Fanmade Friday | David

I met today’s Fanmade Friday guest at the Doombuggies Bridal Bash. Actually, I have to back up and mention that I originally met him on the Doombuggies forum, where he posted the video I’m sharing with you today.  I just love how creative he got with his tribute video.  I contacted him about his video, and  a couple days later, we bumped into each other at the Jazz Kitchen for the Bridal Bash.  David was so gracious, and I was really touched by his sincerity and smile!  It was a pleasure meeting you, David, and I hope you continue making great videos!

Check out David’s tribute video to the Haunted Mansion and this week’s Fanmade Friday submission! See if you can’t help but smile….

My name is David King. I hail from Long Beach, and have basically lived in and around the Orange County/LA County area my whole life. I’m currently a busy college student, hoping to major in English with emphasis on Creative Writing, perhaps dabbling a bit into film. Writing is a big passion of mine, so I might drift towards screenwriting. My other hobbies include collecting nautical objects, listening to jazz, playing Nintendo and being a geek for all things classic Disney.

How long did it take you to create the video?

I shot the video over the course of three different Disneyland visits between late May/early June, though in reality the first scenes were filmed several months before I had even decided I wanted to put this thing together for certain. It started out as a weird idea I had after attending a faculty dance concert at my college. They had dance choreographed to various Queen songs, Don’t Stop Me Now among them. The idea of putting some oddball skit to what might be my favorite Queen song buried itself in the back of my head and didn’t go anywhere…until last Halloween. The Groundskeeper costume triggered some interesting comments at a Halloween party I attended, such as “So, they finally gave you a night off at the Haunted Mansion?” And that settled it. I had wanted to make some sort of tribute to the Haunted Mansion for its upcoming 40th, and everything just fell into place in my mind. I shot the first scene that very night, in my friend’s front yard, which interestingly looks a bit like the graveyard at the mansion (where the Groundskeeper leaves his shovel and lantern behind and sets off into the night). After that, it was only a matter of waiting until they took the Holiday-overlay down at Disneyland.

Did any cast members or guests react while you were filming the scenes and were they good or bad reactions?

The strangest thing about filming this was how, well, “normal” people’s reactions were! I was expecting people to wonder why I was walking around Disneyland in summer weather wearing a scarf and coat. But no, I got only a few passing glances now and then and a couple raised eyebrows. I guess people are used to seeing odd things at the parks. Some nice park guests even held the camera for me on the days I was trying to film solo, which still wows me a bit. I was also expecting potential suspicions from cast members. Thankfully none of them seemed to care, and a few were actually fairly helpful – for example, while trying to get from Frontierland to Fantasyland via Big Thunder Trail as the park was closing, one nice cast member held the gate long enough for us to dash through before the path was closed.

It was a lot of fun to do, though! I had no formal plan, so a lot of it came to me during the course of filming, trying to fit elements of the parks to work with the song and also going off the suggestions of my “film crew” (whatever friends/family happened to be with me at the time). My favorite scene to film is possibly the bit with the Sword in the Stone. I love visual comedy, and I tried to get into a bunch of silly poses going while trying to pull out the sword. But I think the scene at the end was the funniest one to film, solely based on the spontaneity of it; it was actually my mom and my sister’s idea to set up the “car accident.” My sister bravely volunteered to run out in front of the motorcar! What a trooper! For some reason, my mom cracks up every time she sees it.

Last, tell me about your earliest memory of the Haunted Mansion? Do you have a favorite character or part in the ride?

Practically growing up at Disneyland, the Haunted Mansion has always been my favorite right (closely followed by Pirates). For me, all my memories of the mansion experience sort of blur together, and I can’t even recall my first time taking a trip through those dark and gloomy corridors…in my mind, it’s always been there. It’s an experience. And I have never grown tired of it! There’s something alluring about that old dark house and its cast of 999 happy haunts, and I think its re-living that nostalgia again and again, when so many other things change, that makes the Haunted Mansion so special to me. It’s like visiting a bunch of old friends – Ezra, Phineous and Gus have always been welcome to follow me home and have done so in my childhood mind hundreds of times. The fact that it’s been around 40 years really says something about how magical it is. The video is my own weird little way of saying “thanks” to a truly unique and special attraction.