New Haunted Mansion Movie to Be Created for Disney by Director Guillermo Del Toro

Guillermo Del Toro will be working with Walt Disney Studios to create a brand new Haunted Mansion movie. Del Toro himself made the announcement at a Comic-Con panel last week. The film will include The Hatbox Ghost as a character. For those of you who don't know, there is a lot of mythology floating around about the Hatbox Ghost, an early animatronic that was taken out of the ride shortly after it's debut because the effect it displayed did not work to the Imagineers' satisfaction. In the effect, a ghost holding a hatbox would suddenly appear to be headless, with his own head in the very same hatbox he was holding. The figure has taken on cult status among Haunted Mansion lovers, and images of the ghost can be seen on fan websites such as www.doombuggies.com

Del Toro is an ideal choice for the film, as he has more than proven that he is adept at handling fantasy material in his highly praised films, "Pan's Labyrinth" as well as the, "Hellboy" franchise. Del Toro recently announced that he had to leave, "The Hobbit" films, despite the fact that he had been working on pre-production for the films for the past few years. When the studio that's producing the films went into shutdown mode because of financial problems, Del Toro waited it out as long as he could, but recently announced that he couldn't stay to direct because of future projects that he was too interested in to quit.

Many have speculated that the new Haunted Mansion movie is one of those projects. The announcement came as a total surprise, even to fans like myself who stay up to date on all things having to do with the beloved ride and source of childhood inspiration.

This film, Del Toro said, will be scarier than the previous attempt at bringing the ride's story to the big screen. The last film, starring Eddie Murphy, was considered a flop. I think people should think of it more as a children's film. However, many were understandably disappointed after the success of, "The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" that the Haunted Mansion film did not take a similar approach to in treating the material more seriously, working within the confines of the genre most people expected, horror or thriller.

Del Toro inked a deal with Disney to create scary family films that will please parents and kids alike, this will be the first film in that series. It will be a welcome addition to the horror genre, which in it's golden age, created thought-provoking monster movies with thrills, chills, and morals as well. Monster movies such as, "The Creature from the Black Lagoon," had hidden messages about conservation and films like, "Frankenstein," asked questions about humanity. How do we treat those who look different than us? What makes a monster? Etc. Since then, however, most horror films have become survivalist horror or gore, with the recent trend being films similar to the, "Saw" franchise and, "Hostel". Genres experience waves in trends, and perhaps Del Toro's Haunted Mansion film could set off a new age of creativity in horror, bringing films back around to ghost stories, monsters, cerebral horror, and more creativity with effects instead of splatter films and slashers being the primary box office draws.

My hopes for the film are that it will indeed be creepy and scary. That the film will have the chance to touch on and show many of the vignettes from the ride, if not all of them. I also hope that the film will not "solve" the mystery of the mansion, but merely show it in action. The last film aimed to resolve the mansion by showing the ghosts leaving the mansion for heaven in the end and giving us a complete backstory. But I would like to see the ghosts stay, as Walt's original idea for the house was that he created the space and then invited the ghosts to come and live there, with room for 1000 ghosts. Though only 999 currently reside, the shtick of the ride is that they choose you to be ghost number 1000 after you die. Perhaps the film could simply highlight the strange collections of hauntings in the house, using that classic horror format, "A stranger seeks shelter in a large and foreboding house on a dark and stormy night".

One of the greatest qualities of the mansion is the mix of the genuinely frightening along with funny and quirky gimmicks and gags. Del Toro himself is a massive fan of the ride, who even announced that he has a room in his home decorated to look like the mansion. (So does Neal Patrick Harris, who I met at a Haunted Mansion event in 2008.) Many fans love the tone and creativity of the ride so much that they will decorate their homes according to the ride's inspiration. I would know, because I'm one of them. (We also have Jungle Cruise and Pirates-inspired decor.)

News of another mansion movie was the surprise I always dreamed of, but never really expected, having myself written a Haunted Mansion live show and Enchanted Tiki Room film script just as fun writing exercises. This time, they've tracked down the right people to capture the tone of the ride and present it in a way that will make it not only a bigger box office success, but something that die-hard fans of the ride will be able to geek out over for years to come (with fingers crossed for a sequel).

Though Del Toro has released a small bit of artwork (A logo.) and a teaser trailer was played at Comic-Con (Hunt for it on YouTube while you still can. It will surely be taken down quickly.), all other details are currently being kept under wraps. As long as they draw primarily from the ride for the visuals, keep it innocent yet truly scary, and make sure the ghosts stay in the mansion...I can assure you that ride fans everywhere will be pleased.

What do you think about another Haunted Mansion movie? Can you think of a better director?