When taking a poll of Harry Potter fans, it would not be hyperbolic to say that the favorite book would end up being Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The third book in the series has always been a fan favorite. This, it would stand to reason that the film would also be one of the fan base's favorites to watch. Prisoner of Azkaban as a film is well-paced with great performances by the Hogwarts group,  and also introduces the audience to Lupin.

The film itself was brought to life by Alfonso Cuarón, who was brought in to direct the film. Cuarón was up to the challenge, and made a film which Potter-heads are pleased to call one of the best in the franchise. Rotten Tomatoes currently has the film at a very respectable 91% rating, making it one of the highest-rated Potter films. When a film series gets a new director on board, it can sometimes lead to disaster. Thankfully, Cuarón was able to work well with everyone and make a film for everyone to enjoy.

With a film franchise this big, there are things that undoubtedly go on behind-the-scenes which the public does not get to experience. Whether it is secret conversations which help steer the film, or a crazy prank, it likely happened during the making of this film. With a combination of a new director, established actors, and new faces, things are likely to go off the beaten path sometimes.

Thankfully, all of these moments were caught so that everyone can know about how this movie was made from the inside.

Here are 23 Crazy Details Behind The Making Of The Prisoner Of Azkaban.

Alfonso Cuarón Designed Sirius’ Tattoos

Harry Potter fans know that Sirius Black did some time at Azkaban, but were surprised to see him covered in ink.

When Sirius Black showed up on screen in Prisoner of Azkaban, he looked much different than described in the books.

Cuarón's dark take on the Potter universe included making Sirius look like a real criminal.

Sirius' disheveled look included wild black hair, a grungy beard, and Nordic-inspired tattoos. Despite body art never being mentioned in the novels, both Cuarón and Gary Oldman enjoyed this take on the character.

Not only did Cuarón and Oldman create this vision, but they also visible tattoos refers to alchemical symbol for Grey Wolf, which ties in well to his Animagus form. With ink that looks this dangerous, it paints Sirius as someone that should not be messed with.

Gary Oldman Took The Role for His Kids

Working on a series with the international scope of Harry Potter is sometimes reason enough to want to take on a role. However, some cast had some different reasons.

Gary Oldman's casting as Sirius Black was a question mark for fans at first as he had never been a part of the fantasy-adventure genre before. However, he jumped directly in to the wizarding world so well that fans ended up being very pleased with the choice. The question is, why did Oldman end up ing the universe?

It turns out, that he was looking to impress his children. By becoming Harry Potter's godfather, he became very popular in the eyes of his kids.

According to Oldman, "You become incredibly cool to your kids, and you get a young fan base. So you became the cool dad at school."

Ian McKellen Turned Down The Role Of Dumbledore

Is it be possible that Gandalf the Grey could have also been Albus Dumbledore?

It turns out that Sir Ian McKellen was one of the many actors that was being considered for the role of Hogwart's Heaster. Prior to Michael Gambon accepting the role, Ian McKellen was near the top of the list. However, he had personal reasons for turning down the role.

McKellen has stated that he had received criticism from Harris in the past, which affected his decision. Given the fact that he knew Harris had not enjoyed his performances, McKellen stated that he "couldn’t take over the part from an actor who I had known didn’t approve of [him].” 

As cool as it would have been to have Gandalf and Dumbledore share the same actor, it is for the best that Gambon was given the role.

JK Rowling Based The Dementors On Her Battle With Depression

While Rowling's life took a turn to stardom once Harry Potter became an international best-seller, she did not always live a perfect life. 

Prior to Potter, Rowling was reportedly living off of government benefits and struggled to make ends meet.

Ultimately, she was treated for clinical depression during this time period. While this is very upsetting, it did lead her to a break-through which was included in Prisoner of Azkaban.

The way that the Dementors attack their prey was derived from how she felt while depressed.

Rowling says that a Dementor "feeds on you long enough to reduce you to...soulless and evil." Thankfully, Rowling had recovered from her depression and is now living a wonderful life with her family. Kudos to her for openly discussing her mental health with her fans.

Hermione Was Supposed To Only Slap Malfoy

When everyone's favorite witch punched Draco Malfoy in the nose, this was not supposed to be part of the script. Thankfully she did, as Malfoy finally got what was coming to him.

According to Tom Felton himself, the script had originally called for Hermione to only slap Malfoy. However, the two actors got together to add more intensity to the scene.

Instead of including a simple screen-slap, the actors agreed to turn it in to a punch.

While the end product looks excellent on film, it took some work behind the scenes to get it right. Felton says that "she actually smacked me on the face pretty hard," and complimented her right hook.

Hermione always had it in her, and is actually the only one of the three to get their hands on Malfoy. Hopefully she enjoyed it!

Alfonso Cuarón Could Not Curse In Front Of The Kids

If a director has never worked with younger actors before, it can be very difficult. Especially if the director has a tendency to curse.

Alfonso Cuarón's directing career included working mainly working with adults.However, upon taking on Prisoner of Azkaban Cuarón felt that he had to restrain himself since the lead cast consisted mainly of teenagers. Self-ittedly, he felt that he "had to restrain my language a little bit, because I have a very foul mouth." While Radcliffe, Watson and Grint had been working around adult actors for years, Cuarón did this out of respect for their youth.

Cuarón even had a "swear jar" on set which attempted to limit his cursing in front of the younger actors. What could the money have gone towards after production wrapped up?

Everyone Played A Big Prank On Daniel Radcliffe

Growing up on a movie set must be challenging for young actors, but comradery like this surely makes it easier.

As seen in the special features for Prisoner of Azkaban, Michael Gambon and Alan Rickman got together to pull a big prank on Harry Potter himself.

While filming a scene which included an extreme-close up on Radcliffe's face, the actors placed a remote-controlled fart machine near Radcliffe.

The two waited until the camera frame was close, and let the machine go. Radcliffe thought that it was some of the other young actors, but was surprised when it was two renowned older actors.

Thankfully this was all caught on film so everyone could share in the prank. Even Fred and George Weasley would have been proud!

Hogwarts Express Was Vandalized

How is the train supposed to make it to Hogwarts when it is covered in spray paint?

Since films are not always shot in chronological order, there are scenes from the beginning of the film which had not been captured by the middle of production. Unfortunately, this means that filming can be delayed if something happens to a critical set piece.

The Hogwarts Express was apparently accessible to the public, and was vandalized in 2003 during filming. This ended up delaying the filming process while spray paint was removed and broken windows were repaired.

Since this film includes some critical scenes on the train, the set needed to be in perfect shape.

Thankfully production was not delayed too long, as the film still made its intended release date in 2004. Perhaps a better protective spell should be cast next time?

Cedric Diggory Was Not Played By Robert Pattinson

Harry Potter films are not always completely reminiscent of what happened in the novels. However, there was a critical piece of Prisoner of Azkaban which was left out of the production.

Readers of the books know that the Seeker on the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team is Cedric Diggory. While he has a much bigger part in The Goblet of Fire, Diggory is supposed to make his first appearance in the third film during a pivotal Quidditch game. Yet when the game takes place, Robert Pattinson is nowhere to be found.

Instead of taking the time to introduce Diggory to the film, an unknown actor takes the role. Furthermore, this actor is not given any screen credit so no one knows who he actually is.

However, according to the books, this is supposed to be Cedric Diggory. Given his importance to the future stories, introducing him here would have been a wise decision.

The Main Cast Wrote Essays To Understand Their Characters

Film teams have a variety of ways to ensure that actors get into character before filming. Some actors keep a journal with the same voice as their character, but Alfonso Cuarón had a different way of approaching the task for his three main actors.

Keeping in true fashion with their characters being in school, Cuarón tasked Harry, Ron, and Hermione with completing an essay about their characters.

Radcliffe, Grint and Watson each approached the essay in their own way, which hilariously mirrored how their characters would have.

Watson went above and beyond with her task, while Radcliffe completed the bare-minimum. On the other hand, Rupert Grint did not even hand in the assignment!

While Grint claimed that some outside circumstances prevented him from doing the assignment, he itted that “It’s quite Ron-ish not to do it. I think [Cuarón] kind of appreciated that.”