Bruce Merkle wore his own ruby shoes to visit the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” part of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ core exhibition, “Stories of Cinema.”
Cue swelling orchestral music: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opened its doors to the public Thursday, completing a more than decade-long odyssey riddled with hurdles — cost overruns, infighting, construction delays and a global pandemic among them.
The Renzo Piano-designed museum, which describes itself as “the largest in North America devoted to exploring films and film culture,” expected about 2,400 visitors on its inaugural day — the attendance capped at 50% of capacity as a COVID-19 safety precaution.
Among the highlights of the core exhibition, “Stories of Cinema”: Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz,” Bruce the shark from “Jaws,” R2-D2 and C3PO from the “Star Wars” franchise, and H.R. Giger’s creature headpiece from “Alien.” Also on view: a special exhibition of Spike Lee’s inspirations and the first museum retrospective in North America devoted to animation legend Hayao Miyazaki.
Times photographer Al Seib was there to document the scene from opening day. And … action!
Bill Kramer, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures director, addresses guests just before the museum opens its doors to the public.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Academy Museum director Bill Kramer — flanked by Chief Artistic and Programming Officer Jacqueline Stewart on his left and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Chief Executive Dawn Hudson on his right — leads the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the museum.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Guests gather in the Academy Museum’s Walt Disney Company Piazza for a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
AMPAS chief Dawn Hudson and Netflix Co-Chief Executive and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, center, talk with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Guests form a line for entry to the Renzo Piano-designed Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, touted as the largest in the nation dedicated to movies and moviemaking.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Academy Museum director Bill Kramer greets guests as they enter the museum on its opening day.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Guests view Bruce the Shark from “Jaws,” suspended above the third floor of the Academy Museum.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Barbara Cooper, who came from Seattle to attend the museum opening, holds an Oscar in the “Oscar Experience” exhibit.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Visitors enjoy the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ exhibits on its opening day.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Guests take photos in the costume exhibit at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Guests visit the Pedro Almodóvar gallery at the Academy Museum.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Tiffany Sutton wore one of her 30-plus pairs of “ruby slippers” to visit the Academy Museum on its opening day.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
A guest passes by the Academy Museum’s “Stories of Cinema” exhibition.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Visitors enjoy the Academy Museum’s exhibition of Spike Lee ephemera — his filmmaking and political inspirations and other pieces from his personal collection, including his handwritten Oscar acceptance speech.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Visitors enjoy the Academy Museum’s exhibitions on opening day.
Deborah Vankin is an arts and culture writer for the Los Angeles Times. In what’s never a desk job, she has live-blogged her journey across Los Angeles with the L.A. County Museum of Art’s “big rock,” scaled downtown mural scaffolding with street artist Shepard Fairey, navigated the 101 freeway tracking the 1984 Olympic mural restorations and ridden Doug Aitken’s art train through the Barstow desert. Her award-winning interviews and profiles unearth the trends, issues and personalities in L.A.’s arts scene. Her work as a writer and editor has also appeared in Variety, LA Weekly and the New York Times, among other places. Originally from Philadelphia, she’s the author of the graphic novel “Poseurs.”
Al Seib was a photographer and videographer for the Los Angeles Times from 1984 to 2022. His photos have won numerous awards from national and international photographer associations. Seib’s work has helped win four Pulitzer Prizes for breaking news reporting awarded to The Times’ staff: the Los Angeles riots in 1993, the Northridge earthquake in 1995, the Southern California wildfires in 2004 and the San Bernardino shootings in 2016.
