Monday, August 5, 2013

"Don't Count Your Owls Before They Are Delivered"

I've been stitching, but haven't posted any photos lately.
Here's a bit of progress on "Star Spangled Sampler" by Heart in Hand.

Did anyone recognize my post quote?
It's by Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts. As today we went to the Warner Brother's Studio Tour "The Making of Harry Potter", I thought I should have a H.P. quote. 

If you are a Harry Potter fan I think you'll enjoy today's post, otherwise you'll probably be bored to tears. I number among the fans.  I've read all the books (staying up for the midnight releases of the final 3 or 4 books), and I've seen all the movies.

The tour began with Harry's bedroom.  The small closet under the staircase.

We then got to wander around Hogwart's Great Hall.  It's a pretty magnificent room complete with a hammer beam ceiling.  And it's pretty clear that J.K. Rowling got her inspiration from the dining halls at Oxford and Winchester. 

The sets included the Gryffindor's Common Room and Boy's Dormitory.

One of my favorites was the Potion Room.  Each of glass jars circling the walls has a unique label identifying its contents. 

Dumbledore's Office was quite large and had several levels.

"The Burrows", the Weasley Family's home, was as charmingly quirky as they were.

Dolores Umbridge's Office was nauseatingly pink, and decorated with too cute kitten plates.
The Ministry of Magic had wonderful faux red, orange, and green subway tiles. 

There was a great display of some of the ephemera used while making the movies: train tickets, Dumbledore's will, maps, letters, and books.

On the studio grounds were some of the large sets including Harry Potter's childhood home and the Knight bus. 

There was a display of 'life sized' models of many of the magical beings and creatures in the movies.

But nothing topped Diagon Alley - the High Street for wizards.

From reading the books and watching the movies, this was the one place that I'd wanted to be 'real'. 

The tour ended with a huge scale model of Hogwarts.
The tour was item #1 on my sister's London To Do List.
I think she had a super time.  I know I did.

15 comments:

Ann at Beadlework. said...

Wow, what a great place to visit - my son would love it. I've watched the films many times with him - he recently bought a very large limited edition box with all the films in various formats along with lots of extra bits and pieces from each of the films. The detail in each of the sets looks amazing, well worth a visit, I'm glad your sister enjoyed it.

Margaret said...

Oh soooooo coooool!!!!! Wow! I'm so glad you all got to go see this! I bet it was really neat! I'm envious as usual. lol!

Shelly said...

How cool! My daughter and I are huge fans of Harry Potter. I, too, have read all the books and have seen all the movies. We watch the movies over and over! Yeah, I recognized the title! We're kind of rabid!

Cricket-bug Corner said...

Super awesome! I think those books made kids love to read. We did the midnight book releases and the midnight movies -even while in Alaska! Such good memories! I want to take this tour too!

MartyG said...

This is awesome. I read all the books and before each new one came out listened to all the books before it on CD. I too went to the midnight parties forbthe last 3 or 4. Thanks for sharing.

Melissa said...

Oh how fun that must've been! I recognized Harry's bedroom right away. I think every kid would love a room like that...well,not a bedroom perhaps, but a playroom or a hideaway room.

Thanks for sharing the photos of your visit.

Barb said...

Wonderful pictures from two Harry Potter fans!(The DH and myself)

Mouse said...

I 'm going here in October and I can't wait :) love mouse xxxxx

Annette-California said...

Immediately I understood your title. Our son, & me and (even my mom) did the midnight book releases and movies. We even put up a Harry Potter Christmas tree. You got to walk down Diagon Alley!!! How COOOOL. I love your sister's #1 on her list:) Thank you for sharing - WOW! love Annette

Chris said...

So fun!!!

Carol said...

What fun! I've only seen a couple of the movies, but even I recognized many of your photos. I always thought Harry's under the stairs bedroom looked quite cozy myself :)

hazel c UK said...

I must admit to not reading or seen any movies of Harry potter but it does look a super. Place to visit your photos are stunning as usual.

Enjoy
Hazel c uk

Melanie said...

Yes. Yes. And yes.
Loved going over every detail in every photo. So thank you for posting. :)

Mary said...

I am a fan too...the Weasley house must have been a hoot..it always looks like such a cozy place on screen.

Giovanna said...

Just caught up with your latest posts after a couple of days spent travelling - great reports as always :-) Glad you got to see Winchester.