Great Caesar's Ghost, or simply Caesar (possibly Gaius Julius Caesar) is one of the ghosts haunting the Haunted Mansion.
Description[]
Background[]
"Great Caesar's Ghost" appears to be the undead spirit of a Roman Emperor who resides in the Haunted Mansion. He is likely to have moved to the manor post-mortem via the GRD.
Origins[]
Name[]
This character is identified as the ghost of Caesar and is a play on the 1960s-expression "Great Caesar's Ghost!", hence his name. This expression having been used as a precursor to, "Great God" as the zeitgeist regarding, "Taking the lord's name in vain" would not allow it at the time.
This expression having most frequently been used by the DC comics character of Perry White from the then popular Superman comics and radio-serials. There was even a story released in 1954 where Perry's repeated use of the phrase actually summoned the ghost of Caesar who went on to fight Superman. The illustrations of Caesar from this story bearing a resemblance the character as found in the ride.[1]
It should be noted that several of Marc Davis' designs are believed to be inspired by characters from comic-books and comic-strips. Examples including the frequent influence of Charles Addams and the Hatchet Man's design resembling the Old Witch from Tales from the Crypt.[2]
Great Caesar[]
"Great Caesar" can refer to any of the numerous Roman leaders who succeeded to the first famous Caesar, Gaius Julius Caesar; it could notably be Emperor Augustus Caesar. However, Julius Caesar was nicknamed "the Bald" in his time due to thinning hair, and the Mansion's Great Caesar's Ghost is bald, suggesting he is probably meant to be Julius. Along with this the expression "Great Caesar's Ghost" is an allusion to the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare where Gaius's friend-turned-murderer Brutus starts having visions of the senator haunting him.
In history, Gaius Julius Caesar (first name Gaius, last name Julius, "cognomen" or "hereditary nickname" Caesar) was a strategically brilliant Roman senator and military leader who launched several illegal conquests out of Italy without the permission of the Roman Republic. However, Julius's conquests were incredibly prosperous, greatly expanded the Roman Empire and created the extremely efficient Thirteenth Legion.
The Republic however saw this as Caesar's attempt at making himself "King of Rome" and after several squabbles, settled on having him assassinated by stabbing him within the Republic building with 23 times. Following his death, the Roman people became outraged and demanded an Emperor who would replace the Republic which killed their beloved Caesar so Gaius's nephew Octavian was appointed Emperor of Rome.
Appearances[]
The Haunted Mansion[]
On one end of the Grand Hall's dining-room table, the ghost of an old man wearing a laurel crown and a toga sits in an elaborate chair, smiling contentedly while across from the Birthday Ghost.
Haunted Mansion Holiday/Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare[]
Caesar and the Birthday Ghost are the only constant ghosts to appear at the table during the seasonal Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay. This is because due to being found at the far ends of the table, their effects are not altered by the inclusion of the gingerbread house put on the table each year.
Unused Scripts & development[]
Great Caesar's Ghost was first mentioned by Ken Anderson among various historical and famous ghosts he planned to have in the Mansion. In one notable script, he would have attended the wedding of Mlle. Vampire and Monsieur Bogyman in the Haunted Mansion alongside the Headless Horseman, the Lonesome Ghosts, Count Dracula and Frankenstein's monster.
Caesar's ghost is one of the very few of these characters that Marc Davis retained when he took over the project. In the Marc Davis concept art, the character is somewhat plump; meanwhile, the actual animatronic mould by Blaine Gibson in the end is very skinny, bordering on skeletal.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad[]
In the queue for Walt Disney World's Big Thunder Mining Company, the expression, "Great Caesar's Ghost" is used in a letter by SEA president Jason Chandler in a message sent to Barnabas T. Bullion of the Big Thunder Mining Company. While it is quite possible that this is incidental, the same letter references the Museum of the Weird showing that it was written with Haunted Mansion details in-mind.
Other Appearances[]
Haunted Mansion (video-game)[]
Great Caesar's Ghost appears in the video-game adaptation of the Haunted Mansion where he interacts with the protagonist.
The Haunted Mansion (Disney Kingdoms)[]
Great Caesar's Ghost can be seen in crowd-shots of the graveyard and ballroom in this comic.
Trivia[]
- At one point it was also planned for the ghost of the Roman emperor Nero to be found in the Tokyo Haunted Mansion which would have meant Caesar wouldn't have been the only ghost of a Roman leader in the Mansion. Along with this the male Chandelier Ghost resembles a Roman soldier and can be interpreted as a representation of Mark Antony, Caesar's general and close-friend in life.
- The character has sometimes been thought to be Martin, a character on a tombstone described as an "Old Spartan", by people who weren't aware of the "Cæsar" connection. Regardless of it, Martin is, anyway, not supposed to be an ancient Spartan, but more likely an inhabitant of any of the dozens of towns named Sparta in the United States of America, or even simply someone called "Spartan" because of his stern habits.
- In the video game, Caesar mocks the "ides of March", stating that he has nothing to fear, a reference to the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar.