UK tabloid mocks ‘Movieland Wax Museum of the Stars’ in Niagara Falls

TORONTO — A wax museum in Niagara Falls, Ont. was mocked Tuesday by a British newspaper for featuring figures that “bear only a passing resemblance to the stars they’re supposed to be.”

The Daily Mail took jabs at the Movieland Wax Museum of the Stars on the popular Clifton Hill tourist strip.

“Visitors to the museum … might find themselves not only trying to work out which waxwork they are looking at, but trying to cast their mind back to the film in which they starred,” wrote reporter Steph Cockroft.

“The collection of works bills itself as a walk through ‘entertainment history’ — but it seems to have largely forgotten about any history past 2000.”

Cockroft said stars like George Clooney and Julia Roberts “are either unrecognizable in their wax forms or are from films which they starred in during the 1990s.”

The article refers to “a confusing version of Colin Farrell” and “odd-looking” models of Michael Douglas and Tom Hanks.

The Daily Mail has a daily circulation of about 1.7 million and its website has more than 100 million unique visitors a month.

Reviews of the Movieland Wax Museum on the Trip Advisor travel site largely support the Daily Mail‘s assessment.

“Horrible doesn’t begin to describe the quality of these figures,” reads one from May 28. “Most were barely recognizable!”

Another, from April 2, read: “The figures were terrible. Most looked nothing like the people they were representing. Some had fingers broken off or were heavily marked.”

A Jan. 6 review was much more direct. “By far the worst wax museum I’ve ever visited anywhere in the world.”

The museum’s website shows fairly realistic depictions of Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow, singer Katy Perry and Ian McKellen as Gandalf — as well as less convincing figures of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones and Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart of Twilight.

Admission to Movieland is $11 for adults and $7 for children. It is also one of the attractions accessible with the $26 Clifton Hill Fun Pass.

The museum, like most of the attractions on the street, is owned by Clifton Hill Resorts. A receptionist for the company told Global News no one was available for comment.

Calls to the museum itself are directed to a call centre.

Toni Williams, director of operations and consumer marketing at Niagara Falls Tourism, said the agency does not keep statistics on the number of UK visitors.