Tuesday, January 21, 2025

The LA Times wrote about the updated version of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion

LAT (plenty of photos):

The last time the attic received a major overhaul was in the mid-2000s, and that figure, known as the “black widow bride,” had a more aggressive, sinister story to tell. Holding an ax, she was portrayed as a murderous, wealth-seeking seductress who had beheaded her husbands, evident by their heads disappearing from the wedding portraits scattered around the attic. Those pictures are still present, only now the full bodies of the men vanish — leaving their departure up to the imagination.

Irvine said the attic scene was redone, in part, because the projection technology on the prior figure had become so outdated as to necessitate regular maintenance. But rather than update what was there, [Disneyland Creative Director] saw an opportunity to add a greater contrast with the more festive waltz in the prior room as well as to embellish the Mansion’s tale.

...

“The bride that used to be in there was an ax murderer, and in this day and age we have to be really careful about the sensitivities of people,” [Creative Director] said. “We were celebrating someone chopping off her husband’s heads, and it was a weird story.