Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks

[[Imagineer Chris Merritt (previously) was the protege of the Disney legend Marc Davis, the character designer whose work defined the look of such classic attractions as Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. Merritt has written seminal books on southern California's themed attractions, including Knott's Berry Farm and Pacific Ocean Park.

[[His latest book, Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks, is his magnum opus: a gorgeous, two-volume, slipcased set on the life, philosophy, reminisces, career, and designs of Marc Davis, incorporating many never-seen rarities from Davis's own collection, as well as the Disney archives. Chris was kind enough to supply us with this excerpt from Chapter Nine, which tells the backstory of my beloved Haunted Mansion, largely through transcribed, verbatim quotes from Davis himself. -Cory]]

With the success of the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean, the last attraction to truly be approved by Walt Disney, the team at WED turned their efforts back to a long-delayed and never fully developed showthe Haunted Mansion. After Walts untimely passing in late 1966 and the struggle to get Pirates open the following year, the team found difficulty in establishing the final designs needed to go into production.

Disneys Spook House had been long planned by WED, going back at least to 1956, when Marvin Davis and Sam McKim developed concept art of an abandoned haunted house for the then nascent development of New Orleans Square. It was conceived as a walk-through attractionnot unlike the Pirate Wax Museumand in early 1957 Walt turned to Ken Anderson to develop the show. Read the rest