Originally Posted By refurbmike About the article, did anyone else find it funny how the author tried to conceal what happens to the Singing Busts, but yet the cover picture on LP's home page shows just that?
Originally Posted By Jim in Pasadena CA Yeah, but until you point it out, the person who's never been would not even know that the cover picture represents. Now, would they?
Originally Posted By JenniBarra Thanks for the great column, Greg! I read it with interest because I am a HMH fan. >>To me the combination of colors in most of the scenes remind me of vomit. Vomit is not a pleasant thing to talk about; I apologize if I made you ill.<< To me, the colors add to the whimsy of the holiday overlay. It also makes me think of the color palette I have seen in many Tim Burton films.
Originally Posted By JenniBarra >>I'm a bit worried about HMH when I see it for the first time in 22 days. I love the HM and I'm not a huge fan of NBC or Tim Burton. Who knows, I may be here in a month agreeing with you.<< When you do go to the park, please go in with an open mind. I remember discussions about HMH last year in which people who admitted to not liking NBC (or had never seen it before) but really enjoyed the overlay. Just like many Disney attractions do not require one to be familiar with the source material to appreciate the show, HMH is the same way.
Originally Posted By JenniBarra >>Yeah, but until you point it out, the person who's never been would not even know that the cover picture represents.<< Speaking of pictures here on LP, can I make a request? Once the 13 weeks of presents are open, I would love to see a photograph. : )
Originally Posted By Brer Rabbit I am interested by the author's idea for a ride or rides completely devoid of silly "bring you back to reality" gags. However, people are used to the idea of Disneyland as THE prototype family theme park, and I can see rides like The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carribean becoming a little too frightening or serious for the children that parents take to the Disneyland because they think of it as a family friendly destination. However, what about an entire new land or even a new park devoted completely to a more realistic portrayal of the story the ride or land represents down to the very last detail? To me this is a very intriguing thought, and I would love to be able to visit a theme park in which every ride is utterly immersive down to the last realistic audioanimatronic. Although, I haven't been out of North America and I hear that they might have something almost along these lines in Tokyo Disney Sea. ..Sure would love to get out there and see it some time. -nico
Originally Posted By coffeesnob "When you do go to the park, please go in with an open mind. I remember discussions about HMH last year in which people who admitted to not liking NBC (or had never seen it before) but really enjoyed the overlay. Just like many Disney attractions do not require one to be familiar with the source material to appreciate the show, HMH is the same way." I was one of those people. I didn't like NBC at all when I saw it several years ago, so I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be too thrilled with HMH. Boy, was I wrong. I must have ridden that thing 30 times! I KNOW I wouldn't have ridden the original that many times.
Originally Posted By Santa Monica Put me in the list of those who would rather ride HMH than regular HM. And I don't find a shaking AA figure impressive. I'd rather have Jack.
Originally Posted By doombuggy Justice...Ummm Indy and TZTOT do tell a story but you have to be smart emough to see it. I wonder do you even know the story line of HM? I mean the REAL stroy not some clap trap fans&CM's have made up.
Originally Posted By Nobody "Justice...Ummm Indy and TZTOT do tell a story but you have to be smart emough to see it. I wonder do you even know the story line of HM? I mean the REAL stroy not some clap trap fans&CM's have made up." doombuggy, I think I'm pretty much on your side here, but you bring up an interesting point: Should anybody need to know either the official storyline or a made-up one? If a ride has or needs a story, shouldn't it be made apparent by the ride / attraction itself?
Originally Posted By refurbmike Nobody: I agree. An attraction should bring forth *a* storyline, but it does not necessarily have to be *the* storyline. For example, let's look at the Mansion. *A* storyline for the ride is that we're all guests visiting a haunted house. Plain and simple. Do we need to know the family background of Master Gracey to enjoy this ride? No, not at all. Another example would be Journey to Gettysburg. We all know that our character goes to battle, gets hit, etc. Do we need to know the details of the battle? Not at all.
Originally Posted By Justice doombuggy, HM has no Story!!! HM is a series of vignettes that are related to each other. Each of the vignettes involve the super natural and that's the only story. However each Vignette tells a clear story. For instance the Graveyard Keeper and his dog, you see them and you can tell exactly Who they are? Why they are there? and What they are doing? Their emotion is clear they are obviously scared to death of all the ghosts in the cemetery. The same is true of all the brilliant Marc Davis vignettes in both HM and Pirates. If you look at his concept sketches for each vignette you can tell exactly what’s going on, and hopefully find the humor in them. Jack Skellington however tells no story; he’s just there for the little pageant. He's nothing more than poorly executed eye candy.... "but you have to be smart enough to see it" Now, let me ask you....Professor doobbuggy....can you tell me that theirs a different "story" in Indy, TOT, and Star Tours? Or are they all basically the same “a group of tourists go on a tour and “oh no†something goes wrong “jeepersâ€. ...oh, and don't worry about attempting to disprove me with my response on the HM story...that came straight from Marc Davis...again, how can you argue with that? Justice
Originally Posted By refurbmike Justice: I may the freak here, but I didn't know that the man was supposed to be the caretaker until I started checking out Disney web-sites. And some people will argue with you as to why they are scared. And Jack is a part of the HMH story. The narration leading up the graveyard is about Jack creating the snowy graveyard. As for the tourist thing, I don't think he's saying they're the exact same story. They're just the same plot-line with different twists, but having the same resolves.
Originally Posted By Justice refurbmike, Oh my... You couldn't tell that a guy with a shovel...and lantern.....at night....in a cemetery, with his dog...... was not a care taker????? WOW!!! I mean....WOW!!! ..... maybe he was a lawyer or a fireman. He could of have been some crazy voodoo guy at the cemetery there to dig up corpses for some satanic ritual. Perhaps he was a small lost child with his little cat. The ghost's could have called up Domino's and he could be there to deliver some pizza with his friendly rabbit companion. Maybe he's a traveling salesman there to sell some fine Amway Shovels. He could be a grave robber but where are the sacks of loot and why is he not dressed in black? He could be a street vendor plopped right there in the middle of the show selling Churro's to all the lost tourists. Before I go...Let me ask you what else would he be scared of, other than ghosts....maybe he's startled by a Doom Buggy full of lost tourists? Justice
Originally Posted By refurbmike Justice: First of all, I don't why you're getting on my case. I was merely stating an opinion, k? Second, no... I didn't. I bet if you were to ask many people who go through the Mansion, they may not recognize his role in the attraction. It may take them a couple trips to notice details. Think about it: how much time do you have to look at him, his shovel, and his lantern; then process that you're in a graveyard; therefore putting together the puzzle pieces? You're forgetting that for most people, THIS IS A RIDE, so thinking out the story while riding it is not their first priority. And explain me this: Why is his dog nerely dying of malnutrition? Most people recognize that! Is that because he's a caretaker's dog?
Originally Posted By TomSawyer So, Justice, are you saying you don't understand who Skellington and the other NBC figures are and what they are doing at the Mansion?
Originally Posted By dresswhites just a few opinions: I think Storybook and Dumbo and attractions like Mark Twain are the special attractions that make Disneyland magical. For example both the Mark Twain and Columbia are very fun to explore. The little museum in the Columbia is full of detail. I think Storybook is very immersive. There is just so much little detail on this attraction. On the whole Haunted Mansion/Holiday Mansion debate. i have said before I am not a great fan of Mansion Holiday. I think to me, Nightmare before Christmas just doesn't fit with the overall Mansion attraction. Small World overlay is fine, because overall it doesn't change the overall theme or mood of the ride. With the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay it really does change the mood and theme of the ride. I kind of wish they decorated the house, but still kept the original show. I really don't like how whole figures and storylines have been taken out. I think Nightmare make the ride very garrish and tacky. It is just doesn't fit, it would be like adding the Nightmare elements and shoehorning them into Pirates or Small World. That is basically what they did with Mansion. All the Nightmare elenments look shoe horned into the Mansion. So Jack Skelleton is scary and ghosts are scary is that the connection? What is the connection between the a haunted house and nightmare before Christmas? Now that all said, I respect that many people do like the attraction. There are many attractions in the park that I love that people can't stand. I guess there are people who do not like Storybook land and I think that is truly one of the gems of the park. Different strokes for different folks. There is no law saying that everyone has to like everything everyone else does.
Originally Posted By dresswhites Another observation, I guess I just never noticed that some of the scenes in Pirates and Mansion were cartoonish. I think Pirates would really be lacking if they took out some of those scenes. I mean I thought the reason, many people do not like the WDW Pirates is because it is lacking of many of the atmosphere scenes that Disneyland has.
