IT’S ‘lights, cameras, sea monsters, action!’ as Irvine’s maritime museum screens its first ever film season beginning with a screening of Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ on Sunday, August 14.

The event on Sunday, August 14 will give visitors the chance to experience the magic of some of the best loved sea and sea monster movies within the stunning setting of the vast and atmospheric Victorian Linthouse.

The season of monster screening is one of the highlights of the Scottish Maritime Museum’s bumper events programme celebrating the new summer blockbuster exhibition, ‘Sea Monsters!’.

The six film screenings – which include the classics ‘20,000 Leagues under the Sea’, ‘Splash!’ and ‘Deep Blue Sea’ up to more recent films, the critically acclaimed ‘The Shape of Water’ and the animated ‘Luca’ – will run every second Sunday until the end of the ‘Sea Monsters!’ exhibition on October 31.

Bilyana Palankasova, exhibition and events officer at the Scottish Maritime Museum, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome visitors to our unique movie experience and our first ever film season.

“It’s going to be a fabulous immersive experience for our visitors who can enjoy one of these much-loved films against the unique setting of the Linthouse as well as dive into the deep blue with our popular, family-friendly ‘Sea Monsters!’ exhibition.

“We want everyone to have an authentic movie experience, so we’ll even have popcorn and refreshments on sale!”

The film screenings will be free with a standard admission ticket for the day of the screening. As usual, up to three children visit for free with each adult/concession admission.

The Scottish Maritime Museum expects seats to fill up quickly so early booking is highly recommended. Tickets can be booked through the website or in person at the Linthouse on Harbour Road, Irvine.

The film season has been made possible by the support of the Museum and Galleries Scotland (MGS) Museums Recovery Fund, which has enabled the Scottish Maritime Museum to purchase a 3m by 4m film screen and run the jam-packed Come and Sea Us! event programme.

Come and Sea Us! activities include Little Sea Monsters sessions for under fives, Sea Monsters Make and Takes and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) sessions for all ages and Art Workshops and a week-long Sea Monster Theatre Workshop for over tens.

The Scottish Maritime Museum’s ‘Sea Monsters!’ exhibition celebrates the fantastical and mythical sea creatures of Scottish legend and maritime mythology across the world.

FILM SCREENINGS

14 August Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989)

The animated story of the mermaid princess Ariel who dreams of a life on land and falls for a human prince….

28 August Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Working on a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, Russel Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) and his team of scientists meet their match as intelligent sharks begin to fight back in this riveting science fiction horror film….

11 September Splash (1983)

This classic romcom follows mermaid Madison (Daryl Hannah) and the young boy she rescues (Tom Hanks) as they reunite in New York….

25 September The Shape of Water (2018)

Romance fantasy or monster thriller? A mute janitor at a high-security government laboratory becomes entranced with an amphibian creature and helps him escape….

9 October Luca (2021)

An animated coming of age story as young sea monster Luca dives into a summer adventure as he makes human friends on the Italian Riviera….

30 October 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1954)

One of the first feature films shot in CinemaScope and personally produced by Walt Disney, this enduring high adventure follows antihero Captain Nemo (James Mason), whaler Ned Land (Kirk Douglas) and the crew of the mysterious submarine Nautilus….