The Watchful Busts are characters featured in the Haunted Mansion attraction at the Disney Parks.
History[]
Background[]
- For the character also called "Uncle Lucius", see Frozone.
These busts consist of four types encountered in the attraction: one which appears to be a middle-aged man with a large necktie (identified as "Uncle Lucius"), another one which is an elderly woman with her hair in a bun (identified as "Aunt Lucretia"), an unnamed bearded man with a cleated chin, and a young-looking man with short hair. It is unclear whether all of the busts depicting "Aunt Lucretia" are the same individual.
Due to the success of the attraction at Disneyland, the Haunted Mansion attraction was later constructed at the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, still featuring the watchful busts in it, as well as being constructed in Disneyland Paris' version of the attraction.
Effects[]
The effect used for these busts was created by using inverses of faces by placing them in a blank background to make it appear if the busts were facing outwards, due to the fact that no matter when a guest moves, wherever they look at the bust as if it is always staring at them.
Appearances[]
The Haunted Mansion[]
Disneyland[]
Two of the busts depicting a man with a necktie and an elderly woman are encountered at the end of the Changing Portraits scene where they are seen staring at guests who past by them just before they board on the Doom Buggies to help them find a way out of the mansion.
Magic Kingdom/Tokyo Disneyland[]
Unlike in the California counterpart, the busts are encountered in the library scene where guests ride via Doom Buggy where all four of the bust types are seen in the alcoves inside the library staring at guests passing by. The Ghost Host describes them as the greatest ghost writers the literary world has ever known. The next scene after the library the guests pass through is the scene where a shadow pianist plays on the piano.
The bust of an elderly woman semi-officially known as "Aunt Lucretia" appears again during the ballroom scene where the bust of her can be seen displayed on a mantle over the fireplace.
Phantom Manor[]
After guests pass through a portrait of Melanie Ravenswood in the attraction at the end of the Changing Portraits scene, they pass through the bust of an elderly woman (once again semi-officially known as "Aunt Lucretia") where her bust is displayed on a mantle over a fireplace just before guests board on the Doom Buggies to escape the Phantom Manor.
Mystic Manor[]
Two of the busts can be seen at the end of the Mediterranean Antiquities room where they are encountered after guests pass through a mosaic portrait of Medusa who turns into a frightening gorgon just before they end up in another scene with Albert encountering a group of man-eating plants.
Film appearances[]
The Haunted Mansion (2003)[]
The busts appear in the film at the portrait corridor scene where they stare at Jim Evers passing by them. The staring effect used for the busts were rotated through the use of remote control. They were placed onto a rotating pedestal inside the alcoves they are at.
Haunted Mansion (2023)[]
The busts appear throughout the film as there is shown to be more than two of them. They, along with several other ghosts, are shown to be frightened of the Hatbox Ghost and resume stillness when he passes by.
Other appearances[]
The Haunted Mansion (video game)[]
The busts appear as background elements where they are seen in the downstairs hallway.
Muppets Haunted Mansion[]
The busts in this Muppet-themed Halloween special were portrayed by Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker respectively. Within this special, they commented of their limited amount of screen time in the special, which in turn is a reference to the deleted scene "Mad Scientist's Lab", where the busts would have been featured within this scene alongside Dr. Phil Van Nueter.
Gallery[]
External links[]
