Haunted Mansion may be packed full of references to the beloved Disneyland ride that inspired it, but director Justin Simien tells 12DOVE that he had even more planned.
"It's about editing," the Dear White People director explains about making sure the Haunted Mansion Easter eggs didn’t overwhelm the story. "It's about having the courage to kill your darlings and there were quite a few. There were some ghosts that we had whole scenes with that I love and there were some subplots that were super fun. But, at the end of the day, you know, this is a really specific story about a group of people who are moving through a difficult experience that happens to be taking place in this wonderful Haunted Mansion that we know and love. If it didn't move the story forward, unfortunately, it had to go."
Indeed, the movie follows a different story than a straightforward narrative based on the theme park attraction. It begins with Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield), an astrophysicist developing a camera that can detect the dead, who is struck by tragedy. Years later, having given up on his dream, he’s brought in by a mother (Rosario Dawson’s Gabbie) and her son (played by Chase W. Dillon) to help them identify some spooky goings-on in their new mansion.
To help save the family from one particularly gruesome ghoul, Ben recruits a team to help him defeat the ghosts. The motley crew consists of Owen Wilson as priest Father Kent, Danny DeVito as college professor Bruce Davis, Tiffany Haddish as psychic Harriet, and Jamie Lee Curtis as a helpful spirit called Madame Leota.
There are lots of spooks and scares to be had in the faithful reinvention of the classic ride, but as reviewers have pointed out, you may also be surprised by how touching its exploration of grief is as well. For Simien, this was not only at the core of the whole story, but it also fits perfectly into the Disney canon.
"The Disney stories that I grew up with that I love and stick to my bones, don't shy away from the darker aspects of life," he smiles. "Whether we are talking about Pinocchio becoming a donkey boy or Simba losing his father or any of the frankly quite tragic sequences in something like WALL-E, Up, or Coco, I think that those [moments] make these stories a bit more important. So I really appreciated that Katie Dippold, the screenwriter, really took it there on the page, and that the studio trusted me and the actors to completely realize that." Our advice: make sure you pack some tissues for the more poignant moments of the film...
Of course, all this is not to say that there isn’t plenty of fun to be had in the star-studded adaptation too. And a lot of those laughs come from DeVito’s anorak-clad professor, who’s a real pleasure to watch on screen.
"I wanted Danny for a while on this project," Simien beams when we bring him up. "He's remarkable. I mean, he is one of the best actors of his generation, but he's also hilarious. He's also really warm and because he's also a filmmaker, he really understands how character choices and acting choices help the overall story."
The director continues about the actor who’s no stranger to Disney movies, having also starred in Hercules and Dumbo. "He was just a wonderful, wonderful person to get to work with," Simien continues. "He knows how to be gruff, rude, and callous and make it an absolute delight to watch."
Haunted Mansion has already been released in the US, and hits UK shores on August 11. Simien will be hoping it will win over Disneyland lovers and newcomers alike, and you can read more from our interview with him about potential crossovers here.
For more, check out our guide to the best Disney movies and the best Pixar movies.
