13 Jun 2024 - Tokyo Day 4: The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour
The highlight of today was to pay a visit to "The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour", which is situated in the city of Nerima, which is in the western suburbs of Tokyo. It took about 45 minutes by metro to travel from Shibuya station to Nerima station.
This Studio Tour is the largest Harry Potter attraction in the world and the first Warner Bros. Studio Tour to open in Asia, providing fans the ultimate opportunity to journey behind-the-scenes of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films to learn about the remarkable world of film production.
The Studio Tour started in an area where posters of all Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Movies were displayed on the walls.
We then entered the "Great Hall" in Hogwarts through a grand door.
From Harry’s Sorting Ceremony to the Yule Ball and Battle of Hogwarts, the Great Hall plays a pivotal role in the life of all Hogwarts students.
Next, we came to the part of Hogwarts where we saw the incredible moving staircase. We were able to witness the staircases shifted dramatically, with a grinding sound and a sense of grandeur.
Throughout the tour, we could use its app to register for some amazing green screen experiences.
Below is the singing lady in the photo frame in the Harry Potter movies. She's the Fat Lady, the portrait guarding the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, one of the common rooms for Hogwarts students.
We then arrived at Dumbledore’s office.
The various wands held by all the important characters in the movies.
Trying out the magical stirrer that moved by itself.
Below is The Mirror of Erised. Jerlene, what did you see?
Next we entered the Forbidden Forest.
In the Harry Potter universe, the most famous flying car is the rusty blue Ford Anglia 105E owned by Arthur Weasley, Ron's father. In "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," Harry and Ron borrow the flying car to travel to Hogwarts after missing the Hogwarts Express. Their journey is a disaster. They crash land the car into the Whomping Willow, a magical tree on the Hogwarts grounds, and the car escapes into the Forbidden Forest as seen below.
Remember the giant spider, Aragog, in the movie ""Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". It is an Acromantulas, a breed of giant, eight-legged spiders native to tropical regions. They are highly intelligent, capable of speech, and possess venomous fangs.
We also met Hagrid and Buckbeak before leaving the forest.
The Studio Tour includes outdoor props as well. After bidding farewell to Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest, we arrived at his hut.
Hagrid's Hut is a small, single-story dwelling built from rough-hewn timber and topped with a thatched roof. It has a somewhat ramshackle appearance, reflecting Hagrid's giant size and his lack of concern for conventional tidiness.
Hello, Hagrid and Fang!
At this point, we had covered only half of the Studio Tour. We decided to take a break and had some Butterbeer in the world’s largest Butterbeer Bar.
Following is the most famous chessboard in the Harry Potter series that appears in the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
After Harry's parents, James and Lily Potter, were tragically killed by the villain Lord Voldemort, Harry was sent to live with his only remaining blood relatives, the Dursleys in order to fulfil a magical protection spell cast by Lily. The Dursleys lived at Number 4, Privet Drive in the town of Little Whinging, Surrey (below), which is a fictional location.
Harry spent his childhood mostly in a cupboard under the stairs, which was a small, cramped space described as being dusty, filled with cobwebs, and even having resident spiders!
If you are a Harry Potter fan, you would find the following scenes very familiar.
Come onboard The Knight Bus, a magical triple-decker, purple bus that appears in the Harry Potter series as a mode of transportation for witches and wizards.
After we were done with all the outdoor props, we went back indoor to continue the studio tour. Next we arrived at King's Cross Station in London, which was the departure point for Hogwarts students.
However, these Hogwarts students don't board the train at the normal platform. The magic lies in finding Platform 9 ¾, which is hidden from non-magical people (Muggles). Looks like I am "magical" after all... :-)
One of the ways to commute to the Ministry of Magic is to use the Floo Network via one of the enormous fireplaces, each standing at over three metres tall. I personally experienced it during the studio tour. It felt magical and was captured in the video at the bottom of this post.
The full-size London Ministry of Magic set is exclusive to Tokyo.
Next section of the studio tour demonstrates how filmmakers went through multiple processes and techniques to create characters from something as simple as a tennis ball on a stick for actors to reference on-set to a full-sized, intricately detailed physical model.
In the wizarding world of Harry Potter, Diagon Alley is an essential stop for young witches and wizards preparing to return to Hogwarts. From collecting their Galleons at Gringotts Wizarding Bank to choosing their beloved animal companion at Magical Menagerie, the street houses everything a Hogwarts student needs. Stepping on to Diagon Alley, we were able to discover up close the details of this magical set.
At the end of the Studio Tour, we came to a Hogwarts Castle Model. This scale model of Hogwarts is a recreation of the one built by the Art Department for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. During production, the model would be filmed for exterior shots of Hogwarts with the background digitally added using Visual Effects. From the Hogwarts greenhouses to the Owlery and Boathouse, every part of Hogwarts was created in meticulous detail by a team of 86 artists and crewmembers. The model even includes more than 2,500 fibre optic lights that act as lanterns and torches passing through the hallways of the wizarding school. The work on the model was so extensive that if one was to add all the man hours that have gone into building and reworking the model, it would come to over 74 years.
Before exiting the studio tour, we had to walk through the world's largest Studio Tour Shop. Visitors were able to pick from exclusive Tokyo ranges, one-of-a-kind personalized items, wands, sweet treats and much more.
At the entrance/exit of the studio tour, there is a food mall with a selection of hot and cold meals or snacks with a British twist.
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