Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), simply known as Museum of Natural History is a large museum in New York City, New York in the United States of America. It is located next to Central Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
For a significant length of time, this museum had the unique quality of its exhibits coming to life every night due to the presence of the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. 
It is the first museum that Larry decides to work at and where most of his exhibit friends live.
==History==
The Museum of Natural History was dedicated to the 26th president of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Roosevelt "absolutely loved history and believed the more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future".Rebecca Hutman: "This museum was originally dedicated to that man on the horse up there. President Theodore Roosevelt. He absolutely loved history and believed that the more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future." (Night at the Museum) An equestrian statue of Roosevelt was eventually built just in front of the museum's entrance, and a wax statue of him was made in a mannequin factory in Poughkeepsie, New YorkTheodore Roosevelt: "Actually, I never did any of those things. Teddy Roosevelt did. I was made in a mannequin factory in Poughkeepsie. I never shot a wild beast. I'm not even brave enough to tell that beautiful woman I love her." (Night at the Museum) that would be displayed near the entrance inside the museum along with a replica of his horse Little Texas.Night at the Museum
In the mid-1880s, the Nile Expedition mission led to the discovery of the mummified Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ahkmenrah and his tablet. For a time, Ahkmenrah's remains (and presumably the tablet as well) were kept on display in the Egyptology Department of the University of Cambridge in England.Ahkmenrah: "I went to Cambridge University. (...) I was on display in the Egyptology Department." (Night at the Museum)
In 1952, both Ahkmenrah and his tablet were moved to the Museum of Natural History. The night this occurred, the tablet's magic brought everything within the museum to life, and every night since. For the subsequent 54 years, the revived Ahkmenrah's was kept locked in his sarcophagus, and struggled in vain to free himself every night.Theodore Roosevelt: "Yell all you want, pharaoh! You've been in there 54 years! You're not getting out tonight! There's the source of all this commotion. The Tablet of Ahkmenrah. Arrived here in 1952 from the Nile expedition. On that night... everything in this museum came to life. And every night since." (Night at the Museum)
Over those subsequent 54 years, three men came to work together at the museum as fellow night guards: Cecil Fredericks, Gus, and Reginald. During their career, they figured out ways to deal with the living exhibits and their individual antics and constructed an annotated manual to provide both helpful advice and a guideline to keep the museum under control. However, despite surviving many years at the museum and learning how the exhibits ticked, they lacked the intuition or the interest to understand the exhibits and get them to calm down, which necessitated many of them being locked up every night and perpetuating their troublemaking. 
As the three grew older, they came to realize that the tablet's magic enlivened them as much as the exhibits, making them feel young and healthy during the nights. Presumably, in order to maintain the tablet's secrecy, they were the ones to reject any new night guard applications for some time.Debbie: "Well, I don't know. I... I might have one thing. They've turned down everyone I've sent over there, but (...) Who knows? You might get lucky." (Night at the Museum)
At some point, Dr. Leslie McPhee and Rebecca Hutman are hired as the museum director and a docent respectively.
54 years later, by 2006, the museum was losing great deals of money, and the decision was made to downsize its night crew from three old guards to one young new one. Desperate for cash, Larry Daley applied for the position. Cecil, Gus, and Reginald saw an opportunity in Larry's unique circumstances to take the tablet for themselves and frame him for its theft whilst leaving themselves blameless, and thus readily accepted their replacement.
Over Larry's first three nights as the museum's night guard, he manages to understand and befriend the various exhibits, which helps them calm down and avoid being locked up or dismissed. As a result, with their help Larry manages to thwart the three old guards' scheme and keep the tablet at the museum. Now as the sole night guard, and along with his son Nicholas Daley and Rebecca, embrace the museum's magic and the exhibits are allowed to roam freely within and have fun every night.
Two years later, the museum is modernized: it separates from its artifacts and replaces them with interactive holograms, which will be able to answer questions from visitors. The exhibits were sent to Washington but returned two days later. Larry goes by without knowing an arrangement with Dr. McPhee: the museum will open at night. Now residents come back to life in front of visitors and ensure the show. But no one knows, they pretend to be animatronic.
== Museum ==
=== Exhibits ===
==== Entrance Hall ====
It's a large room with high ceiling, paved floor and stone walls. The architecture of the room represents arches at the back, where two stairs, one on the right, the other on the left, lead to the upper floors. Two balconies allow to dominate the space. In addition to the posters hanging on the ceiling, the American flag is also hung. The only exhibits in the room are the skeleton of a T-Rex, at the entrance facing the doors, and the equestrian statue of President Roosevelt on his Texas in a showcase on the right side. A circular counter in the center of the room serves as an entrance window. Among the decorative elements, green plants, benches, a rotating globe in the center of the counter decorate the room. Although it is not in the lobby, an elevator on this floor serves the rest of the museum.
==== Temple of Ahkmenrah ====
It is here that the tablet allowing the museum to come to life is on display. It's embedded in a piece of wall designed for this purpose, facing the entrance. The visitor must cross the long corridor, under the high ceiling and between the columns on which the hieroglyphics follow. Two giant statues with the head of Anubis, protector of the deceased, guard the entrance. Basically, the pharaoh sleeps in his tomb, from which he is unable to come out at night.
==== The Hall of Miniatures ====
The room is open and well lit. The windows are built into the walls. They represent various civilizations, such as the Mayans, the Romans and the Wild West. In the center is a wooden bench. The room also exhibits in display cases dials, old stones and any other object related to the miniature representations.
==== Hall of American History ====
A stag and a stage drawn by four horses are on display in the room. The Northerners and the Southerners are separated, each on a block, and face each other, their guns pointed at each other. But the main attraction is the showcase showing Sacagawea with Lewis and Clark. At night, Civil War Mannequins clash and plunge the room into chaos of gunfire and explosions, while Lewis and Clark argue over which route to take. The stagecoach is used by Cecil Fredericks to flee after he robs the museum.
==== Hall of African Mammals ====
This room of different spaces comes in multiple forms, the circular "enclosure" in the center represents a small portion of the Savanna with rocks. on which a lion and two lionesses rest majestically, one lying down, the other sitting. A green space allows three monkeys (including Dexter) to hang, and a snake is also hidden in the foliage. The other enclosure, this time featuring a desert plain, exhibits pairs of zebras and antelopes as well as an ostrich. An elephant is represented behind a separation of ropes. A rhino, two leopards and birds are also in the room.
==== Ocean Life ====
Ocean Life is an early exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. This exhibit show cases marine life. Cecil Fredericks stumbles upon the exhibit while looking for Gus and Reginald after he manages to obtain the tablet back from Nick and Larry Daley. Cecil opens the doors leading into the exhibit but is soaked when the Blue Whale who releases water onto him.
==== Hayden Planetarium ====
TBA
=== Other ===
==== Security room ====
This is the room where the night guards can relax. They have lockers at their disposal, a desk and a sofa. 
==== Director's Office ====
To be written.
==== Museum Archives ====
Archives of information and artifacts pertaining to the museum's research and exhibits are kept here. Rose is one of its employees.
==Personnel==
*Dr. McPhee (Museum director)
*Rebecca Hutman (docent)
*Rose (archive worker)Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
*Night guards
**Cecil Fredericks (former)
**Reginald (former) 
**Gus (former)
**Larry Daley (former) 
**Ronnie (temporary)Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again 
**Nicky Daley (Kahmunrah Rises Again)
==Real-Life Museum== 
The museum complex comprises of 27 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain over 32 million specimens of plants, humans, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, and human cultural artifacts, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time and occupies 1,600,000 square feet (150,000 m2). The Museum has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually.
==Filming==
The interior scenes were that are seen in the films were shot at a sound stage in Vancouver, British Columbia, but exterior shots of the museum's façade were done at the actual Museum of Natural History.
One of the most notable consequences of the film is the 20% increase in the number of visitors to the real museum after the film's release. In part, this helped the film crew get the Smithsonian clearance for second Night at the Museum.
==Gallery==
AMNHfrontentrance.jpg|Museum entrance
AMNHinnight.jpg|Museum on Open night
Nightatmuseum-movie-screencaps.com-2012.jpg|Entrance Hall
Amnhcorridors.jpg|Corridors
TempeofAhkmenra1.jpg|Temple of Ahkmenrah
Nightmuseum22.jpg|Tablet of Ahkmenrah
Hall miniatures.png|Hall of Miniatures
HallAmericanHistory.png|Hall of American History
HallAfrimamamsls.png|Hall of African mammals
Nightatmuseum-1500.jpg|Huns exhibit
Ocean life.png|Ocean life exhibit
SecurityRoom.jpg|Security
McPheeOffice.jpg|McPhee's Office
Category:Locations
Category:Museums
Category:Places