Harrison Hightower III

**Harrison Hightower III** is the main character of Tokyo DisneySea's Tower of Terror.  Hightower was an evil, wealthy colonial explorer and member of the *Society of Explorers and Adventurers*, a guild of colonial aristocrats. Hightower collected treasures and antiquities from around the world under shady methods such as poor trade, grave-robbing and theft. This would eventually be his downfall when he stole a certain item: a cursed idol by the name of Shiriki Utundu which killed him and left him as a ghost.

## Background

### Personality

Harrison Hightower III is presented as a decadent and greedy heir who used his money and influence to get what he wanted -- namely, artifacts and items from cultures found around the globe. If something piqued his interest, he stopped at nothing to acquire it for his own, finding no qualms about resorting to methods such as outright plunder and exploiting the good will of the native people he encountered, keeping the stolen items stored in his inherited mansion-turned-hotel on display as trophies. Harrison was a particularly skeptical and disrespectful man who mocked the thought that Shiriki Utundu was cursed -- something that led to his eventual downfall.

### Physical appearance

Harrison Hightower is shown as an elderly man with a white beard and mustache. He wears a white vest, red and yellow checkered fez, and a dark, fur-trimmed overcoat over black boots and tan travel pants.

## History

### Biography

#### Background

Harrison Hightower III was born in 1835 into the wealthy and powerful Hightower family. From a young age he was sent to England to attend boarding-school at Snoddington Academy. In 1847, a 12-year-old Harrison Hightower III met one Cornelius Endicott II who became his rival in a feud which lasted to the ends of their lives.

At some point in time, Harrison became a members of the organizations known as the *Pillagers Brigade* and the *Society of Explorers and Adventurers*. Harrison had a habit for travelling the world and acquiring artifacts from different cultures for his own private-collection via highly amoral means, having the racist ideology that, "*Primitive art is wasted on primitive people*". By his side was shrunken-head seller Billamongawonga AKA Trader Bill who often served as Hightower's right-hand man and consultant. Around 1868 he took on a manservant and valet in the form of one Archibald Smelding. Harrison Hightower III also had glamorized retellings of his exploits sold as adventure pulp stories under titles such as, "Hightower's Towering Tales for Boys", "Hightower's Half Dime Library", and, "Hightower's Adventure Coaps for Boys".

#### Early adventures

In 1872, Hightower traversed the Yangtze River of Asia in an expedition which was later commemorated by the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. In 1875, he and Smelding travelled to Japan where they stole samurai armour for Hightower's possession. In 1881 he went to the Philippines where he forced locals to carry him as if he were royalty. In this same year, Hightower and Smelding travelled to Easter Island and unfairly traded for a massive stone moai via giving a victrola to the local chief. In 1882, Hightower and Smelding went on a Mediterranean expedition.

In, Hightower and Smelding 1883 voyaged to the Lost River Delta of Cusco, Peru where they uncovered an ancient temple. Harrison defaced the temple and stole the stone head of a statue representing a water deity before making off with it in a rowboat which he had Smelding row. This action however would upset the raging spirits of the temple, resulting in accidents and natural disasters around the site.

While in the Delta, Hightower found the lost Temple of the Crystal Skull. Hightower's operations with the temple are unknown but he appeared to only have taken a photograph outside the temple. This same year, Hightower and Smelding travelled to Guatemala in order to grave-rob. In 1887, Hightower and Smelding raiding ancient Egyptian temples for their treasures and mummies, notably locations robbed including the pyramids of Giza and temple Abu Simbel. Local Egyptians formed an angry mob to hunt after the two, only for them to escape in a hot-air balloon.

#### The Hotel Hightower

Two years later in 1889, Hightower hired architect Oscar Klinovski to design a hotel in New York City known as the Hotel Hightower which would hold Hightower's collection. Construction of the hotel took three years with it opening the January 24th of 1892. The hotel opened to much fanfare however also to a protest due to Hightower's well-known amorality.

In 1894, Hightower travelled to Canada where he claimed Indigenous artwork for himself. At some point in his career, Harrison travelled to the Himalayas in a search for the legendary cryptid known as, "The Yeti". It is likely that this expedition would have taken him to the asian kingdom of Anandapur at the foothills of the Forbidden Mountain in the Himalayas where the yeti made its lair. The outcome of this mission is unclear but it is likely that Hightower was ultimately unsuccessful. He did however go on to write a book on the affair titled *Everest Expedition: In Search of the Yeti*.

#### Congo River Expedition

In the January of 1899 he travelled to the Congo with the Pillagers Brigade aboard his private-yacht *Hightower's Pride* accompanied by Smelding, eighteen armed henchmen, three photographers, a cook, a translator and thirty native porters. The Pillagers Brigade had some success in pillaging in the Congo and they took a portrait of themselves alongside their loot. This would, however, be short-lived due to attacks from angered Indigenous tribes. By May, the expedition had no artifacts and on July 16th, Hightower's party was separated from the rest of the brigade.

Hightower's expedition was later saved by the peaceful Mtundu tribe and their leader, Chief Kijanji. They were surprisingly friendly towards the foreigners and invited them to share food. During the meal, Hightower learned of the tribe's protective deity, Shiriki Utundu, personified in the form of an idol resting on an altar in the village. With his curiosity and greed lit afire, the businessman tried to convince the tribe's headman to sell the statuette to him. When he refused, Harrison stole it from the village and fled with his expedition. Oddly enough, the Mtundu gave no indication of wanting to chase them for their crime, even appearing to be smiling slightly.

#### Disappearance

On the night of December 31, 1899, Harrison Hightower threw a press conference and a New Year's Eve party in his hotel to boast of his "latest find," showing a pompous attitude and allowing no real question. When reporter Manfred Strang from the New York Globe-Telegraph asked if Shiriki Utundu wasn't really cursed, an annoyed Hightower had him thrown out. Hightower later held a New Year's Eve Party to celebrate his acquisition which he invited fellow S.E.A. members to attend.

While his celebration was a success, Harrison retired early (at the stroke of midnight) to find a spot for the idol in his penthouse apartments. He was stopped at the elevator by Mr. Smelding, his personal valet, with a warning to show proper respect for the statue. A sneering Hightower refused, and defiantly put out his cigar on Utundu's head. From within the elevator, Shiriki Utundu came to life with an evil green glow in its eyes, horrifying Mr. Hightower. The cursed idol gave out a terrible laugh as it summoned green lightning to blast Harrison into oblivion, plunging the elevator down the shaft and causing the chaos that led to the hotel's closure and its reputation as a haunted place.

#### Afterlife

Hightower was left in the hotel as a ghost, forever tormented by Shiriki Utundu for his lifetime of evil deeds. In 1912, the *New York City Preservation Society* began conducting tours of the hotel, secretly a plot by Smelding to send human sacrifice to Shiriki Utundu in hopes it would free his master's soul. However, by this time Hightower began trying to help the god's would-be victims escape and avoid the fate which he was forced to endure.

## Appearances

### Disney Parks

#### Aunty's Beach House

There is a portrait of the Pillagers Brigade from their 1899 expedition to the Congo in this Aulani attraction. A letter alongside the portrait from Adventurers Club president Pamelia Perkins details the history of the Pillagers Brigade and Harrison Hightower III.

#### Bengal Barbecue

A miniature version of the 1899 portrait of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers is present on a shelf in this restaurant, seemingly from the possession of Hightower's fellow SEA-member Prof. R. Blauerhimmel.

#### Mystic Manor

Harrison Hightower makes a cameo appearance in the queue area of Hong Kong Disneyland's Mystic Manor, appearing in a group portrait with Henry Mystic and the rest of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers, dated 1899 before his disappearance. He is also holding Shiriki Utundu in the portrait.

#### Oceaneer Lab

In this nautical lab belonging the SEA member Captain Mary Oceaneer are two newspapers, one detailing the opening of Hotel Hightower and the other detailing Harrison's disappearance. There is also a portrait of the 1899 SEA meeting at the Hotel Hightower.

#### Raging Spirits

Crates from the Hightower Trust are littered throughout this temple. This is due to how Harrison defaced the ruins in the 1880s to bring the water idol statue's head to the Hotel Hightower and in the 1930s it was being restored following Hightower's demise.

#### Skipper Canteen

In the library of this restaurant are two books written by Harrison Hightower III titled *MINE!, Treasures of the Animal Kingdom,* and *Everest Expedition: Search for the Yeti*. The latter of these books implies him having traveled to the Himalayas to search for the yeti. There is a certificate in the restaurant reading, "*Hightower Spirit of Adventure Award*" being awarded by S.E.A. to Dr. Albert Falls and signed by Captain Mary Oceaneer on the August 19 of 1921.

#### Tower of Terror

The mystery and life of Harrison Hightower III are detailed in the queue for this attraction. On the tours of Hotel Hightower presented by the New York City Preservation Society, archival recordings of a press conference tell the story of how his contact with the Shiriki Utundu statue led to the events of the hotel's haunting. Hightower's ghost then proceeds to serve as a disembodied host until he is encountered in the hotel's penthouse as a ghost, still being tormented by Shiriki Utundu. During the ride, guests see the blue ghost of Harrison Hightower reaching out to touch the idol resting on a table in a hallway, before it reanimates itself once more and zaps him into an elevator shaft, sending him crashing down.

#### Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar

Hightower is mentioned in a letter addressed the this bar's proprietor Trader Sam sent by the New York City Preservation Society. The letter details how Sam's supposed grandfather *Billamongawonga* AKA *Trader Bill* was Hightower's right-hand man and how the NYCPS removed a portrait of Bill from Hotel Hightower to be sent to Sam.

#### Tropical Hideaway

On the wall of oars commemorating different river expeditions of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers, one oar is seen belonging to Harrison Hightower III from his Yangtze River voyage in 1872.

## Gallery

***Tower of Terror Wikia*** has a collection of images and media related to ***Harrison Hightower III***.
## Trivia

* Presumed relatives of Harrison are referenced in different attractions:
	+ He is possibly likely to George Hightower from *The Haunted Mansion*, one of Constance Hatchaway's husbands-turned-victims.
	+ In the *Magic of Disney Animation* there was a screenwriter credited for *The Bride of Frankenollie* named Harrison Hightower IV.
* Both of Hightower's books in the Skipper Canteen reference his actor Joe Rohde who developed the Animal Kingdom theme-park and attraction Expedition Everest.

## References

1. ↑ http://blog.livedoor.jp/wininter001/archives/2014-02-24.html
2. ↑ http://www.disunplugged.com/2010/08/03/just-who-exactly-is-harrison-hightower-iii/
3. ↑ http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2011/02/tokyo-disney-sea-attraction-posters.html
4. ↑ https://www.coaster101.com/2016/06/08/tokyo-disneysea-review-part-2/
5. ↑ http://ksean.com/blog/tower-of-terror-mural-egypt/
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/Attractions/status/1082384534384062464
7. ↑ https://jungleskipper.com/uploads/posts/sea-part-2/harrison-hightower-in-canada.jpg
8. ↑ https://jungleskipper.com/sea/attractions/skipper-canteen#&gid=1&pid=left-bookshelf-top-shelf-c70
9. ↑ https://jungleskipper.com/sea/attractions/skipper-canteen#&gid=1&pid=center-shelf-3rd-shelf-c37