Portrait Corridor

The transforming portrait illusion depicts the subject in various stages of transformation.

The images overlap, slowly and perfectly, gradually transforming the original subject into an eerie doppelganger.

Most, if not all, of the portraits are based on Marc Davis concepts, another showcase for his decidely lighter approach to The Haunted Mansion's macabre material.

Each group of guests empties into the Portrait Corridor, one after the other, creating a virtually endless stream of people flowing toward the Load Area. The left side of the corridor is lined with windows that overlook a moonlit dandscape, intermittently illuminated by violent flashes of lightning.

Portraits hand on the wall to the right, the subject of each slowing transforming into a nightmarish image as the viewer gazes upon it. At the far end of the hallway, two ominious-looking marble busts sit in recesses within the wall. As guests proceed down the corridor, they come face-to-face with the busts, one of which appears to be that of a Roman Emperor, and the other a rather stern-looking woman resembling an old schoolmarm.

Both busts appear to follow the guests' every mov - up, down, backward, and forward - as they make their way past them iand into the adjacent Load Area.

The effect, patented by Disney, was achieved by creating inverted busts: they actually recede into the wall. A combination of dim lighting and optical illusion makes the busts appear to stare at the passing guests. The effect is unnerving and extremely convincing.

Hung and displayed throughout the corridor in fancy gilded wooden frames, the grotesque characters add a whisical sense of mystery to the ride, as well as some foreshadowing for the creatures waiting ahead.