Bring Home ‘Haunted Mansion’
Category: Blu-ray's and DVD's
When Disneyland opened the attractions were based on their films. Now we have films based on popular attractions – The Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. The latter is the newest version of the story and this one is closer to the actual attraction than the 2003 film. In Disney’s Haunted Mansion (2023) recognizable ghosts, furniture, wall paper, paintings, and more bring viewers into the actual attraction they know and love in the parks.
This is the story of Gabby and her son Travis (Rosario Dawson and Chase Dillon) who move into a dilapidated mansion not far from New Orleans. They quickly discover it is haunted. Yes, the ghosts we know from Disneyland are living in the mansion, albeit not so friendly.
First Gabby enlists the help of Father Kent (Owen Wilson) to exorcise the spirits. That doesn’t work so they get Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield), a former physicist to help. They put together a “dream team” including historian Bruce Davis (Danny DeVito) and medium Harriet (Tiffany Haddish) to work together to find out why the ghosts are there and how to get them out. The house originally belonged to William Gracey (J.R. Adduci) whose spirit leads them to Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis).
So, what ghosts are living there? There is the bride, the hatchet ghost, the mariner ghost, and others we see when riding through the mansion in Disneyland. These ghosts are not the happy ones we know and love. No, on the contrary they are evil. Some evil spirit has taken over and the entire mansion is possessed by wickedness. The task at hand is to find out who is the culprit and how to dispose of him once and for all.
With non-stop action between the ghosts and the humans, there are plenty of scenes reminiscent of the theme park attraction. What viewers want, as well as those living in the mansion, is for the fun of what we all experience to return to this haunted house. And, Spoiler Alert, at the end we are treated to the fun and merriment of the dancing ghosts we all know and see in the mansion attraction.
Haunted Mansion is now streaming on Disney+ and is available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD beginning October 17, 2023.
A number of bonus features add to the story including a “making of” featurette where viewers see how the spirits were created. There is a featurette about the 999 Happy Haunts inside the Disney Parks attraction, where there is always room for one more. Check out the Easter eggs (don’t forget the wallpaper) that appear in both the attraction and this film. Plenty of deleted scenes and a cute gag reel make up the remainder of the bonus features.
The film itself has not garnered a lot of positive reviews by reviewers, however fans of the actual attraction have enjoyed seeing the story and the house play out on screen. Happy Halloween!
Disney’s Haunted Mansion is rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and scary action.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA. Follow her on Twitter.