MSNBC.com has an amusing a little nugget about the premier of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Evidently a marketing person made the decision to add to the publicity of the premiere of the film with a giant fire breathing dragon. (It's not stated but it can be inferred that it was mechanical. )
Mike Newell evidently lost patience with the dragon and told it to "Shut up!" (Another reason to infer that it was mechanical.) --Terrence Ryan