Haunted Mansion

One of the things I've been fascinated with is the idea that in order to create one effect, you often have to create it in layers. A perfect example of this is the Haunted Mansion singing busts. Thurl Ravenscroft (a.k.a. Tony the Tiger) was one of Disney's go-to voice actors, and his is one of the voices on the Haunted Mansion ride. The song is done with three actors, video taped at the same time. Their facial expressions are wonderful, and looked fabulous on the final busts... Here's Thurl, who we'll call actor #1:

And actor #2:

And actor #3:

Here's the result with everyone singing their parts:

I think the technical term is "composite," but don't quote me. Isn't composite work part and parcel of what we do as haunters?

For those of you who love the Haunted Mansion, a little of "how they done it." Part one:

Part two:

Coming from a visual effects family, I love seeing the background and development of these marvelous ideas that became the basis for so much inspiration. It's neat to see the sculptures behind the "imagineers," and know they were a step towards such a creative and enduring endeavor. I am so inspired, every time I see this kind of behind the scenes work. It makes me excited to fire up my kiln, really soon...

Hurry back!