[7] The museum attracted 26,000 visitors a year[8] but closed its doors at Little Russell Street in late 2018, forced out by a substantial rent increase.

[10] One of the first exhibitions was titled "Comic Creators: The Famous and the Forgotten", featuring classic cartoons such as Billy Bunter, Jonah, Desperate Dan, Dennis the Menace and Judge Dredd.

[11] The collection spans 300 years of cartoons, beginning with the Georgian "Golden Age of Caricature",[12] including James Gillray and George Cruikshank.

[13] In the early Eighteenth century British travellers to Europe on the Grand Tour brought back Italian caricatura, introducing polite society to the new art form.

[19] Previous exhibitions have included Ronald Searle, Pont, Fougasse, Rowland Emett, The Beano and The Dandy, Mike Williams, Mel Calman, cartoons from private London clubs, Viz, Alice in Sunderland (Bryan Talbot), Robert Dighton, Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher and Spitting Image.

Leading cartoonists and filmmakers have produced artworks in homage to Searle and written pieces, including Steve Bell, Roger Law, Mike Leigh, Uli Meyer, Arnold Roth, Martin Rowson, Gerald Scarfe, Posy Simmonds and Ralph Steadman.

[citation needed] In September 2023 the Cartoon Museum will host an exhibition celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Aardman Animation's short film The Wrong Trousers.

[20] The museum runs a learning programme for primary and secondary schools in a range of subjects, including art, media, history, English and animation.