Haunted Mansion Question

[d1gitman]

Forgive me if this is an obvious or dumb question.

While riding HM at DL today, it looked to me like one of the 4 male singing heads in HM was the face of Walt Disney. It was the one where the head was detached and off to the side.

Can anyone confirm if the detached singing head is Walt?

 

[LKD]

From what I've heard its true xD

I have a related question..the ghosts having a tea party in the same room, is one of them the Mad Hatter? He has a resemblence to the new Hatter

 

[Goofy_Dave]

Forgive me if this is an obvious or dumb question.

While riding HM at DL today, it looked to me like one of the 4 male singing heads in HM was the face of Walt Disney. It was the one where the head was detached and off to the side.

Can anyone confirm if the detached singing head is Walt?

I've thought that before too, but if you look at a picture of Walt, they are not the same at all. I can't confirm this, but I'm pretty sure it is not. I think it would be near the top of all the "Did you know..." lists about DL if it was him.

 

[spacemermaid]

The singing bust isn't of Walt Disney, but of Thurl Ravenscroft, a popular voice actor who sang the main part of the "Grim Grinning Ghosts" song, and was also the voice of Tony the Tiger (as in..."Kellogg's Frosted Flakes! They're GRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!"), among other things. He and Mr. Disney did share some similarities in appearance, though.

 

[iKristin]

It's not Walt Disney, they just look a like

 

[AliceinHalloweentown]

The singing bust isn't of Walt Disney, but of Thurl Ravenscroft, a popular voice actor who sang the main part of the "Grim Grinning Ghosts" song, and was also the voice of Tony the Tiger (as in..."Kellogg's Frosted Flakes! They're GRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!"), among other things. He and Mr. Disney did share some similarities in appearance, though.

Yep
Fun fact:
Mr. Ravenscroft also sang "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" from How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.

 

[JIrish780]

You can also hear him singing in the song "Yo Ho, A Pirates Life for Me" from Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

[Sherry E]

Thurl Ravenscroft was one of the singers at the church I went to every Sunday as a child (called the Little Country Church of Hollywood - a beautiful church which burned to the ground a few years ago). He wasn't there every Sunday, but he was there maybe 2 times a month. He was part of a little semi-comedic group called the Goose Creek Quartet, created just for the Country Church, if I recall, and of course, he was the bass voice. He would also perform solo here and there. If I ever get the incentive, I will have to dig through my grandmothers old photos and see if I can find some old church photos of Thurl and the Goose Creek Quartet and post something here!!

Thurl's voice was very, very deep and he was very tall, slender and jovial. His face was very expressive and had a lot of character. You could see where he would be a perfect fit for Disney. Stories were told regularly around the Country Church about Thurl's latest work for Disney. He was doing the Tony the Tiger voice waaaaay back when I was a kid, so that was old news by that time, but his voice could be heard all around DL. He left vocal imprints in the Tiki Room, in POTC, in America Sings, in HM, of course, and in the Country Bear Jamboree, as well as pretty much any other place you hear a multitude of voices. He also did some separate things for WDW, I recall he said, but he was not as involved there as he was at DL.

Without looking at a picture of the 'heads' in HM right now to recall who is located where, I think Thurl's head is the 4th one in from the right (aren't there 5 heads total?).

Thurl also went on to become very involved with the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, CA every year until his passing.

 

[ter-moo]

As others have said, it's Thurl Ravenscroft. Here's his picture:

 

[Sherry E]

Wow! That's a really old (or rather, young) photo of Thurl! He already had a head of white hair by the time I knew him at my church when I was a child!

 

[MrsPinup]

I always thought this was Walt too, but wondered why it was not mentioned in Mouse Tales.

 

[WonkaKid]

The singing bust isn't of Walt Disney, but of Thurl Ravenscroft, a popular voice actor who sang the main part of the "Grim Grinning Ghosts" song, and was also the voice of Tony the Tiger...

Indeed. When I was a child, my first exposure to the Haunted Mansion was the Disney Trick or Treat record. Thurl Ravenscroft narrated it. It also had the Grim Grinning Ghosts song. I've got an MP3 of it if anyone wants it.



Rob

P.S. spacemermaid -- I like your photo .

 

[WonkaKid]

P.S. My "Trick or Treat" record was apparently an abridged version of "The Story and Song from The Haunted Mansion," as heard on YT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yDtriIo11s&feature=related

Rob