ANAHEIM – An elephant flew above Disneyland, and it wasn’t even Disney’s own pachyderm superstar, Dumbo.

But it was an elephant, a mechanical one. And, on Wednesday, it was flying – a couple hundred feet over Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.

The audio-animatronic beast was being hauled back to her home along the banks of the Nile River in the park’s Jungle Cruise attraction.

The elephant is also known as the mother-in-law of the African Bull Elephant on the other side of the river, as the joke goes by the skippers on the classic opening day attraction.

The African elephant and a faux python and an equally unreal tree were all returned to the ride after suffering various mishaps.

In January, the elephant busted her neck. Meanwhile, Disneyland officials determined the python – which can wiggle its head – needed a new tree in which to squirm.

The elephant has been at Disneyland since the 1950s. The python and the tree went up in the 1980s.

“It’s kind of awesome to make an elephant fly,” said pilot Ken Krauss of El Cajon-based Blackhawk Helicopters.

But Krauss, who typically hauls equipment to the tops of buildings or buckets of water for fire fighting, does have some experience in elephant flight. He’s been called to haul Disneyland elephants on at least two previous occasions.

On Wednesday, he lowered the figures into their exact spots with the help of a ground crew and a two-way radio. When it was done, he had one comment.

“Whew.”

The Jungle Cruise is slated to reopen May 6.

Contact the writer: meades@ocregister.com