List of Haunted Mansion Characters - Hitchhiking Ghosts

Hitchhiking Ghosts

The Hitchhiking Ghosts – "The Prisoner," "The Skeleton," and "The Traveler" – are often considered to be the mascots of The Haunted Mansion. They alone have the most merchandise, including pins, stuffed toys, action figures, and bobbleheads. The Hitchhiking Ghosts are a tongue-in-cheek send-up of urban legends involving phantom hitchhikers. They are seen standing together inside a crypt, thumbs extended. They hitch a ride with guests traveling in Doom Buggies and appear alongside them in mirrors. "They have selected you to fill our quota, and they'll haunt you until you return," says the Ghost Host. In 2011 at Walt Disney World's Mansion, the mirror scene was updated with digital effects that enable the ghosts to interact with the guests. The vocals for Walt Disney World's computer-generated ghosts were provided by actor Kurt von Schmittou.

The Prisoner is a hairy little ghost with a ball and chain shackled to his ankle. He is previously seen standing next to the masked executioner in the graveyard, singing Grim Grinning Ghosts with a deep gravelly voice supplied by Candy Candido. As guests exit Disneyland's Mansion, Candido's creepy laughter can be heard echoing in the crypt. Although the Prisoner's original vocal track is still in use at the Disneyland and Tokyo Mansions, it was replaced with a new recording (performed by a bass singer) at the Walt Disney World Mansion in 2007. So far, no media adaptation has depicted the Prisoner as having a deep voice like in the attraction.

The Prisoner's beard has alternately been brown or white throughout the years, in different incarnations (though white is the current standard). In the Haunted Mansion MPC model kit Escape from the Crypt that was released in the 1970s, the Prisoner is depicted as a Viking (his horned helmet lays on the ground next to the hole he emerged from) and he is referred to in the description as a gnome.

The Skeleton is a tall, dapper, grinning ghost. When the attraction first opened at Disneyland, he was completely bald, but has since had hair of varying lengths. Although the Skeleton figure has the same face mold as the Hatbox Ghost, they are not meant to be the same character. In Marc Davis' original concept art, the character was a stereotypical "sheet ghost" with no clothes, save for the bowler hat he lifted above his head. By the time the attraction opened, the character had evolved into the fully clothed skeletal ghost seen in the Mansion today.

The Traveler is an overweight hunchback wearing a top hat and holding a carpet bag. At Walt Disney World's Mansion (since the 2011 updates), a portrait of Maude Sweeny is included in the Traveler's luggage, suggesting a possible familial relation.

The Hitchhiking Ghosts are often referred to by fans as "Gus" (Prisoner), "Ezra" (Skeleton), and "Phineas" (Traveler). These names first appeared in fan fiction created by Cast Members who worked at the Walt Disney World Mansion. Since then, the names have become so well known that they have appeared on merchandise for the characters and in various media licensed by Disney (such as the now-defunct online game Virtual Magic Kingdom), but their canonicity is disputed. When the subject was brought up in a 2006 interview, Imagineer Jason Surrell said, "Their names are not Ezra, Phineas, and Gus. I don't know where it came from. I know at one point, Cast Members contributed to this website that names all the ghosts and gives them backstories. None of those have any basis in Imagineering story, or anything like that. But somehow Ezra, Phineas, and Gus in particular managed to stick, so in the book about the only thing I could do is acknowledge that and say it's not official, but acknowledge it at the same time." When the interactive queue was installed outside of the Walt Disney World attraction in 2011, tombstones with the names Gus and Ezra were added. Also added was a tombstone for Phineas Pock, though this is a reference to the singing bust character, and not the Traveler hitchhiking ghost.

In early drafts of the screenplay for the 2003 film, the Hitchhiking Ghosts had large supporting roles (as comic relief), and were named Gus, Ezra, and Phineas. Rather than three anonymous spooks, the ghosts were former servants of the mansion. Gus was the groundskeeper instead of a ball-and-chained prisoner, Ezra was the coachman, and Phineas was the head chef (complete with French accent). The name Ezra made it into the finished film, but as Wallace Shawn's servant character and not one of the Hitchhiking Ghosts. Though their roles were cut down substantially, the Hitchhiking Ghosts make a brief appearance in the film, hitching a ride in the hearse carrying Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) and his children. They were played by Deep Roy (Prisoner), Jeremy Howard (Skeleton), and Clay Martinez (Traveler). While the Skeleton observes silently, the Prisoner and the Traveler argue with Jim over whether or not he can see the ghosts - until the Prisoner accuses Jim of being a liar and a psychic, causing the Evers to leave the hearse. In Build Your Own Haunted Mansion, an activity book released in conjunction with the film, the Skeleton was named Phineas.

The 2003 film version of the Hitchhiking Ghosts were featured in a commercial promoting Halloween Time at Disneyland. In the commercial, the ghosts leave the Mansion and are seen enjoying other Disney attractions, such as Matterhorn Bobsleds and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The commercial ends with the ghosts screaming in terror inside It's a Small World.

In the 2003 video game, the three ghosts are seen individually in a passageway connected from the graveyard to the Mansion, each with a thumb extended. They are friendly to Zeke and ask if they can come along with him on his quest. "Trust me, you won't even know I'm there," says the Traveler.

Upon entering the Mansion in the XBox 360 game Kinect Disneyland Adventures, the Skeleton warns the player to go back before it's too late. For the rest of the level, the three Hitchhiking Ghosts serve as mischievous enemy characters. At one point, the Traveler possesses a suit of armor and chases the player down several corridors.

A game called The Haunted Mansion: The Black Widow Bride is available to play on Disney's official website. Players control the Hitchhiking Ghosts (named Phineas, Ezra, and Gus in the game) as they evade the clutches of the Black Widow Bride. Phineas can move through glowing paintings, pick up small objects, and capture spiders. Ezra can use fireballs to light candelabras and scare away the Black Widow Bride. Gus uses his ball and chain to defeat ghostly armor and trigger floor switches.

The Hitchhiking Ghosts, as animated characters, made cameo appearances in multiple episodes of Disney's House of Mouse. In the episode "House Ghosts," Pete tried to use them to scare everyone out of the club but ended up scaring himself instead. The three sang Grim Grinning Ghosts in the show, with the Skeleton as lead singer. Additionally, they appeared in the direct-to-video spin-off, Mickey's House of Villains.

In the comics, the Prisoner was a sleepy shepherd named Gus and the Skeleton was a jokester named Ezra Gasser. The Traveler wasn't named in any of the released issues.

The book Enter if You Dare!: Scary Tales from the Haunted Mansion features a story loosely inspired by the Hitchhiking Ghosts mirror scene. In the story, a teenage girl is haunted by the ghost of Jake MacHeath, a disfigured man in a cowboy hat who constantly appears in mirrors and other reflective surfaces.

In August 2012, a "Disney Dream Portrait" by photographer Annie Leibovitz was released, featuring comedic actors Jack Black, Will Ferrell, and Jason Segel as the Hitchhiking Ghosts.