Madame Tussauds Hollywood

Background

Opened in August 2009, Madame Tussauds Hollywood has instant landmark status due initially to its location, abutting the famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre at Hollywood & Highland. The Hollywood site is the 9th location for the Madame Tussauds wax museums, started as a touring exhibit from France in the late 1700s and established as a permanent museum in London in 1835. Over the last 200 years, the museums have provided a commentary on the notoriety and celebrity of the time, from famous criminals to political figures.
In Hollywood, it's all about the stars. From the red carpet in the entryway, where Joan Rivers waits to interview visitors, to the Academy Award exhibit, celebrity actors, singers, athletes and directors are showcased in Hollywood glitz and glamour. New figures are added all the time, and the exhibits are periodically rearranged into different themes.

The Exhibits at Madame Tussauds

Each exhibit area has a different theme, from an A-List Cocktail Party with Elton John, Britney Spears, Zac Efron and Jennifer Aniston, to drop just a few names, to the Spirit of Hollywood with stars from the Golden Era of cinema from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to Charlie Chaplin and Bette Davis. Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart are represented as their characters from African Queen. Peter O'Tool is Lawrence of Arabia; Elizabeth Taylor is Cleopatra. Other galleries focus on Westerns, Crime, Modern Classics, Making Movies, Sports and Action Heroes.
If you wouldn't be interested in being photographed with the real President Obama, J-Lo or Jack Nicholson, you might not care about being photographed with their wax likenesses, but you can still admire the artistry involved in creating the figures.
Some are more accurate representations than others. Brad Pitt (a press release notes his squeezable bum) and Angelina Jolie, Will Smith and Marlon Brando are some winners. Anthony Hopkins and Eddie Murphy need a melt-down and makeover.
Some figures are replicas of personalities who appear in London, New York and other Madame Tussauds around the world, although usually in a different context or costume. Other's, like LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and long-time honorary mayor of Hollywood, Johnny Grant, are unique to the LA museum. Madame Tussaud herself got a Hollywood makeover, looking younger and prettier in her west coast debut.

The Experience

Unlike the nearby Hollywood Wax Museum, at Madame Tussauds Hollywood, you can get right up close and personal with the wax figures, embracing, holding hands or even groping, as long as you stay away from the eyes. Scenarios are set up to put you in the spotlight with your favorite stars. You can interview Cameron Diaz from a matching director's chair, shoot hoops with Kobe Bryant, ride bikes with Lance Armstrong, or have breakfast with Audrey Hepburn. You can even have your photo taken hanging upside down from the ceiling with Spiderman. Costumes and wigs allow you to get even more into the act.
Madame Tussauds is a three-story building. An elevator takes you to the 3rd floor, where your path leads you through the galleries and down the stairs.
You are welcome to take your own photographs throughout the museum, and there are several stations where you can have a souvenir photo taken by museum staff, including a portrait with Shrek and an upside-down photo with Spiderman.
On your way out, you can stop and have your hand cast in wax before landing in the gift shop.

Madame Tussauds Hollywood Trivia

• 50 new figures debuted at Madame Tussauds Hollywood that have not appeared in other Madame Tussauds museums. They include Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Bruce Willis, Martin Scorsese, Jessica Alba and Quentin Tarantino.
• Tom Hanks appears three times in Madame Tussauds Hollywood - once as Forest Gump, once in Castaway and again in the Academy Awards exhibit.
• The most frequently reproduced figure across all Madame Tussauds museums is Queen Elizabeth, with 22 likenesses created, none of which are in the LA exhibit.
• Michael Jackson #14 was revealed at Madame Tussauds Hollywood August 27, 2009, making him the 2nd most frequently created figure.
• It takes 4 months and a team of 20 artists to create one of Madame Tussauds wax figures, using over 500 exact body measurements.
• Madame Tussauds' figures have real human hair.
• 90% of celebrities modeled for their figures at Madame Tussauds and donated the clothing their figures are wearing.
• When Michael Jackson visited Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas in 2006, he liked the jacket his figure was wearing so much that he decided to swap it with the one he had on, and he wore that jacket at the MTV Music Awards.
• Madame Tussaud learned to model wax likenesses in Paris at the age of 17 from Dr Philippe Curtius.