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Friday, October 04, 2002

The latest:

* Haunted Mansion Holiday (Year 2) is now open at Disneyland. For those of you that didn't see it last year, be sure to get down to Disneyland to see it this year - it's a "can't-miss" holiday event. The only unfortunate situation is the loss of the beautiful soundtrack from last year's premiere by Gordon Goodwin. It has been replaced by a collage of music from Danny Elfman, who created the original music to "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas." Unfortunately, early reviews are mixed at best; and most claim that the music is much more obtrusive, and less a part of the storytelling than Goodwin's arrangements, which seamlessly blended "Grim Grinning Ghosts" and favorite holiday carols and tunes. I spoke with Goodwin briefly, and he said: "They said it doesn't have anything to do with the quality of last year's music... it was just politics. Whatever. These things happen in show business, and you just move on to the next gig..." It seems that Goodwin's music for the Haunted Mansion Holiday may be gone forever. Nevertheless, the attraction remains a strong example of Disney themed entertaiment at its best. Don't miss it. Runs through Jan. 4.

* Courtesy of Jim Barkley: "I thought some of your readers would be interested to know that Pete Renoudet, the voice of The Ghost Host on the Haunted Mansion Story Record, is currently performing in a play in Los Angeles. The play is called "A Sting In The Tale," sort of an Ira Levinish, Sleuthish murder thriller comedy. It's being performed at the Knightsbridge L.A., 1944 Riverside Dr., in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles. Showtimes are Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 1 PM and admission is $22.00. There are discounts for groups, students under 25, seniors over 65, and members of performing unions. Contact the theatre box-office at (626)440-0821. I'm an actor and company member with the Knightsbridge and, for this show, I'm up in the booth running lights and sound. Personally this is a thrill for me, as I've been a fan of Pete's ever since I received my Haunted Mansion Story Record for Christmas in 1969. He's an incredibly nice man and always happy to chat with fans." Thanks, Jim, for bringing this to our attention. If you can catch it, you might want to check it out. And say hi to Pete for me...

* Plans for Disney's Haunted Mansion movie are moving along, and a teaser one-sheet has been released already! You can download a small graphic from the poster, and catch any new information about the film as it is released, at the official film website at http://www.haunted-mansion.com/

* Don't forget to pick up some cool DoomBuggies.com swag at http://www.cafepress.com/doombuggy !

RIP,

-The Chef