Disneyland guests have shared photos and videos this morning of the “Fantasmic!” set following yesterday’s incident when the Maleficent dragon caught fire.
Spectrum News 13’s Alex Farnworth shared a video on Twitter of crews working on the “Fantasmic!” set on Sunday morning. Scrim had been wrapped around some areas, but there was no significant damage to the set. Farnworth also noted that new pieces of metal had been brought in for repairs.
MiceChat was live from Disneyland earlier in the morning and caught video of the remains of the Maleficent dragon (which was nicknamed “Murphy” by fans) partially covered in scrim. Unfortunately, the dragon was completely destroyed in the fire. Thankfully, there have been no reported injuries and rumors that the stage collapsed have turned out to not be true—crew members can be seen walking on the stage in the video. Watch MiceChat’s video below.
While “Fantasmic!” performances may resume soon, there will likely be no physical dragon for some time. The show’s “b-mode” dragon is a projection on a mist screen.
When we stopped by the Rivers of America, no crew members were on site. A green scrim is completely wrapped around the stage where the Maleficent dragon usually appears.
Metal poles are stacked on the docks below the main stage.
The scrim is wrapped over scaffolding that MiceChat saw crew members installing.
More scrim is around a dock around the bend.
Today’s performances of “Fantasmic!” are canceled.
Maleficent Dragon Catches Fire
Parts of Adventureland were evacuated Saturday night as Maleficent, in dragon form, caught fire during a performance of “Fantasmic!” in Disneyland.
Our onsite reporter caught footage of the dragon, still burning, as the show came to a premature end for safety. The fire fell from the dragon’s mouth onto Tom Sawyer Island below. The cause was reportedly a leak of flammable fluid, seen dripping down from the mouth moments before the fireball effect went off.
Guests in the western end of the park were rapidly evacuated, and all offerings west of the Jungle Cruise were quickly shut down.
Future performances of “Fantasmic!” have been removed from the Disneyland schedule, with performances not scheduled until May 26 at the earliest. The Anaheim Fire Department confirmed that no injuries were reported as a result of the incident.
“Fantasmic!”
“Fantasmic!,” is a nighttime spectacular which first debuted in Disneyland on May 13, 1992. The show stars Mickey Mouse as he explores the possibilities of his imagination, but the Disney Villains team up in an attempt to create an unstoppable nightmare for him. Featuring characters and music from Disney films including “Fantasia,” “The Jungle Book,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” the show incorporates projections on screens of water, pyrotechnics, and both the Sailing Ship Columbia and Mark Twain Riverboat as they sail past guests on the Rivers of America.
“Fantasmic!” went into an extended hiatus as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and finally resumed performances in late May of 2022. Since then, the nighttime spectacular has performed with minimal incident in Disneyland, though it was unexpectedly shut down for just over two weeks this past January. MagicBand+ interacts with “Fantasmic!,” as the center puck changes colors and flashes in sync with the show.
Over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World, the show, which premiered at the park in 1998, underwent a longer break, returning last November with new scenes inspired by “Mulan,” “Frozen II,” and “Moana”. This past March, a TikTok user captured video of an incident where a performer portraying Aladdin missed the ledge they were supposed to swing onto and crashed into the mountainside portion of the set. Guests attending the performance noted that the performer reappeared later in the show, appearing to be unharmed. This week, the Florida production will operate once a day on a reduced schedule ahead of a brief closure for refurbishment currently set for May 1 and 2.
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