Halloween Ain't Over! Say It Isn't So!!!
A quick post today....here's the Backstage Magazine cover mentioned by Patrick.
It has all the sixties wackiness of the ride itself.
That's what I like most about the original Mansion. It's such a product of it's era. References to 'Doombuggies' (dune buggies), the walking funk bass line in the Grim Grinning Ghosts song, 'swinging wake' (swingers) and Hitchhiking Ghosts 'thumbing-it'.
The Madame Leota seance scene I'm sure was an outcropping of my favorite 'Imagineering Hippy', Rolly Crump's mystic gypsy concepts....very sixties.
I haven't had coffee yet, so I might come up with others. Anybody else?
Three points for a good answer!
A quick post today....here's the Backstage Magazine cover mentioned by Patrick.
It has all the sixties wackiness of the ride itself.
That's what I like most about the original Mansion. It's such a product of it's era. References to 'Doombuggies' (dune buggies), the walking funk bass line in the Grim Grinning Ghosts song, 'swinging wake' (swingers) and Hitchhiking Ghosts 'thumbing-it'.
The Madame Leota seance scene I'm sure was an outcropping of my favorite 'Imagineering Hippy', Rolly Crump's mystic gypsy concepts....very sixties.
I haven't had coffee yet, so I might come up with others. Anybody else?
Three points for a good answer!
posted by thepicklebarrel at 9:18 AM
4 Comments:
tru, tru...
Crump's style in Mansion is pure strain 60's psychadelia nonsense, especially the way one line flows into another seamlessly in designs like the back of his demon armchairs and the devil-eyes in the grates above doors. Although he was inspired by Jean Cocteau's film 'La Belle et La Bete", Cocteau's "living architecture" is presented in a much more straightforward way than Crump's rather nightmareish lines, which kind of bleed back and forth on first glance between being just a random mass of lines and actually organizing themselves into a face. Fantastic blog, Jordan. Shameless plug: there's plenty of Disney nonsense on mine, if you're looking for some extra stimulation!
hi foxxfur!
thanks for the kind words.
although...i have to disagree with you on crumps work in the mansion. its the subtlety of the designs that you describe that i think make it so creepy.
if you scan some of marc davis' design drawings of mansion environments, you'll find lots of very subtle 'demonic architecture' ornimentation in the rooms.
i think they were going for subliminal effect rather than blatant figures in the ride.
its the MAJOR difference between the artistry of the old Imagineers as opposed to what WDI does today...it's very 'hit you over the head' with design rather than subtle taste.
of course, this is all up to personal opinion!
i'll check out your blog today...
Well I think we essentially agree. =) The "Crump Influence" is sure a lot more subtle than, say, Davy Jones Head in a waterfall, regardless of the quality of that effect. I often say current WDI work is "Hit Them With A 2x4 & Then Get Them Wet" school, especially compared to the quality the subtley of, say, Coates' atmospheric designs in Pirates and Mansion. I guess my original point was that the *quality of line* in Crump's Mansion work strikes me as very 60's, even if it is kind of teetering on the "is it there or not?" balance beam, which, of course, the 1960's wasn't about....
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