Fans of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter are in for a treat next month when the newest attraction at Universal Orlando resort, Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, makes its debut. Recently, the theme park revealed some of the magical creatures and obstacles that guests would be seeing in the Forbidden Forest, but now we have our first look at the most important character in the entire ride, Hagrid himself. Check out the animated figure of the Hogwarts groundskeeper in the video below.
Universal Orlando is calling the new Hagrid figure the most life-like and realistic animated figure of its kind. There's certainly no argument that's it's not a great looking figure. It looks remarkably like Robbie Coltrane, who portrayed Hagrid throughout the Harry Potter film franchise. And it should of course, as Coltrane worked with Universal Studios to help bring the new figure to life.
The designers of the figure went so far as to take a digital scan of Robbie Coltrane's mouth in order to make sure they got the character's teeth right. Coltrane's actual movements as Hagrid were used to program the movements of the figure as well. The figure will also sound like the Hagrid we know, as Coltrane recorded a custom script for the attraction.
Also, the figure is 7'6" tall, which is exactly as tall as Hagrid is in the movies, so everything is properly proportional.
According to Universal Orlando, the animated figure can be found during the portion of the ride that includes a creature never before seen in the Harry Potter movies, the blast-ended skrewt. Hagrid will be trying to contain the creature, which is just one of the magical creatures that will be on display during the new attraction.
Since Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is a roller coaster, you'll likely by flying by Hagrid at a pretty impressive speed. The coaster is supposed to be moving as fast as 50 miles per hour, so the best look at the incredibly well designed figure might be in the image below. The costume the figure is wearing was even designed by the team that created Hagrid's wardrobe for the movies.
Hagrid is, without question, one of the most popular characters in the Harry Potter franchise. Everybody loves him. As such, designing the new attraction for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter around him made all the sense in the world.
The theme park land has used a lot of talent from the movies before, so it seemed likely that Robbie Coltrane's Hagrid would appear, but this is even better. They could have just included Robbie Coltrane's voice as audio during the queue or on the attraction, but the design on this figure is quite impressive. I'm surprised every day at how far technology has come when it comes to animated characters. Especially when you're trying to make one look exactly like a specific person, that can be tough, but they nailed Coltrane's Hagrid here.
He's got his trusty umbrella, with his wand concealed inside. He's even wearing what look to be dragon-hide gloves, which make sense since he'll be dealing with a blast-ended skrewt.
Fans who want to check out the new Hagrid and ride Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure don't have too much longer to wait. The ride will be open at Universal Orlando Resort on June 13.
