Mystery of the Hatbox Ghost
This one is for fans of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion and its most mysterious resident, the Hatbox Ghost.
The legend of the Hatbox Ghost goes like this: the character was created for the Mansion but reportedly removed prior to the attraction opening in 1969. It’s said that the effect of the Hatbox Ghost — the character’s head disappeared from his body and reappeared in the hatbox he carried at his side — didn’t work within the confined attic space in which he resided. Another theory for his removal was that he was just too frightening.
However, Disney continued to use the image of the ghost in promotional materials for the attraction for years to come. This, combined with vague accounts of guests claiming to have seen the figure in the attic shortly after the attraction opened, added to the mystique of the Hatbox Ghost. But it could never really be proved that the character was actually seen by guests — until now.
Check out this video posted last week by the Disney History Institute:
Pretty cool, huh?
No one could ever really say what became of the Hatbox Ghost itself — its whereabouts remain a mystery to this day. But his legend lives on on Disneyland fan forums and in the movies. Director Guillermo del Toro, who is writing and producing a movie based on the Haunted Mansion, has announced he will include the Hatbox Ghost in his film.
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Responses to "Mystery of the Hatbox Ghost"
You just made my kid’s day. She has been absorbing the information in a Disney Haunted Mansion book that she found in our collection…. telling us every bit of trivia she can on the Haunted Mansion…and now this. She’s geeking out!
Awesome! I was geeking out a bit myself this morning when I saw this.
I love this stuff. Thanks for posting it!
Thanks for reading! I too love it, and wondered if anyone would find it as interesting as I do.
My girl has decided that he needs to be ‘brought back’ after all “There’s still room left up in the attic for him”.
She’d probably also appreciate a collectible figure, framed poster, and LED key chain replica. She is SO all over this story.
I think it’s pretty cool too. When we saw his shadowy figure in the video we both squealed “There he is”…like we were watching an episode of ghost hunters.
In book stores/displays at Disneyland and Downtown Disney (and probably more so in non-Disney-related bookstores) one sees titles about ‘hidden’ Disney, and little known facts, etc. That’s the fun stuff. It’s always fun when so much thought and depth have gone into *any* thing…so that it’s super-enjoyable on the surface level, yet, if you *wanna* get all into it/geeky, you can.
He certainly has a lot of buzz. I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually brought him back to the Mansion — if they can get the effect to work.
I’d be happy to see the Bride leave the attic. She’s too goofy.