25 May, 2009

was the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand?

Phil Deakins said:

No. You missed the point I made because .... you missed the point I made and not for any other reason that I'm aware of.

And Anthony Hocken replied:

Well you win the award for vagueness at least.

vague award


You do at that, Mr. Deakins--thank you for putting forth the time and effort it takes to really vague things up. We salute you.

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This is mostly here because I thought it was amusing; again from Dare Island, which means we have at least one strong Sabbat house on the grid. Whee!

And sadly, this seems to be true. In most of the virtual worlds out there...

But we're going to talk about Mouse World now. Specifically, the Haunted Mansion at Mouse World.

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The layout is remarkably faithful to the original, considering SL's notable quirks. Compare this scene to the painting from the park, to see what care was taken with even minor props.

Some things I've deliberately left unphotographed, partially due to the relative quickness of the ride, partially due to the fact that, for fans and newcomers alike, there are some lovely moments I'd rather leave as a surprise! But everything, down to the lightning sounds in the Portrait Gallery, and the bat finials topping the waiting ramp to board the "Doombuggies" (again, faithful black reproductions of the Omnimover personal vehicles which carry you through the rest of the ride) is in place. True fans of the Haunted Mansion will be astounded.

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The library, complete with ghostly floating books.

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To this day this amuses me greatly--though it's recolored (to a faded burgundy tone) this is Lady Disdain's wallpaper (the shop that once was Kartiny, above Autogenic Alchemy in Penzance). I remain tickled by this.

Do note the bulging door to the left.

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The haunted ballroom.

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The Bride in the attic. Compare this to images of the original Bride (from Doombuggies.com).

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And the pinnacle for me: beyond all the faithful recreation, there was a room that I thought impossible to re-enact on the grid. Because mirrors don't work here; all mirrors are trompe l'oueil devices, if they work at all, and may I refer back to the "mirrors don't work" line?

The genius Enoch brothers make this work. I won't say how, but they do. Kudos, gentlemen, you've truly outdone yourselves.

Mouse World in general is well worth a visit, but I cannot urge any fan of the Haunted Mansion enough to go visit that attraction, at least. It's wonderful, it's a great tribute to the original, and I will definitely be visiting it again.

2 comments:

Rhianon Jameson said...

Of the entire Mouse World experience, the Haunted Mansion was the most amazing recreation of the original (though Dumbo and the nausea-inducing tea cups were close behind).

Come to think of it, it's been a few years since I last saw the Mouse in person. Maybe it's time for a return visit...?

Emilly Orr said...

What enchants me so about the Haunted Mansion is that Disney, in all its international derivations, has adapted largely to each culture, as much as it can. So the rides, the characters in certain cases, the "look" of the place is different, say, between Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and EuroDisney in France.

But the Haunted Mansion is in every Disney park, and nearly universally, it remains in theme. That's oddly cool.

hide away, they say, 'cos we don't want your broken parts

Yeah, so...remember that thing I was recovering from? You know, last year ? Yeah. I did it again. So this is Em Faw Down Go Boom part ...