Step Inside ‘The Blind Pig’ A 1920’s New York Speakeasy Found In Fantastic Beasts!

Delving in to Fantastic Beasts, 1920’s New York had recently become accustomed to the prohibition era, and so finding somewhere to let your hair down and have a drink was far from easy. Introducing ‘Speakeasies’  the cleverly located, secretive underground establishments where wizards and witches could socialise away from the No-Maj community above ground. (Or in Newt’s case, a place for himself and fellow protagonists to discuss important information)

Pottermore recently revealed the inside of ‘The Blind Pig’ a rather perculiar, dark, dank speakeasy.

Above – Tina and Queenie Goldstein standing directly outside the entrance to The Blind Pig.

Pottermore: ‘The painting on the wall behind them works as a disguise for the entrance to The Blind Pig. Fantastic Beasts graphic designers Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima designed it to look like an ad for lipstick, which comes to life if you’re recognised as being magical.’

‘We based it on make-up ads from that time,’ says Eduardo. ‘The colour palette, the font, the feel of it.’

When speaking to production designer Steve Craig, he talks about how himself and his team created a place built for New York’s misfits and criminals..

 ‘There’s an architectural and structural logic to this kind of subterranean space. The London Underground and New York Subway both have glazed tiles. Glazed bricks are a very suitable material with which to build this sort of vaulted underground space, because they’re impervious to water. As with Harry Potter, even though we’re dealing with the magical world, we still look for something that’s totally believable and has a certain authenticity to it. This space is an example of that really. It’s architecturally and structurally possible – perfectly buildable – even familiar in a way.’

When asked about how to create something magical, yet realistic within the setting Steve answers:

‘You look for a way to exaggerate it, to really tell the story. The exaggeration in this case was the filth, mainly! Water through the mortar joins; stains, mould and lichen growing everywhere – that was the fun of it. The feature film is a theatrical medium, not a documentary. It requires this sort of exaggeration, and the look of The Blind Pig is very typical of that process.’

One thing is for sure – there is a striking significance when compared to the likes of The Leaky Cauldron and the Hog’s Head. Pubs such as these have held eerie, name dropping conversations in the past.. will The Blind Pig become another critical location for divulging in top secret knowledge?

Read the full article on Pottermore here!