 |
The Hogwarts Castle model used to film the Harry Potter
movies fills a large room on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour on the outskirts of
London. (Photo by Kathy Haynes)
|
Magical world comes to life
By Mike Haynes
As a friend
flicked through my wife’s smartphone photos of the London Warner Bros. Studio
Tour, the friend – a woman about 50 years old – instantly recognized pictures
of movie costumes.
“That’s Bellatrix,”
she said of a mannequin wearing a brown outfit and long, unruly brown hair.
“Lucius Malfoy,” she said at the sight of a dark, padded jacket with a long,
blond wig above it.
And of
course, at the appearance of a flowing, light green robe, her reaction was, “Voldemort.”
Amarillo
resident Marianne’s delight at images from “The Making of Harry Potter,” the
huge exhibit at the Leavesden Studios in England, was a reminder that the good wizard
isn’t just for kids. You also can ask friend Keitha, a 40-something from Happy
whose eyes brightened at pictures of the “cupboard under the stairs” and the
Gryffindor Common Room.
Kathy and I
took the tour last month. Anyone with the slightest interest in J.K. Rowling’s
books or the movies they spawned – or anyone fascinated by moviemaking – should
consider buying a ticket if they’re anywhere near London.
 |
The movie set of Diagon Alley, the shopping area for wizards
and witches, fills with fans on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour on the edge of
London.
|
But short
of meeting Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, the London studio tour
is the closest thing to being a part of Harry Potter.
Visitors
actually walk into the Great Hall, one of several actual sets from the movies,
striding between the long tables with place settings for Hogwarts students. A
guide points up to light fixtures and scaffolding that, in the films, were
replaced digitally with floating candles and the Enchanted Ceiling.
Two
cavernous soundstages have been converted into permanent display areas for
thousands of props – such as Harry’s Nimbus 2000 broom – pieces of sets – such
as Hagrid’s hut – and areas where kids can ride a broom in front of a green
screen or practice magic wand moves.
 |
Visitors can walk across the Hogwarts Bridge, which was
digitally lengthened in the Harry Potter movies, during the Warner Bros. Studio
Tour just outside London. The bridge appeared in the films but not in J.K.
Rowling’s books.
|
Outside the
studio, visitors can board the skinny, purple Knight Bus, whose sign says, “All
Destinations – Nothing Underwater.” They can walk across the Hogwarts Bridge,
which in the movies extended several hundred yards but in real life is maybe 20
yards long. And they can stand at the door of 4 Privet Drive, Harry’s childhood
home.
The tour is
laid out well. After spending as much time as you want in the two soundstages
and the courtyard – where you can pose with giant chess pieces from the first
film – Kathy and I walked through an exhibit of paper and cardboard production
models of the bridge, the Weasleys’ house and Hogwarts castle. Kathy rounded
the next turn before me and called back, “Wait ’til you see this.”
 |
| The Warner Bros. Studio Tour near London features props, costumes and wigs such as these for the characters of (front) Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley and (back) the Bloody Baron ghost and Luna Lovegood. |
“The Making
of Harry Potter” has been open since 2012, and even the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge (Will and Kate to those not up on royal titles) made an official
visit this April complete with a wand “fight.”
For anyone
seeing the serious historical sights of London, it’s worth a half-day’s magical
diversion.
If You Go...
Warner
Bros. Studio Tour: “The Making of Harry Potter”
Studio Tour Drive
Leavesden
WD25 7LR
(near Watford Junction train station, outskirts
of London)
Phone:
011 44 08450 840 900
Adults
(age 16 and up), 29 British pounds (about $45)
Children
(ages 5 to 15) 21.5 British pounds (about $33)
Age 4 and
under: free but ticket required
