Disney film star icon will be brought back to Lancashire as part of Morecambe's light and art festival

BaylightMorecambe 2025 is bringing back the iconic Moby Dick - but with a dazzling twist.

The boat - which starred in several films including Disney’s Treasure Island film and Elstree Pictures’ Moby Dick, was a beloved attraction off the resort’s coast until it was lost to fire in 1970. But now, it will be re-imagined when a lit-up ship floats on the Bay to celebrate Morecambe's proud maritime heritage.

The floating light display will play a central part in this year’s light art trail and community parade, which will take place on February 21 and February 22.

A spokesman for Baylight ‘25 said: “We’re incredibly grateful to Morecambe Town Council for supporting this awe-inspiring installation and helping us bring such an iconic legend back to life."

Colourful history of the Moby Dick

The Moby Dick was built in 1887 by Nicholson and Marsh of Glasson Dock. She was named the Ryelands. After several owners, she was bought in 1929 by Robert Gardner, a Lancaster ship-owner whose business was based on St George’s Quay.

An engine was added the same year. She was Gardner’s third largest ship with a registered tonnage of 123 net, carrying bulk cargoes such as grain, sand, stone and coal between west coast ports.

In 1942 the Ryelands was sold on and fitted out with another new engine. After passing through the hands of three more owners, she was bought by RKO/Walt Disney Productions to become the Hispaniola for the film of Treasure Island.

The black and white film of 1950 notably featured Robert Newton as Long John Silver, complete with catchphrase ‘Arr Jim Lad’ which became the standard for all pirates ever since. After a period as a tourist attraction in Scarborough, she was back in front of the cameras on the high seas in 1954 as the Pequod in Elstree Pictures’ Moby Dick.

Other appearances for Sapphire Films Ltd came in in 1955 as the Moulin and in 1956 as the Dilipa. Her final mooring adjoined the Super Swimming Stadium from the early 1960s onwards.

On the same day in June 1970 it was one of two Morecambe’s tourist attractions destroyed by fire: the ornate auditorium of the Alhambra was gutted and the sailing ship, the Moby Dick reduced to a charred wreck.