< The Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion/Characters

This page covers a few of the characters from the ride.

The Ghost Host

The Host and The Narrator of the rides, the Ghost Host is the unseen voice that accompanies guests around the mansion. He was Driven to Suicide by hanging from the rafters in the mansion's cupola. The Ghost Host uses Black Comedy to entertain and possibly intimidate the guests, scaring them several times, and often invites them to join the mansion's residents as resident number one-thousand. Contrary to Word of Dante and some adaptations, he is not called Master Gracey.

  • Black Humor: The Ghost Host enjoys taunting and scaring the ride's guests.

The Ghost Host: Oh, I didn't mean to frighten you prematurely. The real chills come later.!

The Phantom

The Host of Phantom Manor. Unlike his original precedessor, he's the main villain of the ride. He's a very mysterious character and as a matter of fact there are two hypothesis who could he be: an evil spirit who fell in love with Melanie and then killed her groom hanging him by the neck from the rafters and then he condemned the poor bride to haunt the house forever. In the second one, he was in life Henry Ravenswood, owner of the Manor and Melanie's father. He disapproved of her wedding and plans to leave town and combined with his losses in his Big Thunder Mountain gold mine holdings, he snapped when an earthquake came and killed him. But his restless spirit would not be denied. What he did is the same of the first hypotesis.

Madame Leota

The spirit of a psychic medium, whose head appears inside a crystal ball. From her chamber, she performs a Spooky Seance to contact the spirits from beyond. She has a tombstone outside the ride which has moving eyes.

The Bride

The Bride is an iconic character in the rides with the most different character interpretations. She didn't have an official name or backstory until 2006, when she became Constance Hatchaway, The Bride with a Past and a Black Widow, having married at least five men and murdering them to gain their fortunes.

In Phantom Manor, the Bride is Melanie Ravenswood who wanted to marry the man she loved against her Overprotective Dad's wishes. On her wedding day, the Phantom killed her groom via hanging but she has remained unaware of this, and decided to wait for her groom to return so they can get married. She wanders the halls of her home singing for her lover, and scenes showed she aged and then died at some point, but lived on as a ghost, still waiting for her groom to come.

The film's incarnation of the Bride is Elizabeth Henshaw, a woman of mixed race who was to marry Master Gracey. However, not wanting a scandal, the butler Ramsley poisoned her to avoid a racial scandal, and faked a suicide. She lived on as a ghost ball, and was reunited with Master Gracey after the curse was lifted and the truth was revealed to him. She is mistaken for a woman named Sara Evers, who Master Gracey believes to be a reincarnation.

The Hitchhiking Ghosts

There's a little thing that should be mentioned: Beware of Hitch-Hiking Ghosts. These three ghosts appear at the end of the ride, hitching a ride in the guests' Doom Buggies. The Ghost Host comments that the ghosts will follow guests home after guests pass by a row of mirrors to see them sitting in their Doom Buggies. The three ghosts are now commonly known as Phineas (the obese ghost in a top hat), Ezra (the tall skeletal guy) and Gus (the hairy dwarf prisoner). These names originally came from fan fiction written by cast members but became so well-known that they are now often included in official Disney-sanctioned material. They are quite the Ensemble Darkhorses and the iconic characters of the ride. They only make a brief appearance in the film.

The Hatbox Ghost

Perhaps the biggest Ensemble Darkhorse for the fans after the Hitchhiking Ghosts. The Hatbox Ghost was a skeletal spectre seen in the attic with the bride, his head vanishing into the hatbox he carried and back to his body. Unfortunately, the character's trick often didn't work so he was quickly removed from the ride. However, he is so memorable that fans have been requesting his return for years. It seems they may get their wish with Guillermo Del Toro's announcement of remaking the film, and the Hatbox Ghost is to be involved as a focus point.

  • Big Bad: Considered by some to be the villain of the ride, even though he isn't in it.
  • Dem Bones
  • Put on a Bus: And absent for over forty years.

The Singing Busts

A quintet of singing busts found in the graveyard scenes. They sing the ride's Theme Song "Grim Grinning Ghosts". Four members of them appear in Phantom Manor, and four other versions appear in the film singing different songs to answer Eddie Murphy's questions.

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