Super Paranormal Mystery Hunt

**Super Paranormal Mystery Hunt** is a 1987 mystery comedy animated film produced by True Skies Animated Features and True Skies Pictures. The third film in the True Skies/Skylight Canonical Animated Treasures. The film was directed by Joshua Armgardt, Buford Pictish, Clyde Hopkins and Eugene Birklieg. The film was also known as ***The Most Amazing Super Paranormal Mystery Hunts*** for it's 1992 theatrical release and ***The Most Haunted Manor in the Atlantic*** in some countries.

 During the film’s initial release in 1987, Super Paranormal Mystery Hunt was not well known as the previous and following entries. It was largely forgotten by audiences, but well known by True Skies animation staff as a major box office disaster.

Despite not not being well known upon it's theatrical release, in recent years, the film has been regarded as a cult classic.

## Production

The layouts were done on computers, and the use of video cameras made a digital version of pencil testing possible. The movie was notable for being the last True Skies animated film to use xerography; sometimes cited as the only True Skies animated film to use a combinaction of xerography, traditional cel animation, CGI and Computer Animation Production System (CAPS); in reality, Thundersnow has the same distinction. With the exception of Don Quixote, which did not use CAPS but used traditional cel animation, xerography and computer technologies.

CAPS was used for a fight scene that takes place in the interior of an abandoned Nova Scotian psychiatric ward situated on an island. The movements of the Tesla coils and computers gears were produced as wire-frame graphics on a computer, printed out and traced onto animation cels where colors and the characters were added.

Charlotte Quickster was originally intended to be an older character with the potential as a love interest for Tanque or even an infatuated Ticque, before it was decided that she should be a child to better gain audience sympathy. While Tanque and Tiqcue were visually based on Shaggy and Fred was well as Bob and Doug Mackenzie, their voices and personalities were not. Tanque’s voice was based on Leslie Howard’s portrayal of Henry Higgins in the film Pygmalion while Ticque’s voice was based on True Skies animation legend Albert Aquino.

Triple Standard’s decision to name the film Super Paranormal Mystery Hunt and not The Haunted Mansion was polarizing with the filmmakers. Animator Patty Il wrote a satirical interoffice memo, allegedly by studio executive James L. Washington, which gave the preceding films the following generic titles:

## Voice Cast

* Mary Kay Bergman as Mackinac I. Fudge
* Angelina Brixton as Doctor Sampling
* Kaycee Paz as Scout
* Susanne Pollatshek as Charlotte Quickster
* Phil Harris as Inklet the Mouse/Groundskeeper
* Rick Moranis as Tanque
* Dave Thomas as Ticque
* Joshua Armgardt as the
* Arthur Burghardt ad Doctor Erich Nazō Vincent Price as Professor Dreadful a.k.a The "Mastermind"
* Check Marin as Creepy the Hobgoblin
* Leslie Nielsen as Professor Horace Quickster
* Robert Reed as
* Val Bettin as Groundskeeper Horton
* Madonna as The Cabaret Werewolf
* Frank Welker as Lockjaw the Hyena, Lockjaw is The Mastermind's obese and pompous hyena. Lockjaw also upon by him by using a special tambourine, in order to dispose of traitors or when anybody annoys him or make him angry. He is eaten by a shark at an aquarium at the end of the movie after being chased by Savannah the Lion also voiced by Welker and voices Munch-Crunch the Shark
* Charles Fleisher - additional voices including the Imps

## Trivia

* The movie Super Paranormal Mystery Hunt draws parallels with the 1986 Disney film The Great Mouse Detective, which was released a year earlier. It also draws parallels with the 2002 video game Scooby Doo!: Night of 100 Frights, both of which have similar premises
* The film was originally going be based on The Haunted Mansion theme park ride in the early 1970's. The project was cancelled because of an incident where fellow Disney animator Don Bluth splashed a cup of hot tea at Michael Murfaw's face, due to a disagreement over having to have the film set in Canada. Eventually the project was retooled after Skylight Animation was founded as True Skies in 1984.
* This was True Skies' last animated film to use Jimmy MacDonald's classic cartoon sound effects, however some the sound effects were used for humourous moments in later films (like most notably, *Little Young Guardian*). It was also the last animated film released by True Skies to use the classic Castle Thunder sound effects and a few remaining classic sound effects.
* Despite an unsuccessful attempts to turn a Disney theme park ride into an animated film, Michael Murfaw later visited traveled to Prince Edward Island. Where he did drawings of a historic landmark also called Haunted Mansion. The said attraction in Prince Edward Island has no relation Disney's amusement attraction of the same name. So in turn the Pullup Manor in the movie was based on a landmark in Prince Edward Island.
* Super Paranormal Mystery Hunt is the first animated film by the True Skies/Skylighter Animated Features to be a box office bomb. This consequently led to earning it's reputation as the "film that nobody remembers" at the time of its theatrical release. It gained cult status following its theatrical rerelease in 1992.
* Super Paranormal Mysteries and The Great Mouse Detective have earlier similarities.
* This is the first animated film in the True Skies/Skylight Animated Features Canon to feature a laugh track.
* The movie was originally supposed to take place in the 1980's. Armgardt requested the film to take place in the 1960's. This was due to setting the film in 1987 was considered too contemporary.