The Burning Miser was an unused character created for the Haunted Mansion.
History[]
The Miser was one of several unused Changing Portraits designed for the Haunted Mansion by animator Marc Davis, and was designed to slowly morph into the final image (similarily to the Aging Man portrait in Florida) rather than change in a flash of lighting like the final changing portraits.
Description[]
The Miser is depicted as being an elderly man from the 19th century, sternly sitting in his armchair with his money placed on the table beside him. As the portrait slowly changed the miser would start spontaneously catching on fire as a figure appeared behind him. Eventually the fire would consume the Miser completely leaving only the figure behind him who is revealed to be the Devil holding a contract reading "SOLD", implying that the Miser made a faustian bargain with the Devil who was simply collecting his due.
An alternate version has the Miser transforming into a devil rather then being dragged to hell.
Trivia[]
- In the Mansion's Library, there is an armchair and table designed and positioned nearly identically to those shown in the portrait.
- The general layout of the portrait is very similar to a Marc Davis concept sketch for "The Most Dangerous Ghost in the Mansion".
- Considering the story depicted in the portrait, it is extremely unlikely that the Miser would have been a ghost in the Mansion considering that his soul was taken to Hell.
- Storyboards for an unproduced direct-to-video animated Haunted Mansion film by Jason Lethcoe featured the Burning Miser as an antagonist, with the Museum Of The Weird's Candle Man serving as his henchman.
Gallery[]
