Sushannah Smith | Staff Writer
Featured illustration: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hits theatres November 18, hoping to capitalize on the Harry Potter series’ success. | Lung Sze Liz
For many Harry Potter fans who grew up with the fantasy and adventure series written by J.K. Rowling and the movie franchise distributed by Warner Bros., the magic never ends. The Harry Potter industry, which includes quidditch tournaments, tours, colouring books and studio visits, allows fans to immerse themselves in Rowling’s imaginary universe.
The latest development in the Harry Potter world, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the major motion picture based on Rowling’s book of the same name.
Fantastic Beasts was originally published in 2001 under the pseudonym Newt Scamander as a companion book to the Harry Potter series. The book details all the magical creatures that Harry, Hermione and Ron come into contact with in their adventures.
Fantastic Beasts, to be released in Canada on November 18, follows Newt Scamander, an employee of the British Ministry of Magic, as he documents the world’s magical creatures and tries to prevent a catastrophe of worldly proportions. In his quest, Fantastic Beasts shows that the film is about more than just fantasy and adventure, touching on recurring themes from Harry Potter like friendship, loyalty, courage and hope.
For a series that has gained a cult following, a boy wizard trying to save the world from an evil, snake-looking man may not seem like a justified reason for the movies’ success. Naturally, the franchise has met its fair share of critics. Religious groups may have a problem with the series for its portrayal of witchcraft, spells and potion making. Others believe that the series is meant solely for children and does not warrant the huge adult following that it has.
It’s refreshing for a story to show the love of friends and family as being more important than romance. In the Harry Potter series, the relationships between Harry and his friends are the most important relationships in his life. After 11 years of abuse, Harry finally found people that accepted him for him and stood beside him through every obstacle, whether it be through a deadly chess game, the forbidden forest, going against Umbridge or searching for Voldemort’s horcruxes. They went through hell and back for their friend without complaint and they always made it back home in the end.
Show me a friend who would fight a troll for you, go against a three-headed pit bull to find a cure for your illness, fight off a werewolf, brawl with a bunch of terrorists and sacrifice their life to save yours. I’ll wait. Harry’s friendships, and the ones that Newt develops 70 years before the series, provide children and adults with a positive example of unconditional friendships.
Sometimes, we get sad and feel like there’s no one out there who could possibly understand what we’re going through. Sometimes, we get depressed and we can’t help but think of the worst. And you’re right. You are the only person who truly knows how you feel. But that doesn’t mean no one has ever felt something similar. The relationships we build help us through these dark times.
Since the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts is written by Rowling as well, one can only hope that these themes that inspired generations of kids and adults to dream and imagine carry through into this latest addition to the franchise.
