Mirapolis was a theme park which was opened in 1987 in Courdimanche, in the city of Cergy-Pontoise. It was one of the first French theme parks, and its themes were the tales and the great novels of France. The park was dominated by a huge statue of Gargantua, inside which an attraction, a dark ride, was installed. The first year, the bad weather was an handicap for outdoor events and people took refuge in the "Grand Théatre". Also, tens of thousands of people have seen a children's musical: Partir à point written words and music by René-Louis Baron. It was a comic mixture of works of La Fontaine, a staging of giant puppets created by Yves Brunier (creator of the giant puppet "Casimir"). Carlos was the park's celebrity spokesman. The park was closed in 1991 because it never turned any profit. On 1st September 1995, the head of Gargantua was dynamited.