It almost seems like every other Halloween, I find myself returning to the Haunted Mansion in some aspect. And well, that’s makes sense considering that it is perhaps the attraction with the most characters and the most adapted of any Disney Parks attraction.
Again, this goes back to how easily adaptable this attraction is for other media. There have been numerous books both text and comic based on the Mansion. Yet, having said that it seems adapting it for screen is always tricky. The Eddie Murphy is godawful and I stand by that. Alas I feel my review of that movie is somewhat tarnished knowing what I know now about an ex-friend. The Muppets special is great and a classic as it understood the balance between spooky and silly. And then we have this movie from 2023, the second big screen attempt at adapting the Mansion. I do like this movie but in many ways, this movie has the opposite problem of the Eddie Murphy movie. That one leaned too hard into comedy that it undercut the scares whereas this one takes itself bit too seriously.
I understand that you don’t want to repeat what came before but this movie at times felt a bit too somber for a Haunted Mansion movie but that does make sense for the story the movie is telling as grief is a major component of the story and that is something our villain feeds off of.
Speaking of, I think this and Muppets Haunted Mansion is the only time we’ve had attraction characters as villains. Which honestly I prefer, obviously not every attraction lends itself to having a villain but this ride does. It’s also interesting how the movie chose The Hatbox Ghost to be the villain as he is an iconic ghost from the ride who originally was removed not long after the ride opened as his effect didn’t properly work. Overtime, Hatbox built up a cult following of fans and eventually he was returned to the Mansion. Now, again The Hatbox Ghost has had other media appearances including in the excellent Disney Kingdoms miniseries .
This movie however was his most prominent role with him serving as the main antagonist of this movie. I was mostly excited to see him in this movie and then found out he was being played Jared Leto. Which yeah, not getting into that can of worms but Disney loves working with this guy for some reason as he’s also the title character in the upcoming Tron threequel (Tron fans, I’m sorry). There’s a reason I don’t really talk about actors when looking at villains anymore and people like him are why.
First Appearance
We first see this take on Hatbox as the mother and son that move into the mansion leave as soon as they realize it is haunted with him saying one of the ride’s famous lines
“You’ll be back”
Though here it takes on a new meaning as once you leave the mansion, the ghosts will follow you until you return. The Hatbox Ghost or Alistar Crump as he’s named here but I’ll call him Hatbox Ghost for this blog has the ghosts of this mansion so scared as he is not from here and this is used as a way to have both the east and west coast versions of the Mansion into the movie. The main Mansion in the movie mostly pulls from the classic Disneyland version for its looks whereas Crump Manor pulls from the Orlando and Tokyo exterior for its look. And I know references don’t make for a good movie but I do find this a nice touch and allows for a reason for the characters to explore both mansions.
I am perhaps overthinking things but when Ben enters the ghost realm and comes across Gracey (who alas is a minor character compared to the Murphy movie), Gracey tells him that The Hatbox Ghost is not from here. Again, overthinking things and being the Disney nerd I am, I wonder if this is a meta reference to how Hatbox hadn’t been hurt of the Mansion for years. Yet, he was only ever planned for the California Mansion and not the Florida Mansion if I remember right.
And to this day, Florida does not have him in their mansion. I know this is a tangent but this is where my brain goes.
Personality/Most Evil Deed
In life, Crump was a cruel and vindictive man who was eventually killed by his own staff for his cruelty. He is a cruel man and even worse in death. He was accidentally summoned by Gracey and Madame Leota when he was trying to contact his beloved. Instead, he took over Gracey Manor and made it a living nightmare. Hatbox has no love or remorse for anyone and this is seen by how he plays on the grief of those who have lost a loved one. Be it tricking Travis by making the young boy believe he is communicating with his deceased father or selling Ben on being with his late wife again.
He’s very Faustian in the way of promising things to innocent people that will only hurt them in the long run. This is why I’ve combined these two categories together as they truly speak to how monstrous he is as The Hatbox Ghost.
Grand Desire
Hatbox has many goals but the biggest one is to obtain one thousand spirits so that he can haunt the living world. When we look at this, we see how far in the depths of evil, Hatbox is. As stated when talking about his personality and how he would use anything to get his way. Hatbox truly has no remorse for anyone he comes across. This goes back to how malicious he is and has only gotten worse in death. He was a monster of a man and became even more monstrous in death. Look at how he is able to scare the inhabitants of Gracey Manor, dead or alive.
Demise
It takes Ben overcoming the grief of losing his wife and refusing the deal of The Hatbox Ghost to send him back down below. Grief is a big part of this movie as Ben must overcome losing his wife and we see he has a hard time as him hosting the New Orleans ghost tour she used to lead and Hatbox isn’t afraid o prey on Travis a young boy who had lost his father.
As we see he psychic Harriet team up with a Madame Leota freed from her crystal ball and reciting her famous seance, we see Hatbox being sent back to the underworld freeing both the living and undead residents of Gracey Manor from his grasp.
Is The Hatbox Ghost A Good Villain?
He’s fine but I don’t think either Haunted Mansion movie is that great. Muppets Haunted Mansion is still the best and while I do like this movie a bit more than the Eddie Murphy movie, this movie is mostly forgettable. This is a fine enough take on one of the most iconic ghosts from the Mansion but not one I would’ve chosen as a villain. Ah well, still better than when OUAT made Leota a villain. Well, we have two more villains to go and both MCU. Join me next time as I look at my second take on Wanda as see her zombified as I look at
The Dead Queen
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Having Jared Leto play the Hatbox Ghost was definitely something that had me very skeptical about him in the movie.
Same, so very much the same