(B)adaptations Script: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Adelaide: Hi! I’m Adelaide!
Alex: And I’m Alex!
Together: And you're watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Adaptation
Alex: The point of this show is to talk about the subtle and not so subtle differences between the beginning of J.K. Rowling’s popular book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,” and the wildly successful film sharing the very same name.
Alex: The book starts off with an infant Harry being left on the doorstep of his aunt and uncle’s house. An otherwise regular looking baby, it is emphasized by Rowling that he is unique because of the large scar on his forehead shaped in the form of a lightning bolt. The book then fasts forward to a much older Harry at his cousin Dudley's birthday party. All of a sudden, the glass separating Dudley and Harry disappears and a large snake slithers out of its enclosure. However, to make things even weirder, Harry swears to himself that the snake talks to him as it passes. More weird events soon start to happen as Harry begins to receive pequliar letters in the mail. Not allowed to open them, more and more continue to arrive, and finally Mr. Dursley, Harry’s uncle, believes he has no choice but to move the family to a remote area in order to escape from the mysterious incoming letters. This seems to backfire as Hagrid, a member of the Hogwarts Schoolstaff arrives to inform Harry of his position in the Wizarding world. While there, he informs the protagonist that he is a wizard and will be leaving with him to attend The Hogwarts School. Understandably dumbfounded, Harry sits in disbelief as his uncle protests what Hagrid has just said. Finally, tired of hearing Mr. Dursley’s yelling, Hagrid proceeds to tell Harry that his parents were murdered by an evil wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort, not in a car crash like he had previously been told. From there, Hagrid takes Harry and they leave the remote shack and the dumbstruck Dursley family behind.
Adelaide: After watching the opening scenes of the movie we realized that the director, Chris Columbus, did a great job of making the film as accurate as possible. Like the book, he emphasizes how blatantly the Dursleys favor their son. He has two bedrooms, one for sleeping and one for his toys, while Harry lives in a broom cupboard under the stairs. In addition to accurately portraying the blatant favoritism showered on Dudley, the movie does a good job of demonstrating the Dursley’s horror over the mysterious letters addressed to Harry. In both the book and the film, Mr. Dursley starts off by nailing the letter box shut. From there, the viewer sees a plethora of letters arrive through the fireplace, and it becomes clear there is no choice for Mr. Dursley but moving the family to a remote island.
Alex: However, unlike in the book, Mr. Dursley brings along with him a mysterious package that is later revealed to be a gun. The book never mentioned a gun, so we assume the director included it in order to add a layer of drama to the film.
Adelaide: Overall, we were incredibly impressed by how close the movie and book were to one another. Because of the many special effects needed, such as talking snakes, disappearing glass, and thousands of letters being shoved down a chimney at once, we assumed that the movie would surely cut some corners while keeping the overall storyline intact. Yet, besides a few added dramatic touches, the movie stayed quite true to the book.
Alex: Job well done Chris!
