Story & Song From the Haunted Mansion

Product Details

2. BONUS TRACK - Grim Grinning Ghosts
The official DisneylandŽ Park version

Bonus Content: Insert this CD into your computer to enjoy a second session of HiRez Collin Campbell images of his original paintings for the 1969 vinyl release.

Product Reviews

(5 stars) - as advertised
This was an album my kids had back in the early 70's. I had tried finding it, but to no avail. Finally, my daughter found this on Amazon.com. It brought back a lot of memories.

(4 stars) - Improved, but not identical to the vinyl release
This version is altered from the original Lp release. While some really bad editing flubs that exist on the original have been fixed/masked, and the tape hiss cleaned up dramatically, it lost some things in the process. Much of the original stereo mix has been mixed down to mono. Could be because of the dropouts in the original tape, or to blend smoothly with the next scene. The original did have several segments spliced in after the tape had been completed, often jarring the listener by jumping from mono to stereo and back again inexplicably in mid-scene. The engineer on this release did a great job repairing those flubs. In one place, the Ghost Host inexplicably in mid-sentence went to mono from the "weird stereo effect" as others have described it, but that has now been fixed. In another scene, the ballroom organ inexplicably jumps from center to right and back to center again which has been corrected. There are still a few tape dropouts remaining that throw the recording off-balance which could have easily been fixed by adjusting the gain on one track, but they chose not to.

I just wish they had left the original stereo elements as they were. For example, in the first section of the vinyl as Thurl sets the scene, some cats start meowing on the left channel, as well as the wind and rain sound effect plays on the left. Now it's all mono. This happens in several places that were originally stereo. Additionally, there is a segment about 2/3 of the way through that is very muffled, which isn't muffled in the original.

Another big mistake they made on this new release is by adding a reverb that simulates voices bouncing off the walls of a small, empty room, and is most notable on Thurl Ravenscroft's narration. It totally ruins the original "right-in-the-room-with-you" acoustical presence that the original Lp has. Now he sounds like he was recording in a medium-sized empty room instead of the acoustically damped studio. The only reverb used on the original was for the Ghost Host's ominous voice. Adding an unnecessary (and annoying) reverb to perfectly good recordings has been an on-going problem with most of Mr. Thornton's recent vintage re-releases. It may be virtually imperceptible to most, but after listening to the original record for 40 years, I noticed it immediately.

Would have been better had this album been entirely remixed from the original recording elements, but I presume they are lost to time. Some more (and new) bonus material would have been nice too. The scans of the restored Campbell paintings are nicely done, but there should have been more. Can't really argue since it is bargain-priced.

Overall, it's great to finally have it on CD now - but it's not *quite* as good as your old Lp overall.

(5 stars) - The 10-year-old in me is VERY happy!!
I stumbled across this CD while searching another item. The Haunted Mansion album was available at one of the gas stations my parents would go to, and they got me this record the year before we were to go to Disneyland. I must have played it three or four times a day for months! When I received my order, it was everything I remembered and more! GREAT STUFF!

(5 stars) - What a treat!
This album brings back fond childhood memories. I had the old LP which is long gone and after many years of searching, they finally release it on CD. I'm so glad I was able to buy it before Halloween. My 5 year old is really enjoying it. Thanks Disney!

(5 stars) - A must-have for haunted house fans!!
You get the 20 minute original 1969 story of the haunted mansion complete with sound effects (which this is the best and longest story told of the mansion), you get the original full-length version of "Grim Grinning Ghosts" from the Disneyland attraction, you get the entire storybook including all the great artwork and words in paper form inside the case, and you get the entire storybook in digital form when you put it in your computer!! And all for under $10...this is just like having the original book from your childhood PLUS you get the full-length story!

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