It belongs...IN A MUSEUM!

[Sibyl]

What I've been told by a British Citizen is that if you dig up an ancient artifact in your back yard, it belongs to the Crown, who will then take possession of it.

In the US, it's finders keepers.

Indiana Jones had the idea that the Cross of Coronado belonged in a museum, not in a private collector's hands.

Now onto the relevant portion of this post:

Movie studios consider objects used in films to be just that, objects, with no value beyond the end of the production. Much of the time, anything to do with the production is destroyed afterward simply because they don't have the warehouse space to store it all until it can be auctioned off.

We're lucky Paramount felt otherwise about Star Trek.

However, at what point does a film prop become a cultural icon, worthy of being in a museum and not in a private collector's hands?

We're fortunate that the original Enterprise ended up in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I personally believe that the Refit and Enterprise-D also belong in publicly viewable museums and should not have been auctioned off to the highest bidder. Obviously, that was the right approach to much of what was auctioned, but the two main ships? THE two main ships?

What are your thoughts on the matter? Not just Star Trek, but other iconic movie props and costumes.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I guess the movies has to reach cultural critical mass. Who can say when or why that will happen. Are props from Star Wars in a museum somewhere? Same for Indian Jones. Are the hats and whips from Raiders preserved somewhere? The mock up of the Ark of the Covenant? Hell, what about the crate of the Covenant?

 

[Sibyl]

Of course. What's considered Iconic? Not EVERYTHING can be preserved. That said, there were duplicates of the whips and hats, but yes, should the Ark be in a museum? I honestly don't know.

While there were duplicates, a museum in Minnesota had a pair of Ruby Slippers until they were stolen.

How much of and what should be preserved from Star Wars? Again, I don't know. Thankfully Lucas had the foresight to save it all, though.

I'm pretty sure the dress from Gone with the Wind is in a museum.

Again, I don't know where to draw the line. I just thought the Enterprises would deserve more than to be in a private collection, though.

 

[Refuge]

I've seen props for sale on Ebay. Like there's a kitchen prop used on the TV series 'Bewitched'. It's a cake bundt pan and it's for sale at $800. Might have been in the background of an episode perhaps. One can only imagine how much Sam's heart necklace would sell for or an original bottle from 'I Dream of Jeannie'. Was watching an old Antiques Roadshow one day and this guy had a full size prop of Aslan the lion from some production of 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'. I think he salvaged it from a skip.. can't remember now.

To be considered a National treasure or a museum piece.. something would have to be definitely irreplaceable and have marked a shift in the industry or culture. Dorothy slippers from 'Wizard of Oz' perhaps. However everything seems to be for sale.

 

[publiusr]

Sad to see this on e-bay
http://up-ship.com/blog/?p=34958

 

[scotthm]

However, at what point does a film prop become a cultural icon, worthy of being in a museum and not in a private collector's hands?

Such an item could be considered "worthy" when it's able to entice people into the museum to see it.
---------------

 

[Owain Taggart]

I think the Smithsonian does a good job preserving and displaying the things that have entered pop-culture. I think that without them, we wouldn't have quite as much of it out there.

 

[Timewalker]

I worked in musical theatre during the '70s and '80s, and while most costume items were saved, a lot of the props were destroyed (lack of room to store them and a collective "we're never doing this show again, so why bother saving this stuff?" attitude). I did manage to save a few things, though: I have a dagger from Peter Pan and a club from A Dish of Cream. I had one of the pirates' swords from Peter Pan as well, but it didn't survive someone "helping" me move. I do know that some of the props I made were saved by other people - notably "Baby George" from The King & I. The dancer who played Eliza in the "Small House of Uncle Thomas" scene was so pleased with how I'd transformed a cheap Mexican doll into a Siamese baby with a fancy green/gold costume, hairstyle identical to the ones worn by the children in the show, and the same makeup as the dancers were wearing, she wanted to keep it.


As for SF shows and movies, sometimes it's actually better that some items end up in the hands of collectors who appreciate it, rather than throwing it away - because to them it represents something meaningful, rather than just another day's job output that doesn't matter once the production is over.

 

[Jedman67]

I guess the movies has to reach cultural critical mass. Who can say when or why that will happen. Are props from Star Wars in a museum somewhere? Same for Indian Jones. Are the hats and whips from Raiders preserved somewhere? The mock up of the Ark of the Covenant? Hell, what about the crate of the Covenant?

I interviewed Mike Verta a number of years ago, regarding his reference shots for his "Official" R2D2 illustrations for the Star Wars SourceBook (or whatever).
He was taken to the Lucasfilm Archives, in order to pull out the original R2D2 props, and he described it as walking through the warehouse seen at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with iconic movie props everywhere.
I"ll see if i have the audio somewhere still.

 

[Gary7]

Speaking of prop value... Stanley Kubrick had all of the props from 2001: A Space Odyssey destroyed* after production finished. Supposedly, he didn't even take any small props home for himself. He commanded that they all be destroyed. However, some were slipped into dumpsters were they were later rescued. Some guys in England had a field day.

Why destroy such wonderful specimens of sci-fi movie making? Kubrick was fearful of someone using them for movie or television productions out of his control. He didn't want them used in any way. One does have to wonder about the movie production company that funded it... wouldn't they lay claim to everything produced? And besides, I would think that Kubrick could have them secured in a special warehouse for later use, if he ever thought about making a sequel. As a result the follow-up 2010 movie had to completely recreate everything, and didn't get it all quite right.

Anyway, two of the David Bowman space helmets (in red and green) survived and are secured in collections. I remember one guy actually getting access to it and creating an exact replica, that was later used in a 2ASO anniversary presentation where Keir Dullea actually tried it on for a bit.

UPDATE: I learned that Kubrick was originally supposed to sell most of the props to a Science and SciFi type museum in the USA after production was completely finished. But that somehow didn't work out. While Kubrick was fanatical about keeping control of the props and sets, there came a point where he did have some destroyed. But he also gave some away. There's an interesting story about this, over on TheRFP [LINK].

 

[Sibyl]

There was a space pod that wasn't completely destroyed. It was found in a junk pile in a studio backlot.

 

[feek61]

The space station (or what was left of it) was located in a garden someplace in England.

 

[Galileo7]

If there was only one built, then Planet Of The Apes(1968) A.N.S.A. Spaceship prop we last saw in the 1974 TV series pilot episode ended up here.
http://www.goingfaster.com/icarus/billritchiefate.html

 

[Sibyl]

 

[Gary7]

There was a space pod that wasn't completely destroyed. It was found in a junk pile in a studio backlot.

Huh. I didn't hear about that. I wonder if they fully restored it.

The space station (or what was left of it) was located in a garden someplace in England.

Yep, I think it was the hub and part of one ring that was found. Pretty large too!

More photos HERE.

 

[Galileo7]

Huh. I didn't hear about that. I wonder if they fully restored it.

Yep, I think it was the hub and part of one ring that was found. Pretty large too!

More photos HERE.

Sad Stanley Kubrick had the 2OO1 models destroyed.

I wonder if the Discovery Pod that is still around is from Peter Hyams 2O1O(1984). He had one built for the film.

 

[Sibyl]

It may have been for 2010. I remember seeing images of it in the heap, but I can't find that pic now.

 

[Galileo7]

It may have been for 2010. I remember seeing images of it in the heap, but I can't find that pic now.

Phantom Menace

 

[Gary7]

OK, I discovered something that changes things, about the 2001 Space Odyssey prop destruction... over on The RFP. Apparently Kubrick didn't originally have everything destroyed. There's a rather lengthy, but very interesting story all about it. Worth a read: [LINK].

What prompted all of this was back in 2015, the original hero model of the Aries 1B spacecraft / shuttle was unearthed. It had been owned by a school teacher for a great many years. He finally decided to sell it. It went up for auction... sold for $344k USD! It went to the AMPAS. Anyway, a guy with intimate knowledge about the props from the movie was able to reveal some terrific info.

I wonder if the Discovery Pod that is still around is from Peter Hyams 2O1O(1984). He had one built for the film.

I remember reading about it a long time ago... it was not considered very screen accurate to the original, but probably only to very discriminating eyes. I certainly wouldn't think anyone would destroy it. I'll bet it's in the hands of a private collector or went to some museum.

 

[Gary7]

Speaking of Museums... I'm sure some of you have seen it, but in case you haven't... check out the Sci-Fi Air Show on-line museum. This was created by a master of sci-fi props, William George. His scratch-built Lost In Space Jupiter 2 is to die for.