own sake. And uh, I

514
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,760
Speaker 1: think they captured that perfectly with mystic manner. They used

515
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,359
Speaker 1: the track list system the way it's meant to be used.

516
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,480
Speaker 1: And another big enhancement that's happened in fairly recent years,

517
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,919
Speaker 1: which you also referenced a little bit earlier, is that

518
00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:00,440
Speaker 1: amazing interactive que at the Walt Disney World hone in Mansion,

519
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,160
Speaker 1: which has new mausoleums and there's new statutory in really

520
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:06,919
Speaker 1: fun ways for guests to engage with the haunts and

521
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 1: like the dread Family, which I never noticed until I

522
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:11,960
Speaker 1: read this new edition of your book about the murder

523
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:14,720
Speaker 1: clues that are on those But now I'm going to

524
00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:19,600
Speaker 1: have to pluck that apart. As I and you mentioned

525
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 1: in the book how delicately and carefully those kinds of

526
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,720
Speaker 1: updates have to be handled. So what is the process

527
00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,399
Speaker 1: for ensuring that those new elements are integrated in a

528
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,919
Speaker 1: way that feels natural and still on theme with the

529
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:35,399
Speaker 1: existing attraction. Well, I think that goes back to something

530
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:37,840
Speaker 1: I heard John hence Stay on one of those episodes

531
00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,440
Speaker 1: of Disney Family Album. When he was he was gesturing

532
00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:44,160
Speaker 1: to Disneyland around him and he said, whenever we introduce

533
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,280
Speaker 1: something new to this system, we have to make sure

534
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:49,480
Speaker 1: that and I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but that it

535
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 1: compliments it and adds to it and doesn't detract from it.

536
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,919
Speaker 1: And I think that holds true to a UH. And

537
00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:59,199
Speaker 1: especially when you're talking about something like one of the

538
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,880
Speaker 1: Crown jewels like Haunt ad Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean,

539
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,840
Speaker 1: you have to be really careful about how you integrate

540
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:09,359
Speaker 1: new elements. And the creative director for the new Extended Que,

541
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 1: Pete Carsilo is Uh. I think he's one of the

542
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:15,600
Speaker 1: most talented guys working in the business today. And like

543
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 1: the imagineers of old, he's a true renaissance guy. I

544
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,600
Speaker 1: mean he can sketch, he can paint, he can sculpt.

545
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,400
Speaker 1: He was at you have an apprentice to Blaine Gibson,

546
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:29,800
Speaker 1: so you have an incredible lineage here, you know, with

547
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:32,600
Speaker 1: with Pete at the helm Uh and it was um

548
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:34,200
Speaker 1: he was the one that told me something that I

549
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:38,120
Speaker 1: thought was very interesting. He said, you have to I'm paraphrasing,

550
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,760
Speaker 1: but you have respectful of the heritage obviously, but you

551
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 1: can't be slavish to it. He felt very strongly that

552
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 1: it was the obligation of today's imagineers to create new content,

553
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 1: new characters, tell news stories, illuminate additional members of that

554
00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,560
Speaker 1: uh happy Haunt family. And that's really where that came from.

555
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:05,120
Speaker 1: And the fans and and just general guests the Light

556
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 1: have really embraced that in in the in the Graveyard,

557
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,200
Speaker 1: but it really opened my eyes because it's a really

558
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 1: important point. You don't want to just recycle elements that

559
00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:20,880
Speaker 1: people already know or be so slavish to it that

560
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:24,959
Speaker 1: you're just paying homage and not paving new ground. And

561
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:27,280
Speaker 1: he felt that was really important, and he felt it

562
00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:31,080
Speaker 1: was an important press the next generation of designers that

563
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 1: comes through, You know that that they should feel emboldened

564
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:42,640
Speaker 1: or you know, obligated almost too create new characters and

565
00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,440
Speaker 1: uh and and set the tone for the next generation

566
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,959
Speaker 1: of fans that are coming through. And speaking of some

567
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:51,000
Speaker 1: of these new characters that we've met, so we have

568
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,400
Speaker 1: the dread family, which is not their official name, but

569
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,040
Speaker 1: you do call them out as that in the book.

570
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:59,160
Speaker 1: But I did not know uh that the names that

571
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 1: are associated with the Hitch hiking ghosts or not. They're like,

572
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 1: those aren't officially recognized. Yeah, it's interesting, uh, I am,

573
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,920
Speaker 1: And this is one of where the truth may actually

574
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:12,360
Speaker 1: be kind of lost to the mists of time. But

575
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:15,680
Speaker 1: when I did the research for the first book, that

576
00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:19,080
Speaker 1: was when I discovered that they have no official names

577
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 1: in the script and the steel that that x Atensio wrote. Uh.

578
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:25,560
Speaker 1: And I was always under the impression what we had

579
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 1: always heard was that Ezra, August, and Phineas were names

580
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 1: that were actually generated by cast members over the years.

581
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:36,320
Speaker 1: We're not even exactly sure when or who. And then

582
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:40,760
Speaker 1: what wound up happening was it they became uh accepted

583
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:44,240
Speaker 1: over time. The same thing with with Master Gracie. You know,

584
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,120
Speaker 1: that was just a reference to Yale Gracie that that

585
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,960
Speaker 1: x put into the family plot, you know, as you're

586
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:52,840
Speaker 1: going into the attraction, But it became such an accepted

587
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,560
Speaker 1: part of the lore that when they made the Haunted

588
00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:57,560
Speaker 1: Mansion film, they're like, all right, well, the master of

589
00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,520
Speaker 1: the house has to be named Gracie because that's what

590
00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,959
Speaker 1: people no one expect. So I think that's what happened

591
00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,360
Speaker 1: with with Ezra, Athmius and Gus and now we're to

592
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,840
Speaker 1: the point where, uh, Disney merchandise and other areas within

593
00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:12,959
Speaker 1: the company, whether they know it or not, have helped

594
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,800
Speaker 1: legitimize it by actually having those names show up on

595
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,240
Speaker 1: pieces of merchandise and other things like that. Then they're

596
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,320
Speaker 1: so beloved. I just love those guys. Oh yeah, those

597
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,320
Speaker 1: that to this day, they're my my favorite characters in

598
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,080
Speaker 1: any attraction ever. I really love the Antie leave of

599
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,160
Speaker 1: Its photo that they did with them, But I would

600
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 1: have switched the casting on Phineas and Gus, I think.

601
00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 1: But I agree, I agree, and it's like, well, you

602
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 1: have ane of them, but you just kind of switched

603
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,080
Speaker 1: a couple of them around. It seemed like a weird

604
00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:46,720
Speaker 1: I mean, it looks fantastic. It's a gorgeous picture, of course,

605
00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:48,640
Speaker 1: but I was like, I would That's not how I

606
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:53,320
Speaker 1: would have played that. But I'm not a famous, super

607
00:31:53,320 --> 00:32:01,720
Speaker 1: awarded photographer either. Oh, Tracy, can I tell you I

608
00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:03,880
Speaker 1: feel so vindicated that he agrees with me on the

609
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:06,800
Speaker 1: any leave of a portrait of the Hitchhiking Ghost. Sure,

610
00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 1: I really like the insights he scared about how they

611
00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,080
Speaker 1: couldn't just drop the haunted mansion and the Hong Kong

612
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,200
Speaker 1: Disneyland and how the local culture really wound up shaping

613
00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,280
Speaker 1: the new version of the attraction. And it's not really surprising,

614
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:22,560
Speaker 1: I don't think to anybody that knows much about Disney

615
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:25,640
Speaker 1: and how they operate, but it is really fascinating to

616
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,880
Speaker 1: hear about the extreme care that Imagineering takes when they're

617
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:32,719
Speaker 1: integrating new elements into beloved attractions. That's got to be

618
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:34,920
Speaker 1: such a fine line to walk, because I know like

619
00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,280
Speaker 1: the community gets very very twitchy, the Disney community about

620
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:42,640
Speaker 1: when their favorite things change. So before we get to

621
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,960
Speaker 1: the conclusion of this episode, let's take another moment for

622
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:50,240
Speaker 1: a word from a sponsor. Alrighty, Next up, we're gonna

623
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:52,959
Speaker 1: get to the last segment of our interview with Jason Serell,

624
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,160
Speaker 1: and talk is going to turn to a subject that

625
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:58,120
Speaker 1: comes up a lot in our correspondence with fans, particularly

626
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:00,400
Speaker 1: this year, and that is the return of the hat

627
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,400
Speaker 1: Box Ghost. And you're also going to hear what Jason's

628
00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:11,440
Speaker 1: favorite part of the mansion is. Now that we're into

629
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:13,160
Speaker 1: some of the newer steps, what are your thoughts on

630
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:18,040
Speaker 1: the return of hat Box. Oh. I think that's absolutely fantastic.

631
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 1: I actually got to experience it on a business trip

632
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:24,840
Speaker 1: a couple of months ago. And uh, I mean, especially

633
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:27,120
Speaker 1: when you consider the lore of the hat Box Ghost

634
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,160
Speaker 1: over the years, to finally see him, you know, take

635
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:33,280
Speaker 1: his rightful place in the attraction was just uh, it

636
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:36,280
Speaker 1: was just a treat. And uh. I hope that spreads.

637
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:39,120
Speaker 1: I hope we see him elsewhere. But for now, at least,

638
00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:41,400
Speaker 1: it's it's great to see that the hat Box Ghost

639
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,480
Speaker 1: has finally come home. I think it's so gorgeously executed.

640
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:48,360
Speaker 1: It looks amazing. Yeah, absolutely, And I think that's a

641
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:52,320
Speaker 1: testament to you know, these later generations of imagineers having

642
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,560
Speaker 1: such a reverence for the design work of of Mark Davis,

643
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,120
Speaker 1: blot Coats, EXPTENSI, oh, Yelle, Gracie really Crump, Harriet Burns,

644
00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:02,480
Speaker 1: you know, the list goes on. Uh, and especially considering

645
00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 1: that that is an element that was generated by the

646
00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:08,960
Speaker 1: first generation of imagineers. You you can definitely see the

647
00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:13,640
Speaker 1: absolute to get it right well, And listeners to our

648
00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,680
Speaker 1: show know that I really love the Haunted Mansion and

649
00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:19,440
Speaker 1: and really love hat Box. So I probably get a

650
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,479
Speaker 1: photo that someone took on their vacation at least every

651
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:25,280
Speaker 1: other day where they're like, look I saw which I love.

652
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,399
Speaker 1: It delights me to no end and saw them get

653
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,640
Speaker 1: really amazing pictures because I've never pulled it off. I

654
00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,279
Speaker 1: mean I got the ride stopped right in front of

655
00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:34,880
Speaker 1: him at one point, and I still couldn't get a

656
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:39,080
Speaker 1: good shot. But again I'm no any leave of its. Well,

657
00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,960
Speaker 1: and in cameras there are so much more sophisticated today.

658
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,320
Speaker 1: Not you know again not just sound old, but growing

659
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:46,600
Speaker 1: up going to Walt Disney World in the seventies, you

660
00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:49,560
Speaker 1: still almost have that inclination you're not supposed to be

661
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,480
Speaker 1: doing that with the camera away. Yeah, we won't get

662
00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:54,759
Speaker 1: into the person I almost yelled at for sitting there

663
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,359
Speaker 1: with their smartphone illuminated through the Haunted Mansion. Last time

664
00:34:57,400 --> 00:34:59,839
Speaker 1: I was there, I was like, are you you're here?

665
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,640
Speaker 1: You're not even looking up? What are you doing? Angry

666
00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:06,640
Speaker 1: birds couldn't wait for seven minutes? Um, what are your

667
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:10,640
Speaker 1: thoughts on the Honey Mansion holiday overlay? Because some people

668
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:14,480
Speaker 1: love it and some people do not. Well, it's interesting

669
00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:18,400
Speaker 1: because I remember seeing it the first year. Uh it

670
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:20,600
Speaker 1: was in the show, which I believe was two thousand one,

671
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:23,600
Speaker 1: and uh I was out there again on a business

672
00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:26,799
Speaker 1: trip and and and made the trek down to Disneyland,

673
00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,040
Speaker 1: braving the five at rush hour, but it was a

674
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:31,239
Speaker 1: short trip and I had to see it, and I

675
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 1: remember being incredibly pleasantly surprised that that the overlay was

676
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:38,680
Speaker 1: as extensive as it was. I thought, all right, there's

677
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:41,080
Speaker 1: probably gonna be a couple of flats somewhere and the

678
00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:44,160
Speaker 1: picture of Jack Skellington and there you go. But I

679
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:48,000
Speaker 1: was blown away by the by how immersive and an

680
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,319
Speaker 1: extense of a transformation it was. And then I think

681
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:53,960
Speaker 1: when they saw what they had, uh, you know, they

682
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:57,040
Speaker 1: just let loose and kept adding elements over the years,

683
00:35:57,040 --> 00:35:59,960
Speaker 1: like Boogie Boogie and some of the other um element

684
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:04,719
Speaker 1: that they added in subsequent years. And uh, I think,

685
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:07,439
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes I worried that if if you're only

686
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:10,960
Speaker 1: going to get one trip to Disneyland, uh and and

687
00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:13,200
Speaker 1: that's your one shot at seeing the haunted mansion, it's

688
00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:14,880
Speaker 1: come during that time of year, you're not going to

689
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:19,400
Speaker 1: get the traditional experience. But knowing how that local market

690
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:22,840
Speaker 1: operates and and how Disneyland has to constantly keep things

691
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:25,880
Speaker 1: fresh for the for the locals, um, you know, it

692
00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:29,280
Speaker 1: makes perfect sense. But I think that my personal opinion

693
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:32,360
Speaker 1: on it is that the traditional version and Haunted Mansion Holiday,

694
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:36,319
Speaker 1: you know, comfortably coexists. Yeah, for the year. Yeah, I

695
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:38,160
Speaker 1: love the first time I saw it. I don't remember

696
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,879
Speaker 1: what year it was. It's probably been nine or ten

697
00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:42,680
Speaker 1: years ago, so it hadn't been going on for too

698
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:46,120
Speaker 1: many years. But when the doom Buggy makes that comes

699
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:47,840
Speaker 1: out of the attic window and makes that turn and

700
00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:51,239
Speaker 1: you see those beautiful giant snow angels with the pumpkinheads,

701
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:53,840
Speaker 1: I was like moved to tears by that it was

702
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:57,359
Speaker 1: so gorgeous. Well, it is magical, and when you think

703
00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,440
Speaker 1: about it, unless there's something out there that I'm not

704
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,920
Speaker 1: aware of, it's really your only chance to feel like

705
00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:07,839
Speaker 1: you're immersed in the world of Tim Burton. And that's

706
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:10,319
Speaker 1: really the magic of the graveyard scene. I had a

707
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:12,640
Speaker 1: I had not only the reaction you describe that when

708
00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:14,719
Speaker 1: you get down to the bottom and you see a

709
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:19,399
Speaker 1: full size animated Jack Skellington there with zero I mean

710
00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:24,120
Speaker 1: that took my breath away because you're like iconic character

711
00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:27,440
Speaker 1: that I loved since now he's alive so to speak.

712
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:30,200
Speaker 1: Not really, and I will say this is such a

713
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,480
Speaker 1: like nerdy thing, but that's the one part of it

714
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,240
Speaker 1: that I probably prefer to the standard because that skinny

715
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:42,000
Speaker 1: dog makes me so sad every time. Every time, Like literally,

716
00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:44,560
Speaker 1: my husband knows to like shield me if I've forgotten

717
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:45,920
Speaker 1: to turn my head. He said, don't look at the

718
00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:49,040
Speaker 1: starving dog. Don't look at the starving dog. It's like,

719
00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:52,359
Speaker 1: I know you're afraid, but give your friends from ground round. Right.

720
00:37:53,719 --> 00:37:56,080
Speaker 1: So I was glad when they do the parade, when

721
00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:58,719
Speaker 1: they do the Halloween parades, they actually have a beautiful,

722
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:04,520
Speaker 1: very well fed bloodhound in that roleous. He's fine, he's

723
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:08,160
Speaker 1: not Malnuri. Right. Um, gonna we're gonna get the A

724
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:12,520
Speaker 1: s p A in your What is your favorite part

725
00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:17,120
Speaker 1: of the Haunted Mansion? You know that is such a

726
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:21,359
Speaker 1: difficult question to answer, and yet it's also even as

727
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:24,160
Speaker 1: I said that, an answer came to mind. It's it's

728
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:26,960
Speaker 1: two things. Really. If I had to pick one, it

729
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:30,800
Speaker 1: would have to be the ballroom scene, because to this day,

730
00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,520
Speaker 1: after you know, pretty five plus years, uh, it is

731
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:39,279
Speaker 1: unmatched in terms of that spectacle. When you glide out

732
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:43,200
Speaker 1: onto that balcony and just take in that entire scene,

733
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,200
Speaker 1: it's almost overwhelming. And the fact that you know, turn

734
00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:50,279
Speaker 1: of the twentieth century stage magic is responsible for it

735
00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:53,200
Speaker 1: still blows my mind. But the combination of that, this

736
00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:56,600
Speaker 1: those moving figures, you know, the kinetics of the scene,

737
00:38:57,040 --> 00:39:01,320
Speaker 1: and the haunting arrangement of grim Any Ghost with the organists.

738
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:03,960
Speaker 1: It's to this day, I never you know, and this

739
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:07,719
Speaker 1: is after decades and decades, never get tired of that

740
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:09,759
Speaker 1: moment when you come out of say once circle and

741
00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:13,080
Speaker 1: in the ballroom seemed just kind of unfolds before you.

742
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:16,120
Speaker 1: It takes your breath away, really, And then a close

743
00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:20,240
Speaker 1: second is passing into that exit crip and seeing those

744
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:25,600
Speaker 1: amazing three hitchhikers just sitting there subtly, you know, waving

745
00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,080
Speaker 1: their thumbs in the air, you know. And it's again

746
00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:31,440
Speaker 1: it's because of the design of those of the characters,

747
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:33,759
Speaker 1: you know, the characters that that Mark Daviss sketch, the

748
00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:37,640
Speaker 1: characters that Blaine Gibson sculpted. I never get tired of

749
00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:42,000
Speaker 1: that in it's either it's so beautiful. I I'm with

750
00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:44,120
Speaker 1: you on the ballroom scene. I never feel like I

751
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,000
Speaker 1: get to look at everything like I feel like I'm

752
00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:47,960
Speaker 1: a little bit manic trying to glance around and see

753
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,040
Speaker 1: all my favorites, and and I was like, yeah, I

754
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:52,799
Speaker 1: just have to get on again. That's fine. Well, that's

755
00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,719
Speaker 1: the magic of that attraction, and that's that's actually the

756
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:59,439
Speaker 1: secret of any great theme park design is that there's

757
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:03,879
Speaker 1: just an abundance of details that make any great theme

758
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,080
Speaker 1: park experience repeatable. You want to come back because you

759
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:09,440
Speaker 1: know there are things, you know of, hundreds of things

760
00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:12,799
Speaker 1: that you couldn't possibly have kept have caught on on

761
00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:14,799
Speaker 1: one visit or two visits or three visits. You know.

762
00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:17,839
Speaker 1: Pirates of the Caribbean is the same way. A lot

763
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:20,160
Speaker 1: of the Disney classics are that way. You know, you

764
00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:23,360
Speaker 1: you want to go back because the imagineers have have

765
00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:26,760
Speaker 1: taken such great care in telling that story and crafting

766
00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:30,200
Speaker 1: that experience. Um and as I'm sure you know, there

767
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:35,040
Speaker 1: are people in the world that are hardcore, honed mansion fans,

768
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:37,800
Speaker 1: like they live for the mansion. I'm I would categorize

769
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:40,439
Speaker 1: myself as borderline in that arena. But I wonder if

770
00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:44,319
Speaker 1: there's like a piece of trivia or knowledge that you

771
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:47,080
Speaker 1: like to just pull out and wow even hardcore fans

772
00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:50,640
Speaker 1: with you know what, I'm gonna be a hundred percent

773
00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:54,600
Speaker 1: honest with you, that is hard, if not impossible, especially

774
00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:57,000
Speaker 1: in the age of the Internet. I mean you know,

775
00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:02,120
Speaker 1: there's such wonderful fan websites dedicated to the mansion. Uh.

776
00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:04,960
Speaker 1: And if I'm being honest, you know, any time I

777
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:08,000
Speaker 1: go to those websites, I learned something new. And you know,

778
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:11,040
Speaker 1: I've had conversations with fans over the years, and uh,

779
00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:14,000
Speaker 1: I've given presentations, talks, you know, all sorts of things,

780
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:16,720
Speaker 1: and most of them I have to open by saying,

781
00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:19,239
Speaker 1: I'm glad you came, guys, but I'm probably not going

782
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:21,799
Speaker 1: to tell you anything you don't already know, because that's

783
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:23,879
Speaker 1: simply the age that we live in. And I think

784
00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:26,800
Speaker 1: that's a wonderful thing you've got. Um, Because I mentioned

785
00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:29,840
Speaker 1: the tight deadline that I had for the book, and

786
00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,279
Speaker 1: I knew when that first edition was published, as I

787
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:34,960
Speaker 1: alluded to that I didn't tell the whole story. And

788
00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:37,719
Speaker 1: I would still be hard pressed to say that my

789
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:40,920
Speaker 1: book is the definitive story because it's not. Um. I

790
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:43,640
Speaker 1: don't know that you could tell it unless the Haunted Mansion,

791
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:46,040
Speaker 1: and and God bless the person that does it, but

792
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:48,839
Speaker 1: unless the Hot Mansion gets a seven hundred page Neil

793
00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:52,480
Speaker 1: Gabler treatment, you're never going to have the definitive story.

794
00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:55,080
Speaker 1: But UM, part of me loves that. I love the

795
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:58,120
Speaker 1: fact that the fans, we all get to be continually

796
00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:01,480
Speaker 1: surprised over the years with new nuggets that come up,

797
00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:04,720
Speaker 1: or um, you know something that Roley Crump suddenly remembered

798
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:07,799
Speaker 1: and tells a story that he didn't tell before. Um,

799
00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:10,680
Speaker 1: So I I really there is no answer to that question,

800
00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:13,000
Speaker 1: I because I don't think I can stump people. It

801
00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:15,680
Speaker 1: might have been easier in the earlier days, but definitely

802
00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:18,600
Speaker 1: not now. Uh, this is a weird question and you

803
00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:21,160
Speaker 1: may just go nope, Uh, did you ever get to

804
00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:23,400
Speaker 1: see Phantom Manner, which is the one that's installed in

805
00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:26,680
Speaker 1: France and case any listeners didn't know with the Vincent

806
00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:30,360
Speaker 1: Price narration, No, And that's that is one of the

807
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:34,359
Speaker 1: heartbreaking things, especially you know, growing up as I did

808
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,479
Speaker 1: with Vincent Price films, uh, you know, and and being

809
00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:40,279
Speaker 1: in my late teens or early twenties when the park

810
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:43,200
Speaker 1: was in development and then under construction and then opened.

811
00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:47,680
Speaker 1: The notion that we actually they actually got Vincent Price

812
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:50,719
Speaker 1: to be the ghost host was mind blowing. Um. But

813
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:52,759
Speaker 1: I understand why they had to swap it out. But

814
00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:56,399
Speaker 1: that's one of those things where you know, there's there's

815
00:42:56,440 --> 00:43:00,160
Speaker 1: a lucky segment of the audience of the fandom that

816
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:03,399
Speaker 1: got to experience that, similar to the people that got

817
00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:06,200
Speaker 1: to grow up with the Disneyland at the fifties and sixties,

818
00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:08,880
Speaker 1: or people like us who got to grow up with

819
00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:12,240
Speaker 1: Walt Disney World in the seventies and early eighties with Apcot,

820
00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:16,399
Speaker 1: They're they're just certain kind of golden age periods. And

821
00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:19,160
Speaker 1: you know, I think you asking that question made me

822
00:43:19,239 --> 00:43:23,000
Speaker 1: realize the new that every generation seems to get their

823
00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:25,640
Speaker 1: own right, So there's a sliver of the audience that

824
00:43:25,719 --> 00:43:27,719
Speaker 1: gets to say, yes, I got to experience that. I

825
00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:29,799
Speaker 1: got to hear it. I got to see hat Box

826
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:33,799
Speaker 1: on his first day back exactly, which I actually did

827
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:38,960
Speaker 1: quite by accident. Yeah, it happened during the Tinkerbell half

828
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:41,960
Speaker 1: marathon weekend, which I was already there for, and so

829
00:43:42,080 --> 00:43:45,080
Speaker 1: when I realized those two were um going to happen

830
00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:47,880
Speaker 1: at the same time, I was perfectly delighted. And it

831
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:51,200
Speaker 1: was very very nice because you know, hat Box was

832
00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:54,440
Speaker 1: in the attraction for minutes in the grand scheme of things,

833
00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:56,759
Speaker 1: and yet so many people know about him and the

834
00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:59,920
Speaker 1: lines for Hanned Mansion, which usually tend to hover anywhere

835
00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:04,239
Speaker 1: between depending on how busy the park is suddenly we're

836
00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:07,640
Speaker 1: hours long. But it was so exciting to talk to

837
00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:10,120
Speaker 1: other people in line. I didn't even mind because they

838
00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:11,960
Speaker 1: were like, we're so excited for hat Box, and I

839
00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:14,040
Speaker 1: was like, how can all these people know about this

840
00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:17,839
Speaker 1: one thing that was barely part of the ride. I

841
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:21,800
Speaker 1: think it's because the Haunted Mansion has has become legend.

842
00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:24,480
Speaker 1: I think what you just said hits it right on

843
00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:26,920
Speaker 1: the head. You know, one new element in the Haunted

844
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:30,520
Speaker 1: Mansion takes an attraction that's forty five plus years old

845
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:34,000
Speaker 1: and instantly gives it a line that is a couple

846
00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:36,839
Speaker 1: hours long. To me, that that's the secret, and that's

847
00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:40,320
Speaker 1: the That's kind of the legacy of the Haunted Mansion.

848
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:43,120
Speaker 1: It's always going to elevant, it's always going to be

849
00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:45,399
Speaker 1: an evergreen story. It's always going to be there for us.

850
00:44:46,160 --> 00:44:48,279
Speaker 1: I love it. And now my final question is is

851
00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:52,800
Speaker 1: Haunted Mansion your favorite attraction or do you have another? Ah,

852
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:58,040
Speaker 1: there is another. Honestly, you get triple points for pulling

853
00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:00,080
Speaker 1: out a Star Wars line there by the way, a

854
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:03,479
Speaker 1: slight mixed metaphor, but I stand by it, um well Haunted.

855
00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:06,120
Speaker 1: If I had to pick Haunted Mansion would definitely have

856
00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:10,120
Speaker 1: the edge. It is closely followed, if not equaled, by

857
00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:13,600
Speaker 1: Pirates of the Caribbean. To me, those are the Pirates

858
00:45:13,600 --> 00:45:16,239
Speaker 1: and Mansion represent that. That's the twin engine that has

859
00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:19,759
Speaker 1: powered the entire Disney theme park experience for me to

860
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:22,719
Speaker 1: this day. And in case people don't know, you also

861
00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:26,120
Speaker 1: did a book about Pirates of the Caribbean. Yes, I did.

862
00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:29,480
Speaker 1: I did a book on Pirates. I'm still trying to

863
00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:32,239
Speaker 1: lobby them for a new edition of of that to

864
00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:34,719
Speaker 1: do the same thing that we did with Mansion. Uh.

865
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:36,600
Speaker 1: And then I did a book on the Disney Mountains

866
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:38,880
Speaker 1: that I'm also trying to talk to them about updating

867
00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:41,360
Speaker 1: with some of the new mountains that have been added.

868
00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:45,160
Speaker 1: You know, the marketplace for for books, specifically non fiction

869
00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:48,640
Speaker 1: titles like that is a lot tighter than it was

870
00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:51,279
Speaker 1: in the years that we first did them, but I'm

871
00:45:51,280 --> 00:45:53,040
Speaker 1: still out there trying to trying to make it happen.

872
00:45:53,040 --> 00:45:57,120
Speaker 1: I'm also trying to lobby them for e book additions

873
00:45:57,160 --> 00:46:00,000
Speaker 1: of all of those titles so that people, especially if

874
00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:02,960
Speaker 1: they didn't manage to snag Pirates or the Mountains, can

875
00:46:03,239 --> 00:46:06,719
Speaker 1: have access to this wonderful artwork. Um you know that

876
00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:08,560
Speaker 1: we try to fill the books with and and some

877
00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:12,480
Speaker 1: of these behind the scenes stories. So uh, once again

878
00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:14,960
Speaker 1: the book is The Haunted Mansion imagineering, a Disney classic,

879
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 1: and it is in its third edition, and it got

880
00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:18,520
Speaker 1: a brand new cover this time around that glows in

881
00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:22,200
Speaker 1: the dark, um which I'm oddly excited by these things,

882
00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:25,680
Speaker 1: but it's so fantastic. I just I'm so in love

883
00:46:25,719 --> 00:46:28,880
Speaker 1: with this book. Well, thank you. That was the reason.

884
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:31,560
Speaker 1: That was the reason. You know, it's uh, this book

885
00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:35,400
Speaker 1: came about because it didn't exist, and uh, I and

886
00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:39,600
Speaker 1: and as you can imagine, countless others wanted to to

887
00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:43,160
Speaker 1: read it, wanted to see these images and hear these stories.

888
00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:47,560
Speaker 1: It's fabulous. Jason Currell, thank you so much for spending

889
00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:49,279
Speaker 1: time with us. I feel like we kind of hit

890
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:52,520
Speaker 1: the lottery jackpot on this one. Well, I appreciate that,

891
00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:55,000
Speaker 1: I appreciate the kind words. It's it's my pleasure because

892
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:58,200
Speaker 1: anytime I can help tell the Haunt Haunted Mansion story

893
00:46:58,280 --> 00:47:01,360
Speaker 1: and get it out there. And you know, I'm a

894
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:03,920
Speaker 1: fan too, That's why the book this, you know, So

895
00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:06,080
Speaker 1: it's just as much of a pleasure for me to

896
00:47:06,080 --> 00:47:15,720
Speaker 1: talk about it as it is any other man. Oh so, Tracy,

897
00:47:17,239 --> 00:47:19,759
Speaker 1: I think that's my favorite interview of all time. Well,

898
00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:21,880
Speaker 1: and you definitely had it on your wish list to

899
00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:24,840
Speaker 1: interview and imagineer to be on the show. I remember

900
00:47:25,200 --> 00:47:27,880
Speaker 1: when you and I were interviewed about about wish lists

901
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:32,280
Speaker 1: for the show, that was your top thing. Yeah, and Uh,

902
00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:34,880
Speaker 1: in particular, he's someone who is because he is a

903
00:47:34,920 --> 00:47:36,759
Speaker 1: writer and comes at it from that point of view.

904
00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:39,680
Speaker 1: He's just someone I've really admired and I love that

905
00:47:39,719 --> 00:47:41,719
Speaker 1: he has always been a proponent of, Hey, you don't

906
00:47:41,719 --> 00:47:43,759
Speaker 1: have to be an artist, you don't have to be

907
00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:46,520
Speaker 1: a visual artist. You can contribute and be part of

908
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:49,239
Speaker 1: something like this through different avenues, which I really like.

909
00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:51,960
Speaker 1: And we've had some really great guests along the way.

910
00:47:51,960 --> 00:47:54,280
Speaker 1: But getting to geek out about my beloved Hona Mansion

911
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:56,279
Speaker 1: with one of the people who knows it so very

912
00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:59,200
Speaker 1: very well, it's just a little slice of heaven. And

913
00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:03,640
Speaker 1: I promise to you, I had no idea when I

914
00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:06,759
Speaker 1: started this interview that he too was a Vincent Price fan.

915
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:09,720
Speaker 1: When I asked about that short lived narration that Vincent

916
00:48:09,719 --> 00:48:12,719
Speaker 1: Price did for the Disneyland Paris iteration of the attraction.

917
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:17,919
Speaker 1: So one more time. That book is The Haunted Mansion Imagineering,

918
00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:22,000
Speaker 1: a Disney classic, and I highly recommended to everyone because

919
00:48:22,040 --> 00:48:25,239
Speaker 1: it is delightful. I love it. Do you also have

920
00:48:25,320 --> 00:48:28,759
Speaker 1: some listener mail I do. This particular piece is from

921
00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:32,120
Speaker 1: our listener, Heather uh and she sent us a lovely

922
00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:33,880
Speaker 1: card which I will talk about in a moment, and

923
00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:36,959
Speaker 1: some cool pictures. And she also included a letter and says,

924
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:38,920
Speaker 1: I wanted to start by telling you that I absolutely

925
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:41,480
Speaker 1: love your podcast. I started listening when I was on

926
00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:44,719
Speaker 1: maternity lead last September when my son was born, and

927
00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:48,200
Speaker 1: I have been listening ever since. She talks a little

928
00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:50,200
Speaker 1: bit about you know, things she likes. I'm always a

929
00:48:50,200 --> 00:48:53,760
Speaker 1: little uncomfortable reading crazy things, she says. I also wanted

930
00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:55,800
Speaker 1: to thank you for helping me get back in shape.

931
00:48:55,840 --> 00:48:57,760
Speaker 1: I too, am a runner like Holly, and I believe

932
00:48:58,400 --> 00:49:01,280
Speaker 1: you said you run or have run to correct Tracy.

933
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:04,719
Speaker 1: That is correct all answer for Tracy. After having my son,

934
00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:06,479
Speaker 1: it took me a long time to get my feet

935
00:49:06,480 --> 00:49:08,520
Speaker 1: back on the pavement. But with your podcast, I feel

936
00:49:08,520 --> 00:49:10,719
Speaker 1: like I can step outside of mom mode for a

937
00:49:10,719 --> 00:49:13,239
Speaker 1: little while and get my run in while learning something new.

938
00:49:13,719 --> 00:49:15,759
Speaker 1: I sometimes even run with my son in to and

939
00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:18,200
Speaker 1: have the podcast in the stroller so he can hear it.

940
00:49:18,520 --> 00:49:20,600
Speaker 1: Even though he's only a year old, I feel like

941
00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:23,200
Speaker 1: he's learned so much more than kids ten times his age.

942
00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:25,640
Speaker 1: I know it's strange to some to listen to history

943
00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:27,520
Speaker 1: and not music while running, but it really helps my

944
00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:30,239
Speaker 1: long runs go by so much better. I just got

945
00:49:30,320 --> 00:49:32,359
Speaker 1: done with a ten mile run today while learning about

946
00:49:32,360 --> 00:49:35,600
Speaker 1: the Black Hole of Calcutta and Emily Nurder. That particular

947
00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:39,680
Speaker 1: episode was especially appreciated because I too, am a female mathematician.

948
00:49:40,040 --> 00:49:42,719
Speaker 1: I'm a mathematics professor at a private university, and I

949
00:49:42,760 --> 00:49:45,279
Speaker 1: love hearing about my people. Did you know that we

950
00:49:45,360 --> 00:49:49,200
Speaker 1: in America abbreviate mathematics differently than other English speaking countries.

951
00:49:49,719 --> 00:49:52,120
Speaker 1: I have learned this from my colleagues at different conferences

952
00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:55,120
Speaker 1: over the years. We say math, whereas most people from

953
00:49:55,120 --> 00:49:59,640
Speaker 1: other English speaking countries say maths plural. Since math is

954
00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:02,600
Speaker 1: short or mathematics, it does make sense that the abbreviation

955
00:50:02,600 --> 00:50:05,400
Speaker 1: would be plural as well. I always tell my students

956
00:50:05,440 --> 00:50:08,759
Speaker 1: that so they correctly refer to it as maths not math. Uh.

957
00:50:08,880 --> 00:50:11,080
Speaker 1: Sorry for going on so much, but I just wanted

958
00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:12,960
Speaker 1: to let you know how much. I appreciate what you do.

959
00:50:13,040 --> 00:50:16,200
Speaker 1: Please keep up the good work. More podcasts about mathematicians

960
00:50:16,239 --> 00:50:18,640
Speaker 1: would be great. And then she gives us some good

961
00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:21,000
Speaker 1: suggestions which I won't read in case they end up

962
00:50:21,840 --> 00:50:24,600
Speaker 1: being on it. And she also sent us a cute

963
00:50:24,600 --> 00:50:27,160
Speaker 1: picture of her and her little boy as they are

964
00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:29,480
Speaker 1: out and about and one that her husband photoshopped of

965
00:50:29,520 --> 00:50:34,319
Speaker 1: her son as part of a nineteen twenties skyscraper construction site,

966
00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:37,200
Speaker 1: which is pretty witty. And she sent us a really

967
00:50:37,239 --> 00:50:41,840
Speaker 1: really lovely card which is the representation of the golden spirals,

968
00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:45,240
Speaker 1: so Fibonacci sequence people, this card would make you happy.

969
00:50:45,560 --> 00:50:47,959
Speaker 1: It's absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much, Heather. I love

970
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:52,200
Speaker 1: that we get to hear from women mathematicians after we

971
00:50:52,239 --> 00:50:55,160
Speaker 1: talk about women mathematicians, and just any time that we

972
00:50:55,280 --> 00:50:57,840
Speaker 1: kind of touch on something that is vital to someone's

973
00:50:58,239 --> 00:51:01,200
Speaker 1: day to day life for their livelihood and they're not like, hey,

974
00:51:01,239 --> 00:51:04,040
Speaker 1: you jerks, you got it all wrong. It makes me happy. Uh.

975
00:51:04,040 --> 00:51:06,479
Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, you absolutely can.

976
00:51:06,960 --> 00:51:09,640
Speaker 1: That is at History Podcast at house works dot com.

977
00:51:09,719 --> 00:51:12,120
Speaker 1: You can also connect with us at Facebook dot com,

978
00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:15,040
Speaker 1: slash mist in History on Twitter at mist in History

979
00:51:15,480 --> 00:51:18,320
Speaker 1: at pinterest dot com, slash mist in History, at misston

980
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:20,920
Speaker 1: History dot tumbler dot com, and on Instagram. We are

981
00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:23,000
Speaker 1: at mist in History. If you would like to go

982
00:51:23,040 --> 00:51:24,839
Speaker 1: to our parents site, how stuff Works, and you can

983
00:51:24,880 --> 00:51:26,680
Speaker 1: type in the words Haunted Mansion in the search bar,

984
00:51:26,760 --> 00:51:29,400
Speaker 1: you will get ten classic amusement park rides, and the

985
00:51:29,440 --> 00:51:31,920
Speaker 1: Haunted Mansion is one of those. If you would like

986
00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:34,839
Speaker 1: to visit us on the web, our website is missed

987
00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:36,960
Speaker 1: in history dot com. We would love to see you visit.

988
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:39,680
Speaker 1: You will find show notes for all of the episodes

989
00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:42,040
Speaker 1: since Tracy and I have been on the podcast. You

990
00:51:42,080 --> 00:51:44,600
Speaker 1: will find an archive of every episode of all time,

991
00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:47,080
Speaker 1: going back to the beginning of the show, and occasionally

992
00:51:47,120 --> 00:51:49,879
Speaker 1: some other little goodies. Once again, you can visit us

993
00:51:50,080 --> 00:51:52,040
Speaker 1: at our parents site, how stuff Works dot com and

994
00:51:52,040 --> 00:51:54,600
Speaker 1: at our personal site missed in history dot com. We're

995
00:51:54,640 --> 00:52:00,320
Speaker 1: here to see you there for more on this opens

996
00:52:00,320 --> 00:52:06,320
Speaker 1: of other topics, is it how stuff Works dot com.

997
00:52:04,080 --> 00:52:04,120
Speaker 1: E