Haunted Mansion's Big Villain Has A Long And Weird Offscreen History
When you think about "The Haunted Mansion" a few images jump immediately to mind. The hitchhiking ghosts, the iconic wallpaper, the creepy exterior (New Orleans style if your park of choice is Disneyland, more ominous asylum style if your park of choice is Magic Kingdom), Madame Leota's floating head, and, of course, the spooky figure in a cloak and tophat known only as The Hatbox Ghost.
What you might not be aware of, especially if you're a relatively new fan of the attraction, is that The Hatbox Ghost was something of legend for decades, a piece of Disney Park iconography that was whispered about, but rarely seen.
The rumors surrounding this imposing figure grew and grew since the 1969 opening of "The Haunted Mansion," to the point where it's hard to distinguish between fact and fiction. Some people claim he was present on the ride when it opened (there's some potential home video evidence to support this), some say he was pulled before the official opening. Whatever the truth is, it's unquestionable that the mystery behind The Hatbox Ghost turned him into something of a cult figure amongst Disney Park fans.
Who is The Hatbox Ghost?
That's a question we still don't have an answer for, at least when it comes to Disney Park canon, but we do know that Imagineer legend Marc Davis conceived of him during the lengthy development process for the attraction, drawing him pretty much as we know him now, a hunched over figure with a crooked cane in one hand and a (sometimes) empty hatbox in the other.
While he never got a name beyond "The Hatbox Ghost" we do know that he was intended to have some relation to the Black Widow killer who resides in the Haunted Mansion's attic. Whether he was intended to be one of Constance's victims or a collaborator is hotly debated still to this day. I tend to lean towards the former since Constance's modus operandi was to remove the heads of wealthy victims and if there's one thing we know about The Hatbox Ghost it's that his head has a penchant for moving around.
But we do know during cast member previews of the attraction that The Hatbox Ghost was positioned in the attic scene and according to Imagineer Tony Baxter (as quoted in Jason Surrell's great book "The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies") he originally appeared where The Bride can be seen today, at the tail end of the attic set and right before your Doom Buggy carries you down into the cemetery.
Old school effects
The most commonly accepted explanation for why The Hatbox Ghost was removed back in 1969 is that the effects on the animatronic just weren't up to snuff. I use the word "animatronic" loosely here because the original version of The Hatbox Ghost was mostly a still statue, just the shaking hand holding the cane needed to move.
However, there was an effect that had his face disappear and then reappear as a decapitated head in the large hatbox he carries. This is where things went awry. This effect was pulled off by a clever switching of light. The face was illuminated by black light that would dim down while the head in the box had a bright pin light on it that would turn up, so it would look like his face disappears and reappears in the box. This was to be timed with the beating of Constance's heart, which can still be heard in the attraction today.
The problem was there was too much ambient light in the attic scene and the Doom Buggies got too close to the Hatbox Ghost, so the face never fully disappeared for the riders. So, Mr. Hatbox was removed from the ride, but only after enough people saw it to spread his legend across generations.
His triumphant return
The legend of The Hatbox Ghost was so prevalent that Disney would use the figure in merchandise for years, including the Story and Sound LPs Disney sold, before he would actually return as a presence on the ride in 2015. His tech has been upgraded a little bit, but the effect is still the same. His grinning face poofs away and appears in the hatbox for a beat and then returns to his head. Instead of being a trick with lights, there's a bit more modern tech involved now with electronic animation using projections and screens.
Those in Kissimmee, FL don't have long to wait either as it was just announced that The Hatbox Ghost will be taking up residency at the Magic Kingdom Haunted Mansion, but in a slightly different spot. It's reported he'll appear earlier in the attraction, between the Endless Hallway (the one with the candelabra floating in the center) and the Swinging Wake section where the ghosts are all getting down to party.
Hatbox Ghost's continuing legacy
The legend surrounding this mysterious figure has proven to be catnip for all recent filmmakers who have tried to get an adaptation off the ground. Guillermo del Toro announced his adaptation was underway in 2010 with a Comic-Con exclusive poster featuring the Hatbox Ghost and in some interviews he confirmed that The Hatbox Ghost was central to his story. Five years later Ryan Gosling would be announced as joining del Toro's adaptation and the speculation was that he would be playing The Hatbox Ghost himself.
When screenwriter Kate Dippold and director Justin Simien got their "Haunted Mansion" film off the ground, they decided to make The Hatbox Ghost their villain, giving him a full backstory and having him be the main threat of the movie. He is the ghost all the other ghosts are afraid of, a collector of souls, and he needs just one more before his evil plans to come back to the world of the living are fulfilled.
To further underline him being a bad guy, they cast Jared Leto in the role and gave him a backstory that made him just as evil in life as he appeared in death. This didn't go over well with a lot of "Haunted Mansion" super fans who choose to believe the ghost isn't any more evil than the others in the mansion and, in fact, might himself be the victim of The Bride in the attic.
However you fall on that topic, it's clear that the mystique around this particular character has entranced creative types and tourists alike for generations. The ambiguity of information surrounding The Hatbox Ghost only adds to his appeal, letting the individual fill in the blanks on this very effective design.