Thursday, March 10, 2016

The Incredible World of Harry Potter

Last week we had some dear friends who we knew from our church in Stockholm come and spend a few days of their winter break with us. Their 8 year son is a big Harry Potter fan (as is their older son too!) so the main point of the visit was to go to Warner Bros. Studios here in London and see where the movies were filmed. I have read all 7 books but only seen a couple of the films. Doug is not so familiar with these stories but the film making process was interesting to him. Tanner wanted to go but had to settle for his best Harry impression at home. So off we went, all 6 of us crammed in the car, traveling across the English countryside!
We were not disappointed! The studio tour is awesome and it's really fun to step into these places that have been recreated from the book onto a film set. It all starts in Harry's room under the stairs on Privet Dr. I especially loved how they showed the progression of the child actors and how they grew throughout the process.
The small robe on the left is Daniel Radcliffe's first!
The green pot stirred itself.
I loved the potions room set and the Weasley house. At times, you could really feel the presence of Alan Rickman. The great hall was indeed great! This table surrounded by death eaters watching this snake go after the suspended girl above was very creepy. Dumbldore's office was indeed enviable. And Diagon Alley was great fun to wander through and you almost wished that you could go inside the shops and experience what the lucky students of Hogwarts were able to! 
The Gryffindor common room
A trick of the eye...this is a very small, not very big set!
The boys on the Hogwarts Express
Beloved Dobby
The end of the tour is very impressive as you come upon a huge model of Hogwarts. It's really quite stunning to turn the corner and catch a glimpse of this masterpiece.
No tour would be complete without sipping on butter beer. I actually liked it quite a bit. It's a sweet, caramelly treat. One was enough. And of course, I had to give platform 9 and 3/4 my own shot!
The huge wand room that features a wand box for every person who worked on the film was a touching tribute to the hundreds of people who played a role in bringing these magnificent stories to life. The backlot still contains the Potter house, complete with the hole in the roof and the Knight bus. The flying car and Hagrid's motorbike were great fun to sit in! All in all, a great tour for adults and children a like. Definitely might need to see the films to enjoy the magic once again.Thanks Juhres! It was a great day together!