The Hitchhiking Ghosts didn't always have names. But now they did. And those names were even acknowledged by Disney. Even if their, somewhat off colour, original backstories were not. For obvious reasons.
Mostly in Ezra and Gus's cases. Phineas was still a snake oil salesman, of course.
Not that the Hitchhiking ghosts even remembered their backstories - the backstories came later. As far as they were concerned, they were brought to life one day by Imagineers, got put inside an attraction, and… that was that.
It was their job to be creepy and a little bit playful. And if those backstories helped the guests relate to them, then they weren't going to complain.
Gus, the Prisoner, revelled in their popularity. He loved being loved and he adored being acknowledged. To him, it was simply fun - there was no better thing.
Phineas, the Traveller, enjoyed the fame as well, in a different way. Whenever guests pointed at him, he felt a bit awkward, but he didn't hate it.
Ezra, the Skeleton, was the most uncomfortable with their fame. But still, he didn't exactly have a problem with being plastered all over Haunted Mansion merchandise.
Neither of them could quite believe their popularity.
The original backstories for the Hitchhiking Ghosts are bizarre.
It was called The Ghost Gallery, and it was actually written by Cast Members. It wasn't just a backstory for the Hitchhiking, but the mansion in general. As the Hitchhiking Ghosts were part of that…
Yeah. The names for the Hitchhiking Ghosts came from this story, and the idea was they were inmates at an asylum for the criminally insane.
In The Ghost Gallery, Phineas Queeg the Traveller ghost, was a snake oil salesman. In Disney's version, he's Prof. Phineas Plump and he's… a snake oil salesman.
The Skeleton ghost in The Ghost Gallery was Ezra Dobbins, a chubby chasing pervert who spied on naked ladies. In Disney's version, he's Ezra Beane and he's a vagabond. An itinerant.
Now we come to the Prisoner ghost. In The Ghost Gallery, he was Gus Gracey, an evil little person, who murdered his entire family for… reasons. In Disney's version, he's just Gus, a prankster, imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit.
So there you have it. Disney made certain things canon, while other things… best left out of family attractions.