Natural History Museum and “My Neighbour Totoro” at the Barbican – 27/01/24

If you think that title is long, then let me assure you that the day that went with it was every bit as long. I’m still recovering from it now…or not, as the case may be. The Yorkshire Folk were down to visit and, just like last time, they wanted to go to a Kensington museum on a Saturday. Those Yorkshire folk sure are crazy. There was a twist this time but we’ll get to that.

We’d booked entry for 2pm as some of the party are not exactly keen on mornings. Others in the party were up with 8 hours to spare but it takes all sorts, doesn’t it? The tube wasn’t too horrendously crowded and we didn’t even need to queue cause we’d booked so we got straight through and in just before 2.

One of the first things I noticed is that there is now an Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures clock in the entrance hall. Since I posted about attending the premiere almost a decade ago, I’ve had a steady trickle of questions asking where the clock is and my search terms and post views suggest that Andy is as popular as ever. Well now, I can stop disappointing people….there is a clock! To the left of the main stairs, almost exactly where it is in the TV show.

Our first main stop was Dinosaurs, which hasn’t changed much over the years although the walkway seemed to be closed and there was a slightly different route in the T Rex bit. Oh, and these furry new animatronics:

Things have changed since I was a nipper but Eva assures me these are more accurate than the older models…and cuter as well. There was also a greenscreen photo booth, which was newish. It was almost certainly a bit of a ripoff, as these things always are but Eva persuaded us to do it at the Sea Life Centre and she was equally persuasive again. In recognition of her efforts to get to West London by 2PM on a Saturday, I decided to yield and we gained a photobook of not quite the photos we asked for and a video of some of the better ones. So here’s one I screenshot earlier:

Coming out of Dinos, we headed towards the Darwin Centre which I don’t remember being there before but Google tells me it definitely was. The main attraction – Cocoon – was closed and I couldn’t see much else that was open to the public but it might well be that I’m missing something. Cocoon is impressive from the outside tho:

Plus there were toilets that are slightly bigger than the more vintage ones in the rest of the museum, and a milkshake bar that Eva clocked as a place to come back to. First though, we had some climbing to do. In fact we made it all the way to the top and this giant bit of tree:

From there, Roo was keen to visit the Red Zone where the earthquake room was but it was a bit of a maze to get there and we went down some stairs that didn’t feel like we should be going down them. Halfway down, there was a staff member standing guard over a spillage which reassured me that at least we weren’t totally lost but still, it was a relief to touch the ground again. We passed back through the Green Zone, which had a newish cafe in it (although again, Google tells me it’s been there since 2017) and more furry animatronics!

We squeezed through the birds gallery, which is always a mixture of fascinating and disturbing….if you’re a fan of owls, you might not enjoy seeing their heads pinned to a board. Then onto the Red Zone and the “From the Beginning” gallery, which was disturbing in its own way:

And this confusingly-orientated map of Britain:

I don’t remember how we got back up to the first floor…usually we’d take this escalator straight to volcanoes but it was closed:

But it meant that we walked through a gallery I don’t think I’ve seen before – Earth’s Treasury. It was full of super pretty rocks like this one:

And a glass display case of jewellery which made me wonder if someone there was planning a heist. Heist movies always start with someone leaning over a glass display case in a museum, don’t they? Reuben assures me it’s not him making any elaborate plans but I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have put the idea in his head.

Eva was flagging a bit at this point, so we took a quick seat on these entirely unergonomic benches, unless you’re one of those conebum people:

I got her moving again by promising a snack at the next pitstop and it did seem like the NHM had more cafes than ever before although the Red Zone one – the Coffee House – was closed. There was a bit of a pop up on the one of the mezzanines but there wasn’t much space to sit so we kept moving and visited the old favourites on the top floor – the earthquake room, the volcano models and this masterpiece of illusion where a bunch of rocks turns into a model of their habitat. Roo tells me it’s done with mirrors but I still don’t understand it:

We also found some obsidian on the way, which will bring joy to the hearts of your little Minecrafters:

And this model, which we visited in 2014, is still as shiny as it was in the 80s:

It was definitely time for a snack break, although some of us were keeping an eye on the time for reasons which will become apparent. There was some confusion over Eva’s milkshake but eventually we were all re-sugared. Which is kinda vital for some of us, so it’s probably good that there are so many pit stops nowadays.

We wanted to see one last gallery – Human Evolution, which was on the other side of the museum back in the Red Zone. I was keen to get us out of the museum by 5pm but couldn’t exactly tell my sister why. I mean, you’ll know why cause it’s in the title of this post but my brother-in-law had planned the Totoro bit as a surprise and I wasn’t sure when he was planning to spill the beans. I still feel like I should be keeping this secret now and it’s four days later.

So we rushed a bit through Human Evolution, which is a shame as Eva seemed to be enjoying it more than I’d expected. “Hey Mum” she’d say “Remember that time in evolution when we didn’t have a torso?” Oh how we laughed

I also spotted this bit of Found Art, which looks like someone deliberately left a piece of single use plastic there to highlight the plight of the rhino:

I then shuffled us all out and through Five Guys while honing the cover story that would somehow get us from South Kensington to the Barbican without my sister knowing what was happening and also without Nathan and Roo. We eventually left the boys in Five Guys while I garbled some excuse about having to retrieve a lost hat on the way home. I mean, you know Eva. She loses hats all the time so this was highly plausible. How I kept the fiction going through an excruciatingly slow ride on the Circle Line, I don’t know. We left Five Guys at 6 and the show started at 7 and there was the usual post-museum crush getting through the ticket barriers. By the time it was 6:30 and we were at Cannon Street, I was weighing up the benefits of making Eva do a half mile brisk walk through the City versus holding my nerve and staying on the Circle line round to Moorgate. I held my nerve and we arrived at the Barbican with 15 minutes to spare. I’m not sure how but I’m pretty sure I didn’t really breathe again until we were safely in our seats. The mastermind behind this whole plan seemed unperturbed throughout.

Of course, I do not have pictures of the show itself as security is tight around the actual staging details. Not even the official press pics seem to feature the eponymous hero. I also wasn’t there on a reviewing trip so this won’t be a proper review.

But it was fun! Studio Ghibli is always difficult to characterise because some aspects feel like it’s aimed and children and, in this case, the main characters are children. But I’ve seen a lot of children’s theatre in my time and this definitely wasn’t that – it is somehow all-age theatre despite being about kids and a big furry monster. I guess the themes are quite adult and there are some dark moments. There are also some terrible parenting decisions (take a day off Professor!) but in those days it was fine to leave a 4-year-old pretty much to her own devices.

The staging is amazing. Again, I won’t give away too many spoilers but it was so complex and detailed…like nothing I’ve really seen before. There were life size sets that came apart and became different settings and there were props that only appeared for one scene but were still intricate and, in some cases, movable. The plot is….minimal but there is a lot of joy in it and, at its heart, it’s all about the strength of family love which is a pretty universal theme. Even if that family makes some bad choices and one of them is a Jubilee-level liability.

Somehow it is like watching anime in real life. The character move like their animated counterparts and their exaggerated facial expressions are very Studio Ghibli. It takes some getting used to and could be jarring but after a while, you get sucked right into this weird world and just accept that that is how people move and talk and emote in this reality. And it’s a reality where a bus turns up when it’s meant to so anything could happen.

Talking of which:

Although top tip – this bit is outside the theatre so if you go at the right time, you could probably take the photo without paying for the show.

It’s recommended for ages 6 plus and it’s a substantial length – 2 hours 45 mins – so I definitely would say pay heed to that. Eva enjoyed it and I imagine Reuben will too when he goes with his school but younger kids might get a bit restless. There are some moments that children of all ages would love but they’re in between some longer stretches of dialogue that might be more challenging.

Still, we all enjoyed it and I’m relieved I no longer have to keep a secret. I think the rest of the run may be sold out but just in case it isn’t, here’s the ticket link. And you know where to find the Natural History Museum but if you don’t, just look here.

Phew, I told you it was a long day didn’t I? Almost as long as this post…