Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Welcome Foolish Mortals...

I may have mentioned at some point that my all time favorite theme-park ride is Disney's Haunted Mansion. On my recent visit to the Anaheim park, my friend Lance told me about a record he had as a kid which featured a young Ron Howard trapped inside the mansion.
I quickly pulled out my iPhone and looked up The Story and Song from The Haunted Mansion.
Turns out this hard-to-find Disneyland Records Storyteller long-playing featured the creepy soundtrack from the Disneyland attraction plus a narrated story about two teenagers who visit a haunted house.
So, while shopping on Main Street USA, we popped into the book & record shop - only to find that The Story and Song from The Haunted Mansion is now out on cd! So of course we bought it!
As soon as we got in the car, we popped it in the cd player!The story is narrated by Disney (and Frosted Flakes) Legend Thurl Ravenscroft - and tells the tale of Mike and Karen, two siblings who take refuge inside a eerie house during a thunderstorm.
Mike is indeed portrayed by Ron Howard and Robie Lester is Karen.
The two basically go through the mansion the way a guest would encountering many of the mansion's characters and experiencing much of the classic music and sound effects. Their Ghost Host is voiced by Pete Renoudet, rather than Paul Frees.
The cd also comes with an extended version of the song Grim Grinning Ghosts and a collection of awesome Collin Campbell artwork (which has graced this post) created for the 1969 vinyl release. Listening to it on the way home was the perfect way to cap off a perfect day at the Happiest Place on Earth.

4 comments:

Brad said...

Are you familiar with this tacky and fun Halloween recording?
Night In A Haunted House/Night In A Graveyard

Writer said...

I love these drawings. I did not have this album as a kid, but I had something similar but not by Disney. A search now ensues!

Danny in WeHo said...

What about Jack Skellington??? Where was he?

Ookie said...

When I was in kindergarten, this album terrified me, yet it was by far my favorite childhood possession.