5. The Auctioneer’s accident
Attraction: Pirates of the Caribbean
Location: Disneyland Paris
Often cited as the most beautiful Disneyland-style park on Earth, Disneyland Paris is often described as somehow combining the charm, intimacy, and coziness of Disneyland with the scale and grandeur of Magic Kingdom. But one thing it’s unfortunately not known for is its upkeep. From its disastrous 1992 opening that created a ripple effect of Disney cancelling and closing projects across the world to the opening of a parasitic second park – the Declassified Disaster: Walt Disney Studios – the French resort just can’t seem to catch a break, and has been in a perpetual state of catch-up for nearly 30 years.
So it’s not unusual for Paris’ special effects to falter. What’s highly unusual is that the very same day that Ursula lost her head, the Auctioneer figure in Paris’ Pirates of the Caribbean suffered a surprisingly similar beheading. Like Ursula, the figure continued through its programming despite its head hanging from wires.
4. “Murphy’s” flaw
Disney’s Modern Marvel: Fantasmic! is one of the most astounding, electrifying nighttime spectaculars in the history of theme parks; a 25-minute, abstract, multi-sensory battle between good and evil culminating in an epic showdown face-off with Mickey and a 45 foot-tall,18,000-pound, fire-breathing Animatronic of Maleficent in her imposing dragon form. That Animatronic – a Disneyland exclusive – made her thunderous debut in 2009 after months and months of delay.
Even once she was officially on the scene, though, the Maleficent figure couldn’t seem to keep it together. The figure earned the nickname “Murphy” from fans as a tribute to Murphy’s Law: “whatever can go wrong will go wrong.” For the better part of a year, “Murphy” appeared only sporadically. When she did emerge, she was frequently frozen, failed to breathe fire, or forgot to launch the fireworks embedded in her snout. That’s why, in our must-read look at 13 Abandoned, Broken, and Cancelled Special Effects, “Murphy” ranked high on our list.
Video evidence: That said, the Animatronics figure’s problems came to a head in August 2010 when, during a performance, the dragon literally fell face-first. The 18,000 pound Audio-Animatronic was so stuck, it remained in its precarious position into the next day until it was literally dismantled in front of guests to get it out of sight. Today, “Murphy” is much more reliable. But the massive Audio-Animatronic’s failure right in front of guests is an unforgettable moment for those who witnessed it.
3. The Disco Yeti
Of course, you knew our list would need to include the (in)famous Yeti. We explored the full fiction and fact of this abominable Himalayan guardian in an epic standalone feature on the ride, Modern Marvels: Expedition Everest – a must-read for Disney World fans. The Audio-Animatronic Yeti hidden deep in the underbelly of the mountainous E-Ticket is of particular interest to Disney fans, because it’s a rare example of an effect left broken in plain sight.
It’s not just that the entire story of Everest revolves around the creature… The Yeti was a cornerstone of the E-Ticket thrill ride’s marketing campaign! The face-to-maw encounter with the Yeti was sold as the ride’s highlight; a technological marvel in and of itself; a bone-chilling interaction wherein the mechanical creature would swing out from its perch and swipe down toward passing vehicles in a harrowing near-miss. And before the ride’s first anniversary, it broke.
Famously, the Yeti only “worked” for a few months after the ride’s opening, at which point something mysterious happened that prevents its operation today. Disney has only said through its spokesperson that the figure’s “complex functions have presented some challenges affecting its operation,” and that designers “purposefully took measures … to reduce unnecessary stress … while we studied long-term solutions.” So far, the temporary solution has remained: fans blow on the creature while strobe lights flashe on it, giving the impression of movement while the creature sits, frozen, with its hand outstretched toward the roller coaster track (its “B-mode”).
About once a month, eagle-eyed fans race to Twitter or Internet message boards to announce “the Yeti is working!” It’s not. They’re just falling for the strobe light trick month after month, which is a good thing! It means that the simple effect really does give the impression of movement, and in the split second that the train passes by the figure, that’s enough. Anyway, the popular tale is that a cracked concrete foundation prevents its safe operation, and that foundation can’t be fixed without serious and multi-month work inside the ride that would close it for a long time… and given that Everest is one of very few major rides at Animal Kingdom, the extended closure of such a headliner is unlikely.
Video evidence: Would we like to see what the Yeti is really capable of? Sure. And in the video above, you can see the Yeti in his full A-mode thanks to a very rare demo reel. As well, we have this on-ride video from the Yeti’s short operational life. You’ll probably think just what we do: that it’s great, but it only lasts a second. We’re sure that no one is more disappointed than Imagineers that the Yeti is still broken a decade later. As it is, 99% of guests fall for the “Disco Yeti,” and the figure itself is still impressive in its scale.
2. Maleficent smolders
Attraction: Festival of Fantasy Parade
Location: Magic Kingdom
Disney Parks are renowned the world over for their elaborate parades, but Magic Kingdom’s Festival of Fantasy takes it to a new level. The parade’s seven main units are each spectacular, but no float earned the respect of fans quite like the 26-foot-tall, 35-foot-long centerpiece of the Sleeping Beauty portion of the parade: a steampunk-stylized, retro-mechanical Maleficent marching down Main Street. The bramble-throated Animatronic periodically raises its head and blasts flames from its mouth in a choreographed, show-stopping feature.
Video evidence: On May 11, 2018, something went wrong. During the parade’s normal run, the Maleficent figure caught fire, with its head melting into a grey, burned-out husk right in the middle of Liberty Square – made all the more frightening since Cast Members armed with extinguishers weren’t sure if the dragon would continue to blow fire as its neck lowered to street level from the damage. Insiders suggest that the compressed gas used to light the dragon’s flame-thrower effect inadvertantly pooled in the hollow horns atop the figure’s head, causing the surprising fire.
Following the accident, the similar dragon in Disneyland Paris’ Disney Stars on Parade was temporarily extinguished (until holes could be bored into its horns to prevent the same mistake). Back in Florida, a temporary princess float took Maleficent’s place.
It took nine months for the dragon to be reborn, but Maleficent eventually made her grand return at end of January 2019. Disney celebrated the return with a playful acknowledgement on the Disney Parks Blog, casting the dragon as the cover model on “Villains Weekly” magazine. Still, they only coyly hinted at the float’s fiery demise, mentioning ” the Maleficent dragon will be sporting a refreshed look, enhanced with new features designed to keep her in check while on show.”
1. Another burning dragon
Despite message boards keeping the nickname “Murphy” alive, the animatronic dragon in Disneyland’s Fantasmic performed pretty reliably after its 2010 collapse (see number 4 above). But something went significantly wrong at the 10:30 performance on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
Just as Mickey conjured up colorful fountains to douse the flaming Rivers of America, the dragon’s head caught on fire. The dragon continued through its motion profile as flames grew. What might’ve been a quick fix quickly got out of hand, as flaming pieces of its latex skin began to flutter down from the head, landing on the “wet” body and starting new fires all across the figure. The performance was swiftly canceled as Cast Members jumped into action to remove guests from the area. But by then, footage of the dragon’s demise had been shared far and wide.
No official cause has been released. In retrospect, the video evidence leads fans to speculate that the dragon was “wet” thanks to a leak of isopar – the flammable accelerant that’s usually sprayed from its mouth to “breathe fire.”
If that’s the case, then the ignition of the pilot light meant to power the dragon’s death plume may have prematurely caught the isopar on fire, and because the figure was covered in the leaked accelerant, it spread quickly – especially when a secondary explosion (at 1:15 in the video above) saw the rest of the body engulfed and the stage sprayed with the flaming liquid.
When guests arrived at the park the next morning, “Murphy” had been as lowered out of sight as possible… That at least signaled that the freight lift that raises and lowers the dragon was still somewhat operable. But the scorched mechanical figure with its skinned burned off was still visible to guests as crews worked to figure out what to do next. In a statement, Disney said:
“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…”
So far, that seems to only entail the Maleficent dragon in the Festival of Fantasy parade at Magic Kingdom (see number 2, above) which also uses the pressurized isopar ignition to “breathe fire”. (Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios uses an entirely different dragon design, and a red firework serves as its “fire breathing.”) Though Fantasmic was scheduled to return to Disneyland in “B Mode” (using projections to replace the animatronic dragon), there’s no telling when or if “Murphy” will return.
Animatronics oops
For over 50 years, Audio-Animatronics have been at the heart of what makes Disney Parks so different. But with increasing technological power comes a proportionate increase in what can go wrong… Gone are the days of simple electro-mechanical figures. Today’s Animatronics have about as many moving parts as a real human body; and just as many ways to malfunction. What’s more, camera-ready fans are on-hand to capture faltering figures and spread them across discussion boards and social media before the park even closes for the day.
If you’re fascinated with Audio-Animatronics like we are, be sure to check out our definitive Countdown: 25 Best Audio-Animatronics on Earth. And if you get a sense of schadenfreude watching Disney’s rare mistakes, make the jump to our list of 13 Abandoned, Broken, and Cancelled Special Effects. Then, share your memories of malfunctioning Animatronics in the comments below!