TikToker Stunned After Visiting Wax Museum In Krakow Which Has Rather Controversial Exhibits, Sparks Massive Discussion Online
What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you say “wax figures”? Madame Tussauds, most likely, and then? Probably that old series of slasher horror films, which, nevertheless, are still perceived by many people as an absolute guilty pleasure to watch. But sometimes wax figures become a really funny thing…
For example, just take a look at this series of videos from influencer Becka Blackburn, who, after visiting the wax museum in the city of Krakow in Poland, was left with absolutely mixed feelings, but has amassed over 15M views on TikTok in return.
The influencer once visited a wax figure museum in Poland and left it with rather mixed feelings
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Most of the figures in the museum do not seem to look much like their real-life prototypes
So, the wax museum in Krakow is called Polonia and, according to their official website, has been successfully operating for more than a decade, and every month about ten thousand visitors come there to take pictures with wax copies of famous people and characters from popular culture.
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
However, how accurate are these copies? Just look, for example, at the figures of Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton. The heir to the British throne looks like he’s just read his brother Harry’s controversial memoir. But the late grandfather of the Prince of Wales, Prince Phillip of Edinburgh, on the contrary, looks much more beautiful than he was in life. Although, with regard to wax figures, here authenticity should prevail over beauty.
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
“Of course, there was a tradition back in the day when formal portraits of powerful people had to embellish their appearance,” says Alexey Shkurat, an artist and founder of Peach art studio, who was contacted by Bored Panda for a comment. “For example, if you look at the famous ceremonial portrait of the English king Henry VIII by Hans Holbein – yes, the very one who had six wives throughout his life, then he looks completely different there than he actually was. On the other hand, this tradition once backfired at him during matchmaking – after all, when one of the princesses arrived at the wedding, it turned out that she did not at all look like the ceremonial portrait that was sent to the groom, and with which he almost fell in love.”
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
“But portraits are exhibits for art museums, and people go to a waxwork museum primarily to take a selfie with a realistic copy of a celebrity. And if I take a picture, for example, with the figure of Donald Trump presented here, then later I will probably show this photo to friends, perhaps just in order to laugh heartily together. Although, there are quite a few pretty successful works here – for example, Mike Tyson looks quite realistic,” Alexey reasonably notes.
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
The museum’s official website, however, claims that “all wax figures are carefully made to give the smallest details”
The museum’s official website reads: “Famous politicians, clergy, athletes, actors, fictional characters. All wax figures are carefully made to give the smallest details and so that you can feel that they are really standing next to you. Don’t wait and check it out today.” We don’t know about famous people, but Harry Potter, seeing his wax figure, would definitely violate the ban on using the Cruciatus spell once again… At least it seems so to us.
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Interestingly, on Google, the reviews for this wax museum are quite high – from 3.5 to 5 stars. However, Rebecca Blackburn was hardly among those visitors who left a high mark. “Come with me to the worst wax museum in Poland,” the woman wrote in the description of the first of her TikTok videos. “I couldn’t tell if this was a real wax museum,” Blackburn captioned the post. “Wait until the end.”
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
Image credits: beckablackburn4
@beckablackburn4 I couldnt tell if this was a real wax museum 💀 wait until the end #krakow #krakow23 #poland #fail #funny #viral #waxmuseum ♬ Funny Song – Cavendish Music
People in the comments are cracking up at these wax figures as well, but are completely stunned by what they’ve done to the Avatar heroes
On the other hand, the commenters seem to have really enjoyed watching the videos – in the end, healthy laughter is always great. “They look like they were made from memory with no reference pictures,” one of the commenters noted. And, of course, almost everyone is completely outraged by what the unnamed Polish sculptor has done to the poor Na’Vi. “Nooooo, what did they do to Avatar!” folks in the comments unanimously moan. And what do you, dear readers, think about the exhibits of this museum?
There is a simple explanation for this. There was a fire, during which many of the wax figures melted. It was too expensive to replace them, so one lone employee turned to a life of crime. They went around the city, searching for people who somewhat vaguely resembled the lost figures, strangling them in their sleep and taking the bodies back to their secret lair, leaving a single wax flower behind at each crime scene. Once at their secret lair, the employee would embalm their victims and coat the bodies in a fine layer of wax to both preserve them and ensure that their skin felt like that of the remaining wax figures. They were then carefully placed in the museum under the cover of darkness. Several alterations were require for several of the "figures," hence their somewhat grotesque appearance.
Reminds me of my favorite cheesy 80s horror movie "Waxworks"
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The only one that looks like that person is the one of Mike Tyson. Otherwise the rest of them are scary AF!!
Mike Tyson is the only one that remotely resembles his namesake. Everything else, rando.
Mme Tussaud is the only one ever worth seeing, if you want accuracy. I honestly thought there was a little old lady resting on a chair, then realised she wasn't moving - it was Agatha Christie.
The smile was Jack Nicholson's Joker in Batman. Only one person can pull that off and that's Jack Nicholson.
Load More Replies... Agree both of these were as good as what I saw at Madame Tussaud’s in Hollywood. Not of the same individuals but quality wise.
Load More Replies...
There’s one in Brazil much worse!!!! Or the one I. Madrid is no prize either. There are good figures here!!! https://www.google.es/amp/s/www.lavanguardia.com/cribeo/fast-news/20210117/6182719/terrorifico-museo-cera-brasil-esta-dando-vuelta-mundo-peculiares-figuras.amp.html
OH MY GOODNESS I just scrolled through these and you're absolutely correct!! Those are hilariously terrifying! This wax museum is GREAT compared to those.
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Tyson is pretty good, and I think Audrey Hepburn looks beautiful even if it's not super accurate. But the wild swings in quality between the others raises some questions.
I'm not sure which is worse. That poor Marilyn's face or her grotesquely large boobage! Horrifying and entertaining stuff.
When you order Elvis but get Liberace and don't realize it until someone else points it out.
The most obvious mistake here is that it's supposed to be CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow
Honestly this is so bad that it's circled back to good territory. I'd have a blast here. 😂 That Mr. Bean legit startled me for some reason though.
These figures all look just like real people. Only, not the people they.re meant to represent, Seriously. Prince Phillip looks more like Anthony Hopkins, Lady Gaga looks more like Adam Sandler, Elvis looks like David Walliams, Trump like a slightly younger David Attenborough, and Jack Sparrow resembles Richard Chamberlain in a wig.
I love how Hermione has a Feng Shui book. I guess that was the closest thing to a magic book they could find 😁
WOW. Although Michael Jackson & Mike Tyson look pretty much spot on.
So some of them looked like realistic people. Just not the ones they were representing
Mj, Tyson, Gaga, Mr bean, all scary looking but look very much like them 😂
It's like someone showed them a photo once, and they had to use memory to make a bunch of shop window dummys look like the photo. ha ha ha ha
Holy C**p Batman 😳! "Hey Gustav let's buy a bunch of really bad store mannequins, slap some really cheesy wigs, make up and clothes on 'em and open a wax museum "! 😀 "Make lotsa money, yes?"
The Aubrey Hepburn and Tyson weren't terrible. The rest were a train wreck.
I think these figures are seen through the cultures' lenses. Only an amount of facial characters triggered the sculptors mind. For instance the figure that's supposed to be Kate. The sculptors eyes were drawn to her teeth. We all know Kate can smile all the time and seems as if she has more than 32 teeth. Also, the sculptor does not have what we call a " broad" vision. But the figure of Mike Tyson does resemble the man himself though. At least the facial.
Next time in Krakow, I got to go, way more important than any of that WWII stuff...
Prince William looks like he's passing a 6" diameter log. In fact, the whole royal family look awful
I kept it together until Prince William. Then I died 💀
I can't figure out how these all look so terrible, but then there's Tyson, who looks spectacular
It's like half of them look really realistic, and the other half looks like giant defective barbie dolls
Frankly, I thought the Mike Tyson one was "almost close." Many of the figures are very pretty. But they just don't look anything like the real people. Ya gotta give them credit for trying tho. Nobody's perfect. Apparently nobody's talented either. Prince William's wife looks more like Prince Harry's wife. Prince Phillip looks SO MUCH better in wax than he did in really life. Bwahahaha.
Talk about uneven quality. I'm going to put a decent wig shop in Krakow, I'll kick a*s.
Elvis looks like he is going to sell you a Time Share. William looks like he is smiling to hide pain like a sprained ankle. David Guetta looks like a screen shot from some weird movie that Nic Cage is in.
There is a simple explanation for this. There was a fire, during which many of the wax figures melted. It was too expensive to replace them, so one lone employee turned to a life of crime. They went around the city, searching for people who somewhat vaguely resembled the lost figures, strangling them in their sleep and taking the bodies back to their secret lair, leaving a single wax flower behind at each crime scene. Once at their secret lair, the employee would embalm their victims and coat the bodies in a fine layer of wax to both preserve them and ensure that their skin felt like that of the remaining wax figures. They were then carefully placed in the museum under the cover of darkness. Several alterations were require for several of the "figures," hence their somewhat grotesque appearance.
Reminds me of my favorite cheesy 80s horror movie "Waxworks"
Load More Replies... The only one that looks like that person is the one of Mike Tyson. Otherwise the rest of them are scary AF!!
Mike Tyson is the only one that remotely resembles his namesake. Everything else, rando.
Mme Tussaud is the only one ever worth seeing, if you want accuracy. I honestly thought there was a little old lady resting on a chair, then realised she wasn't moving - it was Agatha Christie.
The smile was Jack Nicholson's Joker in Batman. Only one person can pull that off and that's Jack Nicholson.
Load More Replies... Agree both of these were as good as what I saw at Madame Tussaud’s in Hollywood. Not of the same individuals but quality wise.
Load More Replies... There’s one in Brazil much worse!!!! Or the one I. Madrid is no prize either. There are good figures here!!! https://www.google.es/amp/s/www.lavanguardia.com/cribeo/fast-news/20210117/6182719/terrorifico-museo-cera-brasil-esta-dando-vuelta-mundo-peculiares-figuras.amp.html
OH MY GOODNESS I just scrolled through these and you're absolutely correct!! Those are hilariously terrifying! This wax museum is GREAT compared to those.
Load More Replies... Tyson is pretty good, and I think Audrey Hepburn looks beautiful even if it's not super accurate. But the wild swings in quality between the others raises some questions.
I'm not sure which is worse. That poor Marilyn's face or her grotesquely large boobage! Horrifying and entertaining stuff.
When you order Elvis but get Liberace and don't realize it until someone else points it out.
The most obvious mistake here is that it's supposed to be CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow
Honestly this is so bad that it's circled back to good territory. I'd have a blast here. 😂 That Mr. Bean legit startled me for some reason though.
These figures all look just like real people. Only, not the people they.re meant to represent, Seriously. Prince Phillip looks more like Anthony Hopkins, Lady Gaga looks more like Adam Sandler, Elvis looks like David Walliams, Trump like a slightly younger David Attenborough, and Jack Sparrow resembles Richard Chamberlain in a wig.
I love how Hermione has a Feng Shui book. I guess that was the closest thing to a magic book they could find 😁
WOW. Although Michael Jackson & Mike Tyson look pretty much spot on.
So some of them looked like realistic people. Just not the ones they were representing
Mj, Tyson, Gaga, Mr bean, all scary looking but look very much like them 😂
It's like someone showed them a photo once, and they had to use memory to make a bunch of shop window dummys look like the photo. ha ha ha ha
Holy C**p Batman 😳! "Hey Gustav let's buy a bunch of really bad store mannequins, slap some really cheesy wigs, make up and clothes on 'em and open a wax museum "! 😀 "Make lotsa money, yes?"
The Aubrey Hepburn and Tyson weren't terrible. The rest were a train wreck.
I think these figures are seen through the cultures' lenses. Only an amount of facial characters triggered the sculptors mind. For instance the figure that's supposed to be Kate. The sculptors eyes were drawn to her teeth. We all know Kate can smile all the time and seems as if she has more than 32 teeth. Also, the sculptor does not have what we call a " broad" vision. But the figure of Mike Tyson does resemble the man himself though. At least the facial.
Next time in Krakow, I got to go, way more important than any of that WWII stuff...
Prince William looks like he's passing a 6" diameter log. In fact, the whole royal family look awful
I kept it together until Prince William. Then I died 💀
I can't figure out how these all look so terrible, but then there's Tyson, who looks spectacular
It's like half of them look really realistic, and the other half looks like giant defective barbie dolls
Frankly, I thought the Mike Tyson one was "almost close." Many of the figures are very pretty. But they just don't look anything like the real people. Ya gotta give them credit for trying tho. Nobody's perfect. Apparently nobody's talented either. Prince William's wife looks more like Prince Harry's wife. Prince Phillip looks SO MUCH better in wax than he did in really life. Bwahahaha.
Talk about uneven quality. I'm going to put a decent wig shop in Krakow, I'll kick a*s.
Elvis looks like he is going to sell you a Time Share. William looks like he is smiling to hide pain like a sprained ankle. David Guetta looks like a screen shot from some weird movie that Nic Cage is in.
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