Hearsay and Rumors 2: Hatbox Ghost

Hatbox Ghost from Doombuggies.com

Time to return to the hearsay and rumor page to fill you in on a subject that "materializes" every so often. This is an elusive apparition found in the attic of the Haunted Mansion, the Hatbox Ghost. This spirit appeared in the Haunted Mansion for only a limited time but it was enough to leave a lasting impression on its guests. One guest in particular was Tony Baxter. You can see Tony talk about it himself in this video and will also tell you about the Hatbox Ghost at length.

Now this rumor in particular is of a return of the Hatbox Ghost. This rumor has gained some steam lately. We begin with the display of the Hatbox Ghost audio animatronic (AA) figure at the D23 Expo 2013. This was made out of an old Lincoln AA figure and was at the Imagineering pavilion at the expo. Sadly, I was unable to attend but here is a great video of what the character looked like and did.

Some more evidence for this has come from a new bit of art that is featured at Disneyland's Disney Gallery. It shows some concept art for the aforementioned Hatbox Ghost and states "rematerializing August 2014." Of course this made fans go crazy. It seemed to be evidence of a return of the Ghostly resident but it seems not to be. As Inside the Magic states, a cast member (CM) stated this is for a cel to be released.

Upsetting, yes, but lets think of what could have been or may still be. I am a proponent of not wasting so it seems odd to me that Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) would waste their time with repurposing an AA for no reason. I also believe in "plussing" when there is good reasoning. I think this would be perfect for plussing the Haunted Mansion for next year's 60th Anniversary of Disneyland and would be a great way to celebrate without doing much. It would be perfect to help promote the park for less. Of course, I know that they had issues with the effect but as evidenced in WDI's new video for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, this could be perfected with projection technology. Mind you, I do not prefer projections over physical figures but for this effect, it would be effective (cheesy!). So here's hoping we get this instead of a Johnny Depp or Eddie Murphy AA!

Also, doesn't Hatbox look an awful lot like the Skeleton or Ezra? It'd be cool if they were the same person, however, I know Hatbox has a gold tooth while Ezra does not. But if it was revealed they are the same ghost it might make for a good backstory. Just a thought....

But what do you think? If you have a Google account just leave a comment, you can tweet me, or email me at giodisney113@gmail.com.
-Josh