Story & Song From the Haunted Mansion

Disney (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 22, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Disney
• ASIN: B002M2N9HU
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,147 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion

2. Grim Grinning Ghosts [*]

Editorial Reviews

1. The Story and Song from The Haunted Mansion
In 1969, this Disneyland Records Storyteller album was released to commemorate the opening of Haunted Mansion. Intended as a simple promotional album, this recording has become a cherished childhood memory for many a Disneyland guest. The Story and Song of The Haunted Mansion includes original scenes and effects that never made it into the final attraction as it follows the story of two teenagers (voiced by Robie Lester and a young Ron Howard) who take refuge inside the eerie mansion during a mysterious rainstorm.

2. BONUS TRACK - Grim Grinning Ghosts
The official Disneyland® Park version

Bonus Content: Insert this CD into your computer to enjoy a second session of HiRez Collin Campbell images of his original paintings for the 1969 vinyl release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Reissue of the Album, September 25, 2009

By 

Wayne D. Wright (Seattle, Wa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Story & Song From the Haunted Mansion (Audio CD)

As the editorial review states this is a reissue of the 1969 record. It is a 24 minute story of two teenagers (played by Robie Lester and "Ronny" Howard) in the Haunted Mansion and is narrated by Thurl Ravenscroft. It does contain some of the sound effects and music from the attraction but interestingly deviates some. The Ghost Host here is Pete Renoudet not Paul Frees. It mentions effects not seen since the original opening in 1969 and characters not fully developed in the attraction. Sound quality is very good, better than any version of the LP I have heard.

Track two is "Grim Grinning Ghosts" this is a five and a half minute version featuring a little bit of Paul Frees as the Ghost Host, the song. and Little Leota.

It is packaged in a Digipak with the original booklet of Collin Campbell's illustrations and text. When you place the CD in your computer a flash program runs which houses a gallery of the booklet and cover paintings without any text and which are printable.

I am glad to finally own this in the CD format and would recommend it to any Haunted Mansion or Disneyland fan.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Improved, but not identical to the vinyl release, October 28, 2009

By 

Gerry (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Story & Song From the Haunted Mansion (Audio CD)

This version is altered from the original Lp release. While some really bad editing flubs that exist on the original have been fixed/masked, and the tape hiss cleaned up dramatically, it lost some things in the process. Much of the original stereo mix has been mixed down to mono. Could be because of the dropouts in the original tape, or to blend smoothly with the next scene. The original did have several segments spliced in after the tape had been completed, often jarring the listener by jumping from mono to stereo and back again inexplicably in mid-scene. The engineer on this release did a great job repairing those flubs. In one place, the Ghost Host inexplicably in mid-sentence went to mono from the "weird stereo effect" as others have described it, but that has now been fixed. In another scene, the ballroom organ inexplicably jumps from center to right and back to center again which has been corrected. There are still a few tape dropouts remaining that throw the recording off-balance which could have easily been fixed by adjusting the gain on one track, but they chose not to.

I just wish they had left the original stereo elements as they were. For example, in the first section of the vinyl as Thurl sets the scene, some cats start meowing on the left channel, as well as the wind and rain sound effect plays on the left. Now it's all mono. This happens in several places that were originally stereo. Additionally, there is a segment about 2/3 of the way through that is very muffled, which isn't muffled in the original.

Another big mistake they made on this new release is by adding a reverb that simulates voices bouncing off the walls of a small, empty room, and is most notable on Thurl Ravenscroft's narration. It totally ruins the original "right-in-the-room-with-you" acoustical presence that the original Lp has. Now he sounds like he was recording in a medium-sized empty room instead of the acoustically damped studio. The only reverb used on the original was for the Ghost Host's ominous voice. Adding an unnecessary (and annoying) reverb to perfectly good recordings has been an on-going problem with most of Mr. Thornton's recent vintage re-releases. It may be virtually imperceptible to most, but after listening to the original record for 40 years, I noticed it immediately.

Would have been better had this album been entirely remixed from the original recording elements, but I presume they are lost to time. Some more (and new) bonus material would have been nice too. The scans of the restored Campbell paintings are nicely done, but there should have been more. Can't really argue since it is bargain-priced.

Overall, it's great to finally have it on CD now - but it's not *quite* as good as your old Lp overall.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for haunted house fans!!, October 2, 2009

By 

Brett Persing - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Story & Song From the Haunted Mansion (Audio CD)

You get the 20 minute original 1969 story of the haunted mansion complete with sound effects (which this is the best and longest story told of the mansion), you get the original full-length version of "Grim Grinning Ghosts" from the Disneyland attraction, you get the entire storybook including all the great artwork and words in paper form inside the case, and you get the entire storybook in digital form when you put it in your computer!! And all for under $10...this is just like having the original book from your childhood PLUS you get the full-length story!