The Devil's Muse

Tag: disney

  • Horror Junior: Return to Oz

    I was a child of the 1980s, and I first saw Return to Oz on a Sunday night as the weekly Disney family movie. I was excited to see it as a sequel to The Wizard of Oz, but I was not expecting it to be so scary. The witch with the replaceable heads was freaky and surreal, and I loved it. I had never seen anything like it.

    I rewatched the film this past week for nostalgia, not thinking it would be as intense as I remembered. Oh, no. It was intense. The movie began with poor little Dorothy narrowly escaping electro-shock therapy to discourage her imagination. It was terrifying.

    The other frightening scenes were equally as scary today. I liked the story of this movie more than The Wizard of Oz, both then and now. Also, as an adult, I have read L. Frank Baum books from the Oz series, and I better appreciate how Return to Oz captured the threatening and sinister tone of his storytelling.

    Murch, Walter. Return to Oz, Buena Vista Distribution, 1985.

    , , ,

  • 5 Vintage Halloween Cartoons To Watch

    ,

  • Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion

    Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion was originally designed to be The Museum of the Weird, a museum of strange and haunted items from throughout the world. The concept then morphed into a haunted walk through a wax museum. Announcements were made as early as 1961, six years after Disneyland had opened, but then the Haunted Mansion was put on hold for Disney to devote all attention to the 1964 World’s Fair. Look for the monsters in the wood work, the iron work and the wallpaper, all kept from early concepts for the Museum of the Weird.

    You get to ride in a Doom Buggy—-the carts that take guests to the otherly world. They were first dubbed Omnimovers and created at the 1964 World’s Fair. The new technology allowed storytellers to control what guests see and allows for a controlled line of sight similar to a movie experience. The Omnimover technology was originally used for Adventures Through Inner Space, but continues to be used for attractions like The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure in Disney California Adventure and Spaceship Earth at EPCOT.

    The bride found in the attic is named Constance Hatchaway. The attic scene has changed over the years, but has always featured a bride. Hatchaway appears twice on the ride: once in the stretching room when she is sitting on the tombstone that reads “Rest in Peace – Dear Beloved George” and once in the attic when she raises her ax on many of her past relationship. And the connections continue. The owner of the Hollywood Tower Hotel, aka, the Tower of Terror, is George Hightower, aka, poor Beloved George …

    Read many more interesting facts at Get Away Today’s 20 Scary Facts About the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland by Chris Dallin.

    And if you have the opportunity, visit the Haunted Mansion yourself!

    , ,

  • Glamour Ghoul

    Image from Long-Forgotten Haunted Mansion: The Decapitated Knight

    , , ,