Phantom Manor is Disneyland Paris's equivalent of The Haunted Mansion.
Telling a more explicit story then it's counterpart as well as using a
Western theme, the attraction has many unique scenes and altered takes
on classic ones.
Backstory
Henry Ravenswood
was a Western settler that struck gold in Big Thunder Mountain and
founded the Thunder Mesa Mining Company, thus creating the city of
Thunder Mesa. Ravenswood became rich and built himself a Victorian manor
high on a hill overlooking Big Thunder Mountain where he raised a
family and had a daughter,
Melanie Ravenswood
.
Melanie Ravenswood
Time went by and the gold in Thunder Mesa ran out and Melanie grew
from a young girl into a beautiful young woman, and the time came for
her to get married. She became engaged to an intelligent train engineer
who planned to take her far away from Thunder Mesa, much to the dismay
of Henry. Henry did everything he could to stop the wedding but his
useless attempts were put to a stop when a terrible earthquake killed
him and his wife Martha
(Born 1802), and Melanie was never heard from again. After several
years, the story of what really happened came out from underneath the
rubble. On Melanie's wedding day, a mysterious phantom unknown to anyone
in the house appeared in the manor. While Melanie was preparing in her
room the phantom lured her suitor up to the attic where he hung him by
the neck from the rafters.
In the ballroom the bride sat alone. Hours went by with no sign
of the groom. The guests slowly filed away, leaving Melanie alone in the
house with the staff of maids and butlers. "Some day", she told
herself, "he will come". And so, having never taken off her wedding
dress or dropped her bouquet in preparation of her loved one's return,
she wandered the house aimlessly, singing melancholy songs of lost love.
Welcome to Phantom Manor
The phantom was still in the house, laughing at her humanly
devotion to her intended husband. One by one he invited his dead,
demonic friends from the afterlife to fill the house in an eternal
party. The shape of the house was slowly transformed surreality by the
evil forces.
Years passed.
Inside and outside, the house was decaying. Dusty cobwebs cover
every inch, the disheartened staff caring not, for it was rumored that
Melanie had lost her mind. She wandered the house for years and years,
singing softly to her groom while all around her demons and ghosts
reveled and danced. Everywhere she went she was reminded of the wedding.
The phantom's eternal laughter still carried through the walls of the
house. Outside, the once beautiful grounds were falling apart and
crumbling. The gilded staircase and structure was dotted with mold and
trees and every plant on the grounds died. As if sensing the evil
inherent in the house, nothing living tread there.
Development
As Disneyland Paris took on a great level of sophistication and
detail, Imagineers chose to place the Haunted Mansion in Frontierland
and taking cues from the European love of the old American West,
constructed an elaborate storyline connecting all of Frontierland,
particularly the newly christened Phantom Manor and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
The attraction itself would center around the popular bride character
of other Haunted Mansions. The Phantom, who only narrates the walking
portions of the attraction, would be voiced by Vincent Price,
but the Parisian demands for a French audio track lead to an early
replacement of the narration by one recorded by Gérard Chevalier, who
had done French dubwork over Price before.
Its queue, A large mansion confronting Frontierland, Is much based on the mansion in Alfred Hichcock´s Psycho. Compare both mansions and take your conclusions.
The attraction, along with the rest of Paris' Frontierland, would
serve as a large homage to the unbuilt Western River Expedition, with
Phantom Manor using a ghost town take on the attraction's western town
scenes.
Relive Phantom Manor
as if you were there or almost!
With
"Phantom Manor Pack"
You will find:
- The full ride video (interior & exterior)
- Promotional & commercial videos and many more
- The original attraction poster and ads in PDF format
- Plenty of rare photography
- Concept Art, Visual Development, and Illustrations
And How i get this Pack?
...Just make a donation for Virtual Disney Parks,
As people all over the world contribute,
the site will continue to evolve and grow!
Click on ticket
