The day of movie wizardry had finally arrived! This morning we were off
to do the Harry Potter Studio Tour. The trip took us out of London, so we took
an above ground Express train direct to Watford. The Studio had brilliant
double decker purple buses, reminiscent of the Knight Bus, to take us over from
the station. I made my Mum listen to Harry and the Potters, Harry Potter
tribute band, on the way over. She didn’t enjoy the music, but I love them!
Upon arrival we visited the gift shop as our tour had yet to start. It
was pure madness with kids running all over the place since a school had brought
all their students on a “back to school” field trip. They were rather adorable
as their excitement and wonderment were infectious. I must’ve looked just like
them as I was grinning ear to ear the minute I walked in the door. The things
they have for sale are simply amazing. I must give them credit for creating
excellent replicas keeping in mind budgets for different people. Everything was
available from original prints of concept drawings, school textbooks,
jewellery, costumes, props, brooms, candy, and so much more. I spoke with one
of the sales ladies and she said the studio tried to create two versions of the
most iconic pieces from the film. One that kids could easily buy and parents
wouldn’t worry about them breaking, and high quality replica pieces adults and
collectors could enjoy.
Our tour started outside the actual
cupboard under the stairs used in the film. It thought it was amazing to see
just that one piece. Little did I know how much more excited my Mum and I would
be in only a few more minutes! A tour guide gave us the riot act on what we
could and couldn’t do before we were sat down to watch a short film on the
making of the Harry Potter films. At the end of the film the screen rose up to
reveal the doors to the Great Hall set.
Anyone who had a birthday was asked to
come up and open the huge doors together lucky them. I literally got chills up
and down my spine as they opened the doors revealing the great hall beyond. It
was a definite piece of magic as the Hall was lit up and they had the theme
music from the movies playing as you walked in. The Hall is set up with
costumes displays of each Hogwarts house along with the long house tables seen
in the movies. Actors and crew were encouraged to graffiti the tables to make
them look more authentic. At the
Gryffindor table you can see pieces carved in by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson,
and Rupert Grint. The front of the Hall had more costumes set up representing
the teachers and staff at Hogwarts. I think I took over 50 pictures just in the
Great Hall along there was so much to look at.
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| Drinks table set up for the Triwizard Ball in the Goblet of Fire |
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| Table set up for the Triwizard Ball in the Goblet of Fire. |
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| Due to filing constraints the beds didn't get any larger as the boys grew older. In the later movies their legs stuck out over the edges by a good foot or so. This was covered up with clever shooting. |
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| In scenes with the Fat Lady you can actually see someone's feet at the bottom swinging the portrait open and close |
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| The common room has a real staircase which connects the boys and girls dormitories |
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| The revolving staircase actually went 12 feet down into the ground so they could have it move up and down |
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| This door actually works! No CGI was used to show it opening in the Chamber of Secrets |
After the Great Hall we moved on to the
other sets saved along with props, more costumes, and other bits saved from the
movie. I won’t go into detail about all of that as it’d take far too long.
Needless to say it was incredible. Every step brought with it amazing new
sights and bits of knowledge about the movies. My Mum and I were walking around
in a bit of a daze as there was just so much to say. Our initial tour lady said
the record for spending time at the studio tour is 13 hours! I can see why as
our 4 hours spent there seemed very short. One of my favourite bits of information was that all of the portraits used in the movies are based on crew members. Each crew and cast member also has their own wand box with their name on it in the replica of Ollivander's Wand Shop.
Leaving the sets and props area we got
to pretend we were flying a broomstick with the magic of green screen. Each
person got a set of robes and spent a few minutes pretending to fly through London
and Hogwarts. My Mum and I bought pictures of us flying since they turned out
really good. It was tons of fun pretending to fly. I was impressed that they
even had a fan to make it look like your hair was blowing in the wind. There must've been 50 people in line at a time, but it took us less than ten minutes
to get through.
Our next stop was the back lot to see
some more sets and for a sweet drinkable treat, Butter Beer! Butter Beer was a
delicious foamy concoction that tasted a bit like root beer, buttery
shortbread, and caramel. Even my Mum who doesn’t have a sweet tooth enjoyed the
taste. I thought the foam was particularly good as it has the texture of
whipped cream. Warner Brothers had marketing geniuses when they thought up the
idea to serve Butter Beer. It was simply delicious. Outside in the back lot
they have the Knight Bus, Harry’s parents’ house, the Riddle grave marker, 4
Privet Drive, and chess pieces from the giant set at the end of the first
movie. We found out that the chess pieces were rigged to move and explode if
required for their scenes.
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| Hmm Butter Beer |
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| Riddle Grave Marker |
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| Knight Bus Interior |
Next we moved into the makeup and
creature department. On display were foam and latex pieces to morph people into
monsters, dwarves, trolls, and other fantastical creatures. The two most
impressive creatures in my mind were Fawkes the Phoenix and Buckbeak the
Hippogriff. Each of Fawkes’s feathers was hand painted to create the perfect
silhouette and it was stunning. Buckbeak on the other hand was a marvel of
animatronics. Following a short video with Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick)
and one of the creature creators they had Buckbeak move, blink, and flap his
wings. If I hadn’t known any better I would’ve said it was a real animal as the
details were so incredible.
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| Actual character pieces used on actors |
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| Animatronic Buckbeak |
Moving on we came to Diagon Alley
exactly as it was in the film. Somehow my Mum and I had reached a lull in
people so I was able to take pictures without too many people around. Walking
down Diagon Alley made me feel the way I did when I first saw it on film. I had
the same wondrous expression on my Harry does when Hagrid takes him there for
the first time. The only thing that could've made it cooler was if they had a
replica cart ride in Gringots bank.
The tour conveniently ended in the gift shop, of course, where I'm afraid I purchased quite
a few things. I did buy a few things for others including the replica Time Turner for one of my best friends Amanda, just as she asked. My Halloween costume this year will most definitely be Harry Potter themed thanks to my purchases.
After a glorious day filled with movie magic
we headed back to London to see The Lion King musical at the Lyceum Theatre.
The theatre was gorgeous with beautifully painted ceilings and carved balcony
boxes. The musical was also visually gorgeous with fantastically imagined
costumes and sets. I think I paid more attention to the costumes then I did the
show as they were that unique and beautiful. My favourite part had to be Zazu
played using a puppet. The puppet was beautiful and used expertly to create
hilarious expressions.
We also had a lovely dinner in an Italian restaurant after the show up in Leicester Square. The food was excellent and exactly what we needed after a long day wandering through the Harry Potter studio.
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