Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

A Muggles Guide

Since the Internet became the fastest way of spreading rumours and building hype for the movie industry, very few films have managed to grab the attention of the public in any major way. Only flicks such as The Phantom Menace have grabbed the Internet and taken it by storm…until this year. Now we have two, and possibly the biggest of these is Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone.

Harry Potter has already achieved the impossible, managing to drag children and adults alike away from their television sets and out of the movie theatres and back to the realm of the printed word. In just four books J.K.Rowling has created a bunch of characters that have set the minds and imaginations of children across the world with the story of a young boy who discovers he's much more than ever believed and his adventures in the world of wizardry.

With a style that's a cross between Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl, the books have literally broken all records for a new author and won countless awards in the literary world, so it was perhaps inevitable that a movie was to be made based the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione. The difference this time is that the whole thing is being overseen by Rowling herself, and she it fiercely defensive of her creations.

After several names were bandied about and ideas suggested (the worst being that Steven Spielberg was to direct and wanted to change the setting to an American High School, now there's a reason for a Curse Spell!) the final choice was for Chris Columbus (Bicentennial Man, Mrs. Doubtfire) to direct and a host of British stars to play the principal roles. With names such as Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, John Cleese, Rik Mayall and Richard Harris for the schoolteachers, wizards and ghosts, and three unknown children to play the three main characters, things so far look promising.

Also adding to the atmosphere is for master theme musician John Williams writing the music for the film. Snippets that have been already, such as Hedwig's Theme, sound beautiful and have been used on the recent Coca-Cola adverts for their Harry Potter promotion. Indeed, this promotion shows just how big this film could be if a company as big as Coca-Cola want to attach their name to it all, an honour normally reserved for such events as the Olympic Games.

Thanks to the amount of fans, this has to be one of the most eagerly awaited films in years. When the trailers were posted for download on the Internet, traffic was incredible and hasn't been that high since the Phantom Menace trailer. Response to the trailer was unconditionally favourable and showed just how much attention has gone into the translation of the books to the big screen.

Hogwarts School looks spot on, the kids playing Harry, Ron and Hermione look perfect for the roles and casting Alan Rickman as Professor Severus Snape was a mark of genius. In fact all the actors look perfectly cast, with special mention going to Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid, Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall and Richard Harris as Headmaster Dumbledore. Even the smaller roles are well cast, with actors such as Verne Troyer (Mini-Me from Austin Powers) playing a ghoul and Warwick Davis (Star Wars and Willow) playing Professor Flitwick.

It's good to see that everything looks right so far and the anticipation for the film is building daily with a huge amount of merchandising already out and with lots more to come. This looks to be the Xmas of Harry Potter this year, with such things as Harry Potter Lego and several computer games also being made. Warner Brothers are so convinced about the success of the film that plans for the sequel, Harry Potter and The Chamber Of Secrets, are already in motion with filming already started and the latest casting news of Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart being announced just recently.

In fact, the only downside to the film for the fans seems to be that it's stopped J.K.Rowling from writing the next book, which has already been put back several times now, due to her involvement in the making the film accurate. Personally, I'm happy to wait for now, as there are only plans for seven books in total, thus meaning there will be seven films, although this could go to eight films as the latest rumours are that the fourth book will be made into two films, due to the huge size of the book.

Whatever happens though, this looks like it will definitely be the biggest kids film of the year, and possibly the biggest film this winter with only Lord Of The Rings having any chance against it. Personally, my money is on The Boy Who Lived.

STEVE DUCKER

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