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Disney’s latest film release -
| 31 Jul 2023
Disney’s latest film release - Haunted Mansion - is a retelling of one of its most iconic park rides, so it’s probably fitting that its director, Justin Simien, started his journey with Disney working in its parks as a cast member.
Working at the Disneyland Resort in California in the early 2000s, Simien would often spend his breaks getting better acquainted with the attraction, which now has a new outlet after its launch in US cinemas ahead of a global release this month.
“I remember experiencing Haunted Mansion back in the day and thinking, ‘What is this? How do I do this in a movie? How do I make a person feel this way?’” says Simien. “Anything is possible in a movie, and I would think about it a lot. But I didn’t have an answer to that until this movie.”
In the film, a woman and her son enlist a crew of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters. The dark ride version of the attraction, which launched in 1969, sees theme park guests go inside a spooky and creepy manor that has a wide array of supernatural frights.
Now, as the film opens in theaters, Simien sees this as a full circle moment.
“It’s surreal. It’s an honor. It’s a responsibility,” he says. “Sometimes as an artist, you encounter work and you just know in your bones how to do it. The point of view was already in me. My family is from Louisiana, and I’ve always been obsessed with the attraction. It feels really kismet and weird to direct this, and I probably won’t be able to fully articulate what it’s been like for some time until this is over. I am still very much in it.”
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