The Museum of the Weird is a location from the Disney Parks, inspired by an unused expansion for the Haunted Mansion developed by Rolly Crump.
Description[]
Background[]
The Museum of the Weird was an institution active during the latter-end of the 19th century. The museum had some knowledge on the supernatural, and was the place of employment for one Madame Zarkov. By 1880, the museum had some affiliation with the Society of Explorers and Adventurers and/or its president Jason Chandler. In this year, Jason Chandler sought the museum and Zarkov for advice regarding his S.E.A. peer Barnabas T. Bullion's mining in Big Thunder Mountain. Zarkov urged Chandler to tell Bullion to cease mining as to not upset the Spirit of Big Thunder, which the gold obsessed Bullion did not do.
Concept art of the Museum by Rolly Crump
Development history[]
The Museum of the Weird was developed by Disney imagineer Rolly Crump as an expansion for the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland's New Orleans Square. This would have been a walk-through attraction with oddities such as a wax man, mushroom creatures, a Romani vardo, coffin grandfather clock, ghost fish, and Mistress of Evil. The planned expansion did not get used in the final attraction, though has had some influence.
Appearances[]
Attractions[]
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad[]
The Museum of the Weird is mentioned in a letter sent from Jason Chandler of S.E.A. to Big Thunder Mining Company president Barnabas T. Bullion. An excerpt of the letter reads, "I took the liberty of consulting Madame Zarkov at the Museum of the Weird , and it is her considered opinion that you should abandon the entire operation at once and find a less volatile site. I wish I had better news for you, old boy, but some forces simply are not to be trifled with".
Printed materials[]
Disney Kingdoms[]
In this continuity, the Museum of the Weird is reimagined as the Museum of the Wyrd and is a pocket-dimension-like museum accessed from a shop in New Orleans. The museum is curated by a group known as, "The Wardens" to safeguard supernatural items from across the world.
The Haunted Mansion (Disney Kingdoms)[]
The museum makes a cameo as having an image of it framed within the mansion's Ghostly Materials Gallery, making it one of the locations connected to the mansion through the Endless Staircase.
Seekers of the Weird[]
The Museum of the Wyrd is the primary setting of this attraction, following the museum coming under siege by the Shadow Society in aims to free the, "Reaper King" imprisoned within the museum.
Trivia[]
- Madame Zarkov who worked at the Museum is a character from the extinct attraction/dining-service, the Adventurers Club.
- The original Ghost Relations Department sign for the Haunted Mansion mentioned it as having a, "Museum of the Supernatural".