# animate! › Films › The Phantom Museum by The Quay Brothers › synopses

Canonical: https://animate.org.uk/films/phantommuseum/synopses

Discovery terms: 2000s animation, live action and animation, museums, medical history, objects, experimental documentary, filmmaker, animator

The following is the archived page text; discovery terms above are separately sourced metadata.

Archive status: restored in 2026; historical calls, deadlines and services are closed.

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**The Phantom Museum – Random Forays into Sir Henry Wellcome’s Medical Collection** a film by The Quay Brothers

2003, 11 min 30 sec

### animate! synopsis

Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936) amassed one of the world’s largest museum collections, capturing human culture and history through medical eyes. **The Phantom Museum** uses animation to imaginatively ‘document’ this extraordinary assemblage and simultaneously reveal an extremely beautiful yet odd inner cosmos of things.

### one sentence synopsis

The Phantom Museum provides a random foray and idiosyncratic journey through the bizarre private medical collection of Sir Henry Wellcome.

### short synopsis

**The Phantom Museum** was supported by the [Wellcome Trust](http://www.wellcome.ac.uk) for inclusion in their exhibition on Henry Wellcome’s unique collection, staged at the British Museum during June–November 2003. The website for this [Medicine Man](http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/en/medicineman/) exhibition provides two streamed extracts from the film.

### long synopsis

**The Phantom Musem** provides a random foray and idiosyncratic journey through the bizarre private medical collection of Sir Henry Wellcome and in particular that part kept by the Science Museum at Blythe House.

The film plays with an idea that all passionate museum visitors know to be true: that the objects become even more interesting after the last visitor has left the gallery.

**The Phantom Museum – Random Forays into Sir Henry Wellcome’s Medical Collection** film, stills and other materials © Koninck Studios 2003