By Anne Ruisi
A new exhibition, “Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume,” is a dazzling collection of iconic costumes worn by iconic Hollywood stars in live action Disney films on show at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
The art show, which opened Feb. 17 and runs through Aug. 18, presents 70 costumes from the Walt Disney Archives in Burbank, California, representing beloved movies, such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “Cinderella,” and popular franchises, such as “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
“These aren’t facsimiles; these aren’t replicas, reproductions … . These are the real McCoy,” museum Director Graham C. Boettcher said.
Kelsey Williams, a curator with Walt Disney Archives, said one of the main reasons the archives collects the items is for historical purposes. “But we really want the public to get to see them and experience them in person.”
Exquisitely detailed ballgowns worn by Lily James in “Cinderella” and Emma Watson in “Beauty and the Beast,” the tricorn hat and pirate garb worn by Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, and the purple tunic with outrageously puffy upper sleeves sported by James Marsden as Prince Edward in “Enchanted” are among the displays. Some of the displays cleverly mimic motion, as the mannequins wearing costumes worn by the Beast (Dan Stevens) and Gaston (Luke Evans), who has a club in his hand, are frozen mid-fight in a scene from “Beauty and the Beast.”
Props, accessories and details that make the difference or help define the characters are included, such as sparkling tiaras, and the intricate beading and gold accents on Princess Jasmine’s harem pants and cropped bodice in “Aladdin.” One of Cinderella’s glass slippers is featured, along with a set of molds showing the progression of the shoe from early plastic design to the shimmering finished product.
“We consider costume and fashion design part of the visual arts, and so for us it’s very much within our mission to present great art for the people in Birmingham,” Boettcher said.
Costumes aren’t only visual works of art, they enhance storytelling and the characters in a film. Mary Poppins in a negligee wouldn’t be the quintessential British nanny we know and love who wears a dark blue dress and carries a carpetbag and umbrella with a carved parrot on the handle. You can see an outfit worn by Emily Blunt in “Mary Poppins Returns” in the exhibit.
“Heroes and Villains” is a first for the museum in that it will be in Birmingham for 26 weeks, an “unprecedented” length of time, Boettcher said. Disney’s willingness to agree to an exhibition of this length is “exciting.”
“And I think it’ll get people excited, give a lot of people the opportunity to come and enjoy this,” he added.
