August 9th is an important day in the history of the Walt Disney Company. It’s the anniversary of the 1969 grand opening of The Haunted Mansion ride in Disneyland, as well as the birthday of the Disney Legend who was instrumental in bringing this groundbreaking attraction to life: Imagineer Leota Toombs.
Let us celebrate this singular ride and singular artist!
The Face and Voice of The Haunted Mansion
Leota Toombs, in case you weren’t aware, is “Madame Leota,” the woman in the floating crystal ball. Apart from being a major part of the ride’s development from a design and modeling perspective, it was deemed that she had the ideal face for this key part in the ride’s story.
The voice you hear emanating from the crystal ball is not hers, however. That honor goes to Eleanor Audley, whose famously haunting voice was also behind Lady Tremaine in Cinderella and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty. Leota herself had a very high-pitched voice, which was perfect for a different speaking role in the ride: “Little Leota,” who urges you back to the mansion at the end of the ride.
A Renowned Career
Leota Toombs is probably most associated with The Haunted Mansion, though her influence stretches far beyond this one attraction. Leota got her start like many female Disney Legends did: in the Ink and Paint Department in 1940, which was in charge of reproducing the animators’ work onto transparent celluloid. She would later transfer to the Animation department, before taking a break to raise her two young children. Toombs returned to Disney in 1962, this time as an Imagineer.
Her time as an Imagineer is where she truly cemented herself as a central figure in Walt Disney Studios. From It’s a Small World to the Enchanted Tiki Room to Pirates of the Caribbean to the Country Bear Jamboree to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, basically every major ride featured in the early days of Disneyland, which are still running today, has her fingerprints on it. She would continue working for Disney as Walt Disney World was founded, moving to Florida in 1971 to help develop and maintain the park’s new attractions, before moving back to California in 1979. Once back in Disneyland, she would train the next generation of artists, designers, and figure-finishers, ensuring the park’s look and feel would remain consistent for many years to come. Leota passed away in 1991, and was named a Disney Legend in 2009.
A Ride for the Ages
The saying “it takes a village” is an apt description for the development process behind The Haunted Mansion. Although it opened in 1969, this project was presented to Walt as early as 1951, with Disney Legend Harper Goff drawing up the first sketches for the project. Ken Anderson, another Imagineer, was tasked with building out a story based on Goff’s illustrations. Anderson drew inspiration from rundown antebellum-style mansions in Baltimore and New Orleans. Walt, however, did not much care for a dilapidated structure in his park. Thus, development hit a snag.
Walt’s mind was changed with a visit to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, whose spooky staircases and secret passages piqued his interest as to what The Haunted Mansion could be. The project was back on, and was originally set to open in 1963. The amount of time and effort being dedicated to the exhibits in the 1964 New York’s World Fair likely slowed down the construction.
Other famous Disney Imagineers like Rolly Crump, Marc Davis, and Yale Gracey (who the “Master Gracey” character in the ride is named after) presented further ideas to Walt after the conclusion of the World Fair, which he approved of. Walt passed away in 1966, though the project marched on in his honor.
The Doom Buggy
With the themes, storylines, and construction of The Haunted Mansion now nearly complete, the main problem that remained was how to transport guests through the ride. A walk-through attraction would not service as many guests per day as they wanted, and wouldn’t be an exciting way to display their work anyway. Insert the Omnimover, a term created by Bob Gurr, the designer of this revolutionary ride vehicle that could rotate 360 degrees at any moment, while briskly moving up to three guests through the attraction.
The Omnimover was already in use in Disneyland’s Adventure Thru Inner Space, and was repurposed as the Doom Buggy for The Haunted Mansion. This represented the last piece of the puzzle that had been pieced together across nearly two decades. The ride opened to a limited number of guests on August 9th, 1969: Leota Toombs’s 44th birthday.
Commemorate Leota and the rest of the gang that helped build The Haunted Mansion with some vintage-style Oswald & Sons merch! Order now before it’s too late!
