Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Ghostly Obsession


I’m geeking out over this clip from Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” ride. It’s almost as fun to watch this little clip as it is to go through the park itself, just for the simple trickery involved here: faces projected on blank busts, made as if to sing. I love that this was done before the era of CGI.

So, who are the Grim Grinning Ghosts?

Not Walt Disney, per Snopes.com. The one some take for Disney is Thurl Ravenscroft of the deep voice and similar moustache to Disney.

The others are Chuck Schroeder, Bob Ebright, Jay Meyer, and Verne Rowe.

The four were singers in various groups from The Sportsmen to the Ray Coniff Singers, and all lent their voices at times to the Disney Studio for various projects. What a way to achieve immortality, though – even though nobody knows their names as attached to the busts at the Haunted Mansion. Guess I’ll have to say “hi” the next time we’re there.

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