THN Visits The Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making Of Harry Potter

The Harry Potter series is over. There are no more books to read; no more films to be made or watched. But will that stop Warner Bros milking the franchise for all it’s worth? Of course not. And is that necessarily a bad thing? In this writer’s opinion – no, no it is not.

Following the unveiling of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando in 2010, Warner Bros have now opened the original sets and studios to the public, on the Warner Bros Studio Tour at Leavesden. THN attended a preview of the tour on Friday 23rd March, seeing the sights, living the magic and, well, taking a hell of a lot of photos.

The tour starts as soon as I arrive at Watford Junction – or so the bus conductor repeatedly tells me. The shuttle bus, a double-decker emblazoned with Harry Potter logos and photos, will run regularly from Watford Junction to the studios. It’s a short journey, but one I can’t help but feel would have been a lot more entertaining had we been travelling in the triple-deck bright purple Knight Bus – though something tells me that probably wouldn’t be road legal (or make it round corners very well).

Regardless, when we finally arrive at the studios, there’s a short wait in the lobby (which conveniently gives me a great view of the gift shop, and thus what I presume to be the end of the tour), where the assembled press and visitors have already begun snapping away with cameras. It’s little surprise as even the lobby features such memorable movie moments as the cupboard under the stairs (and the stairs over the cupboard), straight out of 4 Privet Drive.

The doors open, and we’re taken through a couple of short films introducing the world of Harry Potter. Dan Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are on hand to introduce us to the tour (sadly via prerecorded video, though I suspect it would be too much of a strain on their schedules to expect the trio to do it in person for every tour), and then we’re lead to the last part of the guided tour – the Great Hall.

Yes, the guided tour lasts just fifteen minutes, and is predominantly done through prerecorded footage. But the talk in the Great Hall gives us a great taste of what we can expect from the rest of the tour – the guide instructs us to pay close attention to every single detail, particularly for things we might have missed from the films. We also realise just how Potter-mad all the tour guides really are – there’s plenty of them scattered around, and they know their stuff. From the exact locations of filming to the costumes each actor wore on which day to which chemicals were used to create the fake snow over the scale model of Hogwarts, you’d be hard pressed to find a group of people who know more about the Potter films than these guys.

The rest of the tour is self-guided, and I have to hand it to Warner Bros for that – you can take as long as you like with each exhibit and set; each costume, prop and animatronic animal. Yes, there are tour guides, but they’re there for as and when you need them – to share their immense knowledge on everything that went on behind the scenes of the Potter films, or just to point you in the direction of the nearest Butterbeer stand (while I didn’t try the Butterbeer on offer at the studios, if it’s anything like that at Universal then expect a creamy, frothy, toffee-flavour head on what is basically Irn Bru).

The tour is linear and easy enough to follow but will still take a good three hours or so to complete. So it’s more of an afternoon out than a day, but for diehard Potter fans it’s definitely worth the coin. For those not so in love with the series? Maybe not. There’s a dearth of interactivity – you can get your photo taken riding a broomstick (though it will set you back another £12 if you want to take said photo home), climb aboard the Knight Bus or sit in Mr Weasley’s flying Ford Anglia, but that’s about it. All the sets are fenced or roped off, so don’t expect to be sitting down for a nice snooze in The Burrow or jumping into the Ministry of Magic’s floo network.

There are two sides of the coin to this attraction though, even for the diehard Potter nuts: while standing in the Great Hall at first felt magically surreal, seeing the various sets all within one room did in some ways shatter the illusion. Imagine walking out of Hagrid’s Hut into the Ministry of Magic and out onto Privet Drive. Combine this with the fact that almost everything’s fenced off, and the tour starts to feel oddly more like an exhibition of a collection – especially with the props or costumes that are in glass cabinets.

But just as our interest starts to wane, or our belief in the world of Harry Potter crumbles down around us, we stumble upon the tour’s grand finale: a 1:42 scale model of Hogwarts castle. Featuring almost every part of the grounds that wasn’t shot on location (such as Hagrid’s Hut and the Forbidden Forest), the model was used for external shots of the school in the first six films. While the castle didn’t feature at all in the penultimate DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1, a tour guide tells me a digital version was used in the final film, due to the fact that most of it gets blown up near the end.

The castle is breathtakingly detailed, with over 300 microfibre lights, miniature owls and recognisable architecture (two of the towers over a bridge are replicas of Durham cathedral!). Built at Leavesden, it was transported to Shepperton Studios for the majority of its use, but transferred back home around three years ago, after HALF-BLOOD PRINCE was released.

That’s the overarching theme with this tour, though – the detail. It’s everywhere; even on props and sets that were barely seen in the films. The most expensive prop created for the films was a telescope in Dumbledore’s office – present in the background of just a handful of scenes, and never actually used. Gilderoy Lockhart’s books, another guide tells me, have crumbling, paper-thin pages – representing the character’s fraudulent nature. When were we ever going to see the effect of this in the films? Never. But it’s there. Which, while perhaps being slightly unnecessary, exemplifies the commitment of the production team to the franchise.

And on a whole, that’s what this tour is there to show – it’s a thank you letter to the crew, not just the cast; to show the efforts of those behind the camera, and not just in front of it. The very last room of the tour features hundreds of wand boxes, each with a different name on it. Not just those of the actors, the actresses and directors, but those of the producers, the set designers, the artists, electricians, plumbers, carpenters and tea boys – everyone gets a send-off for their work on the biggest film franchise in history.

It all gets a bit teary-eyed at this point, so the cynic blubbering over there in the corner will be happy to know that, yes, we’ve ended up in the gift shop. With a collection of goodies to rival that of Diagon Alley at Universal, this is Warner Bros’ last ditch attempt to rob you of what little money you have left. But they’re at least doing it with style: there’s replica wands, robes, and collectibles; t-shirts, books, DVDs, posters, keychains, toys – you name it, Warner have stuck a Potter logo on it.

The jewel of the collection lies in the replica costumes, though – fancy wearing Snape’s coat to your next job interview, just to look that little bit more intimidating? For £144.95, you can! Wish you were Hermione at the Yule Ball in that elegant pink dress? £240.95 and it’s yours, madam! Fancy being the greatest wizard of all time? At £499.95, Dumbledore’s robes and hat aren’t exactly cheap – in fact, they’re the most expensive thing in the store – but should inevitably transform any old Muggle into the Grindelwald-defeating, Elder Wand-bearing badass that is, um, Michael Gambon.

Now with much lighter pockets, I head outside and board the bus back to Watford Junction. The question is: was it worth it? The answer: yes, but only if you REALLY love Harry Potter. The tour was illuminating, enlightening, magical and surreal – if just a little bit soul-crushing – and will no doubt make the diehard Potter fans instantly weak at the knees. The lack of interactivity based on the price puts a dampener on things, but if it’s barrels of fun you’re after, hop over to Florida and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This is a behind-the-scenes tour, and an expensive one at that, but you and only you will know, in your heart, whether you love our magical bespectacled friend enough to go.