Disney Parks has temporarily suspended fire effects at select shows and entertainment experiences across all its theme parks worldwide “out of an abundance of caution” after the Maleficent dragon caught fire during the Fantasmic! nighttime show at Disneyland Park. Video captured during the second performance of Fantasmic! and shared on social media Saturday showed the 45-foot tall animatronic dragon — which breathes flames in a climactic final battle with Mickey Mouse — engulfed in flames as fire fighters extinguished the blaze from the stage on the Rivers of America.
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“During the final showing of Fantasmic! at Disneyland Park on Saturday evening, the dragon prop caught fire. Anaheim Fire & Rescue quickly responded, and the fire was extinguished,” the Anaheim, California, theme park said in a statement. “All cast members [employees] were safely evacuated from Tom Sawyer Island. Due to smoke and wind, attractions near the island were safely evacuated of any guests, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time.”
The statement continues: “We are temporarily suspending fire effects similar to those used at Disneyland Park’s Fantasmic! at select shows and entertainment experiences globally out of an abundance of caution following the Fantasmic! prop fire at Disneyland Park. The continued safety of our cast and guests is of the utmost importance.”
Fantasmic! has performed nearly 11,000 shows it opened in 1992 at Disneyland, with versions opening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida in 1998 and TokyoSea Disney in Japan in 2011. The Maleficent dragon that burst into flame was installed in 2009 and was known among Disney diehards as “Murphy” — named after Murphy’s Law — because of mechanical and technical troubles that delayed its planned summer 2009 debut to later that year.
During the show’s climax, Maleficent rises to a height of 45 feet in 17 seconds before transforming into a dragon. Fully animated with a three-dimensional design that replicates Maleficent’s dragon form in Walt Disney’s animated classic Sleeping Beauty, the 45-foot tall, 28-feet wide, 18,000-pound dragon breathes flames to light the Rivers of America on fire for 25 seconds.
In May 2018, a fire-breathing Maleficent dragon float in the daytime Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade at the Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom Park similarly burst into flame during a performance.
Fantasmic! runs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. at Disneyland Park.
