2023's Haunted Mansion Fixed Disney's Major Mistake Of The Original Film
By Rachel Davis
Justin Simien is still fairly new to the feature-length film game, having only directed two other titles prior to working on "Haunted Mansion." He kicked off his feature-length directorial run strong in 2014 with "Dear White People," keeping the momentum going in 2020 with "Bad Hair." "Haunted Mansion" is a big leap from those two efforts, and while Simien undoubtedly could handle taking on such a well-known Disney property, he looked to some big names and beloved movies to get the film done right.
During an interview with Mashable, Simien rattled off some of his biggest inspirations in filmmaking and the making of "Haunted Mansion." First and foremost are director Tim Burton and some of his early films like "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," "Beetlejuice," and "Edward Scissorhands." He also highlighted the big-screen take on "Little Shop of Horrors" from director Frank Oz, Ivan Reitman's franchise-spawning comedy "Ghostbusters," "Clue" from Jonathan Lynn, and Wolfgang Petersen's "The Neverending Story." "The Haunting," directed by Robert Weiss, also got a shout-out from Simien.
The rickety doors of "The Haunted Mansion" open on July 28.
