The annual change of the Haunted Mansion to Haunted Mansion Holiday is on its way to become a DisneyPark classic. And the annual change of the music as well...

The new scores(!) have a long list of credits.
Debuted in 2001 the Haunted Mansion Holiday featured a soundtrack, that resembled Danny Elfman's own music for Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas but was actually composed by Disney Staff composer Gordy Goodwin.

Due some emotional discussions, it was decided that Mr. Elfman should be in charge of the music the following year. So in 2002 the attraction returned with a new soundtrack... this time credited to Elfman himself. Obviously the score consists of Elfman compositions produced for Nightmare before Christmas.

Finally the music of the stretching gallery was changed back to Goodwin's version.
And not to forget: The 13 new scarrols were quickly arranged by John "Phantom Manor" Debney. (I must admit that I would have expected more of Debney...)

Disney did a great job on the ghost host narration.
Since Paul Frees' voice was and still is an essential part of the whole HM experience, they asked actor Corey Burton to narrate the story. And the illusion is perfect! He sounds indeed like the original ghost host.

I must admit I liked Goodwin's version, once it was out. Especially the graveyard and stretching gallery queues.
But now, after listening to Elfman's version many times, I love the new one much more. The arrangements are more lively and sophisticated.
Although I am not too sure about the idea behind the "graveyard" adaptation with the original basic tune. They could have left it as it was. The Elfman "disturbances" are rather unnecessary. Overall I think the old soundtrack had more of a flow and was "easier to understand"... and maybe that is more suitable for an attraction with lots of distracting audio and visual elements ...

But now you have the chance to compare both for yourself.
Here is the old soundtrack by Gordy Goodwin
and the current version... by Danny Elfman.

Enjoy.

The Foyer
0:17 min

The Stretching Room with Ghost-Host (2001+current)
1:14 min

Hallway
1:23 min

Hallway (2001)
1:04 min

Madame Leota *The 13 Days till Xmas*
2:01 min

Madame Leota *The 13 Days till Xmas* (2001)
2:01 min

The Ballroom Music
0:40 min

The Ballroom Music (2001)
1:13 min

The Graveyard *What's this...*
2:01 min

The Graveyard *What's this...* (2001)
3:00 min