Inside the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

InsidetheMagic.com has posted a series of video walkthroughs of the brand-new Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Florida.  Ever want to walk into Hogwarts?  Here you go:

And here we seem to have stumbled into the middle of the Tri-Wizard Tournament:

Not bad!  Check out more of the videos here.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: First Teaser Trailer!

The DVD and Blu-Ray of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince promised a sneak peek at Deathly Hallows, but I figured it’d be maybe fifteen seconds of behind-the-scenes footage.  Instead, we get a full-fledged teaser that’s almost a minute and a half long.

You can check out the YouTube embed below, but chances are Warner Bros. will take it down, as they haven’t officially released the teaser publicly (at least to anybody who doesn’t have the DVD or Blu-Ray).  If so, FilmoFilia seems to have a working copy.  It’s a great teaser that does exactly what’s required — and yes, there’s a lot of scenes of running around in the woods, just like the book.

All the Half-Blood Prince Deleted Scenes

While browsing YouTube I managed to find all the deleted scenes on the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince DVD.  You can check them out below.

The first half or so are mostly conversations between Harry and Hermione about how and why Draco is disappearing from the castle grounds.  After that we get a disturbing story from Dumbledore, the extended pre-climax sequence I posted earlier, and some extended moments between Harry and his friends at the end.

The Weasley Twins Promoting the HBP DVD

James and Oliver Phelps — or Fred and George Weasley, whichever — were out (along with the rest of the cast) promoting the Blu-Ray and DVD release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince over the past couple weeks.  Below, you can see them doing an interview for a British morning show and talking about how they plan on keeping their career going after the Potter train ends:

Tom Felton Answers Fan Questions

BBC Switch is the part of the BBC dedicated to teen-oriented content, and this year’s “Switch Live” event had its own awards show — voted on by fans.  I think it’s sort of like the MTV Movie Awards for the U.K.  Anyway, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince won “Switch’s Favorite Flick,” and Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy, accepted the award and answered some fan questions.  Check him out:

Deleted Scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

One of the deleted scenes on the upcoming DVD and Blu-Ray release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince just leaked online.  Check it out:

It’s easy to tell why they cut it, especially in the late stages of editing when they’re trying to trim the length of the movie down.  But even though nothing really happens, it works great at establishing the mood, and would’ve been very cool as part of the lead-up to the violent climax.

You can see this and other scenes when the movie goes on sale on December 8th.

New ‘Half-Blood Prince’ Blu-Ray Trailer Promises a Look at ‘Deathly Hallows’

Check out this new preview specifically for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’s Blu-Ray release.  The voice-over guy promises that the disc will include footage from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  How much footage?  Hopefully more than five seconds, but I’m not totally holding my breath.  When it comes out — on December 8th — we’ll find out and hopefully get some video online.

For now, here’s the trailer:

Matt Lewis Takes Us Around Boston’s Harry Potter Exhibit

There’s apparently a pretty involved exhibition of Harry Potter props, art, and costumes in Boston’s Museum of Science.  Matthew Lewis, a.k.a. Neville Longbottom (can’t wait for your big scenes in Deathly Hallows, man!) was on hand to promote the place:

Harry Potter ‘Ultimate Editions’ Trailer & Info

In anticipation for the final two chapters of the Harry Potter saga, Warner Bros. is starting to release a series of “Ultimate Edition” DVDs and Blu-Ray of each Potter film loaded to the brim with special features.  Upcoming Ultimate Editions of the first two films, Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, both come with five disks and a special features list longer than War and Peace.

Some special features highlights, courtesy of MuggleNet:

Sorcerer’s Stone:
- Introduction by Daniel Radcliffe - An introduction to the many special features for the Harry Potter films [NEW]
- Creating the World of Harry Potter, Part 1: The Magic Begins: discover the story of how one vision for the Harry Potter films came together out of limitless possibilities to create the visual world we have come to know and love [NEW]
- In-Movie Experience with Director Chris Columbus: an interactive viewer experience where the entire film is examined; includes PiP, storyboard comparisons, still galleries (BD exclusive)
- WB Maximum Movie Mode picture-in-picture programming, cast walk-ons, focus points, graphics and more (BD exclusive)

Chamber of Secrets:
- Creating the World of Harry Potter, Part 2: Characters - Explore how the cast and creative team of directors and designers take the characters’ descriptions on the page to the actors’ performances on film. [NEW]
- Screen Tests of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson [NEW]
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Revealed - 2002 HBO First Look special

It’s a great idea to include chapters of the “Creating the World of Harry Potter” featurette series across all the movies — if they keep it going through the Ultimate Edition releases of all eight films, it could be a pretty formidable documentary altogether.

Here’s a trailer for the first two editions.  It’s got plenty of good stuff in and of itself, including a couple of bloopers and a look at one of the kids’ screen tests:

Tons of Details on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theme Park!

This week, Warner Bros. and Universal officially announced that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter — part of Universal Orlando Resort’s Islands of Adventure theme park — would open in the spring of 2010.  This first video is your basic “get excited!” preview, featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson talking it up:

This next video is actually much cooler — it basically takes you on a 3D tour through the entire park:

Buried inside their press release is also a full rundown of what to expect from the park:

– At the entrance of Hogsmeade, billowing steam and an iconic whistle signal the arrival of the Hogwarts Express into Hogsmeade station
– Across the way is Zonko’s, a joke shop with a collection of tricks and jokes, including Extendable Ears, Boxing Telescopes and Sneakoscopes
– Honeydukes is next door and full of treats like Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans
– The Three Broomsticks and adjacent Hog’s Head pub will feature traditional British fare and drinks including Butterbeer and pumpkin juice
– Across from the Three Broomsticks is The Owlery, where owls roost and await their next delivery
– The Owl Post sends letters with a certified Hogsmeade postmark and sells official stamps from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
– Ollivanders wand shop is an incredible interactive experience where the wand chooses the wizard
– Completing Hogsmeade is Dervish and Banges, the magical instruments and equipment shop featuring Quidditch equipment, Triwizard apparel, Spectrespecs and Remembralls
– The first attraction, Dragon Challenge, features a twin high-speed roller coaster with many iconic elements from the Triwizard Tournament
– Next is Flight of the Hippogriff, a family coaster simulating a Hippogriff training flight over the grounds of Hogwarts castle
– Located in Hogwarts castle, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is a thrilling new state-of-the-art attraction that uses entirely new technology to bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life in ways never before experienced.
– Before exiting back into Hogsmeade, Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods is full of Ministry of Magic and magical creatures merchandise, Omnioculars, and even remote control Golden Snitches

It looks awesome, no doubt.  But the only thing that really concerns me is the utter lack of rides.  Shops all over the place, but for rides, all we get are two roller coasters that were actually already there and are simply being re-branded to fit with the theme of the park.

Well, there’s also the “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” attraction, which they’re being deliberately vague about.  It’d better be good considering that’s the only part of the park where you actually get to see the inside of Hogwarts.