The Haunted Mansion (film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Haunted Mansion |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Rob Minkoff |
| Written by | David Berenbaum |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Mark Mancina |
| Cinematography | Remi Adefarasin |
| Editing by | Priscilla Nedd-Friendly |
| Studio | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 26, 2003 |
| Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $90 million |
| Money made | $182.3 million |
The Haunted Mansion is a 2003 American horror comedy film based on Walt Disney's theme park attraction of the same name. Directed by Rob Minkoff, the film is written by David Berenbaum and stars Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp, Nathaniel Parker, Marsha Thomason, Jennifer Tilly, and Dina Spybey.
The film was theatrically released in the United States on November 26, 2003 and is Disney's fifth film based on an attraction at one of its theme parks following the television film Tower of Terror (1997), Touchstone Pictures' Mission to Mars (2000), The Country Bears (2002), and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). The film grossed $182.3 million worldwide on a $90 million budget and was panned by critics.
Plot
Jim (Eddie Murphy) and Sara Evers (Marsha Thomason) are successful realtors with two children, Megan (Aree Davis) and Michael (Marc John Jefferies). A workaholic with little time for his family, Jim misses his wedding anniversary and tries to make amends by suggesting a vacation to the nearby lake. Sara is contacted by the occupants of Gracey Manor in the Louisiana bayou; Jim, eager to make a deal after learning where the mansion is, takes Sara and the children to the mansion, meeting its owner, Edward Gracey, his butler, Ramsley (Terence Stamp) and two other servants; maid Emma (Dina Spybey), and footman Ezra (Wallace Shawn).
When a rainstorm floods the nearby river, Gracey allows the family to stay the night. Ramsley takes Jim to the library to discuss the deal with Gracey, but Jim becomes trapped in a secret passage. Gracey gives Sara a tour of the mansion, discussing his past and his grandfather's death after the death of his lover, Elizabeth Henshaw. Megan and Michael follow a spectral orb to the attic, where they find a portrait of a woman that bears an almost identical resemblance to Sara. Emma and Ezra identify this woman as Elizabeth.
Meanwhile, Jim meets Madame Leota, the ghost of a gypsy whose head is encased in her crystal ball. He runs into Emma, Ezra, and his children, and returns to Leota for answers about Elizabeth's likeness to Sara. It is then revealed that the mansion’s inhabitants are ghosts, cursed a century ago by Gracey and Elizabeth's untimely deaths, and can only enter the afterlife when the lovers are reunited; Sara is believed to be Elizabeth's reincarnation. Leota then sends the Evers to the mansion's cemetery to find a key that will reveal the truth behind Elizabeth's death. In a crypt beneath a mausoleum, Jim and Megan find the key, but inadvertently disturb its undead residents. However, they escape with help from Michael, who overcomes his arachnophobia.
Leota leads them to a trunk in the attic, which Jim unlocks to find a letter from Elizabeth to Gracey, revealing she truly loved him and wanted to marry him, indicating that she was murdered. Ramsley then appears and reveals he murdered Elizabeth to prevent Gracey from abandoning his heritage, as he believed their relationship was unacceptable. To hide the truth, Ramsley traps the children in a trunk and literally throws Jim out of the mansion.
As Gracey and Sara rendezvous in the ballroom, she is confused when he asks if she recognizes him, and he insists she is his beloved Elizabeth. The room fills with dancing ghosts as Gracey reveals his ghostly self, but Sara insists she is not Elizabeth. This gives Gracey second thoughts, but Ramsley insists that Sara is Elizabeth and, in time, she will remember. Ramsley blackmails Sara into marrying Gracey in exchange for her children's safety.
Encouraged by Leota, Jim drives his car through the mansion's conservatory, rescues his children, and stops Sara and Gracey's wedding. He gives Elizabeth's letter to Gracey, exposing Ramsley’s crimes. Gracey angrily confronts Ramsley, who rages at his master's apparent selfishness for loving Elizabeth and summons wraiths to attack the group. However, a fiery entity emerges from the ballroom's fireplace and seizes Ramsley, who attempts to take Jim with him, but Gracey saves Jim as Ramsley is dragged down to Hell to face eternal punishment.
Sara collapses, having been poisoned by Ramsley, but the spectral orb appears and, possessing Sara, is revealed to be Elizabeth's ghost. Elizabeth and Gracey reunite, and Sara is subsequently revived. With the curse finally lifted, Gracey gives the Evers the deed to the mansion and departs to Heaven with Elizabeth, Emma, Ezra, and the mansion's other inhabitants. The Evers drive across the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway for a proper vacation, accompanied by Leota and four singing busts that they encountered while searching for the mausoleum strapped to the back of their car.
In a post-credits scene, Leota bids farewell to the audience, inviting them to join the dead using dialogue from the Disneyland attraction.
Cast
- Eddie Murphy as Jim Evers, a successful yet workaholic real estate agent who is often late for family gatherings, but tries his best to make up for it.
- Terence Stamp as Ramsley, the ghost of Gracey Manor's butler who serves as a fatherly figure to Master Gracey. He is later revealed to be Elizabeth's murderer.
- Nathaniel Parker as Master Edward Gracey, the ghost of Gracey Manor's owner who longs for his lost love Elizabeth to return to him after her death.
- Marsha Thomason as Sara Evers, Jim's disapproving wife who is also his business partner. Thomason also portrays Elizabeth Henshaw, the ghost of Master Gracey's mixed-race lover who bears a striking resemblance to Sara.
- Jennifer Tilly as Madame Leota, the ghost of a gypsy whose head is encased in her crystal ball. She speaks in cryptic riddles.
- Wallace Shawn as Ezra, the ghost of a bumbling footman who worries about getting into trouble.
- Dina Spybey as Emma, the ghost of a nervous but helpful maid who seems terrified of Ramsley.
- Marc John Jefferies as Michael Evers, Jim and Sara's arachnophobic son. Jefferies based his character's fear of spiders on Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter series.
- Aree Davis as Megan Evers, Jim and Sara's impatient daughter.
- The Dapper Dans as the voices of the Singing Busts.
- Deep Roy, Jeremy Howard, and Clay Martinez as the Hitchhiking Ghosts.
- Corey Burton as The Ghost Host (voice)
The film's chief makeup artist Rick Baker appears in the graveyard scene as a ghost behind a tombstone, using an appearance based on the Ghost Host's portrait in the attraction's Corridor of Doors. The cast also includes an uncredited Martin Klebba as Pickwick, one the ghosts in the graveyard, albeit unnamed and only known as "Happy Ghost" and director Rob Minkoff's nephew, who appears as the paperboy in the opening scene.
Home media
The film was released on VHS and DVD on April 20, 2004. The DVD release came with several special features, including a behind-the-scenes look at the film's production, describing how the zombies were created, and how certain visual effects were performed or produced; a scene anatomy of the graveyard; a virtual interactive ride of the film's Haunted Mansion with Emma and Ezra as hosts; a single deleted scene; an outtake reel; and a minute and a half long video about the attractions. The film was released on Blu-Ray disc on October 17, 2006.
