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Ali Valerio
Dr. Marinara
ENC 3315
28 September 2014
Fun at the Museum: How Film Explores History
In todays modern technological age, we often lose sight of what it was that made society
so successful. We strive to make the future better, but sometimes we forget to take a look at the
past. Not all the time, however. In recent years, television and film have worked to incorporate
history into their storylines, using historical settings, characters, and events as a basis for a plot.
Perhaps no film series has done this to such a degree as the Night at the Museum series. Here,
history is absolutely pivotal, as most of the characters and events come right out of history itself.
The plot for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian features a museum night guard who
teams up with figures like Sacagawea and Amelia Earhart to take back a stolen magical tablet,
one that has the power to make museum exhibits come to life.
While there are dozens of historical references in the film, communicated through texts,
dialogue, and physical artifacts, some icons are not portrayed accurately. One such example of
this are the cherubs, three winged baby angels that appear occasionally in the film. The way they
are portrayed in the movie is incredibly different than how they are portrayed in religion and
mythology. In my essay I will communicate how the cherubs are portrayed in the movie, how
they are portrayed in religion and mythology, and the differences between the two. Then I will
illustrate why the movie made these changes, and how they affect our understanding of cherubs,
and furthermore history as a whole.
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Cherubs in the Movie: Cute Baby Cupids
In Night at the Museum: Battle of the
Smithsonian, the cherubs are three chubby
baby angels who reside in the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, D.C. They sing to
night guard Larry Daley, the main
protagonist of the film, as he runs around
trying to save the day with wax figure
Amelia Earhart. The atmosphere suggests a
romantic connection between the two lead
characters, and the cherubs make this more
apparent by singing romantic songs to
them. One which they sing is My Heart
Will Go On by Celine Dion, which Larry
Daley explicitly acknowledges with annoyance as the love theme from Titanic. Another is
Lovebug, a song by contemporary boy band The Jonas Brothers. In fact, these brothers are the
ones who play the cherubs, and sing the songs, in the movie. The faces of the cherubs are even
slightly modeled after them, if you look closely.
As the band is contemporary, the music and lyrics of their original song are also
contemporary. The line of the song which we hear is as follows: Now Im speechless / Over the
edge, Im just breathless / Id never thought that Id catch this lovebug again. The purpose of
the cherubs in the movie are clearly to suggest romance. They are presented as a symbol of love,
like Cupid. And similar to cherubs in popular culture, modern day Cupid is portrayed as a plump
Figure 1. Cherubs in the film.
Figure 2. Lead protagonists to whom the cherubs sing
love songs.
[Cite your source here.]
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winged baby with arrows that make people fall in love. However, cherubs and Cupid are not the
same, which will be elaborated further in the essay. In essence, the trio is trying to make a real
man fall in love with a historical wax figure. As this cant really happen, the scene is rather more
humorous and playful. In fact, everything concerning the cherubs portrayal is modern, light-
hearted and casual, which is not at all like cherubs in religion and mythology. The contemporary
visuals, language (lyrics), and argument that the cherubs make in this film contrast starkly with
their original counterparts.
Cherubs in Mythology: Terrifying Beasts (And not Cupid)
Cherubs primarily have their roots in Jewish, Christian,
and Islamic religions. Although in classical art they are more
commonly referred to as cherubs in the plural form, in the Bible
they are known as cherubim. Here they are depicted as angelic
beings who guard the knowledge of God (or in Islam, Allah) and
continuously praise him (What are Cherubim?). In Genesis, the
first book of the Bible, the cherubim stand guard over the tree of
life in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve are banished.
They also guard the Ark of the Covenant, the resting place of the
Ten Commandments. In addition, they are used for transport (Cherubim Meaning). In Ezekiel,
they are said to have bronze legs and hooved feet; four headsthose of a man, a lion, an ox, and
an eaglefour wings, four arms, and eyes protruding from all parts of their body. They are also
around 18 feet tall (Angel Cherubim Art). In Assyrian and Babylonian mythology they are
depicted as temple-guarding hybrids of eagles, bulls, lions, and serpents (Cherubim Meaning).

Figure 3. Cherubim as portrayed in the
Bible.
[Cite your source here.]
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(De-)Evolution of the Cherubs
How did these colossal, bizarre creatures deflate into plump, baby Cupid angels? In the
Renaissance age, artists began to create putti, which were naked, chubby, winged children
(Putto). They were always boys--the word comes from Latin putus, meaning boy (Putti).
In the 15
th
century, artists began to use putti to portray cherubs. They represented innocence and
love, and they were later portrayed with bows and arrows, which brings Cupid into the story
(Putto). Cupid is a figure who comes from Roman mythology. He is the son of Mars, the god
of war, and Venus, the goddess of love. He would use his arrows to force humans to fall in love,
helping his mother stay powerful (Melina). Soon, Cupid was represented as a putto (Putto). So,
cherubs in classical art are portrayed as putti, which are also used to portray Cupid. This mixture
of figures has contributed to our contemporary understanding of cherubs, which are clearly
nothing like the cherubim creatures in the Bible. However, the film cherubs are nearly identical
to those in classical art.





Figure 4. Cherubim in
classical art, which the
film portrays with many
similarities.
[Cite your source here.]
Figure 5. Putti in classical art,
which are used to display cherubim.
[Cite your source here.]
Figure 6. Cupid in classical art,
portrayed as a putto.
[Cite your source here.]
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Classical Cherubs vs. Historical Cherubim
Whether or not the move was intentional, the filmmakers depicted cherubim as they are
displayed in classical art, and not in historical contexts, which affected their impact in the film as
well as our understanding of them. The audience didnt see how cherubs were actually portrayed
in religion and mythology, or help us learn more about them. However, the audience connected
with the cute winged babies they knew and loved, and the image resonated with them. The
cherubs dont have a title in the film, so the only way to know that they were actually cherubs is
to be familiar with the popular modern idea of cherubs. If the filmmakers had decided to depict
them as the four-headed creatures from the Bible, then much of the audience might not have
known what they were, and they would not have provided as much emotional impact for the
film.
Although the series took some creative liberties and portrayed certain parts of history
inaccurately, the move ultimately ended in its favor. At the end of the first movie, Night at the
Museum, the night guard and his boss stand flabbergasted as people flock to the museum. A
similar event happens at the end of the sequel, Battle of the Smithsonian. This is parallel to the
real-life impact of the films, which included a 20 percent increase in museum tickets sold at the
real American Museum of Natural History in the holiday season following the first film
(Trivia). So the films, with all of their historical inaccuracies and loose interpretations, led to
an increased interest in history. They explored and brought exposure to historical concepts that
might not have been willingly investigated by the general public otherwise, and this provided
opportunities for that general public to further investigate the topics that they particularly
enjoyed. If the cherubs werent in the film, I wouldnt have researched their place in art and
religious history and understood the differences at all. For that reason, I support the arguments
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the film makes with its historical concepts, even if the arguments are swayed to align with
contemporary ideas. As an audience, we may not learn all the details correctly, but still, its a
step in the right direction.
















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Works Cited
Angel Cherubim Art. DeviantArt. N.p., 2011. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
Cherubim. Arabim Publications, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
Cherubim Meaning | Cherubim Etymology. Myth Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
Melina, Remy. How Handsome Cupid Became a Chubby Cherub. Live Science. N.p., n.d.
Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
Putti. Online Etymology Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
Putto. Brittanica.Com. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
Trivia. IMDb.com. International Movie Database, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
What are Cherubim? Are Cherubs Angels? GotQuestions.Org. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.