The Haunted Mansion’s Graveyard Tombstones [Dissecting Disney]

If Walt Disney World is anything, it is inspiring. The work and painstaking level of detail that was involved in creating this inspiration can be traced back to the ideals, work ethic and daydreams of just a few select people. What you may not know is that some of these people are immortalized within the epitaphs inscribed on the tombstones in front of The Haunted Mansion. The tombstones actually stand as a monument to the brilliant Imagineers that not only helped create the attraction, but in some cases, The Magic Kingdom and the rest of the Walt Disney World Resort. A few of them have even been given the title of “Disney Legend”, the Disney equivalent to a “hall of fame”. I’ve collected and distilled this information from various sources here:

Master Gracey

Master Gracey is actually Yale Gracey, who started working for Walt Disney Studios in 1939 as a layout artist for the movie Pinocchio and then Fantasia. He later became a highly respected special effects artist who is responsible for just about all the special effects within the Haunted Mansion.

According to his Disney Legends biography, he was hand picked by Walt himself to become (what is now known as) an Imagineer. Walking through the empty Disney Studio offices one Saturday afternoon, Walt happened upon one of Yale’s “lunchtime experiments” which mocked-up the illusion of falling snow. Walt was impressed and later asked Yale to help research and develop attractions for Disneyland.

With only his personal experimentation as his only formal training in special effects, he went on to create the “999 Grim, Grinning Ghosts” withing the Haunted Mansion, the flame effects of the burning city in the Pirate of the Caribbean, and even played a crucial part in developing “pixie dust” projection, a technology used in Space Mountain to obstruct the view of the roller coaster structure from the rider.

“Whenever we needed a special effect, we went to Yale. Sometimes it took a while to get what we were asking for, however, along the way he’d develop other marvelous effects we could use. I remember one time we asked him to create a particular illusion and in the process of experimenting he developed a gopher bomb, which we all used in our yards. It worked very well!” – John Hench, Senior Vice President of WDW Creative Development

What is interesting about Master Gracey’s grave is that the grave is often made to look “fresh”, that is, that it’s just been dug. Also, most days you can see a single red rose laid across the top of his tombstone. While there is no official reason for it’s being there, it is a real rose that is often placed daily by cast members operating the Haunted Mansion attraction.

Yale died on September 5, 1983, at the age of 73. His Haunted Mansion tombstone is inscribed:

MASTER GRACEY / LAID TO REST / NO MOURNING PLEASE / AT HIS REQUEST / Farewell

Uncle Myall

Uncle Myall is actually Chuck Myall and I was surprised about how little information I could find about him. All I could dig up what that he was an art director for the Imagineers and played a critical role in planning the overall development of Walt Disney World. He also contributed to the It’s a Small World and (of course) The Haunted Mansion attractions. His Haunted Mansion tombstone has the epitaph:

IN MEMORIUM / UNCLE MYALL / HERE YOU’LL LIE/ FOR QUITE A WHILE

Mister Sewell

Mr Sewell is Bob Sewell, and he is another Imagineer who I wasn’t able to dig much up on. He began working for Walt Disney right after the opening of Disneyland in 1955. He we involved with the creation of various Disney attractions such as The Swiss Family Treehouse and The Enchanted Tiki Room. What is interesting about Bob is that, unlike the other Imagineers buried in front of The Haunted Mansion, I can’t seem to find information about anything specific that he contributed to The Haunted Mansion attraction itself. His tombstone reads:

RIP / MISTER SEWELL / THE VICTIM / OF A DIRTY/ DUEL / Peaceful Rest

Cousin Huet

Cousin Huet, who in ‘real life’ is Cliff Huet, was a architect for Imagineering. Where as there isn’t too mcuh else to attribute to him, he was one of the lead interior designers for the Haunted Mansion. If you enjoy the overall macabre appeal of the Haunted Mansion’s interior, you can thank Cliff.

REST IN PEACE / COUSIN HUET / WE ALL KNOW / YOU DIDN’T DO IT

Man Named Martin

The Man Named Martin is Bill Martin. A once 20th Century Fox employee who received a personal call from Walt Disney to be the Art Directory in charge of overseeing the construction of Fantasy Land within Disney Land. He would later become the vice president of Imagineering and supervised the master layout of The Magic Kingdom within Walt Disney World.

His creative influence and expertise also went into the creation of Main Street USA, Cinderella’s Castle, Carnation Plaza, Bear Country, New Orleans Square, The Pirate of the Caribbean, and of course, The Haunted Mansion. Interesting enough, he also played a role in designing the utilities that exists beneath The Magic Kingdom and the canal system that exists on Walt Disney World property.

“One of our first ideas for Main Street was a corset shop called ´The Wizard of Bras.´ For some reason, Walt didn’t´t like it.” – Bill Martin

After 27 years working for the Mouse, Bill retired in 1977. His Haunted Mansion tombstone reads:

HERE LIES / A MAN NAMED / MARTIN / THE LIGHTS WENT / OUT ON THIS OLD / SPARTAN

Grandpa Marc

Grandpa Marc is actually Marc Davis and he had quite the impressive Disney career. As one of Walt Disney’s legendary “Nine Old Men” of animation, Marc might be best known as the creator of some of Disney’s most popular animated women. If you’ve ever enjoyed Cruella DeVil in 101 Dalmatians, Maleficent in Sleeping Beautify or (my personal favorite) Tinker Bell in Peter Pan you can thank Marc.

He also help animate the movies Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, Song of the South, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland. What might be even more impressive, the animal character drawings he did for the story board of Bambi are considered some of the finest studies of animal characters ever to come out of Walt Disney Studios. No small feat.

Marc’s excellence didn’t even wain when he made the transition from animator to Imagineer. He is largely responsible for the story and character concepts for attractions such as The Enchanted Tiki Room, It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Jungle Cruise, and The Haunted Mansion.

Marc died January 12, 2000. His Haunted Mansion tombstone is inscribed:

IN MEMORY OF / OUR PATRIARCH / DEAR DEPARTED / GRANDPA MARC

Brother Dave

Dave Burkhart began his career with Disney in 1967 serving as an artist model maker, building architecture and show models, including some full scale sets and props. He subsequently became a show designer and field art producer, working on attractions such as the Haunted Mansion, Swiss Family Treehouse and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

DEAR DEPARTED / BROTHER DAVE / HE CHASED A BEAR / INTO A CAVE

Francis Xavier

Xavier Atencio, or “X” as he was referred to by Walt Disney, began working for Walt Disney Studios in 1938 helping create animations for movies like Fantasia, Marry Poppins, and The Parent Trap.

In 1965 Walt Disney personally asked X to join WED Enterprises (what would later become known as Imagineering). From here he went on to create both music and dialogue for attractions such as Adventure Through Inner Space, The Pirates of the Caribbean and (of course) The Haunted Mansion. X is credited with writing Yo Ho, Yo, Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me and co-wrote the song Grim Grinning Ghosts with Buddy Baker. He would later go on to help compose musical scores for Space Mountain, Spaceship Earth, World of Motion, and the Mexico pavilion in EPCOT.

“I didn’t even know I could write music, but somehow Walt did. He tapped my hidden talents.” – Xavier Atencio

One area that shouldn’t be overlooked is that X is responsible for penning just about all of the inscriptions on the Haunted Mansion tombstones. He finally retired from the Walt Disney company in 1984 and his Haunted Mansion tombstone is inscribed:

REQUIESCAT / Francis Xavier / NO TIME OFF / FOR GOOD / BEHAVIOR /RIP

Good Friend Gordon

Good Friend Gordon is actually Gordon Williams. Gordon was an audio designer and worked with audio animatronics. He is largely responsible for all the audio effects within The Haunted Mansion. His epitaph reads:

RIP / GOOD FRIEND / GORDON / NOW YOU’VE CROSSED / THE RIVER JORDON

Brother Claude

Brother Claude is Claude Coats and he originally began working for Disney Studios as a background animator. His impressive resume includes creating the backgrounds for “Pinocchio,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Fantasia,” “Dumbo,” “The Three Caballeros,” “Song of the South,” “Cinderella,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan” and “Lady and the Tramp.”

In 1955 Claude was personally selected by Walt Disney to help bring Disneyland to life and, subsequently, become one of the original Imagineers. He had an active role in creating the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Snow White’s Scary Adventures and was responsible for the interior of the Haunted Mansion.

“Claude paved the way in turning sketches and paintings into three-dimensional adventures. His energy, curiosity and drive to create new experiences for our Disney park guests made him a leader and a teacher for all of us. He was a genuine one-of-a-kind.” – Walt Disney Imagineering President Marty Sklar

And interesting note: Claude originally wanted the Haunted Mansion to be a darker, scarier ride but fellow Imagineer and Disney Legend Marc Davis wanted the ride to be whimsical and light. The result of Claude’s darker interior design and Marc’s ‘fun’ character design being melded together created the perfect balance for the attraction.

Claude retired from Disney Imagineering in 1989 and died in 1992. His Haunted Mansion tombstone is inscribed:

AT PEACEFUL / REST LIES / BROTHER CLAUDE /PLANTED HERE / BENEATH THIS /SOD

Good Old Fred

Good Ol’ Fred is actually Fred Joerger, one of three founding members of the Walt Disney Model Shop (A division of Disney that would later become the Imagineers). Fred’s job as a model builder was to construct three dimensional models based on artist’s drawings for further project analysis before “real life” implementation. He better describes his job in his own words:

It’s very easy to make something like the Haunted Mansion look good on paper, but if you don’t get it into three-dimensions first, you may have a disaster. Well, my job was to create the model to avert disaster, which was fun, but a challenge.”

Disney fans will see Fred’s work in everything from movies set for Mary Poppins and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea to theme park attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean and even Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. According to Fred’s Disney Legends biography, there really isn’t anything at Disneyland, or any rock formation at Walt Disney World, that Fred didn’t first design as a model. My personal favorite item that he’s directly responsible for would have to be the outstanding atrium water fall in the middle of the Polynesian Resort. I can, and have, just stand (usually as long as my wife will let me) and watch that waterfall, appreciating the work that must have gone into it.

If Fred has a specialty, it was creating rockwork out of plaster. His work in this area was good enough to earn him a reputation as Imagineering’s “resident rock expert”. You don’t have to look any further than the Jungle Cruise or Big Thunder Mountain to see what he could do with fake rocks. The honor of being the “resident rock expert” even makes an appearance within the inscription of his Haunted Mansion tombstone:

HERE LIES / GOOD OLD / FRED / A GREAT BIG ROCK / FELL ON HIS HEAD / R.I.P.

Madame Leota

Possibly the most well known tombstone, no doubt due to the animated face on the stone itself, is that of Madam Leota. Madam Leota is the medium who’s head appears inside of the crystal ball within the Haunted Mansion attraction.

In real life she’s Leota Ann Thomas, an employee for Walt Disney Imagineering that served as a model stand in during concept testing for the crystal ball character. Due to the excellent job she did during testing, it was decided that her performance would be used in the finished version of the ride and the character was named after her. An interesting side note: Though it is her face that is digitally projected into the crystal ball, it’s not her voice. The voice belongs to actress Eleanor Audley who also did the voice for Maleficent in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

Near the end of the ride her face (and this time her voice) is used again for that of “little Leota”, the tiny bride that tells you to “hurry back and be sure to bring your death certificate”.

Thought she died in the early 1990′s of cancer, she was immortalized as a “Disney Legend” in September of 2009. The honor was accepted by her two daughters.

Another interesting note: her daughter Kim followed in the footstep of her mom and became an Imagineer. She’s been responsible for designing the Disneyland Dream Suite, the 2009 reinvention of the “Small World” ride and even provides the face and voice for Madame Leota at the Disneyland Haunted Mansion during the holiday season when they merge it’s theme with that of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”.

Her Haunted Mansion tombstone is engraved:

DEAR SWEET LEOTA / BELOVED BY ALL / IN REGIONS BEYOND NOW, / HAVING A BALL