USA Today has an interesting piece on the creation of Buckbeak, the half-horse, half-eagle creature known as a hippogriff, who plays a key role in the new Harry Potter film. “‘The hippogriff was probably one of the most complex creatures we’ve ever done (in the three Potter films),’ producer Mark Radcliffe says. Several artists, Radcliffe states, ‘combined the bone structure of a bird with the bone structure of a horse, then started to figure out, How does an animal like that walk? Does it walk around like a horse or like a bird? We wanted a smart, powerful animal, but it’s also a bird of prey,’ Radcliffe says. ‘We wanted to create a creature that would be emotional and have a real personality. We wanted a creature the audience would love.'”