The Deaf Ghost (given the fan nickname Father Time in the Ghost Gallery for his resemblance to the mythical figure) is a character in the Haunted Mansion attraction in Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Tokyo Disneyland.
History[]
Origins[]
Marc Davis concept for the vignette
1968 script notes for the attraction described him as "a venerable, bearded oracle of the Renaissance period" though he has been interpreted as a druid or the folkloric Father Time for his beard. Concept art for the "Mummy and Deaf Man" vignette included an enthusiastic woman in Victorian fashion. With this context, the scene can be interpreted as a take on the Victorian practice of Mummy unwrapping parties and how spiritualists partaking in the practice hoped to glean ancient wisdom from the long dead, with the old man's poor hearing keeping him from getting any information.[1]
Appearances[]
The Haunted Mansion[]
The Deaf Ghost briefly appears in the Graveyard sequence where he is seen holding an ear horn and trying to talk with the Mummy who was singing Grim Grinning Ghosts.
Other Appearances[]
The Ghost Gallery[]
The Deaf Ghost briefly appears in the cast-member created Ghost Gallery storyline in which he becomes a composite character of the Deaf Man figure from the graveyard, and the deceased-individual I.M. Ready from the Pun Crypts. This incarnation of the character was a mortal man who attended one of Mme. Tangerine's Halloween tea-parties in 1931 while dressed like the folkloric figure Father Time as his costume. He died, along with several other of the tea-partys' guests when the tea turned out to be deadly due to Mme. Tangerine using water from a contaminated well.
SLG Comics[]
He appears as a ghost in the The Mummy's Curse story in Haunted Mansion #3. He is the subject of the framing-device with the mummy telling him the story of how he's afraid he's responsible for William Gracey's curse. Throughout the story, the elderly ghost fails to understand the mummy, however.
The Ghost Post[]
A portrait of the historical Francesco Marcolini.
An advertisement in the Grim Gazette identifies the Deaf Ghost as historical figure Francesco Marcolini da Forli, an Oracle selling Planchette wax in the graveyard across from "The Tomb of the Valkyrie", describing the product as "indispensable for avoiding distressing communication blunders". Francesco Marcolini was a publisher and typographer from 16th century Italy whose most known for Le Sorti. Intitolate Giardino dei Pensieri, a book on fortune telling published in 1540.