Coffin Occupant
In the center of the Conservatory is a large coffin occupied by a ghost attempting to break out. He calls for help in the voice of a feeble old man, and his skeletal hands can be seen attempting to pry open the nailed-down coffin lid. He is voiced by Xavier Atencio, who wrote the attraction's script. The character's voice was originally recorded by another actor, and sounded more like a monster than an old man. Though this version wasn't used in the attraction, it can be heard in the Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion album.
In the comics, the ghost was the architect Mr. Davis (a tribute to Marc Davis) who was hired with his associate, Mr. Coats (a Claude Coats tribute) to build William Gracey's mansion. Coats sets a coffin booby trap for Davis, while Davis arranges for Coats to be lost in the house's labyrinthine corridors. As a result they became Gracey Manor's first two ghosts.
In the Haunted Mansion Pop-Up Book, it is implied that the coffin ghost is the Aging Man whose portrait is displayed on the wall behind the coffin.
The Conservatory's coffin scene also inspired the mausoleum scene in the 2003 film, where dozens of rotting zombies emerge from their caskets to attack the protagonists.
Read more about this topic: List Of Haunted Mansion Characters
Famous quotes containing the words coffin and/or occupant:
“I would say it was the coffin of a midget
Or a square baby
Were there not such a din in it.”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“Called on one occasion to a homestead cabin whose occupant had been found frozen to death, Coroner Harvey opened the door, glanced in, and instantly pronounced his verdict, “Deader ‘n hell!””
—For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)