Disney received a patent today for a new take on one of the oldest tricks in theme parks: fabric flames that flicker in a stream of air. The new design swaps the familiar silk-and-LED setup for a powerful fan, a nearly see-through synthetic fabric, and video projection. One drawing shows a face rising out of the fire, and it looks a lot like the Magic Mirror. That is a familiar face, with a Magic Mirror dark ride on the way to Villains Land.
Disney Fake Flame Effect Patent Shows Magic Mirror Effect Perfect for Villains Land
IN THIS ARTICLE:
- How the new fan and fabric system creates projected flames
- Where Disney says the effect can be used, from parade floats to costumes
- How one drawing points to the Magic Mirror ride coming to Villains Land
Fabric flames have flickered in theme parks for decades, usually as a strip of silk blown upward by a fan and lit from below. The burning town scene from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction is famously great at leveraging this effect. Disney’s new patent keeps that basic idea and rebuilds nearly every piece of it. The result is a flame that can stretch higher, move on cue, and change its look without anyone touching it.
Disney filed the “Fan Effect System” patent on July 8th, 2025. The patent was revealed today. In the filing, Disney explains that attractions and events often call for fire and smoke effects. Real fire, though, brings safety and cost concerns and is hard to control. Silk flames lit by LEDs have their own limitations. The filing states that this approach “may result in an unrealistic appearance of the effect.”
The patent lists four inventors, all based in Central Florida: Daniel Joseph, Jessica Klouda, Jason Monahan, and Miles Maline. Joseph leads illusion and effects development at Walt Disney Imagineering, and he was the Imagineer behind the Hatbox Ghost’s return to the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. In 2023, he joined the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame.
How the Fabric Flames Work
At the heart of the system is a brushless fan that can spin between 10,000 and 100,000 revolutions per minute. It pushes air at up to 60 meters per second, or about 134 miles per hour. Between the fan and the nozzle, seven stationary fin blades split the blast into smaller channels, smoothing it into an even, predictable stream. The nozzle then sends that air down both sides of the fabric, which attaches at the center of the opening.
Disney also trades natural silk for a synthetic polyester weighing just 3 to 6 grams per square meter. According to the filing, silk frays after long hours in front of a fan, while the synthetic fabric holds up better and can have its edges heat-sealed. Paired with the stronger fan, the lighter fabric can stretch up to nine feet and fly at nearly any angle, even sideways.
Because the fabric is nearly transparent, it doubles as a projection screen. The filing describes projecting video of fire onto the moving fabric, shining fixed images on it with a GOBO projector, or lighting it with lasers. A control unit adjusts the fan speed so the fabric moves in programmed patterns, matching the motion to the video. The projected video can even change while the fan keeps blowing, giving the fire a new color or style mid-show.
When the effect ends, the fabric doesn’t have to hang around limp. Disney describes letting it drop into a hidden container or rolling it up on a motorized roller that unspools it again when the fan switches back on.
Flames, Floats, and a Face in the Fire
The patent names a wide range of places the effect could live, including statues, props, robots, animatronic figures, parade floats, and character costumes. One version replaces the fan with compressed air fed through a tube. The filing notes that this setup could fit entirely inside an entertainer’s costume.
Drawings in the patent show how flexible the idea is. One pair shows a performer holding the device level, then tilting it to a 45-degree angle. A handheld laser lights the fabric for what Disney describes as a sword effect. Another drawing shows four fans side by side holding up one tall sheet, where projected flames give way to a face rising out of the fire. Disney also lists ghostly characters, smoke, and laser effects among the looks the system can create.
This is the latest Disney filing built around projecting onto surfaces that move. In August, we covered a patent that turns smoke into a projection screen, which uses cameras to follow drifting smoke and fog. The fan patent also points to a separate Disney application, filed in February 2025, about projecting onto moving fabric.
A Magic Mirror Connection to Villains Land
Nowhere does the patent name a park, attraction, or character. In the text, Disney only describes the face in that four-fan drawing as a character appearing from the flames. Look closely, though, and that face looks a lot like the Magic Mirror. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the mirror’s face appears through flames and smoke when the Evil Queen summons it.
That matters because a Magic Mirror dark ride is headed to Magic Kingdom. At D23 in August, Disney revealed that Villains Land will include a Maleficent roller coaster and a Magic Mirror dark ride. Guests will enter through the catacombs beneath the Evil Queen’s palace. From there, they travel into the Mirror Realm, surrounded by villains the mirror conjures up. Disney says the ride will mix practical set pieces with special effects. A projected flame that reveals the mirror’s face would fit right in.
The timing lines up too. Disney filed the patent in July 2025, almost a year after announcing the land. Every inventor on it is also based near Walt Disney World. Projected fire can also turn green as easily as orange, which would suit Maleficent’s coaster just as well.
That said, the filing still gives just as much attention to parade floats, costumes, and handheld props as it does to attractions. Disney hasn’t tied this patent to any project, and Villains Land is years away, with infrastructure work targeted for completion by 2028. Even so, the Magic Mirror rising from projected flames is almost certainly something that Disney would include in a theme park attraction themed to the floating face.
Keep Reading
- Disney’s patent that turns smoke into a projection screen pairs nicely with this one, showing how fireworks residue and fog could become part of the show.
- Get caught up on the Maleficent coaster and Magic Mirror dark ride confirmed for Villains Land, along with the Wishing Well story that ties the land together.
- A different Disney filing describes a never-before-seen effect that may be coming to the new Indiana Jones ride, with a projection surface that appears and vanishes from sight.
- Our Villains Land at Magic Kingdom guide collects every permit, aerial photo, and announcement for the land in one place.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!