Harry Potter Exhibition

Exhibition and Global Experience Specialists Sites

The main site for Harry Potter: The Exhibition, created by GES (Global Experience Specialists), features three pages:

A Gallery page with 16 images and captions that can be run in a slideshow format, and 2 videos – “Exhibition Video” (0:33) and “TV Guide Interview” from the Seattle edition of the Exhibition (approximately 2:30).

A Press page with current and archive press releases, plus information on the most current location and Exhibition run dates.

A link to the official Harry Potter site from Warner Bros.

The Exhibition has been held in several cities in North America, the first in 2009. Plans are to take the Exhibition to international sites after the final run in North America, in New York City (April 5-September 5, 2011).

1. Chicago, Illinois ~ April 30 – September 27, 2009
2. Boston, Massachusetts ~ October 24, 2009 – February 28, 2010
3. Toronto, Ontario ~ April 9 – September 6, 2010
4. Seattle, Washington ~ October 23, 2010 – February 13, 2011
5. New York, New York ~ April 5 – September 5, 2011
6. International Sites ~ to be announced

Note: Once the Exhibition has left a locale, the links might get changed if the Exhibition pages are moved to the site’s archive section. Also, links might get changed if the website undergoes major redesign and upgrading, which happened with the Seattle site early in 2011. So, just check their regular “search,” their exhibition archive, or their site map if you find that the links here no longer work.

Visit the website of Global Experience Specialists – the event management company that created the Exhibition for Warner Bros./Harry Potter. (They also created similar kinds of immersion experiences for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition, and for Robots: The Interactive Exhibition.) See the Museum Exhibition Portfolio page on Harry Potter: The Exhibition for a slideshow of 9 images plus this introduction to the project:

Harry Potter^TM: The Exhibition. In partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, GES created the first-ever “Harry Potter” worldwide exhibition tour. The 17,000-square-foot experience features hundreds of authentic props, costumes and set dressings from all of the “Harry Potter” films.

Official Exhibition Guide and Other Licensed Products

A few promo items and licensed products have been produced and occasionally make their way onto eBay. Besides handbills and postcards to advertise the Exhibition, I have only seen several kinds of shirts with the Exhibition logo, and the booklet, Harry Potter: The Exhibition – Official Exhibition Guide, edited by Betsy Holt. The Exhibition Guide has been available from the Warner Bros. Shop, occasionally on Amazon, and rarely on eBay and abebooks.com.

Images to be added.

Official Exhibition Guide ~ Table of Contents

Front Cover – owl delivering invitation to Hogwarts.

Front Inside Cover – Message from David Heyman, one of the producers of HP movies.

01 – Order of the Phoenix full-page poster art of seven key student members.

02 – Hogwarts Express full-page photo.

HOGWARTS ARRIVAL

• 03 – Hogwarts Express.  Flying Ford Anglia.  Sirius Black “Wanted” Poster.  Quote – cars (John Richardson, Special Effects Supervisor).

GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM

• 04 – Common Room.  Wizard Money.  Portrait Gallery
• 05 – Quidditch Board Game.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  Quote – main characters (David Heyman, Producer).
• 06 – Common Room Items.  Mimbulus Minbletonia.  Wands.  Quote – wands (Pierre Bohanna, Head of Department: Modeler).
• 07 – Time-turner.  Dumbledore’s Army Parchment.  Quote – Time-Turner (Pierre Bohanna, Head of Department: Modeler).
• 08 – Harry Potter’s Trunk.  Marauder’s Map. Quote – Maurader’s Map (Miraphora Mina, Graphics and Prop Designer)

GRYFFINDOR BOYS’ DORMITORY

• 09 – Boy’s Dormitory.  Golden Egg.  Ron Weasley’s Trunk.

HOGWARTS CLASSES

• 10 – Conservatory and Professor Sprout’s Robes.  Mandrakes.  Crystal Ball.
• 11 – Potions Items.  Potions Professors’ Robes.  Professor Trelawney’s Robes.  Potions Textbooks.  Quote – crystal balls (Pierre Bohanna, Head of Department: Modeler).

DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS

• 12 – Professor Lockhart’s paintings, photos, and wardrobe full-page photo.
• 13 – Dark Arts Items.  Cornish Pixies.  Travels with Trolls.  Professor Lockhart’s Robes.  Quote – portrait of Gilderoy Lockhart (Stephenie McMillan, Set Decorator).
• 14 – Professor Lupin’s Robes.  Professor Lupin’s Classroom.  Jack-in-the-Box.  Giant Spider.
• 15 – The Boggart’s Wardrobe full-page photo.
• 16 – Detention Quill.  Textbook.  Quote – Dolores Umbert in pink (Jany Temime, Costume Designer).
• 17 – Portrait of Minister Fudge and Wand.  Professor Umbridge’s Clothing.  Kitten Plates.  Quote – Umbert’s classroom and office (Stephenie McMillan, Set Director).

QUIDDITCH

• 18 – Quidditch.  The Golden Snitch.  Quote – brooms (Pierre Bohanna, Head of Department: Modeler.
• 19 – Quidditch Equipment and Related Items.  Madam Hooch’s Robes.  Nimbus 2000.
• 20 – Quidditch Robes.  Harry Potter’s Quidditch Robes.  Quote – making Slytherin Quidditch robes more ominous (Jany Temime, Costume Designer).
• 21 – World Cup Items.  Quidditch Robes.

HAGRID’S HUT

• 22 – Casual Clothing.  Buckbeak.
• 23 – Hagrid’s Hut.  The Monster Book of Monsters.  Hagrid’s Clothing.  Quote – making The Monster Book of Monsters (Nick Dudman, Prosthetics and Make-up Effects Designer).
• 24 – Forbidden Forest.  Centaur.  Quote – Hungarian Horntail Dragon (Nick Dudman, Prosthetics and Make-up Effects Designer).

THE FORBIDDEN FOREST

• 25 – Thestral.  Acromantula.  Hungarian Horntail Dragon.

DARK FORCES

• 26 – Death Eater Costumes.  Dementor.  Quote – designing the Death Eaters’ costumes (Jany Temime, Costume Designer).
• 27 – Angel of Death Statue full-page photo.
• 28 – Dark Forces.  Lord Voldemort’s Robes.  Quote – digital removal of Lord Voldemort’s nose (Nick Dudman, Prosthetics and Make-up Effects Designer).
• 29 – Tom Riddle’s Diary and the Basilisk Fang.  Dark Forces Items.  Petrified Colin Creevey.  Lord Voldemort’s Wand.  Quote – creating petrified students for Chamber of Secrets (Nick Dudman, Prosthetics and Make-up Effects Designer).

GREAT HALL

• 30 – Educational Decrees full-page photo.
• 31 – Great Hall.  Dobby.  Great Hall Items.
• 32 – Goblet of Fire Entry Slips.  Sweets.  Cups and Quills.  Quote – the Triwizard Cup (Pierre Bohanna, Head of Department: Modeler).
• 33 – Dumbledore’s Robes full-page photo.
• 34 – Great Hall Doors.  School Univorms and Goblet of Fire Casket.  Viktor Krum’s School Uniform.  Fleur Delcour’s School Uniform.  Quote – creating the Beauxbatons costumes (Jany Temime, Costume Designer).
• 35 – Sirius Black’s Clothing.  Exams and Reports.  Fawkes.
• 36 – Great Hall.  Yule Ball Items.  Yule Ball Robes.
• 37 – Yule Ball Attire.  Hermione’s Earrings.  Quote – transforming the Great Hall for the Yule Ball (Stephenie McMillan, Set Decorator).
• 38 – Yule Ball Attire.  Yule Ball.  Quote – creating Professor McGonagall’s Yule Ball robes (Jany Temime, Costume Designer).
• 39 – Great Hall Banquet Scene full-page photo.

COPYRIGHT AND PUBLICATION INDICIA

• 40 – Publication information.

Back Inside Cover – Message from David Barron, on of the producers of HP movies.

Back Cover – Harry’s glasses and Gryffindor muffler.

Site Locations Announcements

Harry Potter Exhibition ~ North American Sites ~ Press Releases

This is a set of first pages from press releases of all five North American sites for the Harry Potter Exhibition.

Official Site Press Releases

The official site for Harry Potter: The Exhibition has a great press section where we can find out the latest news, plus review their archive of press releases. They place the most current releases at the top, so I show them here in reverse order, starting with those at the very bottom of the archive. That way, you can access them however makes the most sense: in sequence here, or most current and then backward there. As a third option, most of these press releases about each Exhibition locale are repeated on that city’s section website, which is listed later on this page.

I have also added a code number at the end of each press release link line to help sort which press releases apply to what site. For instance, in the code 2-B3, the 2-B stands for Boston (the second site for the Exhibition) and the 3 stands for the third press release related mostly to Boston.

1 = Chicago. 2 = Boston. 3 = Ontario. 4 = Seattle. 5 = New York.

April 29, 2009 – Harry Potter: The Exhibition opens at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry on April 30, 2009 (2 pages). 1-C1

July 22, 2009 – Harry Potter to cast spell on Museum of Science in Boston (3 pages). 2-B1

September 27, 2009 – Harry Potter flies out of Chicago on September 27 – viewing hours extended (2 pages). 1-C2

October 20, 2009 – Harry Potter casts spell on Museum of Science, Boston (3 pages) + 3 high-resolution photos. 2-B2

October 25, 2009 – Museum of Science hosts East Coast premiere of Harry Potter: The Exhibition (3 pages) + 2 high-resolution photos. 2-B3

December 8, 2009 – Harry Potter: The Exhibition to cast a spell on the Ontario Science Centre (2 pages). 3-O1

January 25, 2010 – The Museum of Science, Boston extends it’s run of Harry Potter: The Exhibition (2 pages). 2-B4

July 13, 2010 – Dementor descends on Harry Potter: The Exhibition at Ontario Science Centre (4 pages). 3-O3

August 6, 2010 – The Ontario Science Centre extends the run of Harry Potter: The Exhibition (1 page). 3-O2

(Note: Yes, the above two press releases are out of sequence date-wise, but that is the order they appear in on the official website.

August 10, 2010 – Harry Potter: The Exhibition casts spell on Seattle’s Pacific Science Center (3 pages). 4-S1

October 21, 2010 – Harry Potter: The Exhibition opens at Seattle’s Pacific Science Center on October 23, 2010 (3 pages). 4-S2

January 6, 2011 – Pacific Science Center extends its run of Harry Potter: The Exhibition (3 pages). 4-S3

March 8, 2011 – HARRY POTTER^TM: THE EXHIBITION Opens at New York’s Discovery Times Square on April 5, 2011. Exhibition featuring original artifacts from all Harry Potter films extends North American tour due to popular demand (3 pages). 5-N1

March 25, 2011 – Sneak Peek Weekend for HARRY POTTER^TM: THE EXHIBITION at New York City’s Discovery Times Square April 1-3 (2 pages). 5-N2

1. Chicago ~ April 30 – September 27, 2009

Harry Potter Exhibition ~ Chicago ~ Promotional Handbills and Postcard

The Exhibition website for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois, has three main sections:

• Exhibit Overview
• Exhibit Guide
• FAQ

You’ll find additional links in some of the sections.

2. Boston ~ October 24, 2009 – February 28, 2010

The Exhibition website for the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts, includes the following items, with links to more on some pages and through the “search” function. The number at the end of the link is the archive identification code for that item.

• Official announcement of the forthcoming Exhibition. (3834)
• Press release. (3852)
• Press Kit. The Press Kit page has five press releases/articles, and 10 photos. (3856)
• Exhibition extended – press release. (4319)

3. Toronto ~ April 9 – September 6, 2010

The Toronto, Ontario, Canada, website for the Exhibition took a different route – allowing some customization of the web experience. You go to the Ontario Science Centre Harry Potter home page, and then choose one of the four houses at Hogwarts:

• Gryffindor
• Hufflepuff
• Ravenclaw
• Slytherin

The house pages each contain four features:

• Specialized artwork and welcome message. For instance, choose the Hufflepuff House site and you’ll see Cedric Diggory; learn that the core character traits of Hufflepuff students are to be “just, loyal, and true”; and learn that Pomona Sprout is the Head of Hufflepuff and Professor of Herbology. Harry Potter will greet you at Gryffindor, Cho Chang at Ravenclaw, and Draco Malfoy at Slytherin.
• About the Exhibition – short introduction, gallery of 15 images – not downloadable, and the latest video.
• News and Media – Official Media Release (3 pages). Fact Sheet (2 pages). About the Films (3 pages).
• Plan Your Visit – links to area hotels.

4. Seattle ~ October 23, 2010 – February 13, 2011

The website for the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington, has undergone updating as of March 2011, and so there does not appear to be a main Harry Potter Exhibition page any longer. Use the search function and you will get a list of press releases, images, and other now-archived material. The last time I ran a search on that site, it listed 26 links.

5. New York ~ April 5 – September 5, 2011

The Exhibition homepage for Discovery Times Square in New York, New York, has general information about the Exhibition and tickets, 3 samples of “audio guide” available, a video promo for the Exhibition, and a Photo Gallery with 12 images. (The photos here appear to be pretty much the same selection used in previous locations’ publicity/website.)

The Press Kit page has the following downloadable Zip files:

Press Release – about the opening of the Exhibition (3 pages).

Press Kit – 6 pages, including segments: About the Harry Potter films and franchise, story background, and film line-up and production (2 pages). Details About the Exhibition (4 pages), including Creators and Host Institution, and Top 20 Must-See Artifacts.

Press Images – 12 images, which are the same ones used in the website Photo Gallery.

On-Sale Event Images – 1 image of the huge marquee in the front of the Discovery Times Square exhibition center, showing Hogwarts, the Ford Anglia from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Hedwig in flight.

International Exhibition Sites (To Be Announced)

As of March 2011, no international sites for the Harry Potter Exhibition have yet been booked.