BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: GUEST,Greyeyes
Date: 24 Feb 01 - 08:51 AM

Well Hollowfox, I certainly can't imagine Pullman as a feature film, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility that it could be made into a children's TV series. Dickens adapts very well for the small screen, and the BBC made a pretty good job of several of the Narnia stories a few years ago. It could, of course, be absolutely execrable, if done badly. It remains to be seen how Tolkien will turn out. I'm generally optimistic.

Incidentally thanks for that URL at the beginning of this thread, excellent site.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: GUEST,Yorkie
Date: 24 Feb 01 - 06:49 PM

Greyeyes, I love the Terry Pratchett books,partly because of all the allusions; so often they sneak up and dig you in the ribs! Younger memebers of the family love them, despite the fact that the allusions pass them by. I saw my first Shakespeare play at 10 and was simply bowled over by it (but then, no one had told me he was boring!)

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Greyeyes
Date: 24 Feb 01 - 07:24 PM

Terry Pratchett himself has commented that if you understand ALL the jokes in his books, you must be an extremely strange person. It says a lot about him as a writer of adult books, that so many children read and enjoy his work. It says a lot about J.K.Rowling, as a writer of children's books, that so many adults read and enjoy her work.

Shakespeare, as Sorcha pointed out above, wrote for his plays to be seen performed, not read. They can be dull as dust on the page, especially if you don't understand the text, but performed on stage the whole thing comes alive, even to a 10 year old, even after 500 years, amazing!

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Feb 01 - 07:11 PM

Once again, how do people think Hogwarts should be pronounced?

The best medium for Pullman's Dark Material books - other than print - would be wireless (by which I mean radio not mobile phones) where the pictures are better than on TV.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 08:26 AM

I suspect that it will be pronounced Hog-warts in the film, and I think I've heard Rowling pronounce it like that as well. Maybe it's a muggle thing, and only wizards and witches pronounce it Hoggarts. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: GUEST,Greyeyes
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 08:27 AM

Sorry, that was me, I forgot I'm cookieless at work.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Hollowfox
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 09:38 AM

As I recall from a radio interview with Jim Dale, he said that he checked on pronounciation when he read the text for the audiobooks. He says "Hogworts", I think.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Greyeyes
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 01:39 PM

Richard Curtis, one of the organisers of "Comic Relief", was interviewed on UK radio today and estimates that the two Potter spin-off books Rowling has written (and she has written them herself) will raise around £25,000,000 for charity.

What are everybody's first impressions of the 'teaser trailer'? Looks good to me.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Hollowfox
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 01:49 PM

I liked it, a lot. My head (library) clerk didn't because the actors didn't exactly match her mental pictures of the characters. They don't exactly match mine. either, but it looks to be about as good as you can get.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: mousethief
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 01:54 PM

Actually JK Rowling doesn't write children's books. It was her book companies that decided to market them as children's books.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 01:56 PM

I always kinda thought that Terry Pratchett was just a cheap Douglas Adams wanna-be... I do own GOOD OMENS, but hat to me is a Neil Gaiman book...

Anyway... I'm off topic here... ya wanna good Harry Potter web site/communtiy...
copy and paste this addy to your browser...
http://www.fandom.com/harrypotter/

There'll you'll find a great community, and lots of info regarding the books, the movie, ect ect ect...

;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Greyeyes
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 02:04 PM

Clinton, that was my first impression of Pratchett after reading the first 2 or 3 Discworld novels, but the series really took off after that, and has moved a long way from the Adams mould.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: GUEST,Rana
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 03:37 PM

Hollowfox,

Interesting how different people picture things. When I saw the photos of the actors I couln't believe how close they were to the image I'd created (and I assumed everybody elses!).

I enjoyed the clip - the Hall looked a bit like the hall in Gormenghast (PBS are supposed to be showing that this spring - hope its soon, I want to watch it again without the Space channel's commercials).

Cheers Rana

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Greyeyes
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 04:05 PM

Some of the actors are virtually spot on my imagined pictures of them, and as they are drawn largely from the ranks of the great and good of the British acting profession, I can imagine them 'becoming' the characters. I had not imagined Harry's Uncle being so old, but I have the highest regard for Richard Griffiths, and can imagine him becoming Uncle Vernon very easily, likewise Alan Rickman as Snape, and Maggie Smith - practically anybody she wants to be.

Nobody should make the mistake of expecting the film to be as they imagined the book. It is merely an interpretation. Many actors have portrayed Fagin in "Oliver", and "Oliver Twist": Alec Guinness, Ron Moody, more recently Robert Lindsey. None of them really came close to my image of Fagin from the book, (who was a really dark evil character) but the interpretations were all excellent nontheless. David Lean's "Great Expectations" is generally considered to be one of the great British movies, but how close was it to the novel? Just the bare bones, interpreted.

I can't wait to see Harry Potter at the movies, and I don't care if it isn't how I imagined it.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Sorcha
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 04:13 PM

I went there. Sets a bloody lot of cookies!!! Movie looks neat, I may actually go see it! Characterization seems awfully close to my imagination. Harry could look a bit more "nerdy" and not so cute, but.....it's better than animation by a long shot.

(Gryffindor here)

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Greyeyes
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 04:25 PM

Yup I agree Sorcha, they haven't gone for Harry's nerdiness, I suppose it's not cinematic. The point in the first book that really hooked me was when he got on a broomstick for the first time, and discovered something he was really good at, after a lifetime of being useless. Wonder why I relate to that?....still looking.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Penny S.
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 05:10 PM

Anyone read Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones? A sort of anti-witch school novel, but with a similar finding what you are good at moment. And a wonderful description of failing to climb up the rope in the gym! (Guess who couldn't!)

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Hollowfox
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 05:12 PM

Sorcha, try using the Filmforce website I mentioned earlier in this thread. No cookies that I know of, not a crumb.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Peg
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 05:19 PM

I am surprised no one in the thread mentioned the fact that Warner Bros. sent some rather threatening letters to some kiddies (Harry Potter fans) who owned website domain names that WB wanted to buy. They warned the kids to surrender them to WB within 30 days. Some of the parents are considering suing...and a lot of kids/fans are planning to boycott the movie for this reason (though not the books).

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Hollowfox
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 05:27 PM

Yea, PArents! Go, Kids!

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: mousethief
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 05:38 PM

Ah, Big Business. You gotta love it.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Sorcha
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 06:07 PM

Appalling!! Pox on Warner Bros. Goooo, Kids! Harry Potter would approve!! There is also a Harry Potter website that I found not associated with WB.......it was fun, too. Had a quiz you could take. (When is the next book due out?)

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Greyeyes
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 06:31 PM

I had heard that WB were trying to corner the market in HP websites, I didn't realise they were going that far. I wonder if Rowling Knows.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Sorcha
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 08:43 PM

Here is the other Harry Potter site I was talking about, and it is now owned by WB too......I don't think it used to be. Not sure.

Subject: RE: BS: Harry Potter, Official WB Website
From: Peg
Date: 08 Mar 01 - 11:24 PM

here is one article of interest; first one I could find.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1081000/1081945.stm