My Ghostly Father's Day Gift

My son and I were at Disney California Adventure today, and I picked up something he and I have been checking out for a long time, because it's awesome.

It's no secret that my favorite ride at Disneyland is the Haunted Mansion, and my favorite of the 999 Grim Grinning Ghosts is the Hatbox Ghost. So, we got this, and are considering it my son's Father's Day gift to me.

Yes, it's a sculpture of the Hatbox Ghost! You may remember that I wrote about this fellow back in May 2015 when he returned, after forty-five-ish years, to the Haunted Mansion. He was there for just long enough, in 1969, for cast members to see him in the ride, but his effect didn't work well back then. They simply didn't have the technology to make it look good.

What is that effect? You see, his head is meant to vanish from his shoulders and appear in his hat box. Back then, visitors could see the head on his shoulders even when it shifted to be box, because the trick relied on turning off one light and turning on another. That's the best of my understanding, anyway. I was just eight days old at the time.

Artist Jim Shore, who created this figure and many others that are available in California Adventure's Off the Page store, made sure that this Hatbox Ghost also has the head-switching feature. You can remove the face from the body and put it in the box!

My son and I saw this first back in February and I knew I wanted one, so we waited for a special occasion, Father's Day, to get it. (My annual passport holder discount certainly helped.) The Hatbox Ghost now sits on a bookshelf, in the same general area as my many Funko Pop figures and steampunk items.

If you think this is cool (and we both know that it is), I encourage you to check out Jim Shore's website to see more of his work. The next time you visit Disneyland, make sure to park hop to California Adventure and visit Off the Page. They have many other character figures, Christmas tree ornaments, books, mugs, and more. It's one of my favorite shops in the Magic Kingdom.

Want to see what the Hatbox Ghost looks like in the Haunted Mansion? Here's a great video someone took shortly after his return.