August is a special month for one of the most beloved attractions at Disney Parks – the Haunted Mansion. The delightfully amazing attraction opened on August 9, 1969 at Disneyland park. To commemorate the anniversary this year, the Disney Parks online store is releasing an online exclusive shirt for one week only starting August 8, 2013. The shirt features a nod to the attraction’s rich history by including an image of the Hatbox Ghost. I spoke with Disney Design Group artist Casey Jones in his office about the creation of this shirt.
“We have been planning to release this shirt for about a year,” explained Casey. “The graphic is based on the wonderful artwork found in ‘The Story and Song of The Haunted Mansion.’ We had based the packaging artwork for the Haunted Mansion Vinylmation series on the album cover. Disney Artist Thomas Scott had recreated that vintage Haunted Mansion logo, so I used that for this shirt, too.”
To create the Hatbox Ghost artwork, Casey worked traditionally with pencil on Bristol board. He later inked the drawing with a brush. The coolest part of our interview was seeing the original sketches he made for the design (how I wish I could draw more than a stick figure!). “We like creating authentic designs inspired by things guests experience at Disney Parks,” continued Casey. “We partnered with the Walt Disney Archives to gather reference material for this Haunted Mansion shirt as well as other classic attractions at Disney Parks. That reference material will be used to create future online exclusive tees that I think people will love.”
The Hatbox Ghost shirt will be sold online only at www.Disneystore.com/ParkEvents from August 8 through August 15. Once orders are complete, please allow six-to-eight weeks for delivery.
Happy anniversary to the 999 Happy Haunts!
Comments
Ordered! Thanks for the heads up. My hubby will be so excited. He loves the Hatbox Ghost.
Ordered!
Please make more Hatbox Ghost items – maybe an action figure next time? 🙂
Thanks Steve! I hope my shirt arrives in time for my October Walt Disney World vacation.
It’s August 8th and the link for the t-shirt is not working. Please get this fixed as I’d like to have one of the shirts.
@Tommy – That’s odd. Friendly spirits must have been playing around with the link above. 🙂
We will look into it. The link above has been updated. You can also use the direct link to the shirt below:http://www.disneystore.com/the-hatbox-ghost-tee-for-adults-the-haunted-mansion-limited-availability/mp/1341280/1000228/
Hello. I am a Huge Haunted Mansion Fan but Two things have popped up, 1. When I click on the page it just says “Page Not Found” and also can this Awesome shirt be bought internationally?? Thank You 🙂
I would love one of these too,but the Hanes shrinks up too much..you need to go with Gildan now.
I’m going to miss it by one day. Will it be available online.
This looks awesome!
Could you post the website link for all upcoming Park Events?
Hopefully, I’ll get to Walt Disney World in late August and would love to have my shopping list ready. 😉
And thanks, as always, for keeping us up-to-date on all the unique, cool merchandise!
@Katrenna – I hope you have a great trip! Here is a link to our Disney Theme Park Merchandise website that lists upcoming events: http://disneyparksmerchandise.com/events
We’re going to WDW for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary the first week of October. Hopefully I’ll have it before I leave!
Wow! Keep these retro tees coming…! I love the distress technique on the design, as well as the choice of ink colors. Will this design be available on both men’s and women’s silhouettes?
@Erica – You’ll be happy to know that more are in the works. I too love that retro design (the original artwork for the Story and Song of the Haunted Mansion is pretty incredible!). There will only be a unisex style tee (sadly no women’s silhouette is planned).
As a Haunted Mansion fanatic, I CAN’T WAIT!!!
Hoo-ray for the Hatbox Ghost!!
My youngest would LOVE this shirt! Can’t wait to show him!
I like it a lot. What I’d LOVE to see in the future is a Hatbox Ghost shirt with glow-in-the-dark ink used so that in the daylight, we see an image similar to the one on this shirt. But in the darkness, the image appears with his head not on his shoulders, but in the hatbox.
Regardless, I’ll be ordering this one!
Hi Steven, what amazing news for us Haunted Mansion fans! I just wanted to let you know that when I clicked on the link you provided for purchase of the t-shirt in August, I receive a “Page Does Not Exist” error message. Is the link inactive at the moment or should we try something else come sale day on August 8th? Thanks very much for keeping us informed! – Jim G.
@James – You’re welcome. I was thrilled to see that the shirt was finally getting made. The link to the shirt will go live on August 8. So you will see the “Page Not Found” message until that day. Sorry for any confusion.
This looks great! I’ll be ordering one of these when released. I love these themed shirts!
Hi, Steven! I was so excited about this shirt that I had to visit the Blog on my home computer and save the pictures!! And see them bigger than my phone allows! I also love coming back to read what other Disney Fans are saying. Thank you, as always, for what you do!! Your HM Pal, David in Ohio
@David – Thank you for the kind words! I too love reading the comments from other Disney fans like me. 🙂
Wow, Steven! This looks incredible! I will be ordering one for sure. Do you know the type of shirt that will be used? Can’t wait!
Daniel
@David – The online store team said they are using a Hanes beefy-tee for the shirt style. I believe it’s 100% cotton, and similar to other graphic apparel shirts featured at Disney Parks.
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