Did you see Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters at LACMA (August 1–November 27, 2016), Minneapolis Institute of Art (March 5–May 28, 2017), or Art Gallery of Ontario (September 30, 2017–January 7, 2018)? At LACMA, this exhibition brought long lines and excited fans who couldn't wait to take in the renowned director's collection of paintings, drawings, maquettes, artifacts, and concept film art. To celebrate del Toro's The Shape of Water, which has been nominated for 13 Academy Awards, we're diving into the archive.

Learn about the exhibition itself, as well as del Toro's passion for collecting, and how the LACMA presentation was designed. Read about the concept of monstrosity  and the history of monsters as well as alchemy and other motifs in del Toro's work. Check out how visitors responded to themes in the exhibition, and the personalized birthday messages fans sent del Toro in 2016. Filmmaking takes a village: we chatted with the director's collaborators, including special effects master Mike Elizalde (check out a behind-the-scenes clip of Doug Jones trying out the Angel of Death suit at the bottom of that post) and composer Gustavo Santaolalla.