Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter is the ultimate monument to the biggest movie series of all time and a must for every Harry Potter fan. Set in the colossal studios where all eight of the Potter films were shot is an astonishing collection of props, costumes and sets that will amaze even the most apathetic of visitors. Opening in spring 2012, the tour took less than a year to attract a million visitors and the numbers are far from dwindling. Situated just outside of London, the nearest station to the tour is Watford Junction, a 20 minute train ride from London Euston. Prices are fixed throughout the year at £35 for adults and £27 for under 16 year olds, with packages available for families. Tickets must be booked in advance. An audio guide is available to hire, narrated by Draco Malfoy actor, Tom Felton. At the end of the tour is a vast gift shop offering a vast range of merchandise including a number of items exclusive to the tour.
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The Studio Tour regularly hosts special events and activities to coincide with public and school holidays. See below for MuggleNet’s exclusive reviews of these features.
Always seeking to best themselves, the WB Studio’s latest feature is a real treat to behold. Established in time for the British Easter holidays, Feathers and Flight takes you behind the scenes on the series’ delights and once again, MuggleNet were given the opportunity to take a look around.
The Great Hall, the tour’s grand beginning, has been decked out with a cracking Hogwarts breakfast, laden with toast, jugs of orange juice and boxes of Cheeri Owls and ready for the morning owl post. Across the hall, hovering above a Ravenclaw costume, is one of the brooms ridden by the twins during their spectacular escape from the Umbridge regime in the Order of the Phoenix.
Further into Soundstage J is a small feature on Rita Skeeter and her Quick Quotes Quill. Perched on a notepad, the details of this animatronic device are explained in an fabulously dated video – judging by Matt Lewis and Tom Felton’s chosen hairstyles! However it does detail the three week building process for the device and demonstrate how it was controlled, which is quite similar to that behind a remote control car.
The rest of the sound stage is largely unchanged. However such is the magic of this exhibition, that you are never quite sure if certain items are genuinely new or you simply missed them last time. I, for one, am convinced that I have never seen the Inquisitorial Squad badge on Draco Malfoy’s costume before or the intriguing bird skull necklace on the Bellatrix mannequin.
Outside in the backlot, Feathers and Flight truly comes alive as you are introduced to some of the film’s animal actors. Once again, a handsome white owl is perched atop the Privet Drive sign, ready for selfies with Hedwig! Sandwiched in-between Privet Drive and the Potter’s Godric’s Hollow cottage, are a series of flying demos. Taking place every half an hour, they are worth any time spent waiting.
First up is a large eagle owl, one of the two used in the films. Sixteen years of age and 2kg in weight, the owl did its best to demonstrate its movie training. The trick, taking a letter in its beak and delivering to the trainer a few feet away, can take up to six months to teach and a week to forget. This dimwittedness is in stark comparison to the next featured performer, a raven. These lethal-looking birds can learn the same tricks as an owl in just a week. The raven present appeared to be closer in behavior to a dog, than any bird we had previously witnessed. It fetched sticks when thrown for it and even jumped a few inches in the air when commanded. To finish up the session up, a charming little tawny owl was brought out, dozing gracefully on it’s trainer’s arm.
Moving into sound stage K and Potter featherologist, Val Jones, and her team are on hand to demonstrate the feather making process. Using real goose feathers, each feather is dyed (yellow for Fawkes, grey for Buckbeak etc.) before the details are individually painted by handed. The feathers are then trimmed to the appropriate size and sewn onto a stretching fabric, giving the illusion of a living animal once placed on the animatronic substitute. Given this detailed approach, the creation of these models for the Harry Potter films was a lengthly process: the owls took around a month, three Buckbeaks took 8 weeks, whilst three Fawkes tool the best part of five months. Still, a spectacular site when complete. But all too soon it is time to leave, although not before stocking up on Peppermint Toads from the shop!
Feathers and Flight is a brilliant addition to the existing exhibition and will be appreciated by new and previous attendees alike. It is also a thrilling reminder of just how much care and attention went into making these films, instilling yet more enthusiasm for what is in store with the Fantastic Beasts films!
Feathers and Flight continues until April 27th, 2014 whilst Wand Week will run from May 23rd to June 2nd.
Report by MuggleNet Staff Member, Claire Furner
It has been exactly a year since Warner Bros. welcomed its legions of fans over the threshold of the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.
Since the star-studded Grand Opening last March, the tour has won over the hearts of fans and critics alike with its all-access insight into bringing this iconic story to life. Its only only fitting then that they should celebrate their birthday in style and MuggleNet was on hand to witness the many treats on offer.
The first treat of the day, were the 1st Year Anniversary badges being handed out to every visitor. Then one lucky person from each group was being offered limited edition prizes at the start of the tour whilst everyone else was promised more prizes and surprises as they made their way through the tour, speaking with the incredibly knowledgable interactors. However the taster that peaked our interest was the offer to visit Hagrid’s hut (invisibility cloak optional). As we arrived, we were treated with the very special appearance of the true Potter trio: Hedwig, Pigwidgeon, and Crookshanks.
We were also fortunate enough to have a quick with with the brilliant Julie Tottman, animal trainer on all eight of the Potter films, which is featured below.
After these exciting tidbits, we were once again allowed to enjoy the wonders of the tour at our leisure before diving head first into the gift shop. For any Quidditch players out there, it is worth noting that the tour has released a whole range of sports merchandise including Quaffles and Bludgers as well as House branded kits.
So One Year On and the WB Studio Tour is as fantastic as ever. After celebrating their millionth ticket sale at the end of the last year, you would be forgiven for thinking things may have slowed down. On the contrary however, neither of us in attendance today have seen the place quite so busy despite having five previous visits between us; further proof that the magic of Potter will live on for many years to come.
Report by MuggleNet Staff Member, Claire Furner
The WB Studio Tour is always a fantastic day out but during school holidays they pull out all the stops to make a child’s dreams come true. For fans, this means extra behind-the-scenes information and fun-filled interactivity that brings the magic alive alongside the regular superb tour. This week it’s Wand Week, with a variety of wand themed activities around the site. In the entrance you’ll find a host to the tour explaining that there are special adventures you will see this week only, helping to build the excitement before you go near the tour itself.
When I visited shortly before Christmas last year, the holiday decorations made the expansive buildings look festive and homely. The tour stayed closed for two extra days over the holiday, taking these decorations down and used the time to fix up the regular tour to cast ‘Scourgify’ and ‘Reparo’ on a few items and make it look perfect for the movie-loving visitors. This included taking a layer of dust from Hogwarts castle so the fantastic set looks like a beautiful and colorful castle in spring rather than hidden under a slight snow – much like the rest of the country. It is now looking lovely so well done to everyone who worked as hard as house-elves over the break.
Additional areas in this week’s tour include an extended work station beside the usual ‘wand wheel’ where a wand crafter from the films is on hand to explain how each of the three types of wand are made. You can watch as a wooden wand is carved, see the moulds used to create resin versions and see the rubber wands that are less likely to cause damage if someone attacks you with Expelliarmus! Each character had their own wand design, which were influenced by the actors themselves, so look out for your favorite and see if you can find links to their characters.
Further along you’ll find a brilliant interactive station where Paul Harris, the wand choreographer from the films, will teach you the five principal movements in any wizards duel. You can then test what you’ve learnt if you come across one of the super-scary Death Eaters that are stalking the grounds. If you don’t take part yourself, do take the time to watch as there’s nothing better than the smiles on children’s faces as they learn the stances and flicks for their own magical battles.
In Diagon Alley you can see Ollivander’s robes on display in the doorway of his shop and find out how the wands you’ve seen be created were used alongside the special effects within the films. From light-up tips to full bulbs that can light Harry, the Map and an entire corridor in Prisoner of Azkaban, the SFX team has set up magical effects that mean a lucky few can cast their own spell with a swish and a flick right there by Gringotts Bank.
If you get a chance to see the tour this week, I hope you have a magical experience as I did, and if not the standard tour is a must see for any Potter fan and should not be missed!
A very big thank you to Rowena, Emily and the rest of the fantastic Studio Tour team!
Report by MuggleNet Staff Member, Rosie Morris
Arriving at the WB Studio Tour this Christmas is like walking into a winter wonderland, with beautiful giant Christmas trees welcoming you as soon as you step through the door. The amazing tree in the entrance hall is so huge it can only have been put there by Hagrid (Though it was actually installed and decorated by dedicated staff in the small hours of the morning.)
We were lucky enough to be invited to the tour to see the new winter decorations on the day they were celebrating the one millionth guest to the site. The family of four, appropriately enough from the town of Dudley, were greeted by Mark Williams who had just been around the tour to celebrate his daughter’s birthday. He presented them with a Nimbus 2000 and a goody bag of merchandise, making their family day out that little bit more unexpectedly magical!
The tour itself has been tweaked and changed since we last visited close to the opening in April. The Christmas decorations will be there all season, so if you have a chance to visit before February do go and see all of the hard work that the staff have put in! There are other small changes that have been made on the basis of visitor comments, the queues for a Broomstick photo are now much shorter for instance and the bridge to Hogwarts is now open so that visitors can walk across. Even without these changes there is always so much detail that taking the tour for the second time was no less interesting and revealing than the first!
The main attraction today however were the glorious christmas fittings that have been added to four key sets on the tour. The set designers from the movies, Stephanie McMillan and Rosie Goodwin were involved in designing and overseeing the decorations, as well as John Richardson, the head of Special Effects.
On entering the Great Hall you are now greeted with a magnificent Christmas feast, with eight giant trees adorned with golden stars, moons and birds, and the occasional witch that you can see in the movies flying around the top of the tree. The fireplace holds a large wreath, surrounding the Hogwarts crest, and the tables are decked with the most delicious array of Christmas goods! In the movie some of these were real dishes, but for obvious reasons these have been replaced with resin platters which still look good enough to eat. Take a look at both tables for the full array of marvels, with the left covered in roasts and the right with desserts!
The gigantic christmas puddings were used in the films and contained gas canisters that allowed the puddings to flame non-stop throughout filming. My personal favorites were the Christmas cakes with adorable snowmen in school uniform sat on the top. Each section still holds the uniforms of a house, and the tables have been laid with house crackers to add to the appeal.
As you go through the tour you find the Gryffindor House has also been decorated for the season. We spoke to the wonderful staff who explained that the decorations in the house are designed to make it look like the students have decorated it themselves, with handmade paper garlands and tinsel everywhere! The tree beside the fireplace is covered in Red and Gold skulls, which seem like a strange choice for a holiday decoration but I really want some for my tree! The handmade cards scattered around the rooms are so detailed they even include messages such as ‘To Harry, Merry Christmas from Hagrid and Fang’ though you can’t see the insides from the barriers. A sneaky Gryffindor student has even put a bunch of mistletoe atop the archway to the dormitories, so be aware of where you’re saying goodnight as you head up to bed! These decorations are a mixture of those seen in the first and the fourth films and definitely look like a warm and welcoming christmas in he Gryffindor tower.
Further along and we find that the Burrow has also had a holiday makeover. The curtains are closed to block out the winter weather and the table is set to a point between the main course and dessert, perhaps Harry and the Weasley’s have stepped out for a game of Quidditch to work off the impressive meal. Ginny, an appropriately named staff member, told us more about the set, explaining that the half eaten turkey on the side table was originally an actual turkey that the cast were told to eat before a resin cast was taken of the remnants leaving an incredibly lifelike and hunger-inducing dish on show. The crackers have been pulled and the nuts cracked, but the cake has yet to be eaten so it feels like you could sit down at the table yourself and join in the Weasleys’ celebrations.
When walking around the building, make sure you do stop to ask the staff about the sets! The audio tour with Tom Felton is brilliant but asking the interactors adds a new dimension of detail to the already packed experience. There are so many anecdotes and tidbits they can supply about individual places and props, it helps to bring the sets to life with real personality.
The final addition to the tour is in Diagon Alley, where the SFX department has set out Harry’s footprints in the snow from Hogsmede in Prisoner of Azkaban. Hidden under the cloak, all we see are Harry’s footprints appearing as he walks and these are actually animatronic! Each footprint descends as you watch, one by one as if Harry were walking past!
Overall, the Christmas tour is even more magical than usual and well worth a visit! Thank you to WB and the staff members who made our day so brilliant and thank you to the dedicated staff members who stayed up through the night after closing to make the special holiday makeover possible! It’s brilliant to see Harry’s world at Christmas and I’m definitely ready for the holidays now!
Report by MuggleNet Staff Members, Claire Furner, and Rosie Morris
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