Facts and Stats About Harry Potter Movies

In light of the Deathly Hallows Part 2 release, I decided to go perusing around the internet to find some interesting information about the actual filming of the movies. After about 12:15 this afternoon, I have officially seen all of the Harry Potter movies, each with better and more intense special effects than the one before it. I don't know if this is a fact or not, but when I commented to my husband on the special effects of the last movie he told me that the original idea of the movies was for them to be animated. The initial vision for the films were to be sort of Pixar-animated-like, and the reason was because to stay true to the books the level of difficulty of the special effects would be far too complicated to actually create.

Anyway, when I was searching for information about filming the movies, I came across an article at www.kansascity.com entitled, "A Wizard with Numbers; 'Harry Potter' Facts and Figures."The article featured a plethora of information about the props, costumes, and settings of all of the Harry Potter movies. For example, there have been 250 animals used across the film series, and at one point Robbie Coltrane, who plays Hagrid, got a fruit bat stuck in his beard during a scene in Hagrid's hut! 

Some of my other favorite facts include:

- Aragog the acromantula (giant spider) had an 18 ft. leg span.

- More than 200 creatures have been created for the Harry Potter films.

- 190 liters of shampoo and conditioner were used on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

- Hogwarts was 60 x 50 x 30 feet high; this is a scale of 1:24.

- Daniel Radcliffe has been through 160 pairs of glass during the shooting of all the films.

- Dumbledore's wand was a very elaborate design, even though its significance of being the Elder Wand was far from being known when it was made.

- Harry's scar has been put on by makeup approximately 5,800 times. This includes Daniel Radcliffe's doubles and stunt doubles.

To get a better look at the special effects from the movies take a look at this clip narrated by Matthew Lewis and Tom Felton, the actors who play Neville Longbottom and Draco Malfoy throughout the movies:

To get more information about special effects, makeup, constuming, animals, and much more about the Harry Potter films check out the entire article, "A Wizard with Numbers; 'Harry Potter' Facts and Figures" at http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/05/2996200/a-wizard-with-numbers-facts-and.html).