Burton cracks 100,000
Arts Minister Peter Batchelor, Sarah Vafidis and Jason Orr
Our Tim Burton show has proved the most popular ACMI exhibition ever.
Tim Burton: The Exhibition cracked a hundred thousand visitors today, striking a new record for ACMI.
Opening on Thursday 24 June, the exhibition quickly became one of the hottest tickets in town with queues spilling out of the centre into Federation Square.
Congratulations go to Jason Orr of Adelaide who was today welcomed by the Arts Minister Peter Batchelor as the 100,000th ticket holder. Jason was showered with gifts including a signed copy of The Art of Tim Burton and even got to cut the celebration cake!
Even one of our young Burton Tour Guides, Sarah Vafidis, was on hand to show Jason through the doors.
These visitation figures beat our 2007 attendances for the first five weeks of Pixar: 20 Years of Animation by 60 per cent. The biggest single day attendance figure for Pixar, another Melbourne Winter Masterpieces blockbuster for ACMI, was 3600 people. However, Burton has blown that out of the water with the highest attended day reaching 5300.
From the day the exhibition opened, we knew we were onto something special. By 7am there was a crowd of 250 eager fans spiralling through the square, waiting out in the cold to meet Tim (several die-hards had been jostling for the top of the line since 1am), who was given a rockstar reception.
The public events (announced first to the loyal followers of ACMI's social networking pages) sold out in 48 hours. The Masterclass with Tim Burton sold out in 24 hours and was later simulcast live on the Federation Square screen to an audience of 1,500. The free, live entertainment Burton Club has been popping too, attracting an additional 1000 people each Thursday night.
All these crowds have also meant the ACMI Store has had to order more of the official exhibition publication. Even the exclusive-to-ACMI The Art of Tim Burton book sold out in 24-hours and is now being reprinted and express shipped to Australia for the waiting list of fans.
Over 7000 students are booked in to see the exhibition during Term 3 (how cool are their teachers?) and there is a bumper school holiday program planned for September as well as family workshops on weekends, film screenings, tours, talks and more!
So you've missed your chance to be the 100,000th person to see the show? Just know that if you are the 200,000th person you can be sure of a reception like no other.
No matter your ticket number, there are many reasons to get to the exhibition. Click here for a list of highlights, events or screenings.
Get the idea? Get to ACMI. Tim Burton: The Exhibition is on until Sunday 10 October.
Published Thursday, 29 July 2010
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