“A Sensory Extravaganza”: MinaLima’s “Enchanted Journeys” Exhibition Opens

by · July 16, 2022

MinaLima, the innovative graphic design studio behind the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films, has opened an exciting interactive exhibition at Moat Brae, Scotland’s National Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling.

As previously reported, Enchanted Journeys: Adventures in Storytelling is an immersive, theatrical experience that invites guests to step into the worlds of the most beloved children’s tales. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, and Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie are all featured in the exhibition, which is imbued with the bright and colorful signature style of the MinaLima Illustrated Classics collection.

Launched in 2015, MinaLima’s Illustrated Classics feature interactive designs in classic children’s tales, many of which are included in Enchanted Journeys to create “a sensory extravaganza of imagery and sound.” The exhibition incorporates several interactive opportunities as well: Guests are able to attend the Mad Hatter’s tea party, walk the yellow brick road, and even pull Pinocchio’s strings.

 

“Enchanted Journeys” features “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” (Source: MinaLima)“Enchanted Journeys” features “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” (Source: MinaLima)
“Enchanted Journeys” features a cat from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” (Source: MinaLima)“Enchanted Journeys” features a cat from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” (Source: MinaLima)
Children play in the “Pinocchio” section of “Enchanted Journeys.” (Source: MinaLima)Children play in the “Pinocchio” section of “Enchanted Journeys.” (Source: MinaLima)
“The Wizard of Oz” is featured at the “Enchanted Journeys” exhibition. (Source: MinaLima)“The Wizard of Oz” is featured at the “Enchanted Journeys” exhibition. (Source: MinaLima)
“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is featured at the “Enchanted Journeys” exhibition. (Source: MinaLima)“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is featured at the “Enchanted Journeys” exhibition. (Source: MinaLima)
Guests can attend the Mad Hatter’s tea party at “Enchanted Journeys.” (Source: MinaLima)Guests can attend the Mad Hatter’s tea party at “Enchanted Journeys.” (Source: MinaLima)
A child plays with a steering wheel at “Enchanted Journeys.” (Source: MinaLima)A child plays with a steering wheel at “Enchanted Journeys.” (Source: MinaLima)
“Peter Pan” is featured at “Enchanted Journeys.” (Source: MinaLima)“Peter Pan” is featured at “Enchanted Journeys.” (Source: MinaLima)
Children play at the “Wizard of Oz” exhibit at “Enchanted Journeys.” (Source: MinaLima)Children play at the “Wizard of Oz” exhibit at “Enchanted Journeys.” (Source: MinaLima)
“The Wizard of Oz” exhibit includes the Emerald City. (Source: MinaLima)“The Wizard of Oz” exhibit includes the Emerald City. (Source: MinaLima)

 

Robin Stapley and Eddie Newquist, the creative leads for Studio MinaLima, re-created the artistic style of the Illustrated Classics collection for Enchanted Journeys. The pair shared their abundant enthusiasm for the new exhibition.

We are thrilled to bring these classic stories to life in a uniquely interactive way with our partners at Moat Brae. This one-of-a-kind, larger-than-life experience will enthral, entertain and educate families – children and adults alike!

Joanna Lumley, a patron of the Moat Brae Trust, echoed Stapley and Newquist’s excitement.

To have a brand-new exhibition from the inimitable Studio MinaLima come to Moat Brae this summer is an absolute dream come true. What it offers for book lovers — young and old, from near and far — is a chance to explore these classics of children’s literature in a completely unique and truly exhilarating way and to create precious memories to stand the test of time, just as the stories have themselves.

 

 

Moat Brae holds special significance in the history of children’s literature – Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie was good friends with the boys who lived in the house when he was a child. The boys often played as pirates together in the garden, which would later serve as inspiration for Barrie in writing Peter Pan and is now called the Neverland Discovery Garden. The house, meanwhile, has a permanent exhibition recounting his time in Dumfries.

For the creative founders of MinaLima, Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, Peter Pan is particularly meaningful.

Our first foray into illustrating children’s classic tales was the captivating world of Peter Pan – we have since reimagined eight other fairytale lands – so it is fitting that we should create our inaugural interactive exhibition at Moat Brae, the home of children’s storytelling.

Mina and Lima first began their partnership in 2001 with their work on the Harry Potter franchise. In addition to Potter, MinaLima has also designed graphic props for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Golden Compass, and The Imitation Game. The studio’s immense talent is evident in the lasting influence of the graphic designs for the Wizarding World and other major projects.

Enchanted Journeys is open throughout the summer at Moat Brae, Tuesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The opening coincides with VisitScotland’s Year of Stories 2022, which celebrates diverse voices and encourages locals and visitors to learn more about the places, people, and cultures behind Scottish stories.

Will you be visiting the exhibition? Let us know in the comments!

Press Release

Enchanted Journeys: Adventures in Storytelling -- a theatrical experience of children’s classic fairytales by Studio MinaLima -- opens at Moat Brae

Moat Brae, Scotland’s National Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling, in Dumfries, Southwest Scotland, has re-opened its doors to showcase a brand-new exhibition of beloved children’s stories featuring award-winning art from the MinaLima Classics book series.

Enchanted Journeys: Adventures in Storytelling, created by Studio MinaLima, the graphic designers of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films, breathes new life into some of children’s best-loved tales, bringing them uniquely to life with a truly immersive experience for all the family. The project was led by Studio MinaLima's experiential designers, Robin Stapley and Eddie Newquist, who have a rich history of creating successful experiences for the Walt Disney Company [and] Universal Studios as well as notable museums and cultural, public and retail spaces around the world.

The stories in the exhibit include: Alice’s Adventure [sic] in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll; The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen; The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum; Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi; and Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie.

Visitors to Moat Brae are invited into the captivating worlds of these ageless tales, vividly reimagined by Studio MinaLima, to rediscover the beauty and originality of the stories and the much-loved characters, and to experience the unique elements in each character’s personal journey.

Guests are greeted by dynamic colours and characterisations that are the hallmark of Studio MinaLima’s work and are pulled into a sensory extravaganza of imagery and sound. Stepping into an enchanted world, they are invited to take a seat at Carroll’s Mad Hatter’s tea party; walk along Baum’s yellow brick road; bring Collodi’s Pinocchio to life by pulling the puppet’s strings; manifest themselves as a mer-person like the Little Mermaid in Andersen’s fairy story; and find Tinkerbell in the Darling house and hear her magical bells.

Robin Stapley and Eddie Newquist, the creative leads for Studio MinaLima, said: "We are thrilled to bring these classic stories to life in a uniquely interactive way with our partners at Moat Brae. This one-of-a-kind, larger-than-life experience will enthral, entertain and educate families – children and adults alike!”

Each element of Studio MinaLima’s Enchanted Journeys exhibition is designed to invite visitors to enter into the scene and to experience each classic story afresh, creating a truly memorable family experience.

Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, the creative founders of MinaLima, said: "Our first foray into illustrating children's classic tales was the captivating world of Peter Pan – we have since reimagined eight other fairytale lands – so it is fitting that we should create our inaugural interactive exhibition at Moat Brae, the home of children's storytelling."

Joanna Lumley, Patron of the Moat Brae Trust, said: “To have a brand-new exhibition from the inimitable Studio MinaLima come to Moat Brae this summer is an absolute dream come true. What it offers for book lovers -- young and old, from near and far -- is a chance to explore these classics of children’s literature in a completely unique and truly exhilarating way and to create precious memories to stand the test of time, just as the stories have themselves.”

Moat Brae will be open throughout the summer holidays for a fun family day out with storytelling sessions and workshops every day, the Neverland Discovery Garden, café and gift shop, [and] the Enchanted Journeys: Adventures in Storytelling exhibition.

Life [I]mitates Art

Authors like Andersen, Barrie, Carroll, Baum and Collodi invited young readers to accompany the heroes of their timeless stories, teaching life lessons and exploring subjects that are universal and for all ages as they went. But whilst most readers are familiar with unforgettable characters like Alice, the Little Mermaid, Dorothy, Pinocchio and Peter Pan, many – both young and old – do not know the stories of the authors behind these classics of literature, which are often equally as dramatic as the worlds they created in print.

Did you know, for example, that Baum authored 55 novels in total, 82 short stories, over 200 poems, an unknown number of scripts, and many miscellaneous writings? Yet The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was his greatest success. Or that Carroll invented the Nyctograph, a device that allowed him to write ideas down in the dark at night and [that] he felt it could also be used by blind people? Were you aware that the word ["]Pinocchio["] means "pine eye" from Italian pino and occhio? That Andersen suffered from dyslexia and struggled with spelling? Or that, in 1932, Peter met Alice, when, at an Alice in Wonderland exhibition, Alice Liddell, who was the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, met Peter Llewelyn Davies, one of the children who inspired Peter Pan?

 

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