What is the Haunted Mansion based on in Disneyland?

The Disneyland Haunted Mansion was largely inspired by the Shipley-Lydecker House in Baltimore, Maryland, pictured in Decorative Art of Victoria's Era, a book found in the Walt Disney Imagineering Information Research Center in Glendale, California.



The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is not based on a single movie but is a masterpiece of "Imagineering" inspired by diverse historical and architectural sources. The exterior of the mansion, located in New Orleans Square, was primarily modeled after the Shipley-Lydecker House in Baltimore, Maryland, a grand 19th-century Victorian residence. The "antebellum" Greek Revival style was chosen to fit the 18th-century New Orleans setting of the land. Internally, the attraction's concept evolved through the work of legendary Imagineers like Ken Anderson, Marc Davis, and Claude Coats. Early concepts envisioned a "walk-through" attraction featuring a "sea captain" backstory, but this was later changed to the Omnimover "Doom Buggy" ride we know today. The attraction's unique tone—balancing humor and horror—is the result of a creative compromise between Marc Davis (who wanted it funny) and Claude Coats (who wanted it scary). Its "999 Happy Haunts" have since inspired multiple films, including the 2023 movie starring LaKeith Stanfield.

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Former Disneyland employee (and current Hollywood director) Justin Simien made sure every crypt door creaked and every tombstone quaked in Haunted Mansion, his spirited movie adaptation of the beloved Disney parks attractions operating at several resorts around the world.

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Back in July, Disney released its remake of Haunted Mansion, which didn't really light the world on spectral fire when it came out.

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The Haunted Mansion movie was filmed in different locations for the interiors and exteriors of the estate, capturing the essence of the Disneyland ride. The Barwick Studios in Los Angeles were used for the interior filming, with each room replicating the spooky ambiance of the Disneyland ride.

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In 1969, the ghosts that appear in the ride were created with a clever, low-tech method know as a Pepper's Ghost, which is effectively a 2D illusion created with reflections and named after John Henry Pepper, who used this projection approach for entertainment during the 1800s.

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The site recommends the movie for kids 11 years old and older. “Haunted Mansion” is not rated PG-13 for language. According to IMDb, there is very little profanity in the movie.

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With muddy CGI, far too much story for even its two-hour run time and an emotional heart in cardiac arrest, “Haunted Mansion” simply doesn't hold together. What should have been a light summer romp is rarely funny, never scary and a boring mess.

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