Critics have hailed its “breathtaking visuals” and “meticulous construction”, now the chance to see the original sets and figures from the Isle of Dogs movie has brought more than 3,000 people a day flocking to an exhibition in London.



The free exhibition, showing 17 sets from the film that was made in east London studios, has attracted more than 40,000 people since it opened on 23 March, with up to 400 people queuing round the block at any time.

The show is being hosted by The Store X, at 180 The Strand, who put it together with the film’s distributor, Fox Searchlight Pictures. It was due to close last Thursday but has been extended until Sunday, when it is expected the number through the door will have reached 50,000.

Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs uses stop-motion animation to tell the story a 12-year-old boy, Atari Kobayashi, and his search for his beloved dog Spots, which has been exiled along with all the other dogs from Megasaki City to Trash Island by the evil mayor, who is also Atari’s guardian.

Rex, left (played by Edward Norton), and Chief (Bryan Cranston). Photograph: Allstar/American Empirical Pictures

Tommy Tannock, of The Store X, said: “When I initially spoke to Wes’s team, they were excited by the idea of being able to give the film’s beautiful sets a second life as standalone artworks to enrich filmgoers’ experiences.

“From each little miniature Japanese newspaper to the delicate swirls on the dogs’ fur, it’s been such a joy providing a platform to share the meticulous detail the set designers and puppeteers went to in order to deliver Wes Anderson’s vision of Japan.”

The film was made with a team of 670 people, 240 sets and 1,097 puppets creating the 144,000 still frames.

Among the 17 sets on display are the Taiko drummers who open the film, Professor Watanabe’s Laboratory, Megasaki City, several Trash island scenes and Spots’ landing.

The Areal noodle bar, modelled on the one in the film frequented by Bill Murray’s character, Boss, and under the helm of a leading Japanese chef, Akira Shimizu, has sold nearly 3,000 bowls of ramen noodles, averaging 250 a day. “The chefs are exhausted,” Tannock said.

“Having previously lived in Tokyo and being a Japanese food-obsessive, it was an absolute dream to work with Akira Shimizu’s team and set up a fully-functioning ramen bar that was a replica of the one in the film.”

The Isle of Dogs exhibition is at The Store X – located at 180 The Strand, London, WC2R 1EA – until Sunday from 11am to 7pm, last entry at 6.30pm.