Behind-the-scenes ‘Muppets Haunted Mansion’ movie-making exhibit coming to Disneyland

A new Muppets exhibit coming to Disneyland will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the puppeteering process used in a new Disney+ Halloween special set in the Haunted Mansion starring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and the Great Gonzo.

The new “Muppets Haunted Mansion” movie-making exhibit in the lobby of the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction at the Anaheim theme park debuts Friday, Oct. 8 — the same day as the new Disney+ holiday special.

The Great Gonzo tackles the hair-raising challenge of spending Halloween night with 999 happy haunts inside the classic Disneyland attraction in the new movie on the streaming service.

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As Disneylanders know, the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln lobby is already home to a Haunted Mansion art exhibit. The best way to think of the addition of screen-used props and set pieces from the “Muppets Haunted Mansion” movie is as an exhibit within an exhibit.

“This is your peek behind the curtain at the art and design that went into the production of the special itself,” Walt Disney Imagineering’s Dani Iglesias said during an online video interview.

The rare behind-the-scenes look at the movie-making process offers a glimpse at how Muppets puppeteers practice their craft.

“One of the things we’re focusing on right now at the Muppets Studio is this idea of the art of puppetry,” said Iglesias, an Imagineer that works with the Muppets Studio. “This is such an incredible handcrafted art form that’s still alive, even in 2021 at a time with all of the digital prowess.”

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The “Muppets Haunted Mansion” exhibit includes several set pieces from the movie, including a seance scene that is expected to feature Imagineering’s Kim Irvine — a well-known figure in the lore of Disneyland’s famed haunted house.

A funeral wreath and tiny coffins intended for Gonzo and Pepe the King Prawn from a mock funeral scene are also included in the exhibit alongside screen-used props from a scene focusing on a “muppetized” hearse.

“You can see how Gonzo’s coffin is cut away so that they can put their hand in there to puppeteer Gonzo,” Irvine said during an online video interview. “You can see the cut in the seat where Miss Piggy sits. It’s got really fun ways of understanding how muppeteering works.”

The Muppets being the Muppets, they couldn’t just leave the description plaques alone next to the exhibit displays.

“The Muppets have all gone and provided their own commentary about what the prop is or what their take on that particular artifact might be,” Iglesias said. “It’s got some fun tongue-in-cheek humor in there as well.”

The relatively tight confines of the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln lobby made it difficult to install some of the larger movie set pieces that emulate Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion in a Muppets way, according to Irvine.

“It was a challenge to figure out how to get those into the building because all the doors to the gallery are pretty small,” said Irvine, an executive creative director at Imagineering who focuses on Disneyland. “Our entertainment set team just did an awesome job of taking it apart and then putting it all back together inside the room.”

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The idea for the Disneyland exhibit was hatched on the film set during Irvine’s celebrity cameo appearance in “Muppets Haunted Mansion” — where the Imagineer is expected to play a mansion servant charged with cleaning the Madame Leota crystal ball.

“When I was on set filming, what I loved so much was just meeting all of the characters for the first time in person,” Irvine said. “To be able to interact with the Muppets in that way was just a real treat.”

Irvine had a blast going through all the screen-used props and set pieces in the Muppets Studio warehouse with Iglesias while putting together the Disneyland exhibit.

“There were some large things I would love to use, but we just couldn’t figure out a space for them,” Irvine said.

Irvine famously plays Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion Holiday seasonal attraction at Disneyland, reprising a role created by her mother and fellow Imagineer Leota Toombs, the namesake and original performer seen inside the crystal ball in the attraction’s seance scene.

Irvine planned to attend the world premiere of “Muppets Haunted Mansion” on Thursday, Oct. 7 with her 4-year-old granddaughter Leota Wheeler, named in honor of her great-grandmother and the ghostly Haunted Mansion seance character. Little Leota planned to walk the purple carpet at the premiere with her grandmother and meet Gonzo, Pepe and other Muppets characters.

“She’ll be over the moon with that,” Irvine said.

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Muppets fans are getting an extra helping of the beloved characters this year during the winter holiday season. Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and other Muppets will travel in a special coach for Christmas carol sing-alongs during the Merriest Nites after-hours event in December at Disneyland.

This summer, the Disney Parks blog posted online videos of other Muppets characters with Animal going on a shopping spree in a Disneyland gift shop and Fozzie Bear getting comedy advice from a Jungle Cruise skipper in the park.

The Muppets have maintained a low profile at the Anaheim theme parks since “MuppetVision 3-D” closed in 2014 at Disney California Adventure.

Longtime fans will remember the brief appearance of the Muppets Mobile Lab in DCA with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker as part of Imagineering’s Living Character Initiative.

A 1991 plan to temporarily transform Disneyland into Muppetland with Mickey handing over the keys to Kermit for the year nearly materialized, but was scuttled by the death of Muppets creator Jim Henson in 1990, according to Jim Hill Media.