Disneyland Park

Le Ch�teau de la Belle au Bois Dormant

Fifteen classic, golden Disney characters decorate the Castle with fifteen
candles.

There’s no need for a birthday cake, just cover
the Castle in candles! One by one, they’ve climbed the soaring turrets and
spires to hold their fifteen shining candles high into the sky!

From the cheeky grin of the Cheshire Cat to the
fumbling balancing act of Goofy, the Space Ranger blastoff of Buzz Lightyear
to the showmanship of Lumi�re, all the most famous Disney characters are
helping to create a spectacular display of fifteen golden statues for
fifteen glorious years of dreams!

Character Preview

Circling the highest spire of the castle, Tinkerbell casts a bright burst of pixie dust from her magic wand. Below
her, Dumbo and Timothy have reached the second spire with the flying
elephant’s very useful ears, whilst Pinocchio and Figaro must have used a
wish from the Blue Fairy to get them to the next turret!

With the Seven Dwarfs filling the whole of the
main balcony, Chip & Dale perch perilously on a tiny turret, holding their
candle as high as they can. Pluto is sitting obediently on the other side,
watching the trail of pixie dust left by Tinkerbell, whilst Goofy seems
drawn to trouble yet again – leaning over the side of the Castle trying to
balance his candle! Perhaps he should take tips from Jiminy Cricket on the
opposite side, with a faithful umbrella to let him safely float back down to
earth.

Proving without doubt that he “can!” fly, Buzz
Lightyear prepares to soar to infinity and beyond on a central turret. Further down, Lumi�re takes centre stage, invites
you to be their guest and lights up three bright candles, all on his own! 
Hewey, Dewey and Lewey don’t quite have the same showmanship, as they
clumsily fight to hold the candle. Hiding at the side of the castle, the
hypnotising stripes of the Cheshire Cat and his glowing candle don’t keep him
hidden for long!

Donald Duck and Daisy Duck occupy one of the
front turrets each, whilst the stars of the show and the golden royal
couple, Mickey & Minnie Mouse, help to put in place the giant “15” plaque
on the main window of the castle.

It’s a character celebration like nothing before
– 15 golden favourites for 15 years and all the magic of the elegant Ch�teau
itself. It’s a dream come true, it’s not to be missed and it’s only
happening during the year to live your dream, the 15th Anniversary!

History

Decorations for Le Ch�teau de la Belle au Bois Dormant were one of the least
expected features of the 15th Anniversary Celebration, certainly of this
size and quality.  They were first confirmed in June 2006 with the
release of marketing visuals showing the fifteen groups of characters on
their positions on the Castle, though it took some time before they were
confirmed as decorations that would eventually be realised in real-life.

The original designs for the character statues showed the Disney stars
holding plain, white, wax candles.  These were later altered in October
2006 to a more stylised design featuring gold candlestick holders.

Also with the update of October 2006, the character statue on the
third-highest spire of Winnie the Pooh holding a blue balloon was replaced
by Pinocchio and Figaro.

An article in French newspaper Le Parisien
about backstage preparations for the 15th Anniversary revealed the character
statues would infact be a realistic gold and bronze colour, rather than full
colour as the original rumours and marketing visuals suggested.  The
article can be seen

here.

Concept art

shown at the February 2007 Euro Disney SCA Annual General Meeting
revealed Buzz Lightyear to be the fifteenth character on the castle,
occupying a previously empty turret.  It had previously been assumed
Mickey and Minnie would be counted separately rather than as a couple.