The Hatbox Ghost
Originally installed on August 7, 1969, while the design of the character remains iconic, it nonetheless was removed due to the effect of the head disappearing-reappearing not reaching creative intent set by Disney Legend Yale Gracey.
Fast forward 46 years later to Disneyland's 60th Anniversary. We were commissioned to rework the Hatbox Ghost based on scan data and photos from the original head sculpt. I was responsible for the head (two heads if you count the one in the hatbox). My process was to retopologize the scan data in Zbrush, texture paint in Mari using archival photos with touch ups for the areas that did not have good photographic reference. Subtle face expressions were sculpted in Zbrush and used in Maya as blend shapes to preserve the integrity of the original design. Multiple lighting passes were rendered in Vray for compositing in Nuke to match the lighting conditions of the show and paint treatment on the physical figure.
Figure as installed in the attraction in show lighting conditions
original hattie