August 27, 2009

Pics and Pins of the Many Leotas

Madame Leota is a gypsy woman, fortune teller or psychic whose head is trapped inside a crystal ball from which she speaks enchantments and summons spirits to join the Haunted Mansion. Madame Leota is also one of only two characters to have an "offical" WDI name, the other is Pickwick, the "drunken"ghost on the chandlier in the Grand Hall.

This first piece of concept art is a Marc Davis design...Madame Leota's room is a seancé chamber, where floating objects including musical instruments and Leota's table. Madame Leota has a daughter, Little Leota, who can be seen at the end of the rides. Leota's unofficial backstory involves her being a lover of Master Gracey (and his money), killing both of his wives secretly. As Gracey discovered this truth, he fled as Leota tried to kill him, only to end up trapped in her crystal ball using magicThe blueprint of Madame Leota's head mechanism... Leota's table and lamp now held up by wires, to look like they are floating...New Madame Leota in WDW, with rear projection...On to the pins... Many of the Leota Pins have her hair big..As you exit the attraction, you leave the crypt and you encounter Little Leota, said to be Madame Leota's daughter.. She is voiced and has the same projected face as Madame Leota at the Seance Room, by Leota Toombs. Though many cast members and fans call her "Little Leota", her name given to her by Imagineering is Ghostess (combining Ghost and Hostess, similar to Ghost Host), because one of the original versions, that never made it, was a version of the attraction where Madame Leota was your Ghost Host.
Little Leota has become popular recently and been on many pins...

Pics and Inf0 from DoomBuggies.com and PinPics.com

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