For those of you who are frequent guests of Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, you may have noticed something missing in The Haunted Mansion courtyard after the Haunted Mansion Holiday began in 2001. According to Disney, when the first Nightmare Before Christmas Halloween transformation occurred in 2001, the headstones in the courtyard were replaced with pumpkins for the Halloween season. The headstones each represented the Imagineers who were responsible for bringing the original Haunted Mansion to life.
When it was time to put the headstones back out in the courtyard again, they couldn’t be located. So this year, Disney created new headstones to replace the old ones that went missing, and even added a few new ones to represent the newer Imagineers who have put their hearts and souls into The Haunted Mansion.
The original headstones and the Imagineers they represented are as follows:
- Claude Coats (lead designer – specializing in backgrounds and environments, he also developed the Omnimover layout)
- At Peaceful Rest Lies Brother Claude
- Planted Here Beneath This Sod
- Marc Davis (lead designer – specializing in character design and sight gags)
- In memory of our Patriarch
- Dear Departed Grandpa Marc
- X Atencio (script and song)
- Requiescat Francis Xavier
- No time off for good behavior R.I.P.
- Bill Martin (concept architect)
- Here Lies A Man Named Martin
- The Lights Went Out on this Old Spartan
- Dave Burkhart (models)
- Dear Departed Brother Dave
- He Chased a Bear into A Cave
- Yale Gracey (special effects and illusions)
- Master Gracey Laid to Rest
- No Mourning Please, at His Request. Farewell
- Bob Sewell (models)
- R.I.P. Mister Sewell
- The victim of a dirty duel, Peaceful rest
- Chuck Myall (show designer)
- R.I.P., in memoriam Uncle Myall,
- Here you’ll lie for quite a while
- Gordon Williams (sound and Audio-Animatronics system)
- Good Friend Gordon
- Now you’ve Crossed the River Jordan
- Cliff Huet (architecture/interiors)
- Rest in Peace Cousin Huet
- We All Know You Didn’t Do It
- Wathel Rogers (figure animation)
- Here Rests Wathel R. Bender
- He Rode to Glory on a Fender
- Fred Joerger (models/effect modeling)
- Here Lies Good Old Fred
- A Great Big Rock Fell on His Head, R.I.P.
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photo: Disney Parks Blog
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