Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie''s plot.  
Let's start at the beginning. I adore Disney's Haunted Mansion in the Orlando theme park. It is for everybody. It is funny/scary, and as Disney caters to CHILDREN, all is as it should be. Things are themed to death, ghosts, and the supernatural in a very fun and creative climate. Beginning with "no windows and no doors," you are sucked right into the spirit of the house - moving doors, talking head in a crystal ball, hearse with skeleton horse attached, tombstones with funny saying on it. The ride is absolutely very well done! I see something new every time I take the ride and I've done it well over 12 times.  
 
Okay - now let's translate that thought into a movie! What a fantastic idea! The very first line "Welcome foolish mortals" made me just giggle. You begin the film with a married couple with 2 kids (pretty standard Disney stuff), and the dad is too busy at work (again, par for the course, but we have been doing this since at least "Mary Poppins," you know?). So with one phone call, the family is drawn into "the house." That the dad is Eddie Murphy to me isn't that special a thing. I think Eddie Murphy is less funny than he used to be, but he is one of only a handful of comedic black movie stars today.  
 
You enter the house and see the cobwebs on the grandiose front entryhall. The monolithic ceilings, the candlelit hallways, the suits of armor, the gigantic fireplace (might be known as gates of Hell, or it might not). The busts in the walls move and watch you, there are hidden stairways, and most and best of all, there are ghosts everywhere. There are good ones and bad ones, and all the family take off in different directions with the mom being the most sought after by the house's owner.  
 
I'm not going to give away the plot. Suffice it to say there is a trip to the cemetery with ghouls worse than in the new "Pirates of the Carribean" movie. But they don't last long. And, of course, the boy learns to be a man in the process. The lady's head in the crystal ball is there, and she's even green. There's a barber shop quartet of busts, and even the hearse fits in there somehow.  
 
The ending is where the bad guys get their due, and it is, after all, a Disney comedy. This movie is not too scary for the youngest of children, but the plot might confuse kids under 8 or 9. PG is a good rating for a few mild oaths.  
 
Generally, if everyone would keep in mind that Disney makes things for children (and there are always new ones coming along!!!), they would know that this is just a wonderful experience, compared to THE CAT IN THE HAT which is obscene from what I've heard and read. See this movie; take anyone. It kept my attention, and I am very Disney-fied.  
 
It lasts 110 minutes, and they are fabulous times. Well acted, well conceived, and great effects. A great Disney romp!  
 
