Madame Leota is an iconic character in the Haunted Mansion. She is portrayed physically by Leota Toombs and voiced by Eleanor Audley in the attraction. She is portrayed by Jennifer Tilly in the film. Depicted as a beautiful female spirit trapped in a crystal ball. Madame Leota is a psychic and medium to the spirits. She resides in the seance room.
In the attraction[]
"Wrap on a table, its time to respond. Send us a message, from somewhere beyond!"
Madame Leota resides in the Seance Room in the mansion. She is in her crystal ball seated on a table that is rising. As she invokes incantations the objects in the room float. On the chair in the seance room is the raven. As part of the new special effects tricks on the attraction Madame Leota can now levitate.
Madame Leota can also be seen in the graveyard outside the attraction. Her tombstone features a relief of her face, and the eyes of the all-seeing Madame Leota open and stare at guests before they enter the Mansion!
Memento Mori[]
In 2014, Madame Leota's former residence became Memento Mori in Liberty Square at Magic Kingdom Park in Walt Disney World, a gift shop featuring exclusively Haunted Mansion merchandise. It is rumored that this little shop was formerly the home of Madame Leota. While she disappeared long ago, many of her belongings remain in the shop. There is a beautiful portrait of Madame Leota, holding a skull and pointing to Tarot cards. On the table also rests a candelabra, a spell book and her crystal ball. It is unknown how Madame Leota became imprisoned in her crystal ball and became a resident of the Haunted Mansion. Cast Members in the shop wear a brooch with Madame Leota's likeness on it, and there is a mirror in the shop that flickers with Madame Leota's visage, as though she's checking in on her home. Some of her potions around the old shelves in the shop may light up from time to time with residual magic.
In the film[]
Madame Leota as seen in the film played by Jennifer Tilly with Eddy Murphy as Jim Evers
Her role in the film is to help break the mansion's curse. Leota misses with Jim mind to get him to help break the curse so the spirits of the mansion can go on to there greater reward. She helps give the Jim and his children clues into breaking the curse and solving the mystery of how Elizabeth died. Later in the film Madame Leota helps Jim in rescuing his children and wife. Towards the film's conclusion she resides in the mortal world along with the singing busts and goes with the Evers family on their vacation to the lake.
In the video game[]
Madame Leota as seen in the 2003 video game
In the 2003 video game, Madame Leota is an important character into helping to free the mansion's spirits. In this version of the Haunted Mansion she helps guide a young man named Zeke Holloway into defeating Atticus Thorn. In her mortal life she was tricked into joining Thorn's evil organization but managed to escape thanks to being rescued by monks. From that day forth she vowed to only use her medium powers for good. It was thorn who had imprisoned her inside the crystal ball. In the end Leota helps Zeke in destroying the malevolent Atticus Thorn permanently.