| The Haunted Mansion |
When we were first approached to create the “Disneyland Main Street USA” program, we had requested from
Team Disney three sets of architectural plans from the archives. They were the plans for the “Sleeping
Beauty Castle”, the complete “Emporium” block of Main Street, and the “Haunted Mansion”.
These three subjects represented three different problems we would have to solve, and even though there
was no discussion of ever doing the “Haunted Mansion”, Team Disney graciously allowed us access to the
imagery. Appropriately, after looking over the complexity and richness of the entire “Haunted Mansion”
archive, I was scared. How could we ever do justice to such an incredible icon and not disappoint the
collectors and Disney Imagineers?
While the “Sleeping Beauty Castle” and “Emporium” block were used to solve the exterior Main Street USA
layout, the “Haunted Mansion” forced me to think of the interiors. Luckily, at the same time, I was working on
another Disney themed project called “Story-Time”. I say luckily, because the problems of one became the
solutions for the other.
The first mock-up of the “Haunted Mansion” was made in the summer of 2000, and was exactly to scale, but it
looked small to me. I couldn’t see how I could do anything with the interiors. The second mock-up was made
the following week and was very interpretive. I abandoned the exact scale approach and took the strongest
identifying elements of the building and made it taller and deeper to accommodate the birthday party scene. I
was not happy with this approach either, because although the scene looked great, the exterior suffered. The
third mock-up would not be made until over three years later. The first 2 mock-ups sat on a shelf in my studio
untouched and reminded me daily of the problems we faced.
In the meantime, “Main Street USA” moved forward and each new piece gave us new ways to look for a
solution. The following list tracks the creative process and pieces which helped us find a solution.
1) Mock up #1 – Made exactly to scale Summer 2000
2) Mock up #2 – Interpretive exterior – favoring the birthday Summer 2000
party scene
3) Sleeping Beauty Castle – Tower reveal 2002
4) City Hall & Fire Station – Walt’s apartment 2003
[
5) Wake Up Flower – Story-Time Bambi release. This was 2003
the first piece to completely frame a scene from the front.
The Sleeping Beauty Castle tower reveal and Walt’s apartment
were roof lifts without lighting. Wake Up Flower when set
into a display case under direct overhead light, opened up my
mind to a new way of thinking.
6) Touch the Spindle – Story-Time Sleeping Beauty release. 2004
Wake Up Flower was a free form natural landscape frame.
Touch the Spindle was the first frontal architectural framing
that I did with overhead case lighting. At this point, I didn’t
have a solution for Haunted Mansion, but I had layered into
my mind some new experiences that were beyond the first
two mock ups from three years earlier.
7) People in general are always interested in how the creative mind 2004
works, and since my first in store promotions in the early 1980’s,
I have, in slide shows tried to share this with collectors. The
process is not a straight line and this Haunted Mansion sequence is
all over the place. The final solution came out of the blue, while
visiting the park after one my shows. One of my creative quirks is
I never take photographs. I found early in my life as an artist that
stopping to take a photo somehow excused me to assess what I saw
until later. My strongest sense is sight and I have learned to be quiet
and look. Not using a camera has forced me to open my whole self
to everything right now, not later. I am generally always operating
in the now moment. When working out a problem, I have learned
that if I layer in enough groundwork around the problem, a solution
will come. The first six steps over 4 years were the groundwork. So,
after my show at the Disneyana store, I walked over to the gallery above
Pirates of the Caribbean, to check out the show featuring the Haunted
Mansion. I remember clearly walking up the front steps, entering the
gallery and I turned left and saw the huge graveyard concept drawing
by Colin Campbell and was floored.
The ah ha moment had struck and in an instant, the early 6 stages outlined combined somehow with this
magnificent concept drawing and the way it was framed to say I would do interchangeable shadow boxes
of the Haunted Mansion interior. Creatively, the piece was solved.
8) Once the creative approach was solved, the third mock up Fall 2004
was a joy ride. I knew I could overcome all the technical
problems the shadow box presented. One last element fell
into place with the Haunted Mansion as well and I would be
shortchanging you as collectors if I didn’t mention it. I have
been making things with my hands since I was a boy and pro-
fessionally for over 40 years. One of the things that I have been
acutely aware of is the interactive nature of the things that I have
made. The Main Street USA program has given me an opportunity
to push this concept to a new level. My early miniature figurative
work was interactive by simply placing the figurines into a display
or miniature room and arranging them as you like. Later work,
such as the Disney Story-Time pieces challenged the viewer to place
them under a light in their showcase, moving them back and forth to
find just the right lighting effect. Main Street USA is a whole new
level. Examples are:
a) Lift a roof and you see into Walt’s apartment
b) Push down a fire hydrant and the lights go on
c) Turn on a switch and the train goes around the
base, and even later the parades will move up
and down Main Street, possibly even with music!
d) Look for the hidden Mickey
For the Haunted Mansion:
a) Push down the fire hydrant and the lights go on
b) Take off the back wall and see the gallery
c) Push down the tower and stretch the portraits as
you descend into the cellar
d) Take out the gallery and put in the birthday party or
the graveyard
This kind of interactive thinking has developed over the years as well and culminates in our new release:
“Haunted Mansion”. This essay hopefully gives everyone insight into what it takes to do a creative work. In
writing it, I tried to focus on the information that you could only hear from me, and tried to stay away from
descriptions of the original Haunted Mansion. Today there are publications in the market covering the
Haunted Mansion that do a far better job describing it than I could ever do.
I hope you enjoy the Haunted Mansion and have fun showing it to your friends and family with all the little ah
ha things I built into it.
Robert Olszewski
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