Hatbox Ghost

**The Hatbox Ghost** is a character from the Haunted Mansion.

## History

The mortal-life and identity of the Hatbox Ghost is shrouded in mystery though it is assumed that he was a man who lived in the 19th century. At some point in time he came to live in New Orleans, Louisiana and he is often presumed to have worked as a milliner. He seemed to require assistance walking (likely due to some disability in his right leg), using a shillelagh to walk and having also lost one of his front teeth and had a gold one inserted in its place.

It is more than likely to have had some affiliation with the active serial-killer Constance Hatchaway who lived in the Haunted Mansion from the late 1870s through to the 1920s. By the time he was a ghost (though quite possibly in his mortal-life) the hatter obtained the hatboxes which Constance used to keep the trophies of her murders, namely the severed heads of her five husbands Ambrose Harper, le Marquis to Doome, Frank Banks, Reginald Caine and George Hightower. The Hatter's relationship to Constance remains a mystery with common theories being that he was an accomplice, relative, romantic lover, or some combination of the three.

The hatter himself would die by decapitation before having his own head stuffed in a hatbox; the crime possibly having been commit by Constance given its fitting of her *modus operandi*. Following his death, he became one of the spirits of the Haunted Mansion where he became known as, "The Hatbox Ghost" due to his carrying of the hatbox which contained his decapitated head. He is easily one of the most enigmatic spirits within the mansion given not only the mystery of his past, but also his elusive nature and infamous status.

### Development history

The Hatbox Ghost was featured for an unspecified period of time early in the history of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, appearing within the attic scene. The intended effect was for the ghost's head to disappear from his shoulders and reappear within his hatbox via lighting switching between shining on his face (which was surrounded by a black collar made to cut-off light) and within his scrim hatbox where there was a replica head. He is believed to have been inspired by Lon Chaney's character "The Man in the Beaver Hat" from the 1927 horror-film, *London After Midnight*. In the original intention behind the attic scene he was the groom of the bride though the current canonicity of this is dubious at best.

The head effect did not work as planned however and resulted in the collared head remaining visible but just darkened, leading to the figure's removal. Due to the quiet removal but still being featured in merchandise and promotional materials, the Hatbox Ghost developed status as a Disneyland mystery and urban-legend. A common story told was that the effect worked too well and caused a reporter to die of a heart-attack which the Disney Company needed to cover up leading to them removing the figure. The mystery of the Hatbox Ghost was further escalated by the location of the original animatronic being unknown. One theory involved the Hatbox Ghost's figure being repurposed in the attraction America Sings for the audio-animatronic of Sam the Eagle though blueprints would later debunk this.

For many years the Hatbox Ghost served as a Disneyland urban-myth, and easter-egg for Haunted Mansion fans until an updated figure was installed in Disneyland's mansion in 2015. This new figure being redesigned to achieve the illusion of the disappearing head that was planned for the original figure.

## Appearances and allusions

### Haunted Mansion

The Hatbox Ghost's likeness is featured in the Corridor of Doors within the Haunted Mansion. One of the photographs shows a profile the original Hatbox Ghost's figure while another shows the Hatbox Ghost's leering head wearing different hats. One of these, "Family portraits" shows him in a bowler-hat while another shows him in a golden crown, earning the nickname of, "**King Leer**".

#### Disneyland

In Disneyland, the Hatbox Ghost appears at the end of the attic sequence where he stands on the balcony overlooking the mansion's cemetery. He is surrounded by hatboxes inferred to possess the heads of Constance's husbands and as guests pass by he chuckles before his head vanished from his shoulders and reappears within his hatbox. During the seasonal Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay he wears a festive brooch on his hat-band and has some festive hats around his balcony.

### Trader Sam's

Tiki mugs in the likeness of the Hatbox Ghost are displayed in and sold in *Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar* and *Trader Sam's Grog Grotto*. Additionally, the Shrunken Zombie Head drink is modelled after the, "Leering head" mould used by the original Hatbox Ghost (among other characters).

## Connections

### Tower of Terror

One of Constance's late-husbands who Hatty possessed the boxed head of was George Hightower, a member of the Hightower family. This also included Harrison Hightower III, a member of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers and Pillagers Brigade who owned the Hotel Hightower in New York.

### Disney Kingdoms

In the non-cannon Disney Kingdoms: The Haunted Mansion, the Hatbox Ghost is one of the four ghosts who actually died in the mansion. He mysteriously disappeared at one point in time, using the manor's endless staircase to travel to haunted locations throughout the world and keeping photographs of them in the mansion's Ghostly Materials Gallery of-which he was the keeper. Locations featured including: the Hollywood Tower Hotel from the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Ravenswood Manor from Phantom Manor, the Museum of the Weird, the New York/Fantasyland version of the Haunted Mansion, and Rainbow Ridge from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

## Trivia

* The Hatbox Ghost's chuckle was recorded by Corey Burton, doing his laugh that he uses when impersonating Paul Frees' character *The Ghost Host*.
* While not appearing in Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion, his usual space is occupied by a stack of five hatboxes located nearby a rack with the five hats of Constance's grooms; inferring the hatboxes to contain the heads of the five men.
* Leading up to the 2015 reinstallation of the Hatbox Ghost, there was a visible window with a bat-stanchion behind it in the place currently occupied by the spirit.