The Haunted Mansion Hatbox Ghost Bust

CaptainEO

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I'm obsessed with Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, and one of my favorite characters in the ride is the Hatbox Ghost. Well, technically he hasn't been in the ride since the first week it opened... so here is some quick back story:

Disney created a character to put in the Haunted Mansion called The Hatbox Ghost. The gimmick was that his head would disappear and reappear in the hatbox he was holding. Here's a picture of the real ghost as seen in 1969:
hbghost01.jpg


Long story short, the effect didn't work. He was only in the attraction for the first few weeks in 1969, and then we was taken out, never to be seen again...

Since then, the rumor of a 'missing' ghost has grown, and finally some actual pictures emerged of Hatty as seen in the ride. There was a number of merchandising items that featured him, and he has grown in popularity ever since. There are even rumors of him returning to the ride in the near future.

Well, Disney is always one to save money, so they used the Hatbox Ghost head sculpt in other places throughout the ride. You can see his head in some of the pictures in the hallway, and most famously, one of the hitchhiking ghosts uses the same sculpt. I was actually able to acquire a cast of one of these heads, and painted him up as the infamous Hatbox Ghost!

4655167926_d18c4bdbd8.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/steampirate/4655167926/

I still need to give him his collar, and find a better hat. But what do you all think?

If you want to read more about him, check out my website! http://www.thehatboxghost.com/
 
I just commented on you post on the doombuggy forum, but its such a great bust I think it deserves more praise. Where did you acquire the actually head if you dont mind me asking?
 
Thanks for the kind words everyone! He's kind of an obscure character, but his backstory is so interesting, you can't help but like him!

I was able to get the head through an acquaintance. Can't say much more than that... :sick
 
Very nice. I have a full set of the Hitchhiking ghosts heads, along with a few others, that I picked up while working at WDW from a friend who worked in Central Shops. I may just have to re-produce one into Hatbox too...that's just too cool.
 
That's awesome. The wife and I are a couple of haunted mansion nuts as well .... we have a set of the Stretching Portraits hanging in our den at the house.
 
WELL DONE!!!
He's a fav of mine too!!

If you or anyone else with an authentic cast of him ever do a run, I'm in!!!

Chuck...
 
Cool back story and prop!

Thanks! I just love the story behind him, makes him seem more surreal.

Very nice. I have a full set of the Hitchhiking ghosts heads, along with a few others, that I picked up while working at WDW from a friend who worked in Central Shops. I may just have to re-produce one into Hatbox too...that's just too cool.

Thanks! And very awesome about your heads! I would love to see a pic of them!!

That's awesome. The wife and I are a couple of haunted mansion nuts as well .... we have a set of the Stretching Portraits hanging in our den at the house.

Those are great! I'm still kicking myself for not picking up the tapestry versions when they were available, the prices are insane now!

WELL DONE!!!
He's a fav of mine too!!

If you or anyone else with an authentic cast of him ever do a run, I'm in!!!

Chuck...

Totally! There are rumors that he might return in the not so distant future... he was supposed to show up back in January when they took down the Nightmare Before Christmas makeover, but got canceled the last minute. Apparently Tony Baxter is a big fan, and is pushing for his comeback :thumbsup
 
Here are the faces from mine...I cast half copies a while back so I could hang them on the wall. The full heads are somewhere in my storage locker. The photos are at an angle, as they are displayed in my vaulted ceiling staircase...the posters to the left and right are the full size originals from MK if that helps with the scale.

DSCN3566.jpg


DSCN3568.jpg
 
Here are the faces from mine...I cast half copies a while back so I could hang them on the wall. The full heads are somewhere in my storage locker. The photos are at an angle, as they are displayed in my vaulted ceiling staircase...the posters to the left and right are the full size originals from MK if that helps with the scale.

DSCN3566.jpg


DSCN3568.jpg

VERY NICE!! I always wanted a set of those posters... but I have SOOOOO much on the walls already, I am completely out of space.
 
Beauiful display Moviefreak!!!!!

Sorry for the delay in my reply!!

If you ever pull the full head of the Hat Box/ Hitchhiker out of storage for a run, let me know!!!

That goes for anyone with one of these.....

Chuck...
 
Beauiful display Moviefreak!!!!!

Sorry for the delay in my reply!!

If you ever pull the full head of the Hat Box/ Hitchhiker out of storage for a run, let me know!!!

That goes for anyone with one of these.....

Chuck...

LOL.... it is not my display.... I WISH!! It belongs to TK5378
 
OOPS!:$
My appologies tk5378!!!

Beautiful collection!!!!

Thanks so much for sharing it.

All the best,
Chuck...
 
I have a ton more HM and Disney Stuff...but like so many other people, I lack the space to display it properly.

My favorite piece, as bizarre as it is, is a giant chunk of the Monorail beam that came loose when a load tire blew out on Monorail Gold while I was driving back in the day...been wanting to find a nice way to display it, perhaps with a scale model of the monorail or perhaps the attraction poster...

But that is for another thread! Got to get working on a Hatbox Ghost now!
 
Simply gorgeous display. I am at Disneyland right now and was noticing how many pics of the hatbox ghost face they are using framed in the hallways of the mansion. Would love to see a run of these.
 
offtopic a bit but had to chime in...lol....monorail gold was a mk4, what years did you drive? they ran em from 71 till 89 when the mk6 replaced em

Will
 
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Actually, Gold was a MKVI. There were 12 of them...

Black
Gold
Yellow
Purple
Blue
Red
Lime
Coral
Pink
Orange
Green
Silver

Last I heard, Pink and Purple had been taken apart and re-assembled into a new train (after they were involved in a fatal collision last year) which is Teal.
I drove full time from '98 till 2000, plus a few random shifts in 2001 and 2002.
 
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