Ep 274: “Haunted Mansion” 2003 vs. 2023 (w/Dina Spybey-Waters)

In a special episode to kick off spooky season, we take a look back at the two film adaptations of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride — both the 2003 and 2023 releases. And what better guest to join us than Dina Spybey-Waters, who played the quirky yet compassionate maid, Emma, in “Haunted Mansion” 2003? Tune in to hear all about Dina’s experience working on the first film, how the two movies differ (and what works in each), and what we’d like to see from any future “Haunted Mansion” installments.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello, and welcome to Happy Horror Time. My name is
Matt Emmert.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm Tim Murdoch joining us today to discuss the
two Hanten Mansion films. As a close friend of the podcast,
She's a daytime Emmy winner and put her soul into
two thousand and threes The Hanten Mansion, playing the sweet
yet ghostly maid Emma. And just like me, she's from
Ohiose so we love to talk OSU football kidding. Growing up,

(00:37):
I did get to watch her in high school plays
and as a cheerleader on football Fridays. I truly wanted
to be her. She also appeared in movies like Just
Like Heaven, The First Wives Club, Suburbia, and Freaky Friday.
And she even was a series regular on Greg the
Bunny and Men Behaving Badly. Please. Welcome to the podcast.
Dina Spiby, what as.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Got an introduction?

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Thank you, Hi, Dina? How are you today?

Speaker 3 (01:06):
I'm good, I'm good.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
We're so excited to have you on, and you know,
like we want to start, we want to take it
back and ask you a little bit about your background. Now.
I heard you mention that in high school you were
in drama club, you were a cheerleader, you did gymnastics,
and you played softball and volleyball. So I have to
know how the heck did you juggle all that and school.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
Well, you know, back then, there was no internet, there
was no you know devices. You had to entertain yourself,
and so I was always in sports and you know,
active like that, and also in dance classes and everything.
But yeah, yeah, that's just what kids did back then.
You were in a lot of different activities.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
I mean, I thought I was very active in high school,
but I didn't have that resume. No.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
I tried to. I tried to get my picture in
the yearbook as many times as possible because there was
you know, I couldn't post a third chrat picture.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
This is where Tim tells us he was voted. He's
mentioned this a million times, Dina, What was it best dressed?

Speaker 2 (02:08):
But was too I was too.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Okay. Also, you're not the first person we interviewed that
said that. Who was the other person someone else said?
I was like, well, I'm missing out. I was not
voted anything, Dina. I was most like most likely to
have a horror podcast. No, But in all seriousness, how
and when did you first realize you wanted to pursue acting.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yeah, well, I was a child performer with dance and
we did a lot of kind of festivals and state
fairs and like performed the highest state fair. And then
at a certain point in early in high school, I
auditioned for a play and I got, you know, one
of the leads and won an award for like a

(02:52):
drama award whatever. And then I think Tim first saw
me in a musical how to say seed in business
without really trying.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yes, she had a wig on and like a pink
bow out.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
I've seen that musical, I mean, not your version, but yes, wow, yes, fantastic.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
Oh thank you Tim. Many years ago I played Hetty LaRue,
but I just you know, had fun with it and
continued continued studying. I did get a scholarship to study
acting at Ohio State University, so I went in and
continued and got a BFA and acting there, and then

(03:33):
from there I just wanted to continue studying. I didn't
know if it would you know, lead me anywhere, but
I just really liked it. You know, when you have
a passion for something, you just keep doing it. And
then I ended up getting an MFA and acting at
Rutgers University and studied with a guy named William Esper
and Maggie Flanagan, and from then my career started for

(03:55):
real professionally. We did a showcase in New York off
Broadway and a lot of agents and managers and casting,
and so I got signed by a big agency and
got called back in by a bunch of casting and
immediately got my equity card, which is professional actors for

(04:16):
Stage the Union. In what was the play? It was
The Heidi Chronicles, which I did in a Sarasota in
the Oslo Theater in Sarasota, and that's how I got
my equity card. And then right after that, my very
first thing was I got cast in the lead of

(04:40):
of the Becky Bell Story.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
Which and we're about we're going to ask you about
that because there's a big thing with that considering the
war that you won for that. But I do have
to ask, since our lovely co host Tim Murdoch has
known you for quite a while, how did you first
meet Tim and the Murdoch family.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
That's a good question. Tim's dad, Mister Murdoch, who I
still call mister Murdoch, was my science teacher in high school.
And he brought Tim and his brother Jamie to the
musical that I was in How to Succeed in Business.
And one day mister Murdoch was just like, hey, Dina,

(05:23):
can you come over the house? The boys want to
meet you. And I was like okay, And then I
went and I was like, am I here to babysit
you guys? I don't know what I'm doing here? And
Tim said, can you teach us that routine from the
show of like coffee break? And I was like, oh, okay, yeah, sure,
So I taught him the choreography him and Jamie.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yes, Jamie and I love there's this big number in
the show. They're like no coffee, so they have to
sing about it, and it was so funny. And then
there was my dad was a football coach, right yeah,
I like, I'm asking, what's my dad?

Speaker 3 (06:02):
But well he was also yeah, go ahead. He was
also my brother, both of my brother's baseball coach.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
What mister Murdoch.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
He was a man of many traits on the on
the coaching field, and and Dina was a cheerleader. And
I remember on football for I wouldn't watch the game.
I couldn't tell you who won but I was watching, Dina.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
I love that you were that you were a showman.
Even then, Tim, You're like, teach me the routine.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
You're like, well, Jamie, Jamie. My brother was right there
with me. I wasn't alone.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah, I love that. That's so cool though.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
Growing up, Dina, you I mean, obviously I know a
little bit about you. But growing up, did were horror
films on your radar? Didn't you have a major impact
on you? No?

Speaker 3 (06:48):
But the first one I remember seeing, and I don't
know if you guys would consider it horror, but I
remember going to Amityville, the Amityville Horror.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
Just consider horror, Okay, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
I mean it has the word horror.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Well, I do remember screaming so much that I got
kicked out of the theater. So that's my intro to horror.
I was so freaked out. I'm not a horror fan
like you guys, So I'm sorry I don't really have
much of a background in it.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
But I've always I've never asked you to this, but
I'm putting you on the spot a little bit. I
know that you watched frid thirteenth Part two with Mark
when he watched it, and I know that you took
Alex to see Halloween Kills. So between Michael Myers and Jason,
do you like Fridy thirteenth or Halloween?

Speaker 1 (07:34):
Oh god, this is a big answer for you, Dina.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
Oh oh is it?

Speaker 1 (07:40):
We both have our favorite, So whatever you say is
going to dictate the rest of the interview. Chy, all right, I.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
Gotta say I am a Halloween fan. Oh sorry, oh gosh,
I still be like Okay, and I do because I
like the cameos of like people on Housewife's show.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
So yes, I understand.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
I mean, Kyle richards Is, I mean, the little girl
in the original Halloween, Like, the fact that they brought
her back forty years later, forty three years later was amazing.
We were and you loved that too.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Of course. Of course, I'm just saying I'm more partial
to find thirteenth than Halloween. But I do love Halloween,
of course.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
Jamie Lee, who I worked with before, thank yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
So I mean she's only done a few Halloween films
seven so okay. So Amityville Horror was kind of like
and then that kind of told you I am not
a horror fan, and you'd be surprised. We hear in
the one hundred and twenty five plus interviews we've done,
the majority of people who have been in horror films
aren't even horror fans. When we do get one, it's

(08:46):
almost like WHOA, Like it's not as common as you
would think.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
No, it's like a unicorn.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
Yeah. So, but before we talk about making Haunted Mansion,
I got to ask you about what you had started
to bring up because your very first TV role and
then I teen ninety two after school series Life Stories,
Families and Crisis won you a Daytime Emmy, which is incredible.
How did it feel to win this award in your
very first appearance in TV? Because I've got to assume

(09:13):
that kind of like solidified you knowing that acting is
what you were meant to do.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
Yeah, it was my very first on camera job. I
looked really young back then. I had to play a teenager,
but I was actually older. I think I think I
was twenty five playing seventeen. And I remember at the
audition they were like, are you eighteen? Because you know,
I was like, yes, I am work a full day

(09:43):
and so clearly, you know, they didn't really read that
I have a masters seventeen year olds usually don't have
a master's degree. But yeah, I got hired and I
loved the director, one cup Panella, who later won an
Academy Award for a Foreign Film, and they HBO actually

(10:04):
paid for my SAG card at the time, which was
a big deal. I found out I was nominated the
awards was in Los Angeles, and I didn't have any
money to go, and it was before the day that
HBO really started paying for those things, and I was like, oh, well,

(10:26):
I can't afford to go there, so whatever. But I
found out I won by I picked up a Hollywood
reporter before going into an audition, and I was in
the waiting room and I opened up the Hollywood Reporter
and I read my name as winner, and I was like,
oh oh, and I thought I was hallucinating, and so

(10:48):
I read it again. I was like, oh oh, and
like and no one had told me that morning. It
was like early morning audition, and so I found out
just by reading about it. Of course, I got a
lot of phone calls later in the day, but I
was like, just had a private moment in the waiting
room on the folding chairs of an audition.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
Did you stand up and say you guys can all go.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
Did you go into that audition and say Daytime Emmy
Award winner coming through?

Speaker 3 (11:17):
Yeah, No I did not, but I was just I'm
sure my audition was terrible because I was just in shock.
I was like, oh, oh it.

Speaker 1 (11:28):
Was.

Speaker 3 (11:28):
It's always nice to get recognized, you know, especially for
your very first thing. And then that was a good month.
Later in that month, I want something on a Theater
World Award, which is a New York award for like
a newcomer and voted on by different critics and stuff,
for a play, my very first New York off Broadway play,

(11:52):
which is a play called Fibe Women Wearing the Same Dress,
which was written by Alan Ball, who would later win
in a cat Me Award for American Beauty and cast
me in Six Feet Under. Also on HBOT and I
did True Blood, which I feel like you guys would
you loved? But yeah, so it was I won that

(12:12):
in the same month, and I was like, Okay, well
maybe this is going to work out.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
That is so awesome and such a great like it
must have been like an ego boost and confidence boost.
I mean, like you hear about these people who've gone
their entire career. I want to say Bold and the
Beautiful people maybe haven't gotten recognizing because been on the
show for thirty eight years and has never won an
acting horror Oh.

Speaker 3 (12:34):
Well, you know, did Susan Lucci ever win before she left?
And she's anicone?

Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah she won one.

Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah, but it took like like thirty years.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah. Like what did they say that Susan Lucci's streak
is over?

Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yeah? The curse? Yeah, you know, And you mentioned this
since we're a horror show. I saw that in two
thousand and one. You appeared as Tracy Montrose Blair during
the first season of Six Feet Under, which isn't quite horror,
but it definitely got dark at times. What was this
experience like for you, Like, any fun stories from working
with the cast, especially Dexter himself, Michael C.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Hall, Michael's great, Well, I was the big thing? Is
I originally auditioned for the part of Rachel, the love
interest to the other brother. I can't guess, Okay, yes,
And and Alan was like, you know, I think I'm

(13:26):
gonna go a different way, but can you just do
this guest spot just in the pilot as a favor?
And I was like, yeah, sure, Sure, And there was
a moment when I was doing it was it was
only supposed to be in one episode, and then I
was supposed to do kind of improv talking while he's
listening to something else voiceover, and I just had a

(13:47):
really good improv that day. And then he loved it
so much, and the producer loved it. He was like, Okay,
we're bringing you back. So they wrote this incredible storyline
that was through the entire first season and culminated with
my own my aunt dying in me planning a funeral
and being a very difficult customer. But it was so

(14:10):
it was so lovely. He Alan is such a great writer.
He really threads the needle of darkness and then making
it funny. Sohoud in that dark comedy which I love
to play anyway. I like to find the humor in
the darkness, and then the darkness and the humor.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
Oh, I like that.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
It's such a good job. And like you have a
cute ponytail. And of all the TV shows and you've
done television movies Broadway, which one was the most fun
for you or memorable?

Speaker 3 (14:44):
And why I really enjoyed a show called Greg the
Bunny it was with Eugene Levy and Sarah Silverman and
Seth Green and myself and a bunch of puppets. And
of course these guys, you know, Sarah and Eugene are
just you know, master comedians. But the puppeteers are so

(15:06):
genius and they were. They all the sets were built
five feet off the ground and so you had to
kind of walk upstairs to be up here, and then
the puppeteers would be under the stage and just have
their hand and the puppets out. But they're such pros
that when they would talk to you just off camera,
the mouth would keep going on the puppet. So it

(15:28):
was if you were just walking by, you were like,
what happening? I mean, these guys are just so creative
and it was really fun. I think it was before
its time. It didn't quite click. It was before the
musical Avenue queue. I just think people weren't quite ready
for a subversive, dark comedy about a children's show.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
Well, I think today, let's get Togreg the Bunny reboot.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah yeah, yeah, I think.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
Well I'm too old now, but that.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
Is not true. Okay, moving on to The Haunted Mansion
two thousand and three, now, how did you first get
involved with this film and what was the audition process
like for Emma the Maid.

Speaker 3 (16:13):
Yeah, it was fairly easy audition process. I had just
done Freaky Friday with my husband, Mark Watters, and so
I knew the casting there, Donna Moron and Marcia Ross,
they're big casting for Disney and was on their radar.
And I just did an audition, had really fun a

(16:34):
lot of fun with it, didn't hear anything, and they
actually hired someone else to do Emma the Maid, but
there was some something happened and she was not able
to do it. So they went back to the drawing
board and then said would you just have a meeting
with Rob Minkoff, the director, And I did. I went
out to the studios which were in Glendale, the sound stage,

(16:58):
and had we had a really good meeting and he
showed me and I was like, ah, this is great,
this is I mean and we just got along really
well and and then I just got the offer later
that day. It's like okay, So it was fairly easy. Yeah,
but I did. When I went in for my my
uh special effects makeup with Rick Baker, I saw the

(17:22):
picture of the girl who was originally cast and I know, Oh.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
Are you allowed to say or is that Julia Roberts?

Speaker 2 (17:31):
Okay, have you have you? Were you familiar with the
ride of Disneyland.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
Oh yeah, I love the ride. I love I love Disney,
I love the I just went this week. I literally
just got back yesterday from Disney Disney.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
That was me and the maid in the ballroom scene.
Do they still have your character in there?

Speaker 3 (17:54):
It was closed for they were decorating for Halloween, so
I didn't I wanted to go on to see if
my character was still there. But I think we're shut down,
you know, temporarily.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
And this is just a side note for anyone that
watches Housewives Rob Mincoff. The director's wife is Crystal Minkoff.
She was a real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She's no
longer on the show. But I just thought that was
a fun connection.

Speaker 1 (18:18):
I didn't know that, okay.

Speaker 3 (18:20):
Yeah. And also the friend of is Jennifer Tilley.

Speaker 2 (18:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (18:25):
I played Madame Leona in the original. So it's a
lot of housewive connections and I have really connections myself, Tim.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
Yeah, she does.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
No.

Speaker 1 (18:34):
No, I know, I've heard, I've heard. Well, I just
want to say, you played this character so well, Like
your facial expressions were everything. Like every time we were
watching this, like you could just look at your reactions
to things even if you were in the background, and
it would just make us laugh. Like but you were
Also what I loved is you're also a very compassionate character,
because you were literally one of the only ghosts I

(18:56):
think in the house who truly cared about the Evers family.
So I wanted to know what was your inspiration for
how you played Emma, because I'm assuming there wasn't like
a ton to pull from the ride.

Speaker 3 (19:07):
Yeah, I mean, just did the idea of being trapped
and feeling for this family and.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
The kid.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
Both of the kids were so sweet and I'm just
really enjoyed working with them just off screen. And Mark
John Jeffries was played the Sun and he was He's
such a lovely kid. And I don't know, I think
I think I just tried to relate to them and
helping them, you know, stay together as a family unit.

Speaker 1 (19:38):
I mean, well, you did great. I was very, very memorable.
And one of my favorite moments in the film is
when you and Wallace Shawn, who, by the way, listeners
if you aren't familiar with that name. He played mister
Hall and Clueless, you will definitely remember that. And Wallace
plays Ezra, another servant in the mansion, and you're both
driving that ghostly chariot and then you both get decapitated,

(20:00):
but it's okay because your ghosts. You know, it's all
in good fun. So how did they film that scene
and do that effect?

Speaker 3 (20:06):
Yeah, well, before we started filming at all that we
were in costume and full hair and makeup and in
this kind of mobile off the studio lot, and there
was like a scan, a digital scan of your entire
body and different movements and whatever, and then they can

(20:30):
kind of just manipulate the image and really anything you wanted.
It was before the big AI stuff that they do now,
but it was it was you know, it's pretty cool
back then. No, they you know, we did have a
big carriage on the set and we were faking going.
But then they could just do it digitally whatever they

(20:51):
wanted with a decapitation and whatnot, so.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
They didn't have to have you react to your head
off or did they.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (21:01):
Yeah, there was like wind machines and there's there's it's
just kind of running direction of like, Okay, now now
your head goes back.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
Okay, yeah, okay, okay, react your head got chopped off,
go yeah yeah.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
I mean it was kind of like in the ballroom
big ballroom scene too. It's like, okay, now the furies
from Hell are coming out, and you're like they're like
they're everywhere and they're.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
Like, ah depends, like just like a fan.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
And yeah. I working with Rick Baker Academy Award winner
Rick Baker.

Speaker 1 (21:31):
What was he like?

Speaker 3 (21:33):
He's phenomenal, you know, he's he's just he's won so
many he's the best in his field. He's won seven
Academy Awards, He's did h ed Wood and Nutty Professor,
and he was great. He created this mask, like a

(21:59):
E L Tech mask that I had to kind of
sit still for for for quite a long time. When
when they cover your entire head, they plast to grab
your hair, but they put like a gel some sort
of gel thing and then a plaster and they and
you and to to uh two little straws coming out

(22:23):
of your nose so you can breathe, and you have
to kind of sit still for quite a long time,
and and I would just ad to zen it out
because it's like if you're claustrophobic and you can't see
and you can't really hear, and your nose and mouth
is completely covered.

Speaker 1 (22:39):
It was.

Speaker 3 (22:39):
It was cool. But through that they were able to
make a bust of my head and kind of do
different you know, makeup stuff and you know, create the
look of the ghost and yeah, he's he's amazing. Plus
he wanted all of the dead bodies to have a
specific way they died, you know, so they were still

(23:02):
in whatever they wore at the time of their death.
And but even with the zombies, he created all the
zombies and you know, I mean, he's he's really great.
And the weird thing is years later I ran into
him in line to go to the haunamy Echien no Way,

(23:23):
ten years later, and I was like, Rick, do you
remember me? And he was like, oh dear. I was like, yeah,
clean Emma and she was like, oh my god, we
have to get a picture.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
But yeah, wait, So did you guys discuss how Emma died?
Because I don't remember. I don't think that was said
in the movie. I mean, obviously she was dead, but
did you guys have a story for that or.

Speaker 3 (23:43):
There was a story I cannot remember, but yeah, we
did a lot of collaborating and creating backstory. Yeah that is.

Speaker 1 (23:54):
I love that. And just again, listeners, if you're not
familiar with Rick Baker the name, even though he's done
tons special effects and makeups for movies, he is the reason.
Well he won the very first Academy Award for Makeup
for an American Werewolf in London, which is incredible. We
actually just reviewed that movie on our Patreon and that's

(24:15):
just such a cool thing because not just you know,
anytime horror wins an Academy Award where.

Speaker 2 (24:19):
I think in eighty one and Bill holds up today
like there's no I mean, obviously there's editing, but it's
like there, the camera's like right there.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
Yeah, the transformation scene that he does in that movie
was like groundbreaking. So he's amazing. Love that you got
a chance to work with him. So rather than asking
you about working with all of your Haunted Mansion co stars,
We're gonna play a little game, Dina where we ask
you some simple questions. Don't worry, not trivia or anything.
Every time we do this game, everybody freaks out. We're
not gonna we would never do that. No, trivia. You

(24:49):
just have to answer with the name of one of
these four stars of the film. It's purely opinion based stuff.
Either Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Tilly, Wallace Sean or Terrence Stamp.
So one of those four, whoever fits the question best?
Among these four stars of Haunted Mansion, who was the

(25:09):
biggest jokester on set?

Speaker 3 (25:14):
I would say probably Terrence Stamp. He was always cracking
jokes in the in the hair, makeup. Yeah, he plays
like a very stern guy. He had a great sense
of humor. So I would say, no, there were no
practical jokers, but he was probably the lightest in terms
of making jokes backstage.

Speaker 1 (25:35):
I love hearing that because he is the most serious
character of them.

Speaker 2 (25:38):
And who was the most reserved.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
Probably Wally Wally Sean.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
Yeah, it goes by Wally as he feels that it
looks like a Wally you know. I like that.

Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:51):
Who had the strongest opinions about how they wanted to
play their character?

Speaker 3 (25:59):
I don't, No, I mean probably, I don't. I mean
I didn't do any scenes with Jennifer Tilly in person.
She was always just a ball we were carrying around.
But I think she came up with such a strong
character in that as Madam Leota. She probably she probably did.
I'm guessing that she had more of a you know,

(26:22):
idea of what she wanted to do.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
Who improvised the most lines?

Speaker 3 (26:27):
Oh, Eddie's a good improviser. Yeah, he's one of the best.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
So I have a feeling I had a feeling that
Eddie Murphy would be the improviser. Okay, who did you
hang out with the most after shooting? Like during production
my baby.

Speaker 3 (26:43):
I had just got a baby, so like she was
in my trailer almost every day and then then nanny
would take her home before dinner time. And I do
remember being invited to a stand up show of the
the kid who plays the boy Mark John Jeffries. He

(27:04):
was doing a stand up I think it's like the
comedy store, like a big venue, and he invited all
of us, and I remember I was like, oh, I
would love to go when I got to go home
to my baby. But he did a set and I
heard that Eddie Murphy showed up.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:22):
I thought that was so cool of you know, him
to do that, just to show up for his set
at the back of the comedy club. So that was
really cool. So I did. I mean, at that time,
when I was a mother of young children, I couldn't
really go out or do anything, but it was nice
to see everybody.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
Yeah, and after the movie wrapped was who did you
keep in contact with the moment?

Speaker 1 (27:50):
You know?

Speaker 3 (27:52):
Well, I ended up doing another thing with Jennifer Tilley
called The Gun, and that was with Robert Altman directed,
and so we you know, we worked together again. It
was a short lived series about following a gun from
person to person, and so it was good to work

(28:14):
with her again. She's she's a fire cracker. She's so funny.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
Were you guys like, hey, Haunted Mansion.

Speaker 3 (28:21):
Yeah, well, I mean we met up again at the premiere,
but she did all of her stuff I think on
a green screen. We didn't actually be in the same
room until I think the premiere because the globe or
the crystal ball that we were carrying around was just
empty and you know filled in later.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
You know, it's funny, so you're just talking to no
one but like, yeah, you know, Okay, So before we
move on to comparing your Haunted Mansion and the twenty
twenty three film, I wanted to ask you the final
question that we ask all of our guests at the
end of our interviews, and it kind of puts you
on the spot. But what is one thing that you
can tell us about your experience working on the Haunted Mansion,

(29:05):
or maybe just your life at that time that you've
never told any other interviewer, publication, podcast, or just anything
about your experience working on Haunted Mansion or during that time.

Speaker 2 (29:17):
It can be just a tiny detail like housewife scar
that that might be salacious unless you want it to be.
But just like you know what, one day they brought
us chicken and we all got sick.

Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah, like anything about your experience on Haunted Mansion that
you've never talked about or told before the hotally Haunt.

Speaker 3 (29:36):
Said no, it was beautiful. Oh my gosh, I have
a fond memory. I feel like you guys want something
more salacious. But my fond memory is Rob on Fridays
would have karaoke on the set and we would have
kind of like a little cast crew get together for

(29:57):
anybody who was working on Fridays. And I believe I
remember Rob singing karaoke. I can't remember what it was,
but it was such a lovely, like a thing to
do with your cast and crew to just have some
drinks and some karaoke at the end of a long week.
And it was really sweet. It was I mean, it
was just a really sweet set. I mean, which you

(30:20):
can probably tell. It's very family friendly.

Speaker 1 (30:25):
I love it. Actually, that's the type of detail I
love getting because it's something that, like, you know, nobody
would just randomly tell in an interview, but it gives
you kind of a sense of what things were like.
So we love that. It doesn't always have to be
I mean, we have had people talk about having.

Speaker 2 (30:38):
Affairs daring, and that shocks that on It shocks us that.

Speaker 1 (30:42):
They're willing to tell us. But hey, I love that.
I love karaoke. Did you ever sing?

Speaker 3 (30:48):
I probably did.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:49):
Yeah, I do want to say that throughout my career
there's been, you know, some uncomfortable situations, but the looking
back on Hanamana and I just want to say, Rob
Minkoff is the greatest he I almost like wanted to
email him when the whole METO thing just to say
thank you for being really nice and never creepy or creepy.

(31:15):
You're just like a great guy, you know.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
So yeah, and what are you up to today? Can
you tell us about anything.

Speaker 1 (31:24):
Any new projects that you can tell us about.

Speaker 3 (31:28):
Well, yeah, I just finished a movie with my husband.
It's called Hershey. It's based it's a biopic based on
Milton Hershey, and it's a period piece, which I love.
It's sett in eighteen eighties to nineteen seventeen, I think,
and it'll be coming out next year. It's a very

(31:49):
sweet rags to riches story and inspirational and I hope
it will delight people. And yeah, we're looking forward to that.
I just I'm shooting a small series, uh that I'm created,
and we just shot an episode of that yesterday in Glendale.
And so yeah, I'm I'm I wanted to wait till

(32:11):
my kids were grown, but now that my youngest one
is in college, I was like, okay, I'm gonna make
my comeback. So here here we are, guys.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
That's awesome. And when you say Hershey, this is like
Hershey chocolate, Hershey, like the story of him Hershey kiss.

Speaker 3 (32:26):
Yeah, yeah, she kissed it. Well. It's also he created
a town called Hershey, Pennsylvania, and he where you know,
all of his workers live, and he created a community,
and he created an orphanage which became the Hershey Milton School,
Milton Hershey School, and at first it was for orphans,

(32:46):
but now it's just you know, for children in need,
and and it's incredible. It's an incredible story that that
he had the vision of, uh, you know know, helping
all of these children and making society better and stopping
the cycle of poverty. And I went Mark and I

(33:09):
went to the school. We met several of the kids
who are graduating and had lunch into our cafeteria and
it is incredible. There are the most beautiful kids and
the founder the school actually has an endowment, you know,
I think nine billion dollars, so it will continue forever.

(33:31):
And it actually owns the Hershey Chocolate Company.

Speaker 4 (33:34):
Amaz.

Speaker 3 (33:35):
Yeah, it's a really cool, uplifting story that I never
knew about.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, same, I mean I did get to I'm very
lucky I got to see it. Dino did fantastic, I want.
I mean, it's a really good movie because you forget
just what life was without a cell phone in your hands.
So for me, I really loved it. I thought you
and Mark did a great time.

Speaker 1 (33:55):
And back then there was life without a car and
out yeah without stuff. Wow Yeah yeah, yeah, wow. Well, yeah, well,
we can't wait to see it. That's awesome, Dina. I
guess so kind of shifting gears now. In this episode,
we all watched so Okay, twenty years after Haunted Mansion

(34:16):
two thousand and three, the movie that Dina starred in,
they did another Haunted Mansion film. And actually, before we
even jump into that, I wanted to get your how
did you first hear that they were doing another film
and what was your reaction, Like, were you like, why
are they doing this? Or are they going to continue
the two thousand and three storyline, or how did you
even hear about this new film? Oh?

Speaker 3 (34:35):
I just read about it in the trade papers. Yeah,
I was curious what the take was going to be.
And you know they do. They do a lot of
remakes of things, just like with Mark's movie Freaky Friday.
They just did a remake of Freaker of Friday. So
it's like it's always interesting to see what the fresh

(34:58):
take is, you know.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
Yeah, And I wanted to get your guys' overall thoughts
both of you on the two films and how they differ,
because you know, they are very different even though they're
both based on the same source material. You know, the
two thousand and three film is very much like family oriented,
the Evers family. They come to the mansion because he
thinks he's gonna sell it, and then there's the whole
story with Edward Gracie thinking Sarah Evers is his dead

(35:21):
wife Elizabeth, and the whole mystery of her death. But
the twenty twenty three film, it's kind of more like
an ensemble piece. Like it there's a whole group of
characters that are all stuck in the mansion, like forced
to stay there until they're able to like identify and
banish that famous hat box goes. So it's very very
different films. What were your guys' thoughts on just how
they differed.

Speaker 3 (35:42):
Yeah, I mean, I think you said it perfectly. I
think the two thousand and three version is a little
more family friendly. It's geared toward the younger audience. Probably
single protagonist. I thought it was charming. They were I
think there were problems at that it was essentially the

(36:07):
villain was kind of a racist butler. I don't know
if that really plays today, but you know, the overall
feel is kind of light and charming, and the twenty
twenty three version was interesting, but it was definitely a
more somber mystery, explored a lot of grief and mourning

(36:29):
and that whole realm. So I think there's good things
about both, and I think there are problems with both.

Speaker 2 (36:38):
How about you, Well, I mean I'm very much in
the camp of like, I like Dina's not just because Tina.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
Was good, ads so just because it's like.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
It's a it's a film that you could just push
play and like the whole family can watch it, Whereas
I feel like the newer one there'd be more a
little more explaining to do, like okay, like what, what's who?
And you know, it's just there was a lot of
story in the new one, and where the first one
is so just like here it is this is a

(37:11):
haunted mansion, Like he's a realtor, he wants you know.
So for me, just the I like the simplicity of
the original.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
That's a good take because that's kind of how I
felt watching Even though the twenty twenty three film kind
of feels like a grander movie in terms of scale,
it does explore so much that I almost was like,
I remember I asked him, I was like, is this
movie meant for kids? Because it didn't feel that way.
Like I kind of felt like, like you said, the
two thousand and three film was a little bit more

(37:41):
aim towards kids, which I would assume going off of
Disney property, it'd be like that. The twenty twenty three
film had a lot of adult themes and you actually
mentioned grief. Do you guys think that the theme of
grief was that too serious for a haunted mansion film?

Speaker 3 (37:58):
I think it's too serious a Disney haunted mansion. You know,
when you go on the ride, you don't want to,
you know, feel grief. You know, you want to just
have fun on the ride and like, ah, this is
a crazy, supernatural world. So for me, yeah, I agree.

(38:18):
It's like for maybe a different haunted mansion that exploration
is would be great. You know, you know, you guys
know those filmmakers more than I.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
Well, I did have a big chuckle in the twenty
twenty three one when someone's I can't remember what the
question was, but Jamie Lee Curtis was in the ball
and she said, well, how much will this caution? She
goes three dollars and.

Speaker 1 (38:46):
They're like that that dandy Davita's like a highway.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
Robbery I learned that Danny DeVito is eighty, so I
love that he's still making films, Like, I mean, I
don't want to be doing nothing when I'm eighty.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
No, that's I didn't know, Danny. Wow. Really so then
this was only two years ago, so seventy eight. Yeah,
I mean still seems like the normal Dan de Ville.

Speaker 3 (39:07):
Yeah, and he's still chewing the scenery in the best way.

Speaker 1 (39:11):
Right.

Speaker 2 (39:12):
I was just telling that this is totally off the
subject of everything. But I would just watch Throw Mama
from the Train when I was under the weather and
Danny DeVito has this really sweet scene with Billy Crystal.
Maybe because I was sick and under the weather, I
totally cried. Anyway, Well, that's.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
Funny, is so going back to the grief thing, I
agree Dina that like I was taken aback a little
that a Disney Haunted Mansion film was so serious with
that said I, I, oh, that's my phrase, rightly. Tim
told me in our last episode Dida that I say,
with that said a lot, and I'm trying to u
to remove it from my vocabulary. So with that said Tim, uh, no, no,

(39:52):
I I think they they dealt with it in a
healthy way. But I almost didn't even want to see
that in a haunted mansion film. Like you said, if
this is a film just about a haunted mansion and
people having died there in them grieving, Sure, but it
did seem a little weird in that respect. It did
seem kind of heavy. I will say there were a

(40:14):
lot of comical elements though both films, and I think
that they at least were able to kind of round
out the grief with like Tiffany Hattish's character as the
medium and Danny DeVito and I actually Tiffany hadsh was
like my favorite part of the twenty twenty three film,
like and it wasn't like you think Tiffany Hattish in
other films like it kind of she has like a

(40:35):
one note style of doing comedy. She was very different
in this one. She was kind of comedic but also compassionate.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
She was like, you guys can then on me. I
thought that was funny.

Speaker 3 (40:44):
Yeah, yeah, Oh she's great. Yeah yeah yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:49):
I was also gonna say, like, which film do you
guys feel like was more reminiscent of the Ride, because
what I noticed is like the two thousand and three
film had kind of the changing pictures, and I loved
the harmonizing statues. The twenty twenty three film, it had
that extending wall from the beginning, and it did have
the hat box go, so it kind of felt like

(41:11):
they both picked different parts. But what did you guys think?

Speaker 2 (41:14):
I haven't Okay, I haven't. I haven't been the ride
in a long time. And I know that Disney and Disney.
I know that Dina was just at Disney and she
can be there for a long period of time. And
I'm not saying I don't like children. I love children.
I just don't want to be near them.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
But I just can't stand them.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
Do you know how many times timstim always says this,
It's like, you don't look, I really love children. I
just hate children.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
No. But as a moviegoer, I mean, I think I
don't know. Dina and I both worked at movie theaters
growing up.

Speaker 1 (41:46):
Did you work in a movie there? I didn't. I
wish I did, but I didn't.

Speaker 2 (41:48):
But as a child watching The Haunted Mansion, Dina's version,
I feel like kids could watch that because I think
it had a short running time. But the twenty twenty
three one, as a kid, I don't know. Again, I
don't know much about children, but I don't know if
they could sit there for two hours. Yeah, that's a
long running time.

Speaker 3 (42:08):
Yeah, I mean that's problematic for sure. I think whenever
you create a show or story, it's like, who's your
intended audience and what do you want to make them feel?
How do you want them to leave the theater? And
so you know there's an audience for both, but it
is the filmmakers have different answers of who the intended

(42:29):
audience is for sure, because Running Time is a perfect
example of that.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
And I think you said it perfectly. If it didn't
have the name Disney on it and it was just
like about a big haunted house, I think it like
it'd be different putting it out.

Speaker 1 (42:45):
To the public. Do you do you think both represented
the ride well, both some versions of the film.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
I think there's I think there's another version that would
that could be in the future that they would incorporate
all of it in a fun in a fun way.
I think. I like I said, I like them both
and they both have positives for me, but they both

(43:12):
didn't quite nail it. I don't think. I hope I
don't get in trouble for they.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
No, because you know, it's it's funny because I always
think about, like, when you're using source material and it's
just a ride and then you have to craft an
entire story based off of it, it must be so
difficult because you want to appease people who love the
ride and put elements in there, but you also probably
want to create your own story. But I kind of

(43:37):
agree that it's like both had elements of it, but
neither one felt like like when I get in the
ride and I'm on those chairs that are moving around,
They're like whoo, and like, neither one kind of felt
like that fully, but they did have aspects and again
the harmonizing statues is one of my favorite parts of
the ride. One thing they both did though, that is very,

(44:00):
very iconic of the ride that neither one was gonna
not part with his Madame Lioda. And I've got to
ask controversial question, which Madam Leota. Did you guys prefer
Jennifer Tilly or Jamie Lee Curtis.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
Tim you go first, Well, I did have a good
chuckle with Jamie Lee Curtis, but I like Meg Tilly's voice.

Speaker 1 (44:17):
Well, Meg Tilly wasn't in this movie.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
Okay, that's her sister from Psycho Till it's Jennifer, it's
his sister.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
Yeah, but you know what, I agree with you, Tim.
I like Jennifer's voice, her whole, her whole persona. I
was like, only she could play that. I I don't know.
I definitely prefer Jennifer Tilly.

Speaker 1 (44:36):
Yeah, Mike, it's tough because Jamie Lee Curtis is like
my everything because Halloween is my favorite movie since I
was eleven years old, and you know Laurie Strode, yes,
uh with that said, uh, there it is again, Jennifer
Tilly did feel more like Madame Leota as in a
head in a ball that's kooky and weird. But I

(44:57):
think Jamieie Curtis, because she got to be outside of
the ball, we got to see scenes of her in
those magnificent costumes. I think she did it well and
like she also is kind of kooky, so it worked. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
I mean like I was having flashbacks watching the movie
of what was the one that she went an oscar
for everything everywhere else with you again, not my favorite movie,
I got it, I got it.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
I love that well because because Dina you worked with
Jamie Lee Curtis on on Freaky Friday. Right, what would
she like to work with? Like on set?

Speaker 3 (45:29):
Fantastic. She's like one of the best. She's just full
of energy, creativity, She's just a charming, lovely, inviting. She
likes to share the scene. You know, sometimes the big
stars they want to be the star and not have
any you know, of the guest stars share the stage. Really,

(45:51):
but she did. She's so generous and you know, lovely.
I mean, she's one of the best. Like she is
what you think she is, She's she's terrific.

Speaker 1 (45:58):
And she was talking about how aween all the time? Right, No, no,
not at all, not at all.

Speaker 2 (46:06):
But did she bring yogurt to the set?

Speaker 1 (46:10):
Those were during the days that she was doing I
made what was it? What was the yogurt called that
she did?

Speaker 3 (46:16):
The car?

Speaker 2 (46:16):
Oh I should know this.

Speaker 1 (46:17):
Oh my god, Oh my god, the yogurt the activia
tell me? Yeah, how do you forget that? Like she
did those commercials for so long. Captn Kami y e
sleep Sleepway Camp. Yeah. Okay, So we talked about the
twenty twenty three film kind of being the theme of
grief and getting over that. What did you guys think
the theme of the two thousand and three film was

(46:39):
because for me it wasn't as much like a theme
based movie. But I did get the film the feeling
of like the importance of family and not being married
to your work. I mean, you were in the film.
What did you did you get any overall themes from
the two thousand and three movie.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
Yeah, it's about keeping your family safe and and prioritizing
family over career, and and bonding as a result of
having to work together and and yeah, and then it's
mixed with a kind of a fairy tale love story, uh,

(47:16):
which you know, is you like romance and fantasy and yeah,
so the I mean those were the main themes. I
guess it was definitely linear and uh and Rob really
wanted it to be uh like uh refined, he wanted

(47:41):
it to be elegant. And and he got a crew
of wonderful designers and production designers and costume designer and
who were just really great, great to work with as well.
I don't know if you answered your quest.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
Know, you answered it completely. Actually you expanded on it,
which is the best answer any an interviewer can hope for.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
Though you know, people always ask Matt like what's our
biggest fear? And my biggest fear is spiders. Were those
real transilas on that set?

Speaker 3 (48:16):
There were some, Yeah, there was a spider wrangler. Yeah,
the village. Yeah, there were like the amount of people
working on a film like this, it's it's incredible collaboration
on just a grand scale. There was you know, sculptors

(48:37):
who were making all the sculptures. There's designers, there's dancers
and the choreographers, and then there was a dialect coach.
And then there's cobweb crews who created the cobwebs, which
is an art form all in itself, and you know,
and then there's stunt people and zombies and you know,

(48:58):
it's it's a it takes a village.

Speaker 1 (49:02):
I can only imagine. So I wanted to get everyone's
favorite scenes in both because I can start because in
the two thousand and three film, my favorite scene was
the mausoleum scene with Eddie Murphy and his daughter, just
because well it's kind of like action packed. It's spooky
but it's not too scary. But they have this big
scene where him and the daughter have to escape all

(49:23):
the undead and I actually really loved the daughter. I
looked her up. Her a Reed Davis who plays his daughter.
But they have to escape the zombies and get this key,
and it was very It was very spooky, but in
like a Disney sort of way. My favorite scenes in
the twenty twenty three film were all the seances that
were done by Tiffany Hattis, just because I really enjoyed

(49:45):
her character because it was like, is she a fraud?
Is she not a fraud? But she kind of is,
but she does sort of have powers. She played Harriet,
and again, like I said before, she kind of had
this way of being both funny but also kind of
heartfelt throughout the film. So those were my favorite scenes
in both Any any tim you want to go.

Speaker 2 (50:05):
Oh sure, I think my favorite scene was when the
daughter dropped the key. I think it's your same Okay,
So I like the same scene and and any scene
Dina was in, of course, and I guess the twenty
twenty three you know, I liked when Oh Wilson revealed
he wasn't a priest, Like that's kind of a good twist.

(50:27):
I wasn't expecting that.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
No, I wasn't either. Actually, yeah, I just gave it away.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
Spoiler.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
Oh my god, ruined the movie. How about you, Dina.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
In the twenty twenty three, I agree with you with
the seance scenes. I just love the I think Tiffany
had just perfectly nailed the tone, you know, where it's
scary but heartfelt but funny. I like she was like
perfect to me. So I liked anything any scene she
was in because I like combining that emotional element into

(50:59):
it as well. In terms of the first one, I
personally had a lot of fun acting in the last
scene where there's like crazy ghosts or the people from
the Energy from Hell coming and scrolling and so running

(51:22):
around that stage screaming my head off, and Rob was
so funny. He was like, yeah, can you just get bigger?
And I've never had a director say that to me.
I usually I usually get the note can you calm
it down? And then he was the only director I've
ever worked with is like, can you bring it up?
And I was like, yes I can. So I don't

(51:44):
know if you saw it all in that scene, but
I had the most fun doing that and just letting loose.
It was really fun.

Speaker 1 (51:52):
Oh yeah, it looked like fun. It did look like fun,
and it was a great ending scene. And you know,
speaking of another scene in the two thousand and three
film that actually may have been in my favor if
it hadn't been cut. Was the deleted scene that Tim
and I watched on the DVD. That was your scene
with Wallace Shawn. You guys are talking with the kids
and providing this great background on like the whole mystery

(52:14):
about Elizabeth. Like you guys are talking about being ghosts,
You're flying around, and then you kind of explain a
little more about Elizabeth, and I'm wondering, did you do
you have any idea as to why that was cut?
Because it felt like it had so much great background
info in it.

Speaker 3 (52:27):
I don't know why it was cut, but I don't
even remember it. I'm so impressed that you guys watched
the extra.

Speaker 1 (52:35):
Are you kidding? Of course it said like deleted scene, Emma,
and we're like done watching it.

Speaker 3 (52:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:39):
We was like, but no, it's crazy because like the
kids come down to Eddie Murphy and they say like, hey,
these are ghosts, and we're like, oh okay. But you
just like the scene that was cut, was you telling
them like, hey where ghosts?

Speaker 1 (52:51):
Yeah, like that was like the backstory that would have
I guess made it click a little more to people.
But again, I don't know the directors are thinking of
timing and the running time and everything, but yeah.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
It was probably just for running time, and.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
Yeah, yeah, I like yeah, I mean like it was
just It's funny. It's like usually also on DVDs, there'll
be like a ton of deleted scenes because if there's
only one, you're kind of like, well, that's only a
minute and.

Speaker 2 (53:17):
A scene that explains who these people are.

Speaker 1 (53:19):
I know, we were like, uh, maybe cut like thirty
seconds of the zombies, not the same where Emma's explaining
the backstory. It was just a just a weird decision.
But I love that scene just because I love when
movies take the time to actually explain things like I
don't know, I'm lazy. I don't want to figure it
out myself, so it's nice to have that question for

(53:41):
you guys. I'm in the twenty twenty three film. Jared
Leto played the hat Box ghost, but he kind of
do we think he actually was acting there alongside people
or just did agreed so.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
His name was in the credits, and I'm assuming he
was under the mask.

Speaker 3 (53:56):
I was asking myself the same thing now. I have problems.
Of course, Jared Letter's great, right, but did you really
need Jared Letto if you didn't know it was him?
And like, like, I don't know. The other problem I
have is too is just dramaturgy. One oh one is
you don't introduce characters in the third act, and I

(54:18):
felt like this is an introduction of a new character,
and I was like, oh, this is the big villain,
and I was kind of confused. I wish it had
had I don't know, been referenced earlier in the movie
to kind of bring it all together. But the hat
box ghost could have really been anyone.

Speaker 2 (54:36):
He could have just done a voiceover.

Speaker 3 (54:38):
That's what I Yeah, I just feel like you could
get a great voiceover actor and probably saved a lot
of money. I mean, I don't know how much he
got paid, but you.

Speaker 1 (54:48):
Know, probably a ton. I was confused when Tim and
I were watching this because, you know, perfect to prefer
for this episode. We we both hadn't seen the twenty
twenty three one and I'm looking through the credits that
I had. I remember that Jamie Lee Curtis was it
in Tiffany Hattis and Rosario Dawson. But I was like,
Jared Letto not the same. I wasn't expecting to see
and then they don't use them way.

Speaker 2 (55:08):
I was like, where's this space? But a nice surprise
was Bynona Rider.

Speaker 1 (55:11):
Yes, what did you guys think of the cameo from
Onononda Rider? She's uncredited, Like, did she know the filmmaker
it was? I have no clue.

Speaker 3 (55:18):
I don't know either. It did seem like she was
a little like wasted if she could have had a
kind of more of a part or something. Also, Mary
Lou Henner, did you see that?

Speaker 1 (55:29):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (55:30):
I was like, what's happening. There's so many cameos. I'm confused,
Like if you're not going to really use them, and
I don't know in a comedic way, it just seems
like we're patting, We're patting the cast, you know.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
Yeah, I mean I like to see Mary Lou Henner
and it's so funny. Did you say because Tim toltalit
called her out? Dude, He's like, hey, that's very letter.
I'm like, yeah, yeah, exactly. So a little history on
the hat Box ghost. I looked this up everybody because
I was wondering, like, okay, how integrals is this to
the Haunta Manchion because it wasn't in the two thousand
and three film at all, but it's like the main

(56:03):
villain in the twenty twenty three film. So apparently it
was in the original Haunted Mansion ride in nineteen sixty
nine and right like right when it opened, and then
right away the animatronic didn't work correctly, and they left
it in there until nineteen eighty three when they decided
to remove it completely, and it was completely out of
the Haunted Mansion until twenty fifteen when they brought back

(56:27):
the Haunt the hat Box Ghost animatronic into the ride.
And so now I'm like, oh, no, wonder it wasn't
in the two thousand and three movie because this was
just something that twenty years that had been in the ride.
They suddenly bring it back in twenty fifteen and now
it's like the star villain of the new movie.

Speaker 2 (56:42):
But like DNA said, like it wasn't in the movie
until like almost the end.

Speaker 3 (56:48):
Yeah, but thanks for doing that research, Matt. I mean
you've solved the mystery of when who's this hat Box goest? Like, yeah,
I didn't know any of that backstory.

Speaker 1 (56:58):
I only I usually don't do that. Well, actually that's
not true. I do because I do a ton of research.
Traddy's what am I saying? What I was saying though,
Like on that specific detail, I was just really like,
this is so important to the twenty twenty three film
and completely ignored in two thousand and three, Like what's
the story with this hat box ghost? And then I
found it because everyone knows that face, but I never

(57:20):
even thought.

Speaker 2 (57:20):
I did recognize that face, but I couldn't figure out
from where.

Speaker 1 (57:24):
Yeah, so it is crazy that like that just changed
the entire Suddenly they had a villain for the movie,
you know, versus in your movie. It was the scheming
butler and uh yeah, so but it's just so funny
how you can take this one character and create an
entire story based on it. Yeah, and throwing some grief
here and there.

Speaker 2 (57:44):
Right, Yeah, well I have to ask Dina this, Dina,
what a bummer? You go to Disney and the Haunted
Mansion is closed.

Speaker 3 (57:51):
I know I wanted to actually see it before I
met with you guys, because I wanted to see how
it hold it holds up, and you know, I would.

Speaker 2 (58:00):
Have been like I was in this movie.

Speaker 1 (58:02):
Excuse me, excuse me, coming through Emma, Emma from Haunt Mansion. Okay,
so then the close things out. What if if they
ever did a new Haunted Mansion movie, what would you
guys like to see from it?

Speaker 2 (58:17):
Emma?

Speaker 1 (58:18):
I mean, other than bringing Emma in and making her
the focal character and getting Dina Spiby Waters to reprise
the role, what would you like to see from a
new Haunted Mansion movie.

Speaker 3 (58:28):
I'll tell you something you don't want to see. And
this is a little bit of a diss with the
twenty three. I don't want it to be so filled
with grief. I want to have a good time. There
was also I don't know if you guys noticed this
as much as I do, but like there's there was
a lot of product placement of advertising burg Oh here's

(58:52):
my Burger king bag, or you know, oh I just
got this at Costco.

Speaker 1 (58:57):
Yes, I did remember that.

Speaker 3 (58:58):
I guess I was so oblim Yes, yeah.

Speaker 1 (59:01):
You're like Danny Dodo's eighty years old.

Speaker 2 (59:03):
But I couldn't get past it. I couldn't get past it.

Speaker 3 (59:07):
Yeah, but so, but but I like a linear story.
It could it could go a little scarier, maybe jump
scares a little more at the height of the film.
But then I would like, I would like more heart
of whatever the emotional through line is, but the fun,

(59:28):
the fun of the ride, and this is what I
would I would love, you know.

Speaker 2 (59:33):
You know I was thinking while watching it, like I
was thinking. I was thinking, like, wouldn't it be if
it was like the actual ride, like kids got stuck
on the ride.

Speaker 1 (59:43):
And it was really haunted. Yeah, yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
Don't know, because then it's like kids watching kids Like
I was just I was thinking because the first one, yes,
was aimed towards children, So I would think kids would
want to see kids on the ride being stuck and haunted.

Speaker 1 (59:58):
So that's very meta.

Speaker 3 (01:00:00):
Yeah, yeah, I agree. And you know, the first one
I had two kids, the second one had one kid.
I'd love to have maybe a family with three kids
of different ages, so them experiencing them right in different ways,
like an actual surly teen getting stuck in this house
versus like a ten year old who maybe scared more.

(01:00:23):
I don't know, but having that just like I don't know,
I want three kids.

Speaker 1 (01:00:29):
No, I love all these sects. I actually I agree
with everything you guys said. It sounds like I'm just
like just to just do agree but I truly do,
because I think you said it in the word fun.
That's what I kind of always get from the ride.
That not that it was missing from the movies, but
it wasn't as fun as I was expecting a Disney

(01:00:50):
ride based movie to be. Lots of story in both
lots of issues, really seriousness, like but yeah, I think
if you're gonna call it Disney's Haunted Mansion, we gotta
really get the audience of people who love that ride,
who want to have fun. So it's like fun with ghosts.
I'm trying to think that there's a movie out almost

(01:01:10):
like a goose Bumps or a like what is like
a series or a movie where you have fun with
spooky stuff? Why am I blanking them?

Speaker 2 (01:01:18):
I feel like like like growing up, there was like
specials on TV that were like an hour that were
really like Halloween focused. But for some reason, the translation
from like a power special to a big screen feature,
it's just it seems tougher to do. But I think,
just keep it simple, which I actually said when we

(01:01:39):
started this, but like the simplicity of you know, haunted.

Speaker 4 (01:01:46):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah, it's funny because I think
about at the time the first Pirates the Caribbean movie
was being shot at the same time, and they really
they really lacked into the like sexy pirate you know,
Shanny DApp was and there was kind of that kind
of cool sexy vibe added element added to it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:09):
And I don't know if there's anything you could do
with a sexy ghost.

Speaker 2 (01:02:16):
Do you think of lu Anne?

Speaker 1 (01:02:19):
Do you think of.

Speaker 3 (01:02:22):
New York Man.

Speaker 1 (01:02:25):
I knew this had to be a real Housewives reference
because I'm like, Okay, first of all, that sounds like
a Housewives name lu Anne. Oh yeah, yeah, I mean
that would be Yeah, it's funny that they don't, and
I'm trying to think of the ride, and I see
now I'm getting confused with Parates at Caribbean because I
remember in the parts at the Caribbean Bride, Remember when

(01:02:45):
there's the guys chasing the girls and then the last
one is the girl chasing the guy. And then I
think they shifted that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:52):
They took it out because it was like, this isn't
politically correct.

Speaker 3 (01:02:56):
Yeah, yeah, they switched that all up.

Speaker 1 (01:02:58):
I'm wondering if have there been changes to the Haunted
Mansion ride to make it more politically for that controversy.

Speaker 3 (01:03:06):
I don't know. I mean, there's like the bride who
keeps killing her husband's right in the early part of it,
I wish I had been on the ride. I answer, yeah, no, I.

Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
Love that you even tried to, especially in preparation for
It's because, like I will say, it has been a
number of years since I have been at Disneyland. Not
for the same reasons of tim I love kids, but
it's more that when I want to go to amusement park,
like I just love roller coasters. So obviously you know,
Disneyland is where I will go with my nephew and

(01:03:44):
love it. But like me personally, I'm not like, yes,
I gotta go to di I went so much going
up growing up.

Speaker 2 (01:03:49):
I have to ask this completely up the subject of
all mansions and hauntedness. Did you write the Raid of
the Lost Star ride?

Speaker 1 (01:03:57):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:03:57):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:58):
That's the best.

Speaker 3 (01:03:59):
I mean, I love it.

Speaker 2 (01:04:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:04:01):
Yeah, that's about as as scary as I can go.
I can't do the roller coasters that go upside down.
I can't do that at all, but I like that
like Thunder, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, you know Space. I
cannot do Space Mountain.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
Oh, that's my favorite's yeah, full blown roller coaster. Space
Mountain is a roller coaster, but it's like I love
it even to this day. And also didn't they recently
completely revamped Splash Mountain, Like it's not the same.

Speaker 3 (01:04:27):
Yeah, now, Tiana, and it's wonderful. I just we did
ride that. It's it's so delightful. They did a great
reimagining of that ride and it's so fun and and
you know it's still scary because you're going down a
huge Yeah, but they did a great job with the

(01:04:48):
the revamping that.

Speaker 1 (01:04:49):
Yeah, that's awesome. Well, now this is kind of like
getting me in the spirit and maybe want to know
Disneyland well, because you know, it's like it's they have
made so many movies based off of these properties. I'm
sure there's going to be more. I'm sure in twenty years,
maybe there will be another Haunted Mansion iteration. Dina. I
just want to say thank you so much for coming
on our show to have in this format of like

(01:05:11):
interview slash discussion. We really appreciate it. It it's long overdue
and really grateful for your time.

Speaker 3 (01:05:17):
Well, thank you for having me. It's always fun to
hang out with you. Guys time.

Speaker 1 (01:05:22):
Yeah, well, thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (01:05:25):
Well Pole, definitely, thank you, Dina.

Speaker 1 (01:05:27):
Yes, we will be in touch. Thank you again and
have a great rest of your day. Okay, okay, thanks, okay,
take care bye.

Speaker 2 (01:05:40):
Thanks for listening to another episode of Happy Horror Time.

Speaker 1 (01:05:43):
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(01:06:04):
and the chance to review a film with us in
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Speaker 2 (01:06:09):
Patrons also get all our regular episodes, ad free and
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Emmerts and I'm Tim Murdoch, and

Speaker 1 (01:06:22):
We hope you have a Happy Horror Time.