One Harry Potter Detail That Was There 'Just to Upset' Rupert Grint
Talk about a petty crew!
The wizarding world of Harry Potter is full of little details and Easter eggs for true fans to enjoy, and it was quite a challenge to bring the magic to the screens. In order to do that in a believable way, special effects team had to do their best.
Well, turns out, some of them even made up to just be petty — and add some details out of spite.
For instance, the Harry Potter movies had to introduce a lot of magical (and not-so-magical) creatures, but never resorted to plain CGI. Instead, the movies used animatronics to bring the most beloved magical animals to life: from Mrs. Norris to Buckbeak. Even the dragon from the Goblet of Fire was actually very real.
But it's the Fang the Dog animatronic that has a little petty addition from the crew that was put there "just to upset Rupert [Grint]" — at least that's what Nick Dudman, makeup effects supervisor for the Harry Potter movies, revealed during a little tour inside the creature shop.
"This is a stunt dog for the second movie," explained Dudman in a behind-the-scenes video for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. "They were driving through the woods, and you couldn't put a real dog in the back of the car. But this stunt dog did actually move by radio control, and it did dribble like the real dog as well, which we put in just really to upset Rupert, but it does work."
True Harry Potter fans do remember that Fang is pretty slobbery, and it would sometimes annoy the characters. Well, looks like actors didn't really have to put a lot of effort into acting annoyed, thanks to such convenient little technology tricks from the crew!
Still, Fang is a beloved part of the Wizarding World. By the way, Hagrid's loyal dog had even survived the Battle of Hogwarts and was alive and well in the late 2000s! When it comes to such a veteran, one can forgive some occasional slobbering.