Question for Haunted Mansion Expert

[transitauthority]

I have a question for any Haunted Mansion experts.

What actor is the voice of the Ghost host?

I was watching a Twilight Zone episode last night. "To serve Man". You know the one... "Its a cookbook!!!!"

Now, the guy who played the alien was "Jaws" from the James Bond movies. But he spoke telepathically, and I could swear the voice was the same as the ghost host from Haunted Mansion.

So, anyone know the name of the actor who did the ghost host voice?

 

[WDWguru]

Paul Frees is the Ghost Host. You'll find everything you ever need to know about HM at www.doombuggies.com Info on the soundtrack in particular is at http://www.doombuggies.com/history5.htm

"popularly known as the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, Ludwig von Drake, and Boris Badenov in the popular TV series The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle"

 

[transitauthority]

Hmmmmmm, I gues it was not the same actor then.


Thanks!

 

[WDWguru]

Some more interesting trivia about Paul Frees, from IMDB Pro...

I don't find any credit for a Twilight Zone episode, but he was the voice of the Burgermeister Meisterberger in the old Rankin/Bass Santa Claus is Comin to Town special. He also did several of their other specials, and was the voice of Santa in several of them.

He was also the original voice of the car in Knight Rider, but just the pilot episode, called K.A.R.R. He did TONS of cartoon voices and lots of announcing on early TV shows too.

 

[clownboy007]

And don't forget, he was the voice of Boris Badenov on The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle ("Sharrup you mouth, Natasha")!

 

[Robo]

Some more interesting trivia about Paul Frees, from IMDB Pro...

I don't find any credit for a Twilight Zone episode...

I don't know if Mr. Fees was the voice on the Tzone in question (I could tell you if I heard it) but the credit would likely not be written anywhere (publicly) if he was.

In Hollywood, there is no union rule requiring a credit for a "voice-over" (unseen actor). Likewise, there is no requirement for an actor who is only SEEN for a couple of minutes, but who does not speak (usually called a "day player" or "extra").

So the listing of who spoke the telepathic voice is likely unavailable.

But it is VERY likely that Mr. Frees COULD have been that voice. He was widely used as a voice-over actor at the time of the Tzone's production.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I thought I read somewhere that he was the voice of Tony the Tiger from Frosted Flakes. Is that true?

 

[Robo]

I thought I read somewhere that he was the voice of Tony the Tiger from Frosted Flakes. Is that true?

Thurl Ravenscroft is well-known as the voice of Kellogg's "Tony the Tiger".
He is also prominently featured in the HM, but not as the narrator.

He's the BASS vocalist in the singers of the HM song (Grim Grinning Ghosts).
His image can be seen as one of the "singing busts" in the graveyard scene.
Thurl is the singer with the mustache, the one who is often mistaken by some guests as "Walt Disney" (Walt does not appear in the attraction.

Here's a "GRRRRRR-EAT" pic of Thurl and his buddy, Tony:

Here's a special treat.
There was a very popular novelty song recorded in 1954 by Rosemary Clooney (aunt of George Clooney) with MAJOR bass-voice solos by none other than Thurl Ravenscroft (his voice is unmistakable).

Here's a link to DOWNLOAD the mp3 and listen to the song "This Old House".

http://savefile.com/projects/1039160

=================================
The HM's NARRATOR is the wonderful voice-over artist, Paul Frees.
He was also the voice of "Boris Badenoff" in the Rocky & Bullwinkle shows.
He is ALSO the voice of "Poppin' Fresh" the Pillbury Doughboy!!
(Hard to believe that deep bass of the HM narrator can create that high fragile "giggle" of the Doughboy!)


Mr. Frees is also MANY MANY of the voices in Pirates.

He was used by Disney for other attractions as well, and his talents are heard in countless movies and TV shows.

He was able to create such wide VARIETY of voices, he was hired to "dub" many foriegn-language films (some where he played MANY of the various roles by himself!)

If you buy a copy of the CD that features various audio versions of the HM (it can be found at WDW, DLR and sometimes on Ebay) on it there are rare "out-takes" of Paul reading the "narrator lines" for the original HM. Some of these are hysterical when he flubs and/or tries "different ways" of reading the (now famous) lines.

Sadly, Paul Frees died a number of years ago.
And Thurl Ravenscroft passed away just last year.

But these wonderful talents can still be enjoyed by millions in the Disney attractions.