Stuart Craig dies | ‘Harry Potter’ production designer was unsung hero of modern theme parks
Stuart Craig, production designer for the “Harry Potter” films and theme park lands at Universal, died at age 83. Craig’s legacy on modern theme parks cannot be overstated.
Craig passed away on Sept. 7, 2025. He had Parkinson’s disease. The news of Craig’s death was shared by the British Film Designers Guild.
Though you may not know Stuart Craig’s name, you likely know his work. In addition to a long list of other films, Craig was the production designer for all eight “Harry Potter” movies and all three films in the “Potter” spin-off series, “Fanatastic Beasts.”
As the authority on the aesthetic of “Potter,” Craig was heavily involved in every iteration of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal theme parks, including the most recent, Ministry of Magic, which opened earlier this year at the new Universal Epic Universe.
Photo by Matt Roseboom
Scott Verble, executive producer of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, discussed the influence of Craig and his team from the films on Epic Universe during an interview with Attractions Magazine just before Epic opened.
“Their involvement brings a direct connection to the visual language and style of the films that guests and audiences around the world know and love,” Verble said. “It’s a really great and collaborative effort to figure out how to adapt sets that may have been designed for a specific shot and flesh them out to a reality that works for a 360-degree immersive environment.”
Photo by Matt Roseboom
Thierry Coup, former chief creative officer and senior VP of Universal Creative, spoke highly of Stuart Craig when we interviewed Coup earlier this year. According to Coup, Craig challenged to Universal artists to create sets as authentically as possible for the very first Wizarding World at Universal Islands of Adventure in 2010.
“It was incredible,” Coup said. “It definitely set a new standard where we normally wouldn’t have put details, like up in the ceiling of the [Defense Against the] Dark Arts classroom, or in places where you think, ‘Well, just turn the lights off up there and nobody will be looking.’ There are details all the way to the fine grain of the wood up there. Then the aging. It’s all there.”
Photo by Samantha Davis-Friedman
If Stuart Craig was the conduit behind the attention to detail of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade, then his influence upon modern theme parks cannot be overstated. Hogsmeade raised standards not just within Universal, but across the theme park industry. Not only would later Universal Orlando projects such as Diagon Alley and Epic Universe as a whole not be possible without Craig’s impact, but neither too would such detail-oriented lands as Pandora – The World of Avatar and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World, among others.
As a tribute to Stuart Craig, enjoy these photos of some of our favorite architectural details around The Wizarding World of Harry Potter lands at Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Epic Universe.
Thank you, Stuart Craig, for the gift of your art.
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