Disney Parks fans of a certain age have one thing almost universally in common: we all have a copy of the LP, The Story and Song from The Haunted Mansion.
It influenced how we thought about Disneyland’s greatest attraction, even to the point of overriding the experience of the ride itself. (The number of people who believed that they had seen the Hatbox Ghost in the Disneyland Mansion in the seventies because of hearing him described on this album is remarkable.) For many people, the Haunted Mansion was this album and the Ghost Host we remembered was not Paul Frees, the voice actor recorded for the attraction, but the one here: Peter Renaday.
Peter Renaday passed away of natural causes this weekend at his Burbank apartment.
Renaday not only voiced the pivotal role in the Haunted Mansion LP, but his involvement in the parks’ themselves was extensive. He was both Henry and Max in The Country Bear Jamboree. He was Abraham Lincoln in the Hall of Presidents in Florida. He was Captain Nemo — doing a wonderful James Mason impression — in Walt Disney World’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction. He served as the narrator on the Mark Twain Riverboat in Disneyland and the voice of “TTA Central” on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. He did voices and safety spiels for early Tomorrowland attractions Rocket to the Moon, Mission to Mars, and Astro Orbiter.
I heard him just last weekend as the narrator on Disneyland’s The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
His performances in film — both live and as a voice artist — go back to 1966 with Disney’s film Lt. Robin Crusoe USN and continued through 2009 with his voicing of various characters in The Princess and the Frog. He was also a consistently used dubbing voice for the American releases of Studio Ghibli films such as My Neighbor Totoro through the 2000s.
While his Disney career is truly remarkable, many might more readily recognize his name for a character from a very different animation franchise: Renaday was the original voice of Shredder on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series from 1989–1996.
To fully encompass all of the animation and theme park credits that Peter Renaday had amassed could take the entirety of this article. He was a presence in popular culture for a half-century. He was also always willing to engage with fans, many of whom became his friends.
He will be missed.
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Kelly McCubbin is a columnist for Boardwalk Times
