Why the Academy Museum is worth a visit: 10 must-see pieces

Clockwise from left: Shrek’s Oscar, Spike Lee’s movie memorabilia, The Shape Of Water’s Amphibian Man, North By Northwest’s Mt. Rushmore backdrop

Laura Dern can take off that hardhat, kick her feet up, and relax because construction is finally complete on the Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures, which is set to open its doors in Los Angeles to film fans around the globe on September 30.

An endeavor nearly a century in the making—the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences had plans for the museum dating back to 1929—the space is said to be the largest in North America “devoted to exploring films and film culture.” Indeed, the Academy Museum is massive; designed by world-renowned architect Renzo Piano, the 300,000-square-foot campus is composed of two main buildings, including a spherical theater and rooftop terrace (Piano has jokingly asked that the public not dub it “The Death Star”). The other, seven-story structure houses galleries and rotating exhibits that encompasses the earliest days of movies through to modern-day cinema, with immersive tributes to filmmakers, actors and artists who’ve had an impact on the industry, and the Oscars themselves.

With an invite to a press preview day, The A.V. Club decided to check out the Academy Museum for ourselves, and what we encountered was a robust and thoughtfully curated ode to movie magic filled with props, costumes, film gadgetry, and more—like a much fancier Planet Hollywood, minus the soggy french fries.

For prospective museum-goers and others curious about what the Academy’s been cooking up, we’ve created a guide to 10 of the most notable pieces on display in its inaugural galleries. The museum has plans to cycle in new exhibits regularly, so some—like the tribute to Hayao Miyazaki—are only on display for a limited time. The good news is, that leaves things wide open for plenty of exciting features in the future (including—we hope—an ode to Marisa Tomei’s 1992 “Best Supporting Actress” win for My Cousin Vinny).

For museum general admission ticketing, you can find more information on the Academy Museum website here. A note that, for the time being, ticket reservations are required, but the facility plans to open itself up to walk-up admission in the future. Tickets are $25 for adults, $19 for seniors, $15 for students, and free for people age 17 and younger. A calendar of additional screenings, events, and programming information can be found here.

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The ruby slippers from The Wizard Of Oz

There’s no place like home* (*The Academy Museum)

When it comes to movie props, you really don’t get more iconic than Dorothy’s sequined red slippers from The Wizard Of Oz. They’re the centerpiece of The Art Of Moviemaking gallery, which shines a spotlight on the production of MGM’s unimpeachable classic. Though four pairs of the original footwear still exist, they’re believed to be some of the most valuable pieces of film memorabilia in the world—one of the pairs was even stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005, only to be recovered 13 years later. The Academy paid an undisclosed amount to procure a pair of its own. Here’s a freebie for prospective screenwriters out there: a heist movie set at the movie museum, with the ruby shoes as the big score.

A wider look at the Wizard Of Oz tribute in The Art Of Moviemaking gallery

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Two unforgettable costume gowns

Two queen stand before me: Original costumes from The Wiz (left) and Midsommar (right)

Follow the yellow brick road just a bit farther into the museum, and you’ll come across an eye-catching selection of original costumes, including the dress worn by Mabel Smith in Sidney Lumet’s The Wiz. The gallery allows you to take in the details and baroque whimsy of the garment the helped earn Tony Walton a Best Costume Design Oscar nomination in 1979. Its intricacies are perhaps only rivaled by its exhibit neighbor: Midsommar’s May Queen dress, an instantly recognizable look created with 10,000 silk flowers by designer Andrea Flesch. Sure, there are other costumes to ogle (Taron Egerton’s winged Rocketman get-up and The Dude’s trusty bathrobe among them), but these two really are the belles of the ball.

Another look at the looks on display in the Identity gallery

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Shrek’s Oscar

Museums are like onions, and at this one’s core is a circular gallery housing a handful of Oscar statues—including Shrek’s. The award is notable because Shrek was the first-ever ogre to win an Academy Award, and because Shrek was the first recipient of Best Animated Feature once the ceremony added the category to its roster for the 2001 season. Whether you love, hate, or ironically love Dreamworks’ “fractured fairytale,” its inclusion here serves as a reminder that Shrek is, indeed, a part of cinematic history. The big green guy’s well-represented elsewhere in the building, too, with original sketches and models housed in the Animation gallery.

Early Shrek 3D models, Shrek’s Oscar, and a sketch of Fiona in her true form

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All of Pedro Almodóvar’s films—at once

As one might imagine in a building dedicated to the history of cinema, you can spend an awful lot of time sitting in front of screens. Your mileage may vary. But one area where this really works in the Academy Museum’s favor is an installation dedicated to Spain’s arthouse impresario, Pedro Almodóvar. Tracing a 40-plus-year career with over 20 feature films, the exhibit displays the filmmaker’s work on multiple big screens simultaneously. To stroll among them is to be overwhelmed by melodrama, bright colors, and gorgeous women (as well as a gorgeous Antonio Banderas through the years); in other words, it’s a lot like the butterfly-in-your-stomach feeling of experiencing an Almodóvar film for the first time.

A peek at the bright colors of Almodóvar’s installation in the Rolex gallery

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The hunky man-fish from The Shape Of Water

BYOBE (bring your own boiled eggs) to party with The Shape Of Water’s Amphibian Man

I’m not sure how you can call it a “museum for the whole family” with such overtly erotic art on display, but there’s The Shape Of Water’s Amphibian Man, just oozing sex appeal out in the open for all eyes to see. Guillermo del Toro’s tantalizing monster is smack-dab in the middle of an enthralling gallery called Encounters, which lets visitors get up close to costumes, replicas, and famous creatures from sci-fi and fantasy cinema like The Dark Crystal, E.T., and Black Panther. But good luck paying attention to anything else with this drool-worthy slab of fish hanging around. Sally Hawkins made some points.

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Spike Lee’s lively personal collection

Spike Lee’s tribute to Kobe Bryant from the 2020 Oscars is among the items on display in the Director’s Inspiration gallery

For those who see museum galleries as just a bit too stuffy and museum-like, this bright, bold, and (intentionally) cluttered tribute to Spike Lee should be a nice change of pace. The inaugural Director’s Inspiration exhibit is filled with mementos provided by the filmmaker himself, so visiting the space feels almost like walking into his home studio of collectibles: There’s a custom gold guitar from frequent collaborator Prince, Mookie’s Sal’s Pizzeria shirt from Do The Right Thing, and posters strewn about the wall—many of which are signed gifts from pals like Steven Spielberg and Michael Jordan. Eclectic and engrossing, the exhibit captures the essence of a proper Spike Lee Joint.

Spike Lee’s personal collection of signed movie posters

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The entire Hayao Miyazaki exhibit

A luminous Mother Tree is one of the centerpieces of the Miyazaki exhibit

Take a break from art-gazing to stare up at the clouds, Studio Ghibli-style

If you work your way up through the galleries of the Academy Museum to the fourth floor, the final major exhibit you’ll see is a retrospective dedicated to Studio Ghibli and the works of Hayao Miyazaki—it really does feel like saving the best for last. Step through a green, mossy tunnel and you’re transported to Miyazaki’s world: a collection of original storyboards, character designs, background art, and more from the legendary filmmaker’s six-decade career.

As heavily touted by the museum, this is the first time many of these pieces have been made available to the public outside of Japan, and, given its temporary run (the exhibit is open through June 5, 2022), it’s not to be missed. There’s even a number of immersive pieces to bring visitors further into the Ghibli-verse, like a luminous tree surrounded by the spirits seen in Princess Mononoke and a grassy patch where you’re encouraged to lie and daydream while gazing at animated clouds. One can imagine those new to the wonders of Miyazaki will be rushing home to watch his films after seeing this exhibit.

The green tree tunnel welcomes visitors into a tribute to Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli

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The 3D Toy Story zoetrope

Tucked into its own small gallery next to the massive Miyazaki collection is a nifty little display connecting modern animation to its earliest iteration with a little help from the Toy Story gang. For the unfamiliar, a zoetrope is a unique device created to showcase pre-film animation, an illusion of light and motion not unlike the effects of a flip-book. What Pixar has done is create a “3D zoetrope” with more than 200 figures, strobing lights, and a rapidly spinning table that appears to bring Buzz, Woody, and company to life in front of you. The above static image will have to do because an iPhone video can’t capture the motion in the same way as the naked eye—it really is a piece of art you’ll need to experience firsthand.

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North By Northwest’s two-story Mt. Rushmore backdrop

A painting of a sculpture of four dead guys (as seen in North By Northwest)

If you come to the Academy Museum hoping to feel like a mere ant in the towering shadow of film history, well, the exhibit Backdrop: An Invisible Art can make that dream a reality. Inside is the massive Mt. Rushmore painting from Hitchcock’s North By Northwest, seen in the background of the beloved thriller when Eva Marie Saint’s Eve appears to shoot Cary Grant’s Roger Thornhill. At 34-feet tall, the preserved backdrop can be viewed from two different stories—from the ground up, or at eye level with the stone-faced presidents—providing a sense of the hard work and handicraft it took to create movie magic before our modern era of green-screen dominance.

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The view from the Dolby Family Terrace

The museum’s terrace provides one of the better panoramic views of La La Land

Okay, so this is a bit of a cheat, but one of the Academy Museum’s most unmissable sights is actually on top of it: the view from the Dolby Family Terrace. If you watched the 2021 Oscars ceremony, you might remember it as the venue where H.E.R., Leslie Odom Jr., and others performed their nominated original songs. In person, it offers a pretty stunning panorama of Los Angeles’ sprawl, from the Pacific Ocean to the Hollywood sign, smog and all. For now it’s just a viewing deck, but the museum plans to host dinners, cocktail parties, and other special events there. It’s worth noting you can access the terrace via a chic glass bridge named in honor of EGOT winner Barbra Streisand—hello, gorgeous!

Hello, gorgeous! It’s the Barbra Streisand Bridge!

The 10 best things we saw at the Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures

The 10 best things we saw at the Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures

Los Angeles' Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures, which opens its doors September 30, is the new home to some iconic pieces of movie history

The ruby slippers from The Wizard Of Oz

The ruby slippers from The Wizard Of Oz

Two unforgettable costume gowns

Two unforgettable costume gowns

Shrek’s Oscar

Shrek’s Oscar

All of Pedro Almodóvar’s films—at once

All of Pedro Almodóvar’s films—at once

The hunky man-fish from The Shape Of Water

The hunky man-fish from The Shape Of Water

Spike Lee’s lively personal collection

Spike Lee’s lively personal collection

The entire Hayao Miyazaki exhibit

The entire Hayao Miyazaki exhibit

The 3D Toy Story zoetrope

The 3D Toy Story zoetrope

North By Northwest’s two-story Mt. Rushmore backdrop

North By Northwest’s two-story Mt. Rushmore backdrop

The view from the Dolby Family Terrace

The view from the Dolby Family Terrace