Expensive repair bills slay movie theatre’s fire-breathing dragon
Its fiery breath long chilled, the reign of the dragon at a West Edmonton Mall movie theatre is coming to an ignominious end.
But it’s a costly repair bill, not a hero’s lance, that has slain the winged lizard.
Cineplex Entertainment plans to remove the animatronic landmark from the ceiling overlooking the lobby of the Scotiabank Theatre by the end of the month because it’s too costly to maintain.
The 33.5-metre dragon has perched there since 1999 when the theatre complex, then named Silver City, was opened by movie chain Famous Players. Cineplex acquired its rival in 2005, inheriting the dragon.
When an ominous soundtrack started every hour on the hour, patrons knew they were in for a thrill, or if they were small children, a fright.
T he d ragon w r it hed menacingly and spewed a natural-gas powered five- metre tongue of flames and smoke hot enough to warm the cheeks of the audience below.
The dragon has not spat fire since October 2010.
“There have been regular maintenance issues since it was first installed,” said Michael Langdon, Cineplex director of communications, on Monday.
“It was maintained by a company out of the U.S. and with the animatronics, mechanics, hydraulics and the pyrotechnics involved ... it’s just become cost-prohibitive to maintain.”
Langdon acknowledged the dragon was a crowdpleaser.
“For us, it’s a difficult decision, obviously, but it’s just unfortunately become too cost-prohibitive.”
The removal comes during lobby renovations that will relocate the box office and concessions to improve service, Langdon said.
The theatre’s King Kong figure is also coming down, while Yoda is moving to another part of the lobby.
Batman is staying put. None of those figures featured animatronics.
There’s no immediate word on the dragon’s fate after it’s removed from the theatre.
The dragon is the latest West Edmonton Mall icon to vanish, following the removal of its bronze whale sculpture in 2010 and its four yellow submarines in 2012.