Throughout the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter -- Diagon Alley, you can find subtle salutes to Jaws, the Universal Studios ride that was once on the site of the new attractions. Here are four of them — you can look for more when you visit:
+ One of the albums on display in the record-shop window in the London façade is called “Here’s to Swimmin’ With Bow-legged Women,” by the Quint Trio. In the 1975 movie “Jaws,” a character named Quint hunts the shark with two other men — a trio. In the film, Quint (played by Robert Shaw) gives a toast: “Here’s to swimmin’ with bow-legged women.”
+ In the film, the threesome sang “Show Me the Way to Go Home.” (The shark, you'll recall) was unamused.) At Universal, that song is in the repertoire of singing shrunken heads on display in Knockturn Alley. The song was written and recorded by British duo Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly in 1925.
+ This one is slightly more obvious: A set of shark jawbones appears behind the herbs and potions at Mr. Mulpepper’s Apothecary, a faux storefront on the main strip of Diagon Alley. (It's around the corner from Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour.)
+ Universal Studios employees have said that telescopes on display at Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment are made with pieces from the boats that carted visitors around the Jaws ride.
If you’re really nostalgic for Jaws, you can can still see the giant, strung-up shark – sometimes referred to as “Bruce” - that fronted the attraction until it closed in January 2013. Universal has placed it nearby, in the San Francisco section of the park. If you get the angle just right, you can capture a picture of the big guy with King’s Cross train station — the tip end of Diagon Alley — in the background.