Dragon

History[]

Background[]

The dragon lives in a hidden lair located below the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Fantasyland. In the attraction, the dragon would occasionally wake up and roar, implying that it was not fond of having guests visit its lair. Its official backstory suggests that it was found in an egg by Merlin and kept under his magic shop for safekeeping to prevent the dragon from causing havoc across town.

Development history[]

The dragon seen in Disneyland Paris is actually a reproduction for the defunct Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour at Tokyo Disneyland. A third partial copy of the dragon figure was planned for the Discovery River Boats attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom, but was cancelled due to budget cuts. The dragon was initially going to be a static figure, but Terri Hardin persuaded her supervisor Tony Baxter that it could be an Audio-Animatronic that would be in continuous motion. Additionally, it was going to be fenced in by the skeleton of another dragon with a sword in its chest and, later, a chain with the links looking like helmets and shields, but neither idea was used.

The dragon was the largest Animatronic figure ever built when the park opened in April 12, 1992. When the park first opened, the dragon would breathe fire when it woke up. However, this feature was shut off, because if the animatronic failed and the dragon did not raise its head upon waking up, its 'breath' would be aimed directly toward guests. This was done as a safety precaution for the park's guests in case the dragon's animatronic malfunctioned.

Appearances[]

La Tanière du Dragon[]

Located in a hidden dungeon beneath the Sleeping Beauty Castle lies a hidden lair where the dragon lives. In every second, the dragon would be seen resting and then waking up where it raises its head to emit a loud roar towards guests and then rest again. Additionally, its animatronic wings also move to give the dragon expression. Also below the dragon is a moat which surrounds it and seen on its neck is a leash which prevents the dragon from escaping its lair.

In addition to having the dragon housed in a hidden lair at the attraction itself, dragon-themed lampholders are also displayed in the attraction to give the attraction a dragon theme.

Trivia[]

• Although often thought to be Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty in her dragon form, the dragon barely resembles her at all and is referred to as a male on official park material.
• Tony Baxter has described the dragon as a hybrid of Maleficent's dragon form and Taro from the Ray Harryhausen film The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. ^[1]
• The attraction was featured in the discontinued game Virtual Magic Kingdom, with a dragon that looked closer to Maleficent's dragon form that gave players in-game currency daily.

References[]