For close to two decades now,
JK Rowling's stories of Harry Potter
and the rest of the wizarding world
have dominated popular culture.
Along the way, they've
amassed arguably the largest
and most passionate fanbase in the world...
You are the most wonderful
fans in the world!
...given us some of the most
recognisable stars on the planet
and created an enormous
demand for more of this.
So, earlier this year we
got a West End play and now,
five years since The
Deathly Hallows, Part Two...
We're pretty sure it's
going to be five movies.
...kicking things off with
the kind of, sort of prequel,
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.
Don't panic. There is absolutely
nothing to worry about.
But what is it about these stories
that has made them such a phenomenon?
Gryffindor!
We'll be speaking to star Eddie Redmayne,
director David Yates, the crew,
the fans, and some bloke
called Daniel Radcliffe
to answer the all-important question...
what is the secret of the wizarding world?
Before we get started, just
in case you recently escaped
from Azkaban after a -year stretch
and aren't in the know,
I've set my good friends,
The Vamps, a challenge...
recap all of the Harry Potter
films in under a minute,
just so you're totally up-to-date
with everything that's going on.
I'm cruel, I know.
Voldemort kills Harry's parents.
But Harry's a bit of a Batman
and doesn't actually die.
He gets adopted by his auntie and uncle.
But then he gets a letter
through that gives him
the chance to go to Hogwarts.
Hagrid comes and boots the door
down and picks him up and goes,
"You're coming with me, mate."
He loves it. He meets
Hermione and he meets, erm...
...Ron. Ronald.
They k*ll a guy that's got a Voldemort head
on the back of his head.
- And... Is that...?
- The second film...
I didn't make it to the second film!
...something happens with the
wand, and some, erm... Quidditch.
They go k*ll a big snake, take his tooth,
s*ab something with it.
Third film, pretty much the same thing.
He's got, like, a relative, Sirius Black.
Snape's kind of bad as well in this.
Dobby is a little elf...
also dies at some point.
Then... Oh, Oh.
Voldemort is in it as well.
They're trying to find a Horcrux.
I've skipped two movies.
They get them all and there's
a massive battle at the end.
Loads and loads of people die,
but all in all, it's a good family movie.
I'd thoroughly recommend watching it.
(HAGRID) You're a wizard, Harry.
That's it. Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
And what about the story
of Fantastic Beasts?
Can the star himself,
Eddie Redmayne, tell us?
I can tell that story.
I'm going to stop you, and I hate
to do this, because I've been sent...
No. Shut up. Is this a Newt one?
I've been sent your very own wand.
This is quite a moment, because
we went to Comic Con recently,
and I handed out , of these
wands, and I was given one,
and I had to make , people do a spell.
But when I handed them all out,
I handed them all out,
so I got on stage to do this spell
and realised I didn't have a wand.
So I ran back into the audience
and there was a girl there,
and I said, "Look, please,
can I just borrow this one?"
and she was like, "Yeah,
if you give it back!"
And I was like, "OK."
So I went and I did the spell
and I could see her in
the front row being like...
So I've actually not...
I don't have my own wand,
so this is a big moment.
- Allow me to give that to you.
- Thank you.
(ROARING)
You've known for hours
that an unregistered wizard
set magical beasts loose in New York?
- Yes.
- Where is this man?
- Teeny.
- That's Mr. Scamander.
He's lost something I'm
going to help him find.
Some of these characters and
families that we've grown to love
through the Harry Potter
films, you hear their names
and you begin to get a
sense of their legacy.
What makes Albus Dumbledore so fond of you?
It's like sort of jumping back
in the family tree, in some ways.
You kind of realise how thoroughly
JK Rowling has got her world in her head.
It's not an adaptation of Fantastic Beasts,
it's a new project, it's a new
set of stories with a character
called Newt Scamander,
who exists in that book.
Newt Scamander is a British
self-proclaimed magizoologist.
Newt gets off a boat in New York in .
- First trip to America?
- Yes.
They've got these rules that
the Brits just don't have.
He's a wizard who loves fantastic
beasts and magical creatures.
They are kind of illegal
because they might give
away that wizards exist.
You're the guy with the
case full of monsters, huh?
News travels fast.
He's basically spent a year in
the field all across the globe,
finding, studying magical creatures.
(ROARING)
And some of them live in his case.
It was open?
Just a smidge.
Mr. Scamander, do you know anything
about the wizarding community in America?
- We don't let things loose.
- We got a plan, right, guys?
They need our help.
I found it such an
amazing mixture of action.
There were sort of thriller elements...
It wasn't Hogwarts,
it wasn't what we'd done
before, and it felt fresh.
I think this is related to
Grindelwald's att*cks in Europe.
There was great darkness in it,
and wonderful emotions.
I have seen a vision of immense power.
It had that sort of feeling of coming home.
There were comedic elements,
there was sort of romance,
and I just hoped that we would
be able to capture that spirit.
I hope we have, and I
hope you guys enjoy it.
There was a time when we
thought it was all over.
No more films, no more books,
no more anything, apart from
maybe a couple of theme parks
and a studio tour,
but that's a big reason why
fans are so excited right now.
They cannot wait to find out more.
So, what is it about the
stories of the wizarding world
that fascinate us all?
Let's meet a die-hard fan to find out.
I'm Jenessa Baber, and I'm
a very proud Hufflepuff.
The first book came out in
when I was only a year old,
and the first films in , so
I was only like three or four.
But my earliest memory of it is
going to see Prisoner Of Azkaban
with my uncle and his daughter.
And we'd literally missed the
viewing by about ten minutes,
so we had to wait three
hours for the next viewing,
and we were sat at Vue,
and we were just waiting
for the next one to come on.
And we got lost on the way there,
and it was just the most
traumatic experience ever,
but I think I was about five or six.
The time in most people's
lives when they discovered it
meant that it has an
incredibly important place
in a lot of people's
childhoods and, you know,
they still feel very, sort
of, protective over it.
Expecto Patronum!
A full-bodied Patronus is
the most difficult to produce,
but shield forms can also be equally useful
against a variety of opponents.
I've been told by several friends
that it just takes them to a place
of warmth and comfort, and
that is so lovely to me.
That's the real-world effect a
film can have on someone's life
and I think that's great.
Think of the happiest thing you can.
I'm trying.
I know. It's good.
This is really advanced stuff, guys.
You're doing so well.
I think they got it so right
with the characters, you know,
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma
and Rupert, I believe.
- The way they kind of, like, gel together.
- Chemistry.
And then we grew up with them.
They're immediately accessible.
They feel like someone we know,
or they feel like an
extension of ourselves,
and she's done that again with
the characters in Fantastic Beasts.
Hey, Mr. Scamander.
You prefer pie or strudel?
I really don't have a preference.
You prefer strudel, huh, honey.
Strudel it is.
JK Rowling often writes about
outsiders and she herself says that,
and I think that that's
what connects everyone
to both the Potter films and
hopefully to Fantastic Beasts
is that no-one's an insider.
Like, even those people in life
who sort of put on this front
of being cool, or, I don't
know, somehow an insider,
they secretly are probably crushing inside.
Well, sit down, Mr. Scamander.
We're not going to poison you.
And so I think that's kind of the appeal,
is none of us necessarily
feel like we really fit in.
I also get a kick out of the
fact that this is our world,
but underneath it all, I might be a wizard.
And probably are.
- Well, this has got awkward.
- I'll see how your wand work is.
Having that close reality to our
world and another world is something
really clever, and
because it's so relatable,
you are almost there,
and it's just that little bit
of reality holding you back.
But you can always dream, can't you?
Excuse me, sir. Can you
tell me where I might find
- platform nine and three quarters?
- Nine and three quarters?
Think you're being funny, do you?
Suddenly, you'd go to Kings Cross
and that wall would just be so exciting!
And I hope that in Fantastic Beasts,
the Woolworth Building in New York,
these places that you're
really familiar with...
Lots of our cast were from New York,
and they were just so excited by
the detail of that, and it
makes you feel that magic
literally lives around you.
We've all been to school,
we've all had teachers who we don't
like and teachers that we adore.
It's a universal experience,
and then you add magic on top.
Everyone wants to be a wizard and
everyone wants to, like, you know,
flick the wand.
You'd be able to tidy your room quicker,
you'd be able to transport
yourself to a different place
in, like, the split of a second.
All these abilities that you know
you'd never be able to do in reality.
But everyone wants to be special,
everyone wants to feel like they've
got the power to do something,
and being a witch or wizard
completely gives you that power,
and I think that's why everyone
wants to be a witch or wizard.
And to meet Dumbledore!
Of course, stories involving
magic aren't a new thing...
just ask a distinctly
younger-looking Stephen Fry.
I think what I liked from
the first about Harry Potter
was what's woven into
them is a true history
of the English folkloric
tradition of magic.
She hasn't made up a magic world
which is simply a great wish
list of Disney-esque fantasy of,
well, if you have a dream
it's going to come true,
because Harry Potter doesn't
present a world like that.
It's connected, and it comes out of
the whole fabric of English history
and folkloric mythology.
That's why it works,
because things don't work
if they are the result of
a feeble-minded fantasy.
A lot of sort of motifs that
we associate with witchcraft
have been picked up by JK Rowling.
They have the black robes and
the hats and the broomsticks,
the cauldrons, but these have
all been updated as school kit,
things Harry needs to go to school.
We look at Arthurian literature
and there are lots of connections
between Harry Potter's story
and the story of King Arthur.
Both are separated from their parents,
both are watched over
by a powerful wizard...
Merlin in the case of King
Arthur, Dumbledore in Harry Potter.
Although they're drawing upon
these much older mythic themes
of good versus evil,
death and resurrection,
they also tie into themes that
are very relevant to us now.
There's a key theme in what the
story is fundamentally about,
which is to embrace and accept the things
we don't necessarily understand
and to develop our
curiosity about those things,
and to be open to the wonders of
the world and to be open to things
that are different to
our immediate experience,
because otherwise, you know,
the world becomes a darker place.
I think a lot of it is
all about life lessons.
Harry's story is he's the orphaned
child and he has to go on and defeat
all these awful things,
but it brings you back to
there is w*r, people die.
Harry Potter...
...the boy who lived.
She isn't afraid of dealing with death.
She isn't afraid of dealing with
the darker side of human nature
and she goes there very easily, I think.
She kind of enjoys it!
This dark edge that occasionally
comes into the stories
I think is essential, because
she recognises that the world
is not an easy place, and I
think, even for younger readers
and younger viewers, it's important
to acknowledge that there's a side
to life that needs to be acknowledged
and dealt with sometimes.
What you've fallen in
love with is the story,
the characters, the themes
we can all relate to.
How you fall in love is by
getting lost in the detail,
and there is a lot of
detail to get lost in.
There is no stone unturned with JK Rowling.
She can literally answer
absolutely every question,
and you can be waiting for
that for the rest of your life,
but you still will not know
the full story of Harry Potter,
and that is really exciting.
I asked a question about Madam Picquery,
who runs the Ministry of Magic.
You know, where is she from?
And literally hours later,
Jo came back with a ten-page breakdown
of the history of magic in America,
and she said, "I just
started and I couldn't stop."
She creates such a fully-fledged
world that that's the one
we all want to dive into, and I
feel like since they started making
the Potter films, and it's lots of
the same crew into Fantastic Beasts,
they sort of respect that and so
they go that extra step further with
getting the absolute
intricacy of the details right.
In charge of all those details for
Fantastic Beasts is Oscar-winning
production designer and Potter
movie veteran Stuart Craig.
In the books, in the screenplay,
there's a huge amount of description,
so we set about it just
delivering what was expected of us.
I was somewhat surprised
at the level of interest
in the so-called detail,
or that people perceived it
as different to a lot of other films.
I get it now.
I remember coming onto set
on one of the first days
and seeing newspaper cuttings
like that were in a newspaper stand
at the back of a massive set miles away...
there was no chance they were going
to be in sh*t... and you sort of...
I was wandering past there on a
coffee break moment, and I sort of
looked at what was written in
the newspaper, and it was like
the entire history of,
sort of, what was going on
in the wizarding world that day.
I was like, "God, if you..."
It was totally enthralling.
If you believe in the
surroundings, in the situations,
in the newspaper you're
holding the contents of,
if you really believe in that,
it gives credibility to the whole thing
and to the extraordinary
bits of cinematic magic.
That's it, really, it's the
pursuit of credibility, I think.
What's amazing about these
films is there are so many
extraordinary people behind the scenes
whose job it is to create wands.
The interesting thing about
wands is that it's a prop
that's absolutely specific to a character.
Often it can be an
expression of their taste
and their fields and their ideals.
When I first got cast, they
came with all these designs
and possible ideas, and
we talked it through.
I got super method on my wand.
And when we make the originals, we
make them in the proper materials
as much as we can... wooden shafts etc....
to give it as much
authenticity as possible.
And so you'll see there are
no, sort of, animal products,
this is like a sort of shell, so
a bit of mother of pearl and...
But it's a bit battered because
he's sort of gone, you know,
he's been out in the field with it.
For me, the most important thing
is the actor makes the final choice,
so is able to sit there and go,
"This one feels right to me."
So happy to have this back.
- I can tell.
- Just made me really happy.
Sorry, because... Yeah. Go on.
- Question?
- Yeah. Repeat.
I feel like everything
you say has more impact.
- If I do that?
- When you do that.
Do you know what? I started,
I was doing all this...
Oh, my God, I just did it.
Was that caught on camera?
I was like, "I think I'm
going to make Newt really cool,
"and he has this fiddle,"
because I always watch people
do that with their pens,
but I could never do it,
so I spent months trying it and
then I could never do it on camera,
so I decided to ditch that,
but I just did it on camera.
Did you catch it? That's so exciting!
My tenth birthday I got
my first wand from my mum,
which was Hermione Granger's wand.
It's just really cool.
Well, probably not to some people,
but to me it's really
cool because it's like
bringing a piece of the film home with you.
And, yeah, I do play with
my wands every now and then.
As well as a few more wands,
Fantastic Beasts introduces us
to a new must-have bit of merch
with a key role to play in the film...
Newt's case.
It's a bit like Doctor Who's Tardis.
Doctor Who's Tardis looks very small
but you open the door, you
go in, and it's enormous.
Well, that's Newt's case.
It's basically the size
of a football pitch,
which is kind of the space
that Newt could create.
And it's all put together
with sort of British glue
and, sort of, elastic tape.
I ain't got the brains to make this up.
But still kind of
extraordinary and bonkers.
You open it, you end up in
a shed, because, you know,
being a British bloke,
you've got to have a shed,
and that's where he keeps
all his books and all his
sort of, like, medicines
for all the animals.
And then you open the door to
the shed and that takes you into
this next level of the case, which
is this set of enclosures, really,
and that's where he keeps all the beasts.
The creatures have always been my
favourite thing about Harry Potter.
And people have got cats
and dogs in the real world,
but over there you'll
have a pet Niffler or...
Yeah, I'm so looking forward
to seeing how they tackle that
and what they look like.
Yeah, it's exciting.
There's always been a
visual effects department,
but as the years have gone on,
techniques have improved and...
That's where the heart of this
movie is, in the digital technology,
extending what was previously possible.
We were on it for about months or so,
so it was quite a few months of play
and "Wouldn't it be cool if...?"
And so, yeah, something like the
Niffler, we had several designs.
I think it was kind of
based on a honey badger.
- You do not mess.
- You do not mess with the honey badger.
The honey badger, for those who don't know,
and do look it up on YouTube,
is this kind of badgery
thing that eats anything.
Ew, eating snakes.
Ew, what's that, a mouse?
Oh, that's nasty.
I mean, we did over , ...
- Yeah.
- ...sketches of different creatures.
Come on, give me a smile.
Some of the things like
the Bowtruckle, Pickett...
of him alone, we had over
different versions
of a design for him.
Newt has several Bowtruckles
but he has a particular favourite
in Pickett, and he sort of
keeps him in his top pocket.
Wait a minute.
So, evidently has a favourite and
it's not the greatest of parenting.
That's a Bow... That's a Bowtruckle, right?
- No.
- Ah, come on, they pick locks, am I right?
You're not having him.
We develop puppets for
all the hero characters,
which range from sort
of small Pickett-sized
little animatronic things
that could be operated by hand
to a -foot-tall
Erumpent.
Put this on.
Put... Why would I have to
wear something like this?
Because your skull is susceptible
to breakage under immense force.
We projected the creatures onto
the wall and then Eddie stood there,
and we decided how big the
Erumpent was by moving the projector
back and forth, and he
could stand there with it
and David could see the
creature next to him,
and it would at least
give you a sense of scale.
He's hurt. Oh, wake up, Mr. No-Maj.
- (SNARLING)
- Argh!
Mercy Lewis, what is that?
Nothing to worry about.
That is... a Murtlap.
What else have you got in there?
Its success has instilled
confidence, really,
in everybody in the studio, in
the producers, in the director.
Normally, as we did on Harry
Potter , Harry Potter ,
we had to, out of necessity,
find real locations.
And as the series went on
and with Fantastic Beasts,
we have designed and
built here at Leavesden
more and more of the world.
But as people watch it,
I'd like them to realise
that not a single scene with
actors was sh*t in New York at all,
and the success of the franchise
has afforded us that luxury.
Story, detail, sure,
but for me, what really sets the
wizarding world apart is the fans.
Everyone I've met is passionate,
fiercely loyal and very
knowledgeable indeed.
And when they get together,
you can really feel their
amazing sense of community.
I went down to the international fan event
for Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
in London's Leicester Square.
What better place to find
fantastic fans than here?
You're going to a fan event.
This is true. Are you nervous?
I am a bit nervous, yeah.
Are you worried that there might be
quite a few people dressed as Newt?
Have you seen Eddie Redmayne?
He's just over there.
- Oh, yeah.
- Oh!
I love that! I love it, it's really weird.
And did you just so happen to
have a blue jacket and a bow tie?
I actually went shopping for
this entire outfit yesterday.
The people that we've met are so supportive
of Fantastic Beasts, really,
and getting to see more into
JK Rowling's imagination.
I think I'm just mostly
excited about being back
in the wizarding world and being
just amazed at JK Rowling's work.
They are a passionate crowd and that's...
that's always a wonderful
thing, being passionate.
We are really proud to
be here and to be part of
something new in the Harry Potter universe.
No, it's definitely special,
it's just great to see everyone
else enjoying themselves.
Let's get a big cheer, everyone.
(CHEERING)
Hi!
Hello, hello to everybody.
We are thrilled to be here at
the AMC Kips Bay IMAX theatre
in New York City!
It's definitely a family
and it's so accepting.
You can be whoever you want and it's...
You're welcomed into that family.
So we've got friends all over the world,
we've got different team
members in different countries,
and its just amazing to be part of, really.
What sets them apart is their curiosity
and that JK Rowling's
books and the films then...
You know, a lot of fandoms are
kind of exclusive and they're like,
"We can only be a fan of this
thing," where I think Harry Potter
actually has introduced people
to a lot of other things,
a lot of other literature
and a lot of other films,
and the people I meet are all,
like, incredibly kind and sweet,
and I think it gives people
a hunger to find more things
that they like as much as Harry
Potter and other forms of art
that they are as hungry for.
The Harry Potter generation is
also the internet generation.
We've got all the books here
and I thought I would show you
just to prove that I do have...
As the internet grew,
so did people's ability to instantly
communicate with everyone else.
And before we had social media,
before we had Twitter and Facebook,
we had these Harry Potter
fan sites and forums
that would talk about
Harry Potter in one place.
It's about people connecting, and
again, people that feel themselves
to be outsiders finding other
kindred spirits and souls.
Hmm.
Difficult, very difficult.
Plenty of courage, I see.
Not a bad mind, either.
There's talent, oh, yes,
and a thirst to prove yourself.
But where to put you?
(WHISPERING) Not Slytherin.
Harry Potter gives you an
ability to be put in a house,
which makes you find other friends,
which makes you find other friends,
and it's just this one big
collective group of people
who love the same thing, but you
identify yourself as something.
Well, if you're sure...
- (WHISPERING) Anything but Slytherin.
- ...better be...
Gryffindor!
So, for the sorting on Pottermore,
the questions are devised by JK Rowling.
There are questions that are
designed to really test you,
and it will pull out different
parts of your personality
without you sort of realising.
It's quite hard to sort of guess
what house you're going to end up in.
I think a lot of fans are
quite surprised when they go on
and they might be a bit offended, like,
"Oh, I never saw myself as a Slytherin!"
This is going to sound awful,
but I did the Pottermore test
and I was actually placed in
Slytherin, which I would never,
ever have put myself in.
And not that I totally disassociate
myself with it, but I just...
I don't feel like a Slytherin at heart,
I've always considered myself a Hufflepuff,
so I overruled JK Rowling's
opinion on my house!
I wrote to her and she wrote back to me.
It even came back with
a Harry Potter stamp,
which was really amazing.
She has seen the dress on Twitter.
I wanted to paint the chapter
The Marauder's Map onto it
in the style of the Marauder's Map.
She liked my post about
it, at which I was like,
"Did this just happen?"
A lot of fans have some
kind of connection with her.
I think that's one of the things
that you love about the fandom,
is that you can connect with
a lot of people involved.
The fact that Jo Rowling
is still so heavily involved
nearly a quarter of a
century since she first
came up with the whole idea...
is that the secret ingredient that
sets the wizarding world apart?
I mean, I think so.
I think it would be very
hard for anything to happen
in the Harry Potter world
without her, you know,
involvement, really, and
it feel like the same world.
The more time you spend with Jo,
the more you hear about not just
Fantastic Beasts but the world around it,
the more detailed and intricate and
compelling and exciting it becomes.
My breath is frequently taken away.
Like, I can't believe she has
the capacity for such imagination.
The most important aspect of
it for me is that she delivers
these positive values, the values
that's held together, you know,
certainly in my lifetime,
of civility and decency
and respect and curiosity for
others and sort of respect for truth,
and that is probably a testament
greater than any other
to her work, I think.
Jo really cares about the people
that she writes for, about the...
She cares about the people she writes
and about the people she writes for,
and it's lovely that she has chosen
to expand the world in
so many different ways
because there is still
such a hunger for that.
But, yeah, I mean, she's
just an immensely...
just intelligent, funny,
kind human being,
and I think that obviously
comes across in her writing.
When you spend time reading a book,
you don't just spend
time with the characters
but you spend time with the
author, and she is a lovely person
to feel like you're
hanging out with, I think.
There's no other set of
stories, be it Star Wars
or Star Trek or Lord Of The Rings,
where still just one person
has all of the answers.
And it's her passion and knowledge
and sheer humongous imagination
that has set the wizarding world apart
and made it so special for so many people.
I want to be a wizard.
That, for me, is why Jo herself is
the secret of the wizarding world.
- Do I actually get to keep it?
- You actually... - That's amazing!
That is for you. And...
And it gets its own
little, own little sleeve!
It gets its own ornamental
sleeve. That's for you.
Thank you so much. I'm really
very excited about that, thank you.
- It's my pleasure.
- Nice to see you.
I can't believe I was the
guy that got to do that!
You gave Newt his wand!
- Have you got, like, a wand pocket?
- Yeah, no, I wish!
Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, The (2017)
Moderator: Maskath3