An Enormous Animatronic Dragon Caught on Fire at Disneyland (ocregister.com) 47
"Thousands of stunned guests were on hand Saturday night to watch a Disneyland malfunction for the ages," writes SFGate — when a 45-foot-tall animatronic dragon burst into flames, and continued burning for several minutes in front of the stunned crowd.
SFGate reports: The fire occurred during the 10:30 p.m. performance of Fantasmic, a show staged on the Rivers of America. The elaborate show uses ships, barges, projections on the water and fire effects to tell the story of Mickey Mouse's dreams and nightmares. Near the end of the show, the dragon form of Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty," emerges from the island.
The big finale went awry Saturday, and flames engulfed the entire dragon. Video taken by shocked spectators shows the fire beginning on the dragon's face and rapidly spreading down its body as chunks of flaming debris fall to the ground. Smoke and heavy flames billow from the prop as firefighters begin hosing down the dragon. The remainder of the show was canceled, and guests were escorted out of the immediate area...
The dragon, one of the most memorable parts of Disneyland's beloved nighttime spectacular, has jokingly been referred to as Murphy, a reference to Murphy's law. Over the decades, it's been part of countless malfunctions and mishaps, although none quite so destructive as this. Though it is supposed to breathe fire, there are times when the effect doesn't work at all.
"Disneyland employees armed with garden hoses and fire extinguishers were no match for the inferno," reports the Orange County Register. "The dragon's head erupted into a fireball and a flamethrower effect from the dragon's mouth shot directly toward the stage, according to MiceChat."
The newspaper has a picture of the charred mechanical skeleton that was still lying on the ground Sunday on Tom Sawyer Island — and a 146-second video of the blaze. (Apparently realizing they're witnessing an unplanned fire, one spectator can be heard telling another one wryly, "Happy birthday, Danny.")
"Some spectators thought it was part of the show," reports the New York Times. One visitor told the newspaper, "My sister and I were talking about how it was impressive. I was like, 'Man, they can set that head on fire and it just stays perfectly intact?' So we were kind of amazed at Disney at first..."
When interviewed by the Associated Press, Ryan Laux, a frequent Disneyland visitor, "said Mickey vanished from the stage as soon as the dragon's head became engulfed in flames."
Then a voice over a loudspeaker announced the show wouldn't continue "due to unforeseen circumstances..." (as heard in the video). "We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause — and hope you enjoy the rest of your evening here at Disneyland. Once again, this performance cannot continue due to unforeseen circumstances. Thank you." At that moment the head burst into more flames, some members of the audience gasped in unison — and the announcement continued playing in Spanish. ("No podemos continuar con este presentacion...") Then cheery banjo music began playing.
At least six workers were eventually treated for smoke inhalation from the burning dragon prop, reports the New York Times.
In a statement Disney said they were now "temporarily suspending fire effects" in "select" shows in their parks around the world — "out of an abundance of caution."
SFGate reports: The fire occurred during the 10:30 p.m. performance of Fantasmic, a show staged on the Rivers of America. The elaborate show uses ships, barges, projections on the water and fire effects to tell the story of Mickey Mouse's dreams and nightmares. Near the end of the show, the dragon form of Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty," emerges from the island.
The big finale went awry Saturday, and flames engulfed the entire dragon. Video taken by shocked spectators shows the fire beginning on the dragon's face and rapidly spreading down its body as chunks of flaming debris fall to the ground. Smoke and heavy flames billow from the prop as firefighters begin hosing down the dragon. The remainder of the show was canceled, and guests were escorted out of the immediate area...
The dragon, one of the most memorable parts of Disneyland's beloved nighttime spectacular, has jokingly been referred to as Murphy, a reference to Murphy's law. Over the decades, it's been part of countless malfunctions and mishaps, although none quite so destructive as this. Though it is supposed to breathe fire, there are times when the effect doesn't work at all.
"Disneyland employees armed with garden hoses and fire extinguishers were no match for the inferno," reports the Orange County Register. "The dragon's head erupted into a fireball and a flamethrower effect from the dragon's mouth shot directly toward the stage, according to MiceChat."
The newspaper has a picture of the charred mechanical skeleton that was still lying on the ground Sunday on Tom Sawyer Island — and a 146-second video of the blaze. (Apparently realizing they're witnessing an unplanned fire, one spectator can be heard telling another one wryly, "Happy birthday, Danny.")
"Some spectators thought it was part of the show," reports the New York Times. One visitor told the newspaper, "My sister and I were talking about how it was impressive. I was like, 'Man, they can set that head on fire and it just stays perfectly intact?' So we were kind of amazed at Disney at first..."
When interviewed by the Associated Press, Ryan Laux, a frequent Disneyland visitor, "said Mickey vanished from the stage as soon as the dragon's head became engulfed in flames."
Then a voice over a loudspeaker announced the show wouldn't continue "due to unforeseen circumstances..." (as heard in the video). "We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause — and hope you enjoy the rest of your evening here at Disneyland. Once again, this performance cannot continue due to unforeseen circumstances. Thank you." At that moment the head burst into more flames, some members of the audience gasped in unison — and the announcement continued playing in Spanish. ("No podemos continuar con este presentacion...") Then cheery banjo music began playing.
At least six workers were eventually treated for smoke inhalation from the burning dragon prop, reports the New York Times.
In a statement Disney said they were now "temporarily suspending fire effects" in "select" shows in their parks around the world — "out of an abundance of caution."
At least nobody died this time? (Score:3)
https://disney.fandom.com/wiki... [fandom.com].
Re: (Score:2)
Disney is very conservative. This is why all their princesses are beloved but the queens are all inevitably evil.
Happened in Orlando too (Score:5, Insightful)
Back in 2018 the dragon caught fire at Magic Kingdom. [go.com] Fire-breathing dragons are dangerous, who would've thunk it?
If I was Universal Studios, I'd be checking out my dragon right about now. [universalorlando.com]
Re:Happened in Orlando too (Score:5, Informative)
Considering the story said Disneyland not Disney World....this has fuck all to do with Florida.
Now, if you want to talk about the shyster looking creep Gov. of Ca...then we might be onto something.
You know, the guy who's policies are helping drive out record numbers of businesses, people, from that great state?
Geez, talk about a dildo.
Re: (Score:1)
Oh. Well, that's embarrassing. lol. Though seeing as the dildo brigade are allowed to be shamelessly wrong about basically everything, I think this too shall pass.
Re: (Score:2)
Considering the story said Disneyland not Disney World....this has fuck all to do with Florida.
This has fuck all to do with politics, but what it does have to do with Florida is that Disney already had a dragon catch fire a few years ago at their park in Florida, which should've served as a warning. Perhaps they could've installed a fire suppression system?
Disney has been putting off maintenance on things that clearly need it (*cough* the monorail system in *cough*), because they've been instead dumping money into new attractions. Again, nothing to do with politics, just your typical corporate pen
Re: (Score:2)
Why is the dildo running? Just flip the switch when done using it.
Different (Score:2)
That was the same character, but a different animatronic. The Fantasmic version looks like the cartoon and is mounted. The one that caught fire at Disney World is a steampunk metal-skeleton rendition that is part of a parade. I think the fire breathing mechanism in both is similar, though.
Vids (Score:5, Informative)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
The one five years ago was actually a parade, I'm guessing a lot more dangerous because the audience wasn't separated from the dragon by a moat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
You would think with a prop like that they would have better fire suppression capabilities on hand. I mean it's a literal flame thrower covered in plastic. Yikes.
Re:Vids (Score:5, Informative)
Here's a longer video, albeit mostly from after the fire started:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
it takes awhile for that thing to burn.
Re: (Score:2)
The first part looks awesome. They should make it part of the show.
Re: (Score:2)
It kind of does! Except where the jaw mechanism malfunctions, causing the dragon's lower jaw to slacken into a kind of "durrrr" appearance. Once it stops moving, though, it's clear that there's something wrong.
Re: (Score:2)
Damned shame that smoke or fog drifted across the scene, hiding the magical moment when Mickey disappeared from the stage. I'd _really_ like to see how he managed that: he stayed on stage there a bit longer than I would have!
Re: Vids (Score:3)
Probably a stuck valve on a bit that blows the combustable cloud out of the head. The part that makes a flame didn't know it was stuck.
Solution: valves with feedback about their position. Automatically cancelling everything if the feedback doesn't look normal. Also, why was there no fire suppression system in the head for such occurances?
Re: Vids (Score:2)
The way the jaw goes slack, I wonder if a line burst and spewed hydraulic fluid all over the inside of the mouth. Then the flame source just lit that shit up.
I hope Mickey survived (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
In the video, there is a guy in a Mickey Mouse costume fairly close to the dragon - even after the fire first starts. I was wondering how long he was gonna stick around - you don't see him leave because the fire suppression hoses kick in pretty early (they don't appear to be very effective, but maybe their job was to save the stage rather than douse the dragon itself).
Walls of Mist (Score:2)
In the video, there is a guy in a Mickey Mouse costume fairly close to the dragon - even after the fire first starts. I was wondering how long he was gonna stick around - you don't see him leave because the fire suppression hoses kick in pretty early (they don't appear to be very effective, but maybe their job was to save the stage rather than douse the dragon itself).
That's part of the show, not fire suppression. It's a system that creates walls of mist in front of the stage on which they can project video (and basically use as curtains):
https://youtu.be/z5g5MuSfU6Y?t... [youtu.be]
Re: I hope Mickey survived (Score:3)
Trainers to Mickey characters that act on stages: and THAT is why you never stand under that 30 foot fire breathing nightmare! (Notice Mickey stands to the side.)
Someone said Turbo Turbo! (Score:2)
The Belgium Slashdotters probably remember this animation :
https://youtu.be/ccR3OjG1pH4?t... [youtu.be]
Re: (Score:1)
Are you not entertained? (Score:5, Funny)
911 (Score:4, Funny)
"We need you to send some firemen to put out an, uh, dragon."
Re: (Score:2)
"We need you to send some firemen to put out an, uh, dragon."
Cue "cheery banjo music".
You make fun of dragon (Score:2)
Dragon makes fun of you
We shouldn't be too surprised if THE dragon takes exception... ;) (I THINK I'm joking)
Here's an idea (Score:3)
If you build a device that will be using flame and other burning substances, perhaps build it out of non flammable or at leat fire retardent materials?
Just a thought.
Re: (Score:1)
oh wow quick someone call disney!! weve got an engineer looking for work!!
was there a Rammstein concert or something? (Score:1)
A bit on the nose (Score:2)
There once was a dragoon mechanical,
Whose flames were quite theatrical,
But one fateful day,
He caught fire in a way,
That left his engineer quite apoplectical.
With sparks and smoke all around,
The dragoon went crashing to the ground,
His fire breath did wane,
As he burst into flame,
And the engineer was nowhere to be found.
But fear not, dear reader, for in the end,
The dragoon was repaired and on the mend,
His flames now controlled,
And his engineer no longer so bold,
For he knew that a fire-breathing dragoon must be
Re: (Score:3)
AI-generated? Some of them seem to have a concept of meter and others don't. It's interesting to see. I've done that to get a start, then edited them to fix the meter. I wonder, if you tell ChatGPT to fix the meter if it knows it, or if it has no concept of that since it can't "hear" the words.
for safety's sake (Score:1)
I applaud Disney's decision to stop using tactical nuclear weapons in its shows.
Also to remove the hungry live bears in the Bear Country Jamboree after the terrible tragedy involving 12 kindergarteners and an accordian.
Dragons Ez So Stupid! (Score:2)
Move along (Score:2)
Machine that sprays flaming kerosene catches fire. (Score:2)
You couldn't make it up, eh?? /s
Mickey is quick! (Score:2)
I was watching a Twitter video about the start of the "event." Mickey was there in his robes and big hat one second. A BIG nod of his head, the camera moves away and back (1 second?) and poof, he's gone! Good trick that!