Between Books - Disney Parks Presents Jungle Cruise

I looked over at the Between Wife and said, “this is about to be a world of screaming and crying!”

We were standing in the foyer for The Haunted Mansion. Many of the kids around us were nervous and bargaining to escape! The parents were reassuring their children because they were prepared. When the Ghost Host declared that one way of leaving was “his way” none of the kids lost it…they were ready! We truly cannot underestimate the power of books or YouTube videos in preparing our next generation of Disney fans. And I want those kids to make sure that when I have to be rolled down the dock, the Jungle Cruise will be there for me in my later years!

Disney Parks Present Jungle Cruise with narration by John Lasseter, illustrations by Edrwin Madrid, and words by Walt Disney Imagineering and the Jungle Cruise Skippers is a literary walk through of the Jungle Cruise attraction. The book is simple, Skipper John, as in Skipper John Lasseter, takes his crew through the show scenes of the Jungle Cruise, before the 2021 refurbishment and Alberta Falls. All the important scenes are depicted in Madrid’s fun and vibrant pictures. The narration from Skipper John clearly shows highs and lows in tone which I think would make reading aloud fun. I am sure I can hear on the accompanying CD, if I choose to find a way to listen.

This book is likely not the best way to prep a young skipper for the attraction. Now, I was going to say part of that is because the attraction was revised a few years after this was published. The but is we can see in the credits that Kevin Lively was involved, as he was the attraction reset. And the narration is universal as I can see the puns being used today in most cases. The chunks revised out were not used on these pages. And it’s not for the art, which while not exactly what you would see on the Cruise, is strong illustrated homages to it.

No, the reason is that like many of these Disney Parks Presents books, it is out of print and $30 plus for purchase. I just can’t justify that when the Little Golden Book edition is currently available at a much lower price point. I believe part of the reason this one is out of print is due to John Lasseter’s participation. He truly did enjoy his days as Chief Creative Officer and loved reliving his days as a Skipper. But now, like C.W. Wood, Lasseter is someone not spoken of in official Disney channels. That leaves this book as really one of the last major Disney publicity pushes of his time with the company. And of the four books in this series on Amazon…it’s the one that fails to display the cover image and is a little hard to find in searches (just a little hard).

Disney Parks Present Jungle Cruise with narration by John Lasseter, illustrations by Edrwin Madrid, and words by Walt Disney Imagineering and the Jungle Cruise Skippers is a book that as a Disney book fan and Jungle Cruise fan I am thrilled to have in my collection. It just isn’t the most cost-effective book for getting young fans ready for the BACK SIDE OF WATERRRRRR!

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Mousey Movies - Haunted Mansion

As Disney parks fans we have waited for years for a new Haunted Mansion movie. Many fans have mixed thoughts on 2003’s The Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy. Personally, I don’t like scary things so a more comical version was more than fine with me. We need to remember this is an attraction that creators debated scary versus funny. That debate led to a story that was a mix of both and we loved it. But it has seemed to me that the movie reboot debate has been let’s get something really different from Murphy’s take and make it scary, and that’s a no-thank you situation for me. Much like the first time I entered the Haunted Mansion, I was afraid to attend the 2023 movie on opening day…because I don’t do scary! And I heard this was scary,

For comic book fans, my summary is; Night Nurse shares a house with Mobius and the Joker won’t let them sleep!

Gabbie, a doctor, and her son Travis relocate near New Orleans to a dark and dusty Mansion. The two discover quickly that the house is haunted by ghosts they cannot escape. In trying to escape their fate, Gabbie gathers ups a rag-tag crew of a priest, an astrophysicist, a historian, and a medium who all get pulled into Gabbie and Travis’ fate. The group discovers that one spirit has more devious plans than haunting a family, and they must avoid becoming the last ghostly inhabitant of the mansion so he cannot gain his full dark power. Along with the horror comedy of the mansion, the group, such as astrophysicist Ben, struggle with their own grief and what the existence of ghosts could mean.

We came for the movie but stayed for the ride. Haunted Mansion attraction fans won’t be disappointed. The big bad is the Hatbox Ghost. And we mean bad, real bad. He’s not fun at all. There are stretching paintings, busts, and ghosts that all bring us into the ride. They pulled some much of the attraction in that I’m pretty sure I didn’t see it all and will still miss things when I rewatch on Disney+.

Is it scary? We have gotten a lot of questions from friends about can my ten-year-old, and my twelve-year-old watch the movie? You likely know your child’s horror tolerance. The Hatbox Ghost is scary and dark. The ghosts are definitely not always nice. There are a few jump scares. I hate scary, but this movie is well within my scare tolerance. It’s dark and forbidding, but no over-the-top gore and images that kept me from sleeping at night. If anything the Eddie Murphy crypt scene may be scarier than anything seen here in 2023.

Speaking of The Haunted Mansion. Personally, I enjoyed it. I still enjoy it. And I currently just see it as a separate thing in a different universe. There has been so much added over the decades to the attraction, I really don’t see any story as canon. To me, neither The Haunted Mansion or Haunted Mansion are the true and only story of the mansion. And I enjoy them both for what they are without either taking from the other.

We have to give a special call out to Danny Devito as Professor Bruce Davis. The man is a national treasure and must be protected at all costs. He delivers the best one-liners in the film. And while he doesn’t get to play a beloved classic character like Jamie Lee Curtis’ Madame Leota, he is a new fresh, and fun one that gave a lot to the film, especially when a laugh was needed. A member of my group did not enjoy the film as much as the rest but made sure to let us know that Devito was the actor she kept following throughout the film.

Sigh, did I mention Disney+? The box office for this release under performed, by so so much. There are clearly two reasons for this. First, Barbie and her friend Oppenheimer are dominating the box office at release. Having seen Barbie, it definitely felt more fresh and new and it also has a lot of nostalgia. While there are a lot of Haunted Mansion fans, Barbie definitely has more. Second, do you want to see a Halloween-themed movie in July? Disney originally was going to release The Marvels in this slot but switched movies. The July release seems questionable. But, it also allows Disney to add it to Disney+ before the fall holiday. Maybe Disney is playing chess here, accepting that the movie release window would mean less at the theater but maybe have more of an impact when it hits streaming! I enjoyed watching the movie in a theater, mine was actually packed on opening day with that energy, but I would have liked it better in the fall.

I really enjoyed Haunted Mansion. But the question I am getting is do I need to see it in the theater? If you are a Disney Parks fan, Haunted Mansion fan, or even a Halloween holiday fan, I think you really should see it big. But I think of my friend who is a genre fan but not really a Disney fan at all. He likely can wait for it to arrive on Disney+ mainly because the material likely means a little less to him than to me, the guy who showed up in the Hitchhiking Ghost baseball jersey to see the movie. He’s really going to be entertained and enjoy Haunted Mansion, but he’s likely to enjoy his living room seat just as much as a theater seat.

 

Between Books - Disney Presents The Haunted Mansion

The first time I rode the Haunted Mansion, I was afraid. I hate scary things. I also was a grown adult. So if I was scared, I think kids would likely be also.

Disney Parks Presents The Haunted Mansion with music by Buddy Baker, lyrics by Xavier Atencio, and illustrations by James Gilleard presents a kid-friendly version of the mansion. The printed lines come directly from Atencio’s lyrics, with a verse or two on each page. The illustrations are all new with fun child approachable images. The lyrics and illustrations provide a walkthrough of the attraction, with scenes that those who have enjoyed the attraction will find very familiar. Along with the book, included in the packaging is a CD of the beloved song.

Disney Parks Presents The Haunted Mansion is really cute. I can see how for some young readers they could come to enjoy this packaging and begin to fall in love with the Haunted Mansion. It may even take away some anxiety in enjoying the Mansion. It may even bolster the courage of some before seeing a potentially scary live-action adaption.

The enclosed CD does make me chuckle a little bit. My copy is still sealed in the envelope not because I’m refusing to open the package for collecting, but because it is actually harder to listen to a CD than it was 5 to 7 years ago when all the music I listen to is digital. I did listen to a copy of the song with the book. It led to some really fast page-turning as the lyrics played. And then as the song went into reprises, a lot of playing without turning. I honestly liked it better without the tune.

The Haunted Mansion is beloved by young and old. Disney Presents The Haunted Mansion is a fun part of that program to create young fans. It is definitely one path to helping young fans enter fandom. It is cute, but perhaps a little misleading for those preparing for a live-action fright!


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Between Books - The Haunted Mansion

 

The Haunted Mansion adapted by Lauren Clauss, illustrated by Glen Brogan, and designed by Winnie Ho is a Little Golden Book adaptation of the Disney attraction. The book is what you expect from a 24-page Little Golden Book classic. The story walks readers through The Haunted Mansion, from entrance to exit. Each page is illustrated with new art from Brogan that highlights each significant set within the classic attraction, specifically the Disneyland version. Clauss provides new text mainly focusing on a young guest experiencing the attraction while using some quotes directly from the ride.

The Haunted Mansion is really what you would expect and hope for in a Little Golden Book version of the story. The text is short, easy to understand, kid-focused, and often original instead of just lifting quotes directly from the attraction. The images are playful takes on the images found in The Haunted Mansion, though they often make the potential terror more kid-friendly. For example, we do meet the bride Constance. But Brogan leaves her without her tool of choice and does not fully reveal her grisly hobby. 

The Haunted Mansion is playful and fun. It could potentially spoil a first-time rider's experience. But it could also help a youngster, or in my case years ago grown-man, who has anxiety about potentially scary things and what they could experience in their doom buggy. The book could also help a youngster who enjoyed the attraction and returned Between Disney in keeping the fun in their heart alive. 

 

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Between Books- A Portrait of Walt Disney World

50 years of joy at the Walt Disney World Resort have arrived! And how do we celebrate? A Between Book of course is the best way to party! And when we say Between Book, we mean a massive, big, back-breaking, coffee table book.

A Portrait of Walt Disney World: 50 Years of the Most Magical Place on Earth by Kevin M. Kern, Tim O’Day, and Steven Vagnini is a massive coffee table book highlighting 50 years of magic. The text opens with the expected historical path with the authors outlining the origin, development, and construction of the Magic Kingdom Park in Florida. This history is followed by themes. For example, the first theme, nostalgia shows how the entire resort encapsulates the ideal of the past as the authors walk through Main Street U.S.A., the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Liberty Square, the Haunted Mansion, Hollywood Boulevard and other attractions and locations which fit the theme. The text is illustrated with gorgeous color photos and concept art. Other themes which follow this pattern include fantasy, discovery, tomorrow, and reflections. The book concludes with a chapter that provides detail around the 50th anniversary celebration.

Overall, the book is brilliantly illustrated and visually enjoyable to dive into. The accompanying text fits the images well and is well-written. The piece that took me the most to adapt to was the themes. When you have read as many Between Books as us, do we not all expect that they will walk park-to-park and then land-by-land in each chapter? But here the themes transition from park to attraction to resort hotel to attraction again. So the reader must come to learn to follow the theme and not the geographical area as they proceed through the book. It is also very large, and expensive, so I do not suggest attempting to read the book all in one sitting…especially if it is sitting on your lap. This offering is also long-term going to be a collectors item and not something for your friend who is just showing a passing interest in the park, especially due to the large price point especially for periods where it may be out of print.

A Portrait of Walt Disney World: 50 Years of the Most Magical Place on Earth can help all of us park fans celebrate the park no matter how Between a visit we truly are. It is visually pleasing and can help us connect to the Florida Project no matter where we are. We just have to be willing to pay a fee which is closer to a one-day ticket than we may guess.  

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Between Books - Claude Coats: Walt Disney’s Imagineer

 

Claude Coats: Walt Disney’s Imagineer-The Making of Disneyland From Toad Hall to the Haunted Mansion and Beyond by David Bossert is an excellent addition to the history of Disney Imagineering.  The text balances images with narratives and gives this legendary Imagineer the chronicle he deserves.

The text offers exactly as titled.  Bossert works through Coats’ career from birth to the completion of one of his most famous projects, The Haunted Mansion.  The book outlines his early career from art student to animation.  Bossert follows with discussions of his transitioning to work on Disneyland, moving beyond design to actually painting backgrounds to get the work done.  The discussion of the Grand Canyon Diorama is one of the most in-depth that I have seen.  Chapters provide details on his collaborations for the fan-beloved Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.  But along the journey, the book includes interludes on presentations to NASA and painting for the U.S. Air Force.  The text is well-balanced with Coats’ images and text providing historical context to Coats’ work.

The text is really well done overall.  Bossert helps us understand Coats as an artist as he was someone who unlike Marc Davis did not work alone in his office.  But instead would often work outside working on models and collaborating with other artists.  Bossert frames Coats, not as someone who would be adversarial with other artists.  But instead, someone who was a team player, mentor, and project management.  Additionally, the chapter on the Air Force paintings demonstrated Coats as an artist outside of his Disney work and makes it clear that he truly was a respected Califroonaia fine artist.  The biggest gap I see in the books is a lack of discussion after the Haunted Mansion.  It would be interesting to be able to compare the frustrated Marc Davis after the Mansion with Coats and how he navigated being creative as the next generation grew into their own.  

Claude Coats: Walt Disney’s Imagineer-The Making of Disneyland From Toad Hall to the Haunted Mansion and Beyond by David Bossert is a great inclusion to the Between Books bookshelf.  It is well written and illustrated.  And it clearly left me wanting more.  Maybe we needed a two-volume set here! 

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Between Books - Boundless Realm: Deep Explorations Inside Disney's Haunted Mansion

 

This is not the book review you are looking for! 

I have heard endless praise of Foxx Nolte’s Boundless Realm:Deep Explorations Inside Disney’s Haunted Mansion.  That praise was coming from voices that I know and trust especially for Disney history topics.  I was really looking forward to a deep dive into the history of the Haunted Mansion.  But I do not know if I got the book I was hoping for read.

Boundless Realm is an exploration into the Haunted Mansion by a former Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion cast member. The connection is telling as this book is really one written with love and care.  And the book provides us all with what we expect from a Haunted Mansion history.  Nolte tells us of her personal background to the attraction.  Then Nolte dives into the history of haunted attractions especially in the 20 century.  Finally the author leads us through a series of essays that is also a guided tour of the Magic Kingdom’s house with connections to the Disneyland and other global houses.  Along with history, Nolte provides thoughts and additional insights to the Haunted Mansion, including nothing architecture of the attraction that only cast members can see.

I think I am probably the least enthusiastic reviewer of this book.  I think it is expectations.  Reviewers who like history books like me love this book.  So I assumed this was a just the facts type of history.  This is not what the text is to be.  To me this book is informed speculation.  Nolte has a deep and rich background with the Mansion.  I would love Nolte to take me on a tour of the attraction.  And Nolte makes inferences that I am simply not informed enough to make or back.  So on several occasions, Nolte makes a statement that is logical and perhaps correct but may not be backed by documentation or interviews.  And as a reader at times I feel positioned to question the speculation.  And perhaps that is the intent and provides some great natural tension.  But is it not a text I would go to argue a fact but instead to show possible positions on the history of the Haunted Mansion.

For me Boundless Realm was not the book I expected or hoped for.  But it did teach me a very important point.  Sometimes the best things are not fully planned, because in the end we may never have a definite and complete history of some of our favorite attractions due to the numerous and often unknown contributors to their construction.

 

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Between Books - Marc Davis In His Own Words

 

Marc Davis In His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks by Pete Docter and Christopher Merritt is much more than a simple book.  The title is truly an experience, one which can help enlighten and raise the spirits of a Disney fan…because in 2020 more of us are Between Disney than ever before.

During the health crisis of 2020, I took eight months to read this two-volume text.  And when I say read, I mean experienced.  For me, every session was carefully staged in strong lighting.  I played appropriate attraction or movie themes on a speaker.  I never ever read so long that my mind began to wander.  I truly just let the book pull me into the art, process, and finally the experience of many of Mark Davis’ masterpieces. 

The structure of Marc Davis In His Own Words is largely what one would expect.  The 749 pages open with a chapter about Davis’ career in animation, a career which on its own merit was a triumph.  The book then follows his path through Imagineering, being called over by Walt Disney to provide creative ideas at Disneyland for “Nature’s Wonderland” and other established attractions.  Then the authors bring us through Davis’ most celebrated attractions including “Pirates of the Caribbean”, “Haunted Mansion”, “Country Bear Jamboree” and more including the transfer of many of these ideas to Florida and the Magic Kingdom Park.  The book ends with a period of creative frustration for Davis as many of his ideas were never fulfilled including the “Enchanted Snow Palace.”  Finally, a retired Davis continues to provide support of Imagineering creative endeavors, consulting with EPCOT and Tokyo Disneyland.  The chapters are picture heavy, with really the Davis art at the center of attention.  Davis quotes surround his striking art along with the words of his colleagues.  There is some background information provided by the authors, but they admittedly take third place to the art and words of Davis and those who worked closely with him. 

I have many thoughts, and learned so much during the months of reading this book that everyone praises.  First, I feel like I can now say I have experienced new Davis’ attractions such as the “Enchanted Snow Palace” as the excellent presentation of his art allowed me to sit Between Disney and experience a ride that has never been realized, and perhaps it should be!  But even for the attractions I know deeply, I can see them in a new way as Davis’ art provides never included details, variations and insights that I had never considered.  I also believe I know Davis the artist better.  His attraction development includes numerous brainstorming ideas which he drew out so he could find the right idea.  We have often discussed as fans that Walt Disney noted you cannot choose from one.  This maxim is true for Davis and his own efforts to find the story as he sought multiple ideas in his storytelling.  The best part is this is not told to us but shown to us through his concept art.  Additionally, he did not see an attraction as true pure storytelling.  An attraction was an experience and he could immerse guests into it.  But the story would be different for everyone.  And so Davis was not truly looking to tell stories but instead experiences.

If you are interested in Disney books, you have likely heard how great Marc Davis In His Own Words is.  They are right.  The two-volume book can be seen as a major investment, but the title can at times be found on sale which makes the price more reasonable for two large art of books.  But in the end, for me the price was fair.  Because I was able to use my time largely at home to bury myself multiple mornings into Davis’ fantastic worlds.