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

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 , only to be recovered 13 years later. The Academy paid 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.

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 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: ’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 get-up and ’s trusty bathrobe among them), but these two really are the belles of the ball.

Museums are like onions, and at this one’s core is a circular gallery housing a handful of Oscar statues—including ’s. The award is notable because 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, , 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.

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 . 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 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.

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 ’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 , E.T., and . But good luck paying attention to anything else with this drool-worthy slab of fish hanging around. Sally Hawkins made some points.

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 , Mookie’s Sal’s Pizzeria shirt from , 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 .

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.

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 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.

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 ’s North By Northwest, seen in the background of the beloved thriller when ’s Eve appears to shoot ’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.

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 ., , 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!