Haunted Mansion Director On Balancing Grief, Death, And Humor For New Film

Disney's Haunted Mansion is a theme park staple across the world. Most Disney parks have its own version, even though they vary slightly in aesthetics and narrative--except Disney Shangai as they view the afterlife as something entirely different.

The first Haunted Mansion movie came out 20 years ago with Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Tilly, and Terrence Stamp which was more of a murder mystery, and more in line with the actual ride's narrative. It was coming off the heels of the success of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl which was released the same summer and in the midst of Disney making films about their rides and attractions. The new Mansion movie has no ties to the first, outside of it being set at Gracey Manor, the Haunted Mansion located in Disneyland.

Speaking with director Justin Simean at San Diego Comic-Con about why it was important he wanted to set the film at the original Disneyland New Orleans manor and how they wanted to show the funny side of the afterlife while still showcasing a level of grief.

Simien, a self-proclaimed Disney adult, told GameSpot he rode the Haunted Mansion for the first time as a child and he quickly became obsessed with the special effects and eventually worked at the park. "I rode that ride over and over and over again. And I would literally think to myself, how do I figure out how to produce this kind of feel and immersion in my work as a filmmaker never, ever in a million years dreaming that I'd be directing the Haunted Mansion. It's wild, really wild."

Adapting the story was another thing he made sure to get right. There's a lot to the Haunted Mansion lore that casual fans might not be aware of so picking and choosing what gets brought into the story he left to screenwriter Katie Dippold (Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, The Heat).

"[She] figured out so much of this stuff because when I got the script, these were all in my questions. It's like...I don't know where you're going to start and do this, but she took this really wonderful approach of let's meet the Haunted Mansion lore, the same way you do when you ride the ride," he said. "So you are with characters who are entering the Haunted Mansion for the first time, and they have to discover just like you do. 'Why this, why that? Well, who is that? What does that mean? And what goes to that?' So they are actually uncovering the same mystery that you do on the ride, which I thought was a really smart way in."

Making sure the film took place in New Orleans was also a conscience choice. The original ride premiered in 1969, at the peak of the Civil Rights movement. Simien's family comes from New Orleans and he wanted to weave the culture of the city into the story, but also address the history and historic moments that tie the city together.

"I brought on my cousin Jeremy Simien as a consultant because his passion in life is finding the artwork from all the free peoples of color that had to leave and flee New Orleans when Jim Crow came in and bring that stuff back so you can actually see that this town was made up of really different-looking people that was nowhere else in America," he explained. "We're mixing and mingling and building wealth and societies together. That's why you get such strange and amazing and creative culture out of New Orleans."

Simien went on to explain funeral culture in the city and how it's more of a celebration of life as he wanted to get New Orleans right and make that a focal point of the film.

"If we do New Orleans justice, we actually get you in the right vibe for this movie," he added. "We get you to sort of already believe in ghosts because we got a whole town that believes in ghosts, but also be able to kind of live in a movie world where sadness and joy and fun and laughter and scare all that stuff sort of belongs in the same universe because it's New Orleans."

Disney's The Haunted Mansion welcomes foolish mortals to theaters July 28.

Additional reporting by Chris E. Hayner.