Disney ‘Heroes and Villains’ costumes coming to the Birmingham Museum of Art

Disney ‘Heroes and Villains’ costumes coming to the Birmingham Museum of Art

For six months next year, Captain Jack Sparrow’s pirate garb, Cruella de Vil’s fur coat, and Cinderella’s glass slipper will have a new home at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

The museum announced it will be the next institution to house the critically acclaimed exhibition “Heroes and Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume,” created by the Walt Disney Archives.

Premiering Feb. 17, 2024, and running through Aug. 18, 2024, the exhibition features a collection of original works of art and 70 costumes spanning nearly half a century. The landmark exhibit will take visitors on a journey through the enchanting world of Disney, spotlighting the artistry and craftsmanship behind intricate ball gowns, capes, and dazzling tiaras, showcasing the work of renowned Hollywood costume designers including Colleen Atwood, Sandy Powell, Tony Walton, and Eduardo Castro.

Press materials for “Heroes and Villains” say the principal part of the exhibition is organized into three Disney archetypes: heroes, villains, and the spaces between—a gallery dedicated to the “complex and intriguing antiheroes of Disney lore.”

The “Cinderella’s Workshop” gallery displays the evolution of Cinderella’s dresses from different Disney adaptations, from 1997′s Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” to 2014′s “Into the Woods,” the 2015 live-action remake, and “Once Upon a Time” the popular series that ran on ABC from 2011–2018.

Cinderella gown designed by Sandy Powell and worn by Lily James in Cinderella
(2015). © Disney, (Courtesy the Birmingham Museum of Art)

Other exhibition highlights will include the Sanderson Sisters’ wicked wardrobe from “Hocus Pocus,” Belle’s ball gown from 2017′s “Beauty and the Beast” live-action remake, and the costumes created for Giselle, Prince Edward, and Queen Narissa of “Enchanted.” Iconic costumes in the exhibition’s “Villains” gallery include the dresses of the stepsisters from 2015′s “Cinderella,” and the costumes of the Evil Queen and Hook from “Once Upon a Time.”

The Birmingham Museum of Art will be the third institution to host “Heroes and Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume.” The exhibition made its debut in 2019 at the D23 Expo, the multiday showcase presented by D23: The Official Disney Fan Club.

The Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle was the first venue to host the exhibition outside of the expo. The Henry Ford Museum in Detroit housed the exhibit from 2022 to January 2023.

“We’re focusing on the art of costume design,” Becky Cline from the Walt Disney Archives told MLive in 2022. “Over the years, the costume designers don’t get as much attention as say, the cinematographers, the set designers and prop builders and they’re just as important to the overall look of the film and are artists in their own right that we want to celebrate.”

The Birmingham Museum of Art has housed a number of large-scale traveling exhibitions over the years, including “Small Treasures: Rembrandt,” “Pompeii: Tales of an Eruption,” and “Norman Rockwell’s America.”

The BMA says “Heroes and Villains” will be its largest exhibition in more than a decade. The exhibit will be housed on two floors at the museum— the upstairs Jemison galleries as well as the downstairs Pizitz gallery.

PNC Bank will be the presenting sponsor for the exhibition.

“The BMA is proud to work with Disney on our first major exhibition in nearly a decade, which will offer Birmingham a rare first-hand look at famous costumes that are a crucial part of Disney’s incomparable storytelling,” said Graham C. Boettcher, R. Hugh Daniel Director of the Birmingham Museum of Art, in a press release about the exhibit. “We are grateful to our presenting sponsor PNC for making this once-in-a-lifetime show possible for our community.”

“As a national main street bank, PNC proudly supports the communities where we live and work,” said Nick Willis, PNC’s regional president for Greater Alabama, in the same release. “We are delighted to support this special exhibition as part of our decade-long relationship with the Museum as they continue to inspire imagination and make a lasting impact on the region.”

“Heroes and Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume,” will be a ticketed exhibition. Tickets will go on sale on the Birmingham Museum of Art website in October. Updated information on ticket prices and exhibition hours will be available on the museum’s website at artsbma.org.