Madame Leota is a ghostly character from the Haunted Mansion franchise.
Personality
Madame Leota is generally surrounded by mystery. Her motives tend to be vague, though a lot of interpretations tend to lean towards her being good or at least a neutral force. She generally favors speaking in rhyme as her incantations seem to be based around it.
Disney Park appearances
Attractions
The Haunted Mansion (Disneyland & Walt Disney World)
Madame Leota appears in the Seance Room. She conducts an otherworldly séance in an attempt to summon spirits and assist them in materializing. Using a spell book she repeats the following incantation over and over:
- “Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat; call in the spirits, wherever they're at. Rap on a table; it's time to respond. Send us a message from somewhere beyond. Goblins and ghoulies from last Halloween: awaken the spirits with your tambourine. Creepies and crawlies, toads in a pond; let there be music, from regions beyond! Wizards and witches, wherever you dwell, give us a hint, by ringing a bell!”
- ―Madame Leota's incantation
Musical instruments make noise, furniture levitates and one by one ghosts start to physically materialize. When guests enter the Ballroom all of the ghosts in the mansion are finally revealed.
In 2002 Madame Leota got a tombstone in the cemetery outside The Haunted Mansion in Walt Disney World. Her epitaph reads: "Dear sweet Leota, beloved by all. In regions beyond now, but having a ball." Madame Leota's face appears on the front of the tombstone and it periodically shifts and opens its eyes.
Haunted Mansion Holiday (Disneyland)
Madame Leota recites her own take on a Christmas classic with her "Thirteen Days of Christmas" incantations. Her seance room is filled with tarot cards featuring numerous characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas and in recent years, her crystal ball takes on the appearance of a floating ornament.
Phantom Manor (Disneyland Paris)
Madame Leota's part in the attraction is similar to her role in the classic Haunted Mansions, but her incantation is more focused on inviting the spirits to Melanie Ravenswood's wedding party.
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Madame Leota makes a cameo in Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. She appears on G2-9T's luggage scanner in the queue, alongside several other Disney and Star Wars characters, apparently being smuggled onto a flight by a Star Tours passenger.
Shops
Memento Mori (Walt Disney World)
Madame Leota's portrait in Memento Mori at Walt Disney World.
Memento Mori is Madame Leota's former abode and she stops by for a visit from time to time. Many of her belongings can be found in the shop. When Madame Leota is present guests can hear her humming a tune or they can catch a glimpse of her face in a mirror.
In other media
The Haunted Mansion movie
Madame Leota appears saying her famous text while making Jim Evers (played by Eddie Murphy) fly in a chair. She helps the family giving various tips, and later goes with them to the lake.
Epic Mickey
Under the name Madame Leona, the character appears in Lonesome Manor's Library. She is upset at one of The Lonesome Ghosts for not returning a book of hers. Mickey can assist the ghost when visiting Bog Easy by getting the book for him before heading off to the Manor.
Kinect Disneyland Adventures
Leota appears in the Haunted Mansion mini-game, taking on a more sinister-looking appearance and playing a more antagonistic role.
The Haunted Mansion video game
Madame Leota helps the main character, Zeke Holloway, on his mission to save the mansion from the darkness that has fallen over it. She is one of the few ghosts who rebelled against the antagonist, Atticus Thorn, and in turn he imprisoned her in her crystal ball. In the opening sequence of the game she gives Zeke the Beacon of Souls, his only weapon against evil spirits. She then travels with him through the mansion while giving him (and the player) advice and helpful hints. At the end of the game she stays behind in the mansion with the other friendly ghosts and guides Zeke in pursuing his dream of being a writer.
The Haunted Mansion comics
In the Slave Labor Graphics Haunted Mansion comic book, Madame Leota is unaware that she has died. She first came to the house as a mortal, that fell in love with William Gracey, who had hired her for assistance with the ghosts that haunted his new home. Her advances shot down as Gracey was in love with another, Leota set a plan in motion to call more spirits in to spite Gracey, including the captain that Gracey murdered when starting his pirate career. Furthermore, a curse was placed onto the house that a terrible thing would happen when the Mansion was occupied by a thousand ghosts. In the middle of her incantations to bring more spirits in, Gracey killed her by snapping her neck, having already discovered her hand in the death of his bride. Leota's spirit would inhabit her crystal ball, unaware of what had happened. Gracey then proceeded to hang himself in the stretching room. With Leota continuing her seance as a ghost, it amplified the effect, calling spirits from around the globe.
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