My travel companion’s need for novelty is what ended up making him pick something unusual for this particular destination. I’d seen it on lists of places to go before but I was a little unsure what it actually was and if it was worth the long drive to Connecticut. It was however only $5 per adult ticket so why not go and see?
This place was something else. Driving there was interesting. It was easy enough to find but the sign aside the road looked small and very aged and the driveway really looked like it was bringing me to a household. There were two small parking lots each big enough for four or five cars. To my surprise this was two buildings, not one, and the property around the building seemed to have cut outs and other fun things to take photos with.
We ended up walking into the gift shop which is where the tickets are purchased. Another family was getting attended to so the woman working the counter told us to go have fun checking out the gift shop and the adjoined gallery and she’d take our money when we were finished. The gift shop was darling. Dr Suess taxidermy lined the walls, to the other side there was a lot of little Disney things and other very recognizable cartoon merch. The gallery was also a lot of fun and a lot larger than it looked at first. It was several rooms and hallways filled with stills, paintings, and prints of every iconic cartoon figure you could think of from Betty Boop to Jack Skeleton. As well as some I didn’t recognize. It was a fun little jaunt down memory lane. I especially appreciated the one of a kind pieces of art, some of which were more 3D than you’d expect of a cartoon with layers of paint or paper to make them more interesting. All of it was for sale – for some hefty serious collector prices.
When we finished we circled back around, got our tickets, and then headed outside to the other building which was the actual museum and oh my god, this place was OVERWELMING! There were display cases against every wall and creating numerous isles. They went from the floor to over our heads and even the ceiling had every inch of it decorated with hanging cartoon characters.
I had come here expecting Disney and WB characters but this place had everything. And it was all organized into sections. There’d be a case of Popeyes, some Wizard of Oz stuff, a gaggle of creepy puppets, and a pile of my childhood phobia: Teletubbies. Those were out, you could totally boop them. As a child I only saw still photos of Teletubbies in the news. I had no idea until recently they’re HUGE and talk like possessed baby dolls. I was re-traumatized.
ANYWAY, as we looked around we found all sorts of delightful things – Mork and Mindy, Animaniacs, Felix the Cat, Betty Boop’s entire disturbing squad (including that goddamn clown) and another childhood favorite the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Every INCH of this place had something. There were just layers and layers. And no cartoon was forgotten, they even had cartoons that existed only as brand mascots – Betsy the Cow, the scrubbing bubbles brush, Big Boy, Cracker Jack, and the M & M’s. And as is usual for this blog there was also an alarming amount of ventriloquist dummies. Each creepier than the last.
Sometimes I dream of owning a house, a house with a guest room, a house with a guest room full to the brim with haunted dolls. It’d be exposure therapy for me as I find them terrifying and would also be hilarious to use as a bet. You want to come visit ME? THEN YOU SLEEP WITH THE DOLLS. If you make it the night I’ll give you a prize, if you end up on the couch I will tease you until your last dying day.
This museum looks like it probably started in a similar fashion to the Scrubs-like fantasy I wrote out above. Clearly this was someone’s collections which got way out of hand and thank goodness it did because it was an absolute joy to visit. More so I think I could probably go there again, even several more times, and see something different each time. This was totally worth the drive for any children or children at heart.
Oh, and the distressing cow I took a photo of for the header of this entry? That’s Betsy. If I am to believe her plaque she was once more popular than Mickey Mouse. Her job was to sell dairy which apparently, she did very well! And now… she’s just a statue in a creepy photo that could be the cover of a horror movie. Bless.
