Mister Edward Hyde is a character who has history with the Haunted Mansion and incarnations appearing within the seasonal overlays of Haunted Mansion Holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare.
Description[]
Origins[]
Mr. Edward Hyde is a sort of character originating from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 book, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In the book, Hyde is an alias assumed by Dr. Henry Jekyll when he uses a chemical concoction to disguise his appearance. Jekyll does this to carry out ambiguous desires deemed taboo by Victorian English society but along the way becomes a wanted criminal, leading to the doctor eventually committing suicide.
In subsequent pop-cultural adaptations (notably the 1931 Universal Studios film, directed by Rouben Mamoulian) Hyde and Jekyll would be portrayed as distinct entities from one another. The common understanding of the character would come to be that the potion Jekyll took caused a sort of split-personality within the doctor.
The Nightmare Before Christmas[]
Mister Hyde appeared as a resident of Halloween Town in the 1993 film the Nightmare Before Christmas. He is one of the creatures who assists in the seasonal creation of Halloween and later, in assisting Jack Skellington recreate Christmas. In this film he was portrayed by voice-actor Randy Crenshaw.
Unique to this incarnation of Hyde, he is shown to have a miniature version of himself living underneath of his top-hat and another even smaller replica under that Hyde's hat. This could possibly be a play on being a character known for having multiple personalities which are personified physically.
Other Disney Appearances[]
- The Universal studios version of Mr. Hyde appeared in the 1933 Mickey Mouse cartoon, "Mickey's Gala Premier". He is seen alongside Count Dracula and the Frankenstein's Monster.
- "The Strange Case of Dr. Ratkyll and Mr. Hyde", a 2014 adaptation of the story in the Italian "Great Parodies" comic series cast Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in the roles of Dr. Rakyll and Donald Hyde. While other recent horror themed parodies based on Dracula and Frankenstein were brought to the United States, Jekyll and Hyde was vaulted as a result of American Disney officials finding a story of a back and forth transformation from Mickey to Donald as damaging to character brand integrity.
- An incarnation of Mr. Hyde appears in the television show Once Upon a Time where he was portrayed by actor Sam Witwer.
- This show also featured Madame Leota and Memento Mori.
Appearances[]
Unused[]
Main Article: Mad Scientist
Concept art by Ken Anderson
Concept art by imagineer Ken Anderson shows concepts for a tableau which would have featured what appeared to be a Jekyll/Hyde inspired scientist using chemicals. This tableau would later be adapted into the Apothecary character in the Phantom Canyon sequence of Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris.
Haunted Mansion Holiday[]
Mr. Hyde appears in his Nightmare Before Christmas variant within the seasonal Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay in Disneyland. Within the Load Area's Scary Christmas diorama, a visage of Mr. Hyde can be seen popping out of a Christmas gift-box; pulling off his top-hat and in doing so revealing the miniature Mr. Hydes underneath of his hat. The smallest Mr. Hyde atop the hat is dressed as a Christmas angel, similar to the topping of a Christmas tree.
Trivia[]
- Mister Hyde, Frankenstein's monster, Quasimodo, the Phantom of the Opera and Count Dracula are the only classic Universal movie monsters known to have been proposed to appear in the Haunted Mansion. Of them, only Count Dracula and this alternate version of Mr. Hyde would appear.
- It should be noted that the arsonist portrait was originally planned to be a werewolf, a mummy appears in the attraction, and a Creature from the Black Lagoon inspired monster once was depicted in Phantom Manor.