This gruesome beast outside of the Be Our Guest restaurant in Fantasyland resembles the famous statue overlooking Paris on the south tower of Notre-Dame Cathedral. Artist Charles Meryon named it Le Stryge or The Vampire. At the Magic Kingdom, this facsimile guards the Beast’s enchanted castle with the Cinderella Castle in the background. This type of evil-looking sculpture is called a grotesque. Similar mythical creatures placed along the roofline of churches are gargoyles designed as drain spouts for rain water. Both were intended to strike fear into the hearts of uneducated, medieval peasants and to protect against evil or harmful spirits.
