Harry Potter all say the same thing as they notice 'hidden theme' in opening credits of every film

Julia Banim & Jessica Clarke
·2-min read
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix publicity still
-Credit: (Image: Warner Bros.)


Harry Potter fans spotted a 'hidden theme' in the opening credits of every film – as the Warner Bros. logo gets 'darker' in each movie, reflecting the growing darkness of the storyline. Settling down to watch the entire Harry Potter series is a favourite winter pastime for many, which tells the story of a young wizard and his friends as they solve mysteries and repeatedly defeat the evil Lord Voldemort. As each magical school year passes, the story becomes more scary and complicated, ending in a fierce fight between good and bad.

This dramatic change in mood and shift towards more grown-up themes is also seen in all of the opening credit sequences, and the 'hidden theme' is really clear once you spot it.

Harry Potter fans have spotted a 'hidden theme' in the opening credits of every film as the Warner Bros. logo gets 'darker' in each movie
Harry Potter fans have spotted a 'hidden theme' in the opening credits of every film as the Warner Bros. logo gets 'darker' in each movie -Credit:Warner Bros.
Some viewers have noticed that the famous Warner Bros. logo gets darker with each film, showing the growing darkness in the wizarding world as Voldermort gets his evil powers back
Some viewers have noticed that the famous Warner Bros. logo gets darker with each film, showing the growing darkness in the wizarding world as Voldermort gets his evil powers back -Credit:Warner Bros.

Some viewers have noticed that the famous Warner Bros. logo gets darker with each film, showing the growing darkness in the wizarding world as Voldermort gets his evil powers back.

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A picture of the changing colours was posted on the Australian parenting brand Kidspot's Facebook page, with this caption: "Viewers pointed out that the Warner Bros. logo in the opening scene darkens with each film. Fans speculate that as Voldemort grew stronger, the Wizarding World gradually got worse - the change in colour scheme symbolising this fear."

Many were taken aback by this subtle yet clever detail in the Harry Potter films, while some film buffs claimed it was 'obvious'.

Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint starred in all 8 of the Harry Potter films
The colour scheme used in the Harry Potter series changes dramatically as the story progresses -Credit:Warner Bros

One person said: "Thought this was pretty common knowledge for any movie buff..." Another added: "Ah yeah cause each film gets darker in theme, was that not obvious to people?"

Interestingly, the colour scheme used in the Harry Potter series changes dramatically as the story progresses. This is clearly shown in a visual representation created by MovieBarcode, a website dedicated to film cinematography.

For Harry Potter, the site compresses all the frames from each film into one image. It shows how the light browns and pastel colours of Harry's early days at Hogwarts gradually turn into darker shades as his final battle with Voldemort approaches.

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