“25 Hidden Things About Harry Potter And The
Prisoner Of Azkaban Only Potter heads Know”
The third addition to
the Harry Potter franchise, The Prisoner of Azkaban is
significantly darker and much more intense story-wise, and is widely remarked
as the favorite of the films. Director Alfonso Cuaron established the tone and
style of the world that these characters inhabit, which continued to future
films.
Prisoner of Azkaban was the turning point of series, marking
the point when our lead characters were going from adolescent to teenagers, and
was the beginning of the films becoming much more intense in visual feel and
subject matter. Harry Potter, along with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger,
transform from awkward and gangly, to tough and grown up. The beautiful
intensity of the film is much attributed to cinematographer Michael Seresin
working with Cuaron’s vision of the wizarding world, which continues in the
rest of the films.
The fans of the
series, known as Potterheads, are quite the smart bunch and you’ll be
hard-pressed to stump them with trivia from their favorite franchise. Most
Potter fans are known to be extremely detail-obsessed and can tell you about
the smallest details in any of the films or books.
Harry Potter is one of the most beloved series in recent
years, having been published in over 60 languages and sold more than 400
million copies worldwide. First published in June of 1999, this year marks the
19th anniversary of the first publication of Prisoner of Azkaban;
in honor of the momentous occasion, here are 25 Secrets About Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Only True Potterheads Know.
25The Hidden Scene In The Credits
As a series primarily
marketed toward children, you would be hard pressed to find any scenes rated
higher than PG-13. However, in this film, there is a “blink and you miss it”
scene between two characters. If you have a careful eye, you can find it.
During the credits, there is a close up of the Marauder's Map. In the far left
corner, there are two sets of footprints that can be seen in extreme proximity
to each other. Director Alfonso Cuaron has said in interviews that it was meant
as a “peck on the cheek” moment, meant as a little joke for the adults in the
audience.
24Buckbeak's Number 2
One challenge that the
production team faced on set was how to make all the mythical creatures that
are featured seem more real and believable. In order to make the mythical
hippogriff Buckbeak seem more realistic, the special effects team decided to
make the puppet go #2 during his first scene. One artist, Michael Eames, who
worked on the film and helped bring many of the creatures to life, said that
they were going for a ‘naturalistic’ approach when it came to Buckbeak. Which
included having the hippogriff go on screen, Director Alfonso Cuaron thought it
was quite hilarious and “perfectly fitting.”
23Professor Lupin's Foreshadowing Name
When writing many of
the characters, J.K. Rowling used their names as foreshadowing or to refer to
major parts of their history. Professor Remus Lupin is no exception; his name
foreshadows his character in two ways. His first name, Remus, comes from the
Greek myth of Romulus and Remus; two infant boys that had been abandoned then
were raised by a mother wolf as if they were puppies. Lupin can be translated
from Latin to mean wolf. Both hint at the fact that he is revealed to be a
werewolf later in the film.
22Trelawney's Accidentally True Prediction
Professor Trelawney is
notorious for her extremely inaccurate predictions, however, she makes one
during this film that ends up coming true.
Known in the books as the second prophecy, Trelawney tells Harry
that “the dark lord will rise again.”
Further on, she says
that a servant that has been chained for twelve years will help him in this;
this was later revealed to be Peter Pettigrew who had been in hiding as Ron’s
rat Scabbers. She ultimately tells Harry that Voldemort and his longtime
servant Peter Pettigrew will be reunited, that Voldemort will rise again and
many people will be lost.
21The Knight Bus Was Made To Look Fast
By Practical Effects
Director Alfonso
Cuaron wanted to make the film seem as realistic and concrete as possible and
tried to avoid CGI and special effects whenever possible. During the Knight Bus
scene, while driving through the streets of London, instead of relying entirely
on computer effects the bus was driven at a normal speed while the cars around
were driven extremely slowly. Afterward, the footage was sped up in
post-production to achieve the effect that the bus was speeding through the
streets.
20The Malfoy Punch Was Real
Director Alfonso
Cuaron originally meant the punch to be a slap, later changed to the punch and
let actress Emma Watson punch Tom Felton as hard as she wanted, all without
telling Felton about the change.
In an interview with Huffington Post, Felton admitted that he
didn’t think that Watson would actually hit him.
He expected a fake
stage slap and was right surprised when she delivered a wallop. Looks like
Hermione (and Emma Watson) can really pack a punch!
19Dudley Had To Wear A Fat Suit
The actor that played
Harry’s bratty cousin Dudley Dursley, Harry Melling, had lost a lot of weight
in between the second and third films and needed to be fitted for a fat suit.
Having gone through coming-of-age and slimmed down quite a bit, Melling was
almost unrecognizable and ended up almost being recast. However, the makeup
effects team fitted him with various face prosthetics and a fat suit that was
used for the duration of the series, allowing him to keep his job.
18The Bats In Hagrid's Hut Are Real
In order to avoid the
use of computer-generated effects, many of the animals seen on screen were real
animals. Director Alfonso Cuaron wanted to avoid special effects and CGI as
much as possible during filming, so he decided to use trained animals instead
of computer generated ones. This included the bats that fly around inside of
Hagrid’s hut. Daniel Radcliffe noted that “the bats liked to urinate
everywhere” and were “particularly fond of bananas” as they required food rewards
from the animal handlers in order to behave.
17Students Had More Wardrobe Freedom
Cuaron wanted the
characters to seem more real and three-dimensional, so he wanted the student
extras to wear their uniforms however they wanted; some being sloppy and disheveled
while others were clean and pressed. He, along with costume designer Jany
Temine, also wanted the three leads to be distinguishable and more themselves
so he let them wear more casual clothes. The wardrobe department gave each lead
their own color palette to work with; bold blues for Harry, warm reds and
browns for Ron, and feminine blues and pinks for Hermione.
16Ian McKellen Was The First Choice To Replace
Dumbledore
After the untimely
passing away of Richard Harris, the first choice of replacement was Ian
McKellen. However, McKellen, who had already been cast as Gandalf in the Lord
of the Rings series, declined because he had already played a tall
white-bearded wizard and that Harris would not have approved of the decision.
Michael Gambon was later chosen to play the part of Dumbledore for the rest of
the films. We think that he did a great job, but wonder what McKellen would
have been like!
15The Dementors Represent A Part Of Rowling
In interviews, series
writer J.K. Rowling has explained that the dementors were inspired by the
sadness she struggled with most of her life. As an advocate for
those dealing with mental illness, she wanted to create a physical
embodiment of the way she felt during her periods of sadness. In the films, the
dementors are shrouded ghouls that suck the soul from you leaving you
defenseless and can only be banished with a Patronus charm, which is a
projection of a pure happiness.
14Was The Last Film To Be Scored By John
Williams
Williams had a huge
part in establishing the tone of the films with his iconic music style, though
he was unable to score the rest of the series citing ‘scheduling conflict’ as
the reason. He has been credited with scoring the first three films, with Prisoner
of Azkaban being his last. However, through the series, his song,
Hedwig’s Theme, can be heard at various times, as well as small parts of his
other songs being fit into the scores. The position was taken over by Patrick
Doyle for the next film, famous for his work with Disney.
13Newt Scamander Has A Small Cameo
Prisoner of Azkaban is the first time that Newt Scamander is
mentioned on film, as he is the writer of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find
Them. Though he hadn’t been fleshed out as a full character until the writing
of the Fantastic Beasts film, he had a small cameo in Prisoner
of Azkaban. At least, his name does. During the ending credits when the
Marauder’s Map is opened, you can see his name on screen for a split second.
Many fans speculate that he is paying Dumbledore a visit, or it may just be a
small easter egg that alludes to the future films.
12A Professional Illusionist Was Hired As A
Consultant
Another time Cuaron
wanted to avoid CGI and instead use practical effects was during scenes
featuring magic. In order to make the world seem more real for the audience, he
brought professional illusionist Paul Kieve to act as a consultant on practical
magic scenes. Kieve was also used as a consultant on Hugo and various TV shows.
He even plays a small cameo at the beginning of the film, when Harry, Ron, and
Hermione are at the Three Broomsticks Inn.
11 Three Different Cats Were Used For Crookshanks
Through the of screen
part for Crookshanks was cut down substantially compared to the books, he is
still a part of quite a few scenes in the movie.
Crookshanks the cat was actually three different cats, each
orange Himalayan cats named Crackerjack, Prince, and Pumpkin.
During the course of
filming, when the cats would shed their fur it was collected and made into
dreadlock type clumps that were clipped back into the cats’ fur to make it look
more ugly and ratty.
10Gregory Goyle Was Mostly Absent In This Film
If you watch Prisoner
of Azkaban, about halfway through there is a significant casting change.
Usually on either side of Draco Malfoy was fellow Slytherins Crabbe and Goyle.
They act as his henchmen and ‘muscle,’ though for much of Prisoner of Azkaban
Goyle is nowhere to be found. He had been replaced by an original character, a
boy named Pike for many scenes. The actor that plays Gregory Goyle had his part
shortened significantly because he had injured his arm causing him to be unable
to continue with filming.
9Hagrid's Hut Was Moved Closer To The Hogwarts
Castle
For the third film in
the series, filming was moved to Scotland instead of England for many scenes.
One major change was the placement, shape, and size of Hagrid’s hut
on the Hogwarts land. The hut itself was placed much closer to the castle, as
well as the shape being changed with an increase in size. Production designer
Stuart Craig has remarked that this change is much closer to what he originally
envisioned for the hut. You can visit the real-life hut in Glencoe, Scotland as
well as a detailed replica in Universal Studios Florida.
8The Map Misspelling Was On Purpose
At certain times in
the film, there are close-ups of the cover of the Marauder’s Map, and some very
meticulous fans have noticed a small error. On the front of the Marauder’s Map,
it says “Messrs Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs” which are the nicknames
for each of the Marauders, Moony being the nickname for Remus Lupin (moon
because he’s a werewolf). “Mooney” in the book is spelled “Moony,” but was
changed for the film in honor of visual effects supervisor Karl Mooney as an
inside joke
7The Chocolate That Lupin Gives Harry Has A
Double Meaning
One of our early
introductions to Professor Lupin involves him giving Harry a bar of chocolate
after being attacked by dementors. This establishes him as another father-like
figure to the viewer; he is caring and kind, while also being able to react to
intense situations. The chocolate that he gives Harry has significant symbolism
attached to it. As we find out later that he has a somewhat addiction to
chocolate, and always has some on hand, ‘just in case,’ but this can also be
attributed to the fact that he is a werewolf and chocolate is toxic to dogs.
6The Only Movie Voldemort Doesn't Appear In
In spite of being the
primary villain of the series, Voldemort is not featured at all during the
course of the film. The emphasis of the film is more on the growing and
changing of the three main characters as they battle with internal struggles
instead of an outside force. Voldemort is still the overarching nemesis of the
series, but Prisoner of Azkaban gives us a bit of a breather
before the intense battles seen in the rest of the films afterward.
5Director Alfonso Cuaron Assigned The 3 Leads
Homework
After Chris Columbus
retired from directing the Harry Potter films and gave
Alfonso Cuaron the reigns, he wanted to become better acquainted with each of
the three leads. To do so, he assigned each of them to write an essay as if
they were their characters. As the story goes, Emma Watson, writing as
Hermione, handed in a 16-page essay, Daniel Radcliffe, as Harry, handed in one
page, and Rupert Grint, in true Ron Weasley fashion, didn’t even do the
assignment.
4Was The Last Harry Potter Film To Be Released
On VHS Tape
The Harry
Potter film series was one that was right on the cusp of modern
technological innovations; both on screen and off. With the advent of DVD
technology after the third film had been produced, there was no longer any need
to produce VHS copies of the films. If you have a mint condition copy of the
film on VHS tape, you can fetch yourself a pretty penny; copies of Prisoner
of Azkaban have been seen to go for over $600 on eBay.
3Cuaron Was Told To
Direct By Guillermo Del Toro
Alfonso Cuaron is
close friends with fellow director Guillermo del Toro, who was first offered to
direct Prisoner of Azkaban. Del Toro told Cuaron after he had been
offered the film that Cuaron had to be a part of this series and if he declined
he would regret it immensely; he had previously declined the job because the
previous films had been too "bright and happy" so he wasn’t
interested. Guillermo del Toro has revealed in recent years that declining to
direct Harry Potter was one of his biggest regrets in life
2Sirius' Wanted Poster Text Can Be Translated
Well, sort of. The
symbols that are used on Sirius Black’s wanted poster are ancient runes, each
with its own meaning. The five large characters that are the center point of
his identification placard can be translated as the first being ‘gibo,’ meaning
partnership or blessing, the second meaning ‘algiz,’ which is a symbol for
protection. Underneath is a series of rune symbols that mean secret,
protection, partnership, speech, and sunlight as well as being combined with
various letters and numbers. There was, for a while, a rumor attributed to
IMDB.com that the symbols meant “more or less human.”
1The Only Film In the Series Where Nobody
Perishes
The Prisoner of
Azkaban is the only
entry in the series that does not have any character expire on screen. The film
was styled as a much darker and brooding than the previous two films, but the
violence toward human characters was kept to a minimum, as the emphasis was
more about character development than anything. As violent as some select
scenes were, especially toward animals and mythical creatures, the film was
given a PG rating in most countries.
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