Silly Haunted Mansion question

[Dukland]

You know those four singing head busts in the graveyard? Is one of them the head of Walt Disney? (Not the actual head, of course Just a bust of it)

 

[HydroGuy]

It is my understanding that they are faces of people who worked for Disney. But not Walt himself.

 

[mystic_path]

Thats a cool piece of info... I didnt even know that

 

[TinkerbellTris]

No it is not walt disney. He sort of looks like him though huh? It's actually a man who originally did work on the Haunted Mansion while it was being built.

 

[iceskatejen]

Actually, the one that sort of looks like Walt is the late Thurl Ravenscroft, aka the voice of Tony the Tiger. From the pictures I've seen of Ravenscroft, he is indeed the same face as is on the broken bust. I know the voice sure is Ravenscroft (who could mistake it?) but I'm pretty sure all the men who's voices are used also are the faces.

 

[Mtnman44]

from doombuggies:

Of course, the band would really be unimpressive without the fabulous vocal stylings of the "Phantom Five," a collection of singing marble busts. These singing statues (lead by bass vocalist Thurl Ravenscroft [second from left], who is famous for his "Grrrrrrr-REAT!" portrayal of Tony the Tiger) are projected faces on static bust props (in an effect very similar to that of the Madame Leota crystal ball.) Special thanks to Guy Kalicicki for providing the scanned bust cels.

For the record, each filmstrip was labeled on the leader, and each bust is actually a named character. They are, from left: Ned Nub (Jay Meyer), Uncle Theodore (Thurl Ravrenscroft), Rollo Rumkin (Verne Rowe), Phineas Puck (Bob Ebright), and Cousin Al (Chuck Schroeder.)

 

[funnygarcia]

Another factoid...
The dog signing/howling along in the town scene on Pirates (donkey braying in background, man with a squeeze box/concertina) is also the voice of Ravenscroft.

He did several voice overs in the park (DL railroad narrator until it was changed, Fritz in Tiki, Buff in Country Bear Jamboree) and in many Disney movies. Also was the vocalist for the song "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch".

There is a cool fan web site here with samples of his work.
I remember reading about him on various Disney fan web sites when he died in 2005.
http://members.aol.com/allthurl/thurl2.htm

 

[diznynut]

Here's a link to a great site of all things on the HM. http://www.doombuggies.com You shoud be able to find any info you need here.

 

[ravenscroft1999]

The one you are speaking of is Thurl Ravenscroft, popular voice over artist and voice of tony the tiger. He only passed away last year. The images of the others are animators or imagineers. The singing voices were members of thurls vocal group "the mellomen". He's where I get My screen name