A Newport Beach company, Candella LLC, has bought worldwide rights to develop and sell the illusory flickering candles originally developed for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. Check it out:

President Peter Smith promises that these rechargeable, false-flame candles will be on the market by May under the name Dream Candles. The price will be comparable to real candles but last longer.

You just knew the Haunted Mansion candles couldn’t be real. Forget the hazard of open flames in such a setting, Even Disney couldn’t afford the huge cost to continually replace real candles.

So Disney Imagineer Gary Schnuckle created these LED candles specifically for the Haunted Mansion. But the false flame’s random movement and other details that make it realistic is more difficult than you’d think, which is why the flame illusion has numerous patents.

Candella is a tiny startup, but Disney will do the heavy lifting to protect the patents as Dream Candles are sold to hotels, restaurants and homes worldwide.

That patent protection is a big deal because $4 billion in candles are sold every year. Increasingly open flames are being restricted if not banned, Smith says adding that 95% of college dormitories ban open flame candles.

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The Dream Candles were a big hit at the recent Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. In fact so many interested buyers are contacting Candella that the startup, which has just a handful of private investors, is having to choose its opportunities carefully.

Will the Candella guys pick the restaurant market or that Cirque de Soleil proposal? And what’s the large retail chain ready to write a check for its first order?