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Ali Valerio
Dr. Marinara
ENC 3315
8 October 2014
Fun at the Museum: How Film Explores History
The entertainment industry has always had a lot to say about history. Whether through
documentaries, educational shows, or narrative films based off of true stories, cinema and
television have allowed us to experience the past in a new way. History is incorporated into their
storylines; they use historical settings, characters, and events as the basis for a plot. Perhaps no
film series has done this to such a degree as the Night at the Museum movies. Here, history is
absolutely pivotal, as most of the characters and events come right out of history itself. Through
various characters, texts, images, dialogue, and physical artifacts, history in these movies
(literally) comes to life.
In Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, classical art is included in that history,
it plays a role in the form of three cherubs. While we only know cherubs as cute winged babies
in popular culture, they appear throughout theology, mythology, and classical art as something
different. In fact, our modern idea of cherubs is actually a combination of concepts from different
eras and cultures in history. In my essay I will analyze the portrayal of the cherubs in the movie,
their classical counterparts, how they have been manipulated using contemporary ideas, and how
that manipulation has affected our understanding of them.

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Cherubs in the Movie: Cute Baby Cupids
In the successful family film Night
at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, a
museum night guard teams up with
historical figures like Sacagawea and Teddy
Roosevelt to take back a stolen tablet, one
Cherubs in film.

has the power to make museum exhibits

come to life. The cherubs are three chubby
baby angel boys 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

Larry Daley and Amelia Earhart.

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
song 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 voices behind the
cherubs in the movie. If you look closely, you can see that the faces of the cherubs are even
slightly modeled after them.
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

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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 thought of as a plump
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. The cherubs are portrayed here as humorous,
light-hearted, casual characters. The modern visuals, contemporary language (lyrics), and
romantic argument that the cherubim make in this film contrast starkly with the cherubs in
theology, mythology, and classical art.
Cherubs in History: Terrifying Beasts (And not Cupid)

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The original cherubs primarily have their roots in Jewish,
Christian, and Islamic religions. The proper plural form of the word
is cherubim, and this is how the word appears in the Hebrew Bible.
For clarity, I will address the original cherubim properly, and refer
to those in the film as cherubs. In the Bible they are depicted as
angelic beings who guard the knowledge of God (or in Islam, Allah)
and
Genesis, the

Cherubim in the
Bible.

continuously praise him (What are Cherubim). In

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
Cherubim in
Babylonian art.

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).
(De-)Evolution of the Cherubim
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 15th century, artists began to use putti to portray cherubim. They represented innocence and
love, and they were later portrayed with bows and arrows, which brings Cupid into the story

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(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 uses his arrows to force humans to fall in love,
helping his mother stay powerful (Melina). Over time, Cupid was represented as a putto
(Putto). The original cherubim in theology and mythology,
the putti from the Renaissance period, and Cupid from Roman
mythology are all ideas that combined together to create
cherubs as we understand them in popular culture. Today,
Putti in Classical Art.

society associates cherubim, putti, and Cupid almost

interchangeably. Clearly, however, they are not the same.

Cherubim in classical theology do not appear as putti in classical art, and they do not represent
love as Cupid in mythology does.

Movie Cherubs vs. Classical Cherubim

The makers of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
chose to depict cherubim as they are portrayed in popular culture, and
not as they
mythology,

are displayed in theology,

Cupid in Classical
Art.

and classical art. This affected the impact their presence

had on the film as well as the audiences understanding of them. The audience wasnt exposed to
the original, historical cherubim, and as a result didnt learn anything new about them. However,
the audience connected with the cute winged babies they knew and loved, and the image
resonated with them. The cherubs arent mentioned by name 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

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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
otherwise might not have been willingly investigated by the general public. This provided
opportunities for those people to further investigate the topics that they particularly enjoyed. If
the modern-day cherubs werent in the film, I wouldnt have researched their place in classical
art, theology, and mythology, and I wouldnt have understood the differences at all. For that
reason, I support the arguments 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 in Babylonian Art. Digital image. AmazingCatechists.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept.
2014.
Cherubim in the Bible. Digital image. MostHolyFaith.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
Cherubim Meaning | Cherubim Etymology. Myth Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
Cherubs in film. Digital image. Blu-rayDefinition.com. N.p., 2008. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.

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Cupid in Classical Art. Digital image. PrettyClever.co.uk. N.p., 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 27 Sept.
2014.
Larry Daley and Amelia Earhart. Digital image. Blu-rayDefinition.com. N.p., 2008. Web. 27
Sept.
2014.
Melina, Remy. How Handsome Cupid Became a Chubby Cherub. Live Science. N.p., n.d.
Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Dir. Shawn Levy. Prod. Shawn Levy,
Columbus, and Michael Barnathan. By Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. Perf.
Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, and Owen Wilson. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., 2009.
DVD.
Putti. Online Etymology Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
Putti in Classical Art. Digital image. MichelineWalker.com. N.p., 2 Feb. 2013. 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.

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