The Hatbox Ghost is a particularly infamous and iconic spectre among the 999 ghosts of the Haunted Mansion. Haunting the attic alongside the Bride (later Constance), he is remarkable mainly for his legacy of being the "lost ghost" of the attraction, originally appearing briefly when the mansion opened 1969 and then vanishing without a trace. On May 9th, 2015, however, the character was reintroduced.
Description[]
Design[]
Described as "a cloaked figure with an evil, grinning face" in The Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion, the Hatbox Ghost stands by with an old, kobby walking stick in his right hand and his namesake hatbox in his left. As riders look on, his head vanishes from his shoulders and reappears inside the hatbox, his top hat floating above the space where his head should be, only to have the head fade back into its original position moments later.
He has a similar face mold as the Skeleton hitchhiking ghost, Ezra. On the original figure, this happened to be an exact sculpt. Certain parts of his current animatronic have been coloured in such a way that it appears as if he is semi transparent. Some identify his cane as being a shillelagh.
Character Identification[]
- One popular theory is that he was the lover of the Bride and was killed by either the Bride herself or a jealous suitor.
- In the new version of the attic, many assume the Hatbox Ghost is one of Constance Hatchaway's deceased husbands, or, at the very least, another one of her victims. The evidence of this is based on the fact that he was decapitated and had his head placed in a hatbox (as all of Constance's husbands were) and the close association shown between the two characters,
- Another possibility is that he was an accomplice of Constance as evidenced by his possession of the hatboxes she used to store her victims' heads.
Appearances[]
The Original[]
In 1969, the Hatbox Ghost was briefly in a corner of the attic opposite the Bride where he was implied to have been a suitor to her, his head supposedly fading and returning with each beat of the Bride's glowing, thudding heart.
The Updated Ghoul[]
Today, at Disneyland, the Hatbox Ghost stands on the balcony alongside seven hatboxes as guests exit the attic before they descend to the graveyard. His head vanishes with a sinister chuckle or an occasional hiss and appears again in the hatbox, blinking and moving its eyes. An uncredited Corey Burton provided the chuckles.
At Walt Disney World, the Hatbox Ghost appears by a glowing door near the Endless Hallway, again accompanied by a cart of hatboxes as well as leaving behind a set of wet footprints.
Other Ride Appearances[]
While not yet appearing within Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion, his presence is not completely absent. The ghost's face can be seen within several of the "Family Portraits" in the Corridor of Doors. The most evident of these is of a black & white photograph of the original Hatbox Ghost figure though there are two other photos of the same head-mould, showing the Hatbox Ghost in different hats. One of these has him wearing a bowler-hat and another having him wear a crown with the latter photo being nicknamed, "King Leer" as an allusion to the Shakespeare play King Lear and his leering head mould.
Also, in 2019 a Disney Photo-Pass addition was put in the attraction which took photos of guests in the ride during Walt Disney World's Portrait Hall sequence; when observed, these photos show the Hatbox Ghost looming overtop of the guest's Doom Buggies.
Removal and Return[]
An A-100 animatronic, redressed to resemble the Hatbox Ghost, at D23.
Though the Hatbox Ghost was briefly in the attraction when it first opened, the intended effect of the vanishing head did not work out as planned. Rumor had speculated that the old parts for the Hatbox Ghost were used for the Sam the Eagle animatronic at the now defunct ride America Sings. This was later disproved when a manual for The Haunted Mansion was auctioned off showing that the HBG was too simple to have any moving parts to end up in the Sam the Eagle figures. Some speculate that he was removed because he was "too scary for a family attraction." While never making it to the attraction, a second Hatbox Ghost figure was built for the Florida version and can be spotted in Disneyland Showtime's behind the scenes B-roll, which primarily showcased Florida's set of figures and props.
Early promotional material for the Haunted Mansion likewise heavily featured the character and, coupled with the fact that most never even saw him or the intended effect, he was not easily forgotten. The mystery of the character would persist for nearly 45 years, with all sorts of rumors and speculation floating around.
This legacy has been reflected by both the company and the fans. The Hatbox Ghost continues to appear on merchandise, memorabilia and other Mansion-related items throughout the years, as well as making several cameos in various Disney media. In 2010, it was announced at San Diego Comic Con that Guillermo Del Toro's planned Haunted Mansion film would prominently feature the Hatbox Ghost. At the D23 Expo in 2013, a large animatronic figure was present at the show that was dressed to resemble the Hatbox Ghost.
In early January of 2015, following the take down of the seasonal Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay, a strange wall with a holographic window depicting one of the bat stanchions appeared on the balcony in the attraction. Many assumed this masked an upcoming addition to the attraction, and most surmised that it would be the Hatbox Ghost. Disney teased this by putting the Hatbox Ghost on much of their merchandise for the Haunted Mansion's 45th anniversary, and finally confirmed in late April that the Hatbox Ghost was indeed coming back to the attraction. On May 9th, following a week-long closure, the Mansion reopened with an updated Hatbox Ghost figure in the spot where the "mystery wall" had been, using a combination of sophisticated video projection and old-fashioned stage magic to create the illusion of the ghost's vanishing head.
Magic Kingdom's Hatbox Ghost in 2023
At D23 Expo 2022, it was announced that Magic Kingdom would be receiving a Hatbox Ghost in 2023, which debuted on November 30th. He appears near a glowing door by the Endless Hallway instead of the Attic. His heavily critiqued placement, which breaks the original narrative flow of the ghosts not fully materializing until after Madame Leota's seance, has been given a handwave explanation by the WDI team of him being an "unhappy haunt" not bound to Leota's spell choosing to materialize whenever he wants.
Other Appearances[]
Attractions[]
Autopia[]
The Hatbox Ghost makes a cameo in the pre-show videos of Disneyland's Autopia. While the robots ASIMO and Bird go on a, "Haunted New Orleans" tour looking for ghosts, the Hatbox Ghost's silhouette appears behind them.[1]
Film[]
Haunted Mansion[]
- Main article: Alistair Crump
The Hatbox Ghost, played by Jared Leto, serves as the film's main villain. He is given the name Alistair Crump.
In this incarnation, the character has a tragic backstory wherein he was born to an overbearing tycoon father and loving mother. The Crumps owned a Dutch colonial revival gothic mansion. Alistair's mother later died he was only nine; distraught with grief, Alistair was unable to cope with the situation and was often abused by his father, who later expelled him from their home. Shunned and ostracised by society, Alistair left for an unknown place and worked hard to rise through the ranks, eventually becoming a wealthy socialite and heir to a fortune. When his father died, Alistair returned and repurchased his old mansion, where it later became the site of lavish balls, of which most of the guests were socialites who shunned him. The balls served as traps for his enemies, whom he murdered out of revenge. Alistair was later beheaded by his mutinous servants.
Sometime later, William Gracey purchases an antebellum mansion, where he hired Madame Leota to try and contact the spirit of his dead wife every night for a full year. This ritual released hundreds of ghosts, mostly benevolent spirits, into the mansion. However, a mishap causes Alistair, now an evil entity called Hatbox Ghost, to arrive and trick Gracey into taking his own life, before killing Leota and trapping her inside her crystal ball. Crump later trapped the ghosts in the antebellum mansion and must find the 1000th soul.
Given the backstory of the character, this incarnation of the Hatbox Ghost is a tragic villain. The harsh upbringing and expulsion from his home caused his cruel nature and shunning, wherein he later murders his enemies in a fit of rage.
Television[]
House of Mouse[]
The Hatbox Ghost makes a cameo appearance in an episode of House of Mouse when he's about to turn at Pete.
Muppets Haunted Mansion[]
Gauzey the Hatbox Bear in Muppets Haunted Mansion
The Hatbox Ghost is portrayed by Fozzie Bear, using the name Gauzey the Hatbox Bear, with his head disappearing and reappearing being a part of his comedy act in "The Mansion Show" and being heckled by Statler and Waldorf from a Doombuggy. Despite his head related talents, Gauzey doesn't seem to realize he's actually dead. Gauzey's head appears later in the special's climax when Gonzo races down the Endless Hallway to find a way to the Attic.
Tales from the Haunted Mansion[]
The Hatbox Ghost makes a brief cameo in Volume II's story "Uncle Rory's Late Show", welcoming Uncle Rory and Diana Durwin to the Mansion and placing the severed head of a bank manager that the undead Rory killed in his posthumous revenge spree into a hatbox.
Comics[]
SLG Comics[]
In the Mystery of the Manse storyline, the Hatbox Ghost is the spirit of Randall Pace, a gunrunner decapitated by William Gracey during a mutiny. He is one of the spirits summoned by Madame Leota to torment Emily de Claire on the day of her wedding to Gracey, and seems to lead the ghosts of Gracey's murdered crew in frightening her to death. The Hatbox Ghost makes several minor appearances throughout the comic as well.
Disney Kingdoms Comics[]
The Hatbox Ghost first appears in a cameo in The Haunted Mansion #2 alongside the Captain, Madame Leota and Constance as the nature of the mansion's ghosts and their powers is explained by Pickwick. It is revealed that these four ghosts are among the few that actually died on the grounds of the mansion, thus leading to them having more supernatural power.
In the following issue, he appears to help Danny escape from the Captain in the Grand Hall. It is revealed that he has only recently returned to the Mansion after a long time traveling to different haunted places around the world magically connected together by the Endless Staircase and Ghostly Materials Gallery, a vast labyrinth that only he has figured out how to properly use. Though insisting he's staying out of the fight, he urges Danny to continue on his adventure to undo the Captain's curse on the Mansion, free the Haunted Mansion's magic, and allow all the ghosts the freedom to travel. The end of the story reveals the Hatbox Ghost as the new keeper of the Captain's disembodied head, kept in one of his hatboxes, away from his ghostly body so he cannot reform and return to his evil ways.
Compared to the rest of the four, the Hatbox Ghost has a more relaxed personality, believing that the dead should learn to celebrate life in their afterlife, noting that it'd be impossible for Constance or the Captain to move on because of their respective unbridled rage and insatiable greed.
Strangely, he does not perform or refer to his "head-in-the-hatbox" trick even once in the Disney Kingdoms comics.
Trivia[]
- Although he does not physically appear in the Disney World Version of the attic, his hatboxes do. If you look to the side of the room opposite to Constance, near the picture of her and the Marquis you will see five hatboxes stacked atop one another looking nearly identical to those on the Disneyland Balcony.
- Disney Imagineer, Yale Gracey designed the Hatbox Ghost and appeared in plenty of the publicity that was based on the promotional photoshoot and the production of bringing The Haunted Mansion (dark ride at Disneyland) to life before its opening day to the public occurred. They're both mentioned in a YouTube video called, "Tony Baxter Backstage at the Haunted Mansion (Sound Synced)" which is uploaded by Karstens Creations.
- After he was initially removed, he continued to be featured in Haunted Mansion merchandise and promotional content such as Vinylmation and House of Mouse.
- His dark chuckle was performed by Corey Burton who also voices the Ghost Host during Haunted Mansion Holiday.
- A Christopher Merritt sketch from a 2006-2007 proposal to bring back the Hatbox Ghost had business signage for an "S. Ezra Haberdashery" among the set dressing.
- It is possible that the Hatbox Ghost's design was inspired by Lon Chaney's character "The Man in the Beaver Hat" from the 1927 horror-film, London After Midnight.
- In merchandise he is sometimes referred to as being "The Maddest Hatter of them all" as a reference to the Mad Hatter character from Alice in Wonderland.
- After he was removed, a popular myth arose which was that he was removed due to how scary he was and that he gave one guest a heart attack, in reality his effect just didn't work
- To this day it is unknown where his original figure is.
- One popular theory was that his parts were reused for the Sam the Eagle animatronic at America Sings which was later turned into the Br'er Fox animatronic in the soon-to-be-defunct Disneyland attraction, Splash Mountain. Upon inspection of his blueprints it can be seen that his figure wouldn't have had enough moving parts for this.
- Although unlikely, if not thrown away completely, the original Hatbox Ghost animatronic may possibly be in the Disney Warehouse somewhere that is off-limits to guests.
Gallery[]
