2023's Haunted Mansion Fixed Disney's Major Mistake Of The Original Film

Twenty years after the original live-action "Haunted Mansion" film gave moviegoers laughs as well as frights, Disney is about to take another swing at the title. This time around, "Haunted Mansion" from director Justin Simien brings an all-star cast and a much spookier tone than its predecessor. Additionally, bearing in mind the fact that the 2003 film didn't go over too well with critics and moviegoers, the latest feature about the iconic Disney Parks attraction goes out of its way to fix one of the most glaring issues of the adaptation that came before.

For 2003's "The Haunted Mansion," the team behind it made the bold creative choice of abandoning the design of the titular building made famous by the amusement park ride — something that rubbed many die-hard Disney fans the wrong way. Thus, 2023's take has gone above and beyond to rectify this mistake. Not only is the legendary Disneyland California mansion design at the core of the story, but the Hatbox Ghost's (Jared Leto) former home is the same structure as those seen at Disney World Florida and Tokyo Disney. Its name, Crump Manor (named after Alistair Crump, aka the Hatbox Ghost), is also a nod to Disneyland Paris' Phantom Manor and Hong Kong Disneyland's Mystic Manor.

Evidently, the Haunted Mansion ride played a big role in Simien's development of the new "Haunted Mansion" movie. However, it's far from the only thing he drew from.

Justin Simien is still fairly new to the feature-length film game, having only directed two other titles prior to working on "Haunted Mansion." He kicked off his feature-length directorial run strong in 2014 with "Dear White People," keeping the momentum going in 2020 with "Bad Hair." "Haunted Mansion" is a big leap from those two efforts, and while Simien undoubtedly could handle taking on such a well-known Disney property, he looked to some big names and beloved movies to get the film done right.

During an interview with Mashable, Simien rattled off some of his biggest inspirations in filmmaking and the making of "Haunted Mansion." First and foremost are director Tim Burton and some of his early films like "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," "Beetlejuice," and "Edward Scissorhands." He also highlighted the big-screen take on "Little Shop of Horrors" from director Frank Oz, Ivan Reitman's franchise-spawning comedy "Ghostbusters," "Clue" from Jonathan Lynn, and Wolfgang Petersen's "The Neverending Story." "The Haunting," directed by Robert Weiss, also got a shout-out from Simien.

The rickety doors of "The Haunted Mansion" open on July 28.