If You Want To Find Haunted Mansion's Deepest Easter Egg, Look To The Paintings [Exclusive]

If "Haunted Mansion" director Justin Simien feels like something is watching him, it probably isn't just the moving eyes behind the paintings of Disneyland's most famous attraction. Because of the love fans have for the original theme park ride, there is a lot of attention surrounding the new horror comedy from the House of Mouse. That may seem like hyperbole in the wake of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," but curiosity is mounting for this latest iteration that sees a hefty budget and a remarkable cast helping to bring "Haunted Mansion" to eerie life after spending years in development hell. 

Thus far, it looks as if Simien's take on the material will land somewhere in between the broad comedy of Eddie Murphy's mostly maligned 2003 version and the visionary approach that Guillermo del Toro had in mind when he was attached to direct an immersive live-action 3D horror film of "Haunted Mansion" in the early 2010s. Simien seems determined to deliver a visual feast as well as a fun family film that also features some Disney deep cuts for fans of the actual ride. 

Due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Simien is taking on the publicity tour for "Haunted Mansion" all on his own, and recently spoke to /Film's own Jeremy Mathai to delve into some of the film's sinister details. From his comments, it sounds like moviegoers are going to have to keep their eyes peeled to find all the hidden frights residing inside the cursed dwelling — especially the famed paintings hanging ominously on the walls. 

For any filmmaker coming aboard to make a film with Disney, there are limitless possibilities and opportunities to dig into the history and lore of the company. Whether you're exploring the vast canon of "Star Wars" canon at Lucasfilm or the nearly 70-year lineage of Disneyland and Disney World, there's a rich tapestry of stories and imagery to tap into. With "Haunted Mansion," Simien loved diving into the research side of the process. When asked where Easter egg hunters should be looking, Simien offered us a significant clue for where the most obscure or interesting references might be found:

"I would say, look at the paintings. Because some of them, we pull your eyes to the paintings that change and sometimes we don't pull your eyes to the paintings that change. And literally everything that moves in this movie is based upon some deep-cut knowledge and research [laughs]."

Originally hailing from New Orleans, Simien was able to bring in his cousin Jeremy, an art historian based in The Big Easy, to help with the staggering amount of research he and his team embarked on.

If I were to guess, there's one portrait in particular to keep an eye on in "Haunted Mansion." As glimpsed in the trailer, actor LaKeith Stanfield saunters down a hallway where a portrait keeps changing every time he passes it. It's a clear reference to one of the actual portraits featured on the ride showing a skeleton, a ghost ship, and a young woman transforming into Medusa. The art gallery displayed in the infamous haunted stretching room should also offer up a ton of clues and will most likely be a key sequence early on.

When asked what they want to do as a career, most kids today might say influencer. Disney kids, on the other hand, won't hesitate to say Imagineer. Since the beginning, the designers and craftspeople who conceive of and build all Disney theme parks have been bestowed with that wondrous job title, and Simien and his team wanted to make sure they were honoring the legacy of Disney's most popular attraction:

"There was just all of this research and we really tried to figure out, how did the Imagineers arrive at some of these choices? What research were they looking at? And then, how do we fill in the gaps that are left? And what stayed is the stuff that told the story we were telling."

Rest assured, there will be plenty of spooky easter eggs and frightening visual delights lurking in the background, but they all exist to help tell the story, not distract from it. "What had to maybe hit the cutting room floor or be part of bonus content or maybe wait till next time, is the stuff that was really cool but didn't tell the story in an immediate way that would matter to the audience," stated Simien. "And there's a lot of darlings we had to kill to do that work, man, but that was part of the job."

If "Haunted Mansion" manages to scare up enough ticket sales, maybe Simien and the Imagineers will have a chance to cross the threshold once again for a sequel that can offer up even more references and nods to the classic ride that just didn't get the chance to provide a jump scare or two this time around. No matter what happens though, we'll all still have Jared Leto's method performance of the Hatbox Ghost to look forward to.

"Haunted Mansion" hits theaters on July 28, 2023.