WAMG Gets Sneak Peek At Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures

By Melissa Thompson | October 3, 2021

On Tuesday, September 22, WAMG attended the official preview of the much-anticipated Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which opened to the public on September 30th.

The seven-story, 300,000 square foot museum, which draws on the unique resources of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is located in the heart of LA’s Miracle Mile, will open with some pretty amazing exhibits that movie fans and movie-making buffs alike will be excited to see. Everything from famous and well-known movie props and costumes to giant monitors and video walls showing not only the history of moviemaking, but also many behind-the-scenes clips with well-known filmmakers and actors. Entering the museum almost feels like a theme-park, where you know there is so much to see, but you don’t know what to do first!

The day began with a presentation in the museum’s gorgeous 1000-seat David Geffen Theater. Speakers included the architect of the museum, Renzo Piano (who hilariously quipped to the media in attendance, “Please don’t call it the Death Star”), Jacqueline Stewart, Chief Artistic and Programming Officer, and actor Tom Hanks, Academy Museum Trustee. The theater will show movies to the public and already has an impressive schedule of films they will be showing, beginning with a special presentation of The Wizard of Oz, with a live orchestra.

Moving around the museum’s various levels, catwalks and exhibits there seems to be a delightful surprise around every corner. There is a gallery dedicated to the Academy Awards History that has many Oscar statues on display, as well as showing video of famous “Oscar moments,” costumes and sets. There is even an interactive experience where museum-goers can feel what it’s like to walk on stage and receive and Oscar, complete with a cheering audience, and a video to keep as a souvenir.

Other exhibits include famous movie memorabilia such as Dorothy’s iconic ruby slippers and the Tin Man’s oil can from the Wizard of Oz, as well as personal collections in the Director’s Inspiration gallery. In another gallery, guests can view the actual “Rosebud” sled from Citizen Kane.

One of my favorite exhibits was the Inventing Worlds & Characters exhibit which spans three galleries: Animation, Effects and Encounters. The animation gallery celebrates the accomplishments of the artists behind some of the world’s most beloved animated movies. There is also the museum’s inaugural temporary exhibit, Hayao Miyazaki, which is the first museum retrospective in North America dedicated to the acclaimed artist and his work (you haven’t lived if you haven’t seen Spirited Away, seriously).

The Encounters gallery was also very cool, and easily the most popular exhibit in the museum – who doesn’t want to see R2D2 and C3PO?? There are original set pieces and costumes that bring the worlds of sci-fi, fantasy and horror to life right before your eyes, including Edward Scissorhands and E.T. the Extra Terrestrial.

When it comes to cool things to see and do in LA, for locals and tourists alike, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures should definitely be on the list. It makes for a great day of wandering around tons of galleries and exhibits that you won’t get to see anywhere else. In the closing remarks of his speech, Tom Hanks said it best – “Do we really need a movie museum? Yeah! Because we need to celebrate everything that this town has brought to the world and everything this artform has brought to the world.”

Opening festivities will conclude on Sunday, October 17, when the Academy Museum will host a day-long free community celebration, from 10 am–6 pm.

Tickets to the Academy Museum are available only through advance online reservations via the Academy Museum’s website and mobile app.  General admission tickets for the Museum’s exhibitions are $25 for adults, $19 for seniors (age 62+), and $15 for students. Admission for visitors ages 17 and younger and California residents with an EBT card is free. Advance timed entrance for the The Oscars^® Experience is available to general admission visitors via a separate $15 ticket. A general admission ticket is required to access The Oscars® Experience.

The Academy Museum’s inaugural public programs and film screening series will also be available for registration via the app. Tickets for film screenings and public programs are sold separately and do not require general admission to the museum. Tickets will be available only through advance online reservations via the Academy Museum’s website. Film screening tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors (age 62+), $5 for college students, $5 for children (age 17 and younger), and $8 for Museum Members. Public and education program tickets range from free with admission to $20 for adults.

The seven-story, 300,000-square-foot museum, which draws on the unique resources of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is located in the heart of LA’s Miracle Mile, will open with:

• the 30,000-square-foot core exhibition Stories of Cinema, offering celebratory, critical, and personal perspectives on the disciplines and impact of moviemaking, past and present
• the temporary exhibition Hayao Miyazaki, the first museum retrospective in North America of the work of the acclaimed filmmaker and Studio Ghibli
• The Path to Cinema: Highlights from the Richard Balzer Collection, with selections from the world’s foremost holdings of pre-cinematic optical toys and devices
• Backdrop: An Invisible Art, a double-height installation that presents the painting of Mount Rushmore used in North by Northwest (USA, 1959)
• and The Oscars^® Experience, an immersive simulation that lets visitors imaginatively step onto the stage of the Dolby Theatre to accept an Academy Award^®.

The museum’s roster of screenings—including Oscar^® Sundays and Family Matinees—will be presented in its new 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater and the 288-seat Ted Mann Theater beginning on September 30 with a special presentation of The Wizard of Oz (USA, 1939) with live musical accompaniment by the American Youth Symphony conducted by Oscar nominee David Newman in the larger theater. Highlights of the first three months of film screenings, discussions, and programs include:

• Stories of Cinema: screenings of films highlighted in the core exhibition, including Real Women Have Curves (USA, 2002) and The Way of the Dragon (Hong Kong, 1972)
• Malcolm X in 70mm: a screening for Academy Museum Members with special guests Spike Lee and Denzel Washington
• Oscar^® Frights: screenings of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated horror films, including Get Out (USA, 2017), Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico, 2006) and Psycho (USA, 1960)
• Hayao Miyazaki: screenings of the filmmaker’s complete body of work, in conjunction with the inaugural temporary exhibition
• Imperfect Journey: Haile Gerima and His Comrades: screenings in honor of Haile Gerima with special guests including Malik Sayeed, Bradford Young, Arthur Jafa, and Ava DuVernay
• Sound Off: A Celebration of Women Composers: screenings of films scored by women composers, including Joker (USA, 2019), scored by Hildur Guðnadóttir, and Tron (USA, 1982), scored by Wendy Carlos
• Retrospectives of Jane Campion and Satyajit Ray, with the latter drawing from the Academy Film Archive’s rich holdings of his works
• Beyond the Icon: Anna May Wong: a celebration of the actress’s work and legacy, including screenings of Piccadilly (UK, 1929) and Shanghai Express (USA, 1932)
• Legacy: a cross-generational discussion series, beginning with a conversation between Laura Dern and her parents Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd
• In Conversation: a topical discussion series that begins with a conversation between producers Effie T. Brown and Heather Rae on how to contextualize cinema

Ongoing education and family programs will take place throughout the museum in exhibition galleries, theaters, and the Shirley Temple Education Studio. These will include teen programs, family studio activities, and school tours. Accommodative tours for members of the hard-of-hearing and deaf communities and low-vision and blind communities will be offered monthly, as well as accommodative family film screenings for neurodivergent viewers.

Fanny’s, the restaurant and café developed by restaurateurs Bill Chait and Carl Schuster and designed by LA-based Commune Design, will open to visitors with breakfast and lunch service with dinner service added later in the fall. Named after Fanny Brice—the legendary movie, vaudeville, theater, and radio star portrayed by Barbra Streisand in her Oscar-winning role as Funny Girl (1968)—the striking two-story, 10,000 square foot space, conceptualized by the late architect Osvaldo Maiozzi, features a chef-designed open kitchen, elegant bar, and captain-based service style that nods to a bygone era. Raphael Francois serves as Executive Chef and Julian Cox as the bar’s mixologist. Wolfgang Puck Catering will oversee catering services at the museum.

The Academy Museum Store will greet shoppers in its 2,600-square-foot retail space off of the Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby and will feature merchandise designed and produced exclusively for the store, Oscars memorabilia, and other film-related items. An extension of the museum’s mission to showcase the diverse stories of the art and artists of moviemaking, the museum is thrilled to work with many diverse and inspiring Los Angeles and California-based partners on the creation of merchandise and collectibles.