The River Creature is a monster which once appeared in Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris.
Appearance[]
Description[]
The River Creature appears to be a reptilian humanoid which is at least semi-aquatic. It has hands with opposable digits like a human albeit ending with claws, dark green scales, a head with what appears to be a crocodile-like muzzle, a crest made up of horns, and similar spikes protruding down its back.
Phantom Manor (1992-2018)[]
The Stretching Room portrait
The monster appeared in the Stretching Room, being seen when the portrait of Mélanie Ravenswood wading in a river or creek by the hillside which holds Ravenswood Manor. The portrait stretched to reveal that the monster is below the water's surface, reaching out at the unsuspecting Mélanie's ankle.
The portrait is implied to have been painted by Mélanie's late-father Henry Ravenswood and/or by his deranged spirit, the Phantom.
Identifications[]
The authenticity of the events depicted in the original Phantom Manor were always disputed but as the paintings were also replaced, their canonicity in general is equally unclear.
- Artistic reflection: It should be considered that this monster could have never literally existed within the world but instead merely reflect the Phantom's own malevolence towards Mélanie.
- Water monster: It is possible that the creature was an actual water-monster which inhabited Thunder Mesa like a cryptid.
- Demon: The creature could possibly be one of the demons or otherwise malicious spirits summoned by Madame Leota to inhabit Ravenswood Manor. As Leota's identity and role within Phantom Manor's backstory remains a mystery, it is difficult to elaborate on this.
Trivia[]
- The monster is likely inspired by the Gill-Man from the 1954 horror film, The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The titular monster there being an amphibious humanoid which is the lone survivor of a near-extinct prehistoric species of gill-men which once inhabited South America.
- The creature might be a sort of counterpart to the alligator which consumed Sally Slater in the mainstream Haunted Mansion's stretching room portraits. This can be inferred via the crocodilian appearance of the monster, the portrait being revealed to occur in water, Mélanie's hair resembling Sally's and her wearing a pink/white dress of a similar style.