Giant Hungarian Horntail dragon stuns onlookers at it roars through London
A giant roaring dragon, which features in one of the Harry Potter films, surprised Londoners on Monday morning as it roared its way through the capital's streets.
The 25-foot animatronic dragon, which weighs 1.3 tonnes, appeared captured as it made its way past Westminster Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and King's Cross Station.
The theatrical stunt was staged to mark the launch of Triwizard Tournament – Making of Champions, a new feature at Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of the cinematic release of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.
The Hungarian Horntail featured in the fourth Harry Potter novel and film, where Harry battles the beast in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.
The fictional dragon roared and bared its teeth past London landmarks before making its way to the tourist attraction in Leavesden, Hertfordshire.
Harry Potter filmmaker and animatronic designer, Joe Scott, designed the dragon, replicating the creature in the film, complete with moving head, mouth and eyes, and sound effects.
The recreation of the famous dragon was carefully crafted over 750 hours, using materials that included 25kg of fibreglass.
The team first created a series of detailed sketches and CGI mock-ups, before sculptors, carpenters and scenic artists built the dragon's head, which was 3D printed using a scan of the original Hungarian Horntail from the film.
A total of 119 spikes were individually applied to decorate the dragon's head and tail, which took 265 hours, whilst 38 razor-sharp teeth were 3D printed in resin to create bite in the creature's animatronic mouth.
'Revisiting the creation of the Hungarian Horntail 20 years on from Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire has been magical,' said Mr Scott.
'Creating the dragons for the Triwizard Tournament was no mean feat, with engineers, animatronics, designers and the special effects teams all working together to bring them to life.
'It's fantastic to see the craftsmanship that went into this on display at the new feature – inspiring visitors with the magic of our filmmaking secrets.'
The Triwizard Tournament – Making of Champions, which will run from May 15 to September 8, at Warner Bros Studio Tour London features behind-the-scenes secrets and digital recreations from the fourth film.
Further additions include Mad Eye Moody's arrival in the Great Hall and wizarding journalist Rita Skeeter, best known for her poison pen articles, will be welcomed to the Studio Tour along with her self-writing quill.
Laura Sinclair-Lazell, head of show experience at Warner Bros Studio Tour London says: 'We're excited to launch our brand-new summer feature, Triwizard Tournament – Making of Champions, where visitors can learn behind-the-scenes secrets of the fourth Harry Potter film.
'To celebrate and bring the magic of Warner Bros Studio Tour London to the streets of the capital, we recreated the iconic moment of the escaped Hungarian Horntail dragon 20 years on from Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.'
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