Last Weekend’s Fantasmic! Fire Is Not the First Technical Issue for Murphy the Dragon
A fire broke out during Disneyland’s popular nighttime show ‘Fantasmic!’ when the dragon, inspired by Maleficentm caught fire. As of going to print, performances of Fantasmic! at Disneyland are now halted until next week at the earliest and Disney issued a statement saying they are suspending similar effects in their shows to err on the side of caution. Yesterday, the OC Register ran a piece exploring the interesting history of Fantasmic’s dragon which Disneyland fans lovingly refer to as Murphy.
Let’s look a little bit more closely at the ups and downs of this flame-throwing Fantasmic! prop.
The Fantasmic! dragon is 45 feet tall and previously appeared in Disneyland’s Summer Nightastic promotion. However, it famously did not appear in the show throughout the Summer of 2009 due to mechanical issues only being added to the performance after Summer was almost over and kids had returned to school.
I was curious as to where the nickname given to the dragon “Murphy” came from and according to the OC Register, it is a play on “Murphy’s Law.” For those unfamiliar “Murphy’s Law” is the adage that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. If this past weekend is any indication Murphy is definitely living up to it’s name.
The 18,000-pound dragon has been used in performances of Fantasmic! since 2009 but would break down during a show in the Summer of 2010. At this time, the dragon toppled during the middle of a performance causing a lengthy hiatus. During this period, Disneyland apparently even replaced the fire-breathing mechanical character with a live actor! The dragon would not return to Disneyland until the end of 2010.
Photo: Disney
It is incredible to think that Fantasmic! has been at the theme parks for nearly four decades. Therefore it’s not surprising that Murphy has had her fair share of technical issues over the years. Fantasmic! closed at Disneyland during the pandemic and did not reopen until Spring 2022. Though Murphy has occasionally gone on hiatus, new technology has also meant that during those performances where the dragon is not behaving, Disney can use a projection version.
As of going to print, Fantasmic! performances are canceled through May 5, 2023. Due to the extent of the fire, which saw the dragon reduced down to its steel frame, there is always the possibility that the show may remain closed for longer. This is a story that we will continue to follow closely. Readers are encouraged to keep checking back with us for further news and updates.
We leave you with a tweet of Saturday night’s blaze:
Fantastic Fantasmic fail – wow! #fantasmic #disneyland pic.twitter.com/MZhNJhEXrB
— JessicaT (@Ms_JessicaT) April 23, 2023
You can check out the original piece about Murphy on the OC Register here.
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