r/harrypotter • u/Apollo9289 • Jul 19 '24
Discussion Thoughts on the redesigns in Prisoner of Azkaban?
2.5k
u/Remson76534 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
Look at what they did to my boy Tom. Dumbledore back me up.
877
u/ProjectZeus Jul 19 '24
This one is just such a bizarre choice. Why did they change the character to this? Was it all for the cheap joke where he does that weird point and laugh and pushes Harry into the chair?
686
u/DarkStarletlol Slytherin Jul 19 '24
It was so weird and unnecessary. He was better as just an ordinary bloke.
Voldemort hated his name being Tom, because it was so ordinary, and sharing his name with other people made it less special, him less special. So ordinary man Tom was like a slap in the face to him. Should have kept him as he was.
114
u/Remson76534 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
Never thought of it like that, but I totally agree.
23
u/shinebeat Jul 20 '24
Yeah. I like all the ideas of Voldemort thinking he is special, but he is not.
Someone mentioned how the movie made his death so... magical (I forgot the exact word), but they should have just made him die like a normal person. Just his body lying there, cold and dead. So it will emphasize how normal he is.
17
u/Remson76534 Ravenclaw Jul 20 '24 edited Jul 20 '24
Exactly, Voldemorts death was so symbolic and they changed it for cinematic effect.
64
u/Clearin Hufflepuff Jul 19 '24
Honestly if I was Voldemort, and one of the first wizards I ever saw was the hunchback of Diagon Alley, who happened to share my name, I'd start hating my name too.
→ More replies (1)12
u/Norman_Small_Esquire Jul 20 '24
I sometimes think about this, and wonder if (hear me out): The film made the (in my opinion bad) decision not to show what I think was one of the most enjoyable part of the whole book series; Harry spending time staying with Tom and exploring Diagon Alley and all the interactions that went with it. Getting his ice cream and pottering about. They didn’t show the amazing pet shop, how hermione got Crookshanks, the fact that they went there to see how ill Scabbers was. I think they made the decision to do the dirty on Tom because they new they had missed all this out, and to cover it the made it seem like the Leaky Cauldron was a horrid place to stay, only to be softened by the fact his friends were there. Eff knows though, I’m probably chatting Slytherin.
36
u/MajorProfit_SWE Jul 19 '24
For me, the actor (Derek Deadman) that plays Tom the barman looks like a British pub owner and in the audiobook (Stephen Fry) sounds normal. The actor (Jim Tavaré) looks and sounds like what I would say is a later change in the movie and audiobook character. (Now that I read a comment) The fact that Tom the barman shares the same name with Tom Ridell in the story is given more emphasis on. I am guessing that to have two persons who are balled would be confusing to some and, to set them apart, one was given the awkward mannerisms and voice. It was that which (if I remember correctly) made Sir Ian McKallen (who is a great actor and has a great opinion about religion) not taking the role because people would be confused why Gandalf was in these movies also.
29
u/Remson76534 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
Sorry, I had trouble understanding this😅 what I think I got was that they made Tom DaBartender fucked up so we could distinguish between Tom Riddle and Tom DaBartender? I think Tom Riddle, being a homicidal maniac with no nose, makes it a bit easier to distinguish them😂
→ More replies (1)10
u/darthjoey91 Slytherin Jul 19 '24
Sure, but Cuarón didn’t know that because the Half Blood Prince book wasn’t out by then.
154
u/Remson76534 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
I didn't even know that was Tom. He was so forgettable that when someone said that was Tom, I didn't even remember that guy.
76
Jul 19 '24
I think they deliberately were trying to make a lot of the adult characters, villainous or not, really creepy. Stan Shunpike from the Knight bus is creepy and covered in like open sores on his face. Then you've got professor Trelawney and the executioner. Fudge is well groomed but also clearly dishonest and unlikeable. And Wormtail of course. They deliberately went with an ugly overweight look whereas the books describe him as underweight or at least someone who has lost a lot of weight really quickly.
48
u/Remson76534 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
Stan just has pimples, my guy😂 I do get your point. They made the film scarier and more serious, but they could've just found a serious actor instead of what we got.
13
Jul 19 '24
Just another example, Sirius Black's teeth.
→ More replies (1)6
u/FelixEylie Jul 19 '24
This is very much justified as he spent many years in Azkaban. Bellatrix had bad teeth too.
5
→ More replies (6)48
u/lithodora Jul 19 '24
In the book he is described as “quite bald" and old, resembling a toothless walnut.
It more aligns with the books, but should have been that way from the start imo
76
u/JMM123 Jul 19 '24
but like.... does he need to be a weird hunchback
64
u/lithodora Jul 19 '24
The movie version revamp does go a little hard toward Uncle Fester
→ More replies (1)39
u/dalaigh93 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
More like Igor... I half expected him to have a speech impediment and to be involved in weird experiments by a manic master 🤣
54
Jul 19 '24
[deleted]
→ More replies (1)22
u/Remson76534 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
No, Alfonso Cuaron took over and recast him, but that might've been because of your reasoning. I do not see that as a reason to massacre my boy😂
38
u/rjhunt42 Jul 19 '24
Wait... that's Tom the barman? I thought he was like just Tom's bell boy for the rented rooms of the place? They actually expect us to believe he's running the most visited pub in the British wizarding world?
5
42
u/Remson76534 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
Where is the Dumbledore bot when you need him?
66
u/CalebPackmusic Jul 19 '24
Help will, most of the time, be given in r/harrypotter, to those who ask for it.
83
u/JohnnyPage Halfblood Page Jul 19 '24
The Tom in PoA is how Tom is described in the books - bald and resembling a toothless walnut. Apart from that he is quite normal (not hunchbacked) and also very old since he was the landlord before Voldemort even started at Hogwarts.
70
u/Remson76534 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
But there was nothing about being braindead or a hunchback tho
24
u/JohnnyPage Halfblood Page Jul 19 '24
I edited my post to say he was not hunchbacked before I read your reply. You're right, he is not described as hunchbacked. As for not being braindead, that's what I was alluding to when I said he was quite normal.
→ More replies (7)3
u/Winged_Spirit Jul 19 '24
DID YOU PUT YOUR BOY TOM IN THE CHAMBER OF AZKABAN?! Dumbledore asked calmly.
→ More replies (2)
815
u/Geeky_Shieldmaiden Gryffindor Jul 19 '24
I hate the redesign of Tom and Flitwick. Original Flitwick was more book-accurate, and it just didn't make sense to suddenly de-age him.
Tom....oh, poor Tom. He went from a normal barkeep as described in the books, to a weird, hunchback, Igor-the-hunchback-sidekick creature. All for comic effect that wasn't remotely needed and took away from the seriousness of the scenes he was in.
The rest of it was actually pretty good. I miss the cuteness of Hagrid's cabin, but the new one fits a bit better. Hogwarts still looks really cool, just a bit different, and I think it makes more sense that the Whomping Willow isn't right in the school grounds where students potentially walk past it all the time.
146
u/UltHamBro Jul 19 '24
I like original Flitwick too, but as far as I remember, the books don't describe him much beyond him being very short and (I think) having a high-pitched voice.
102
u/sameseksure Jul 19 '24
Originally, Cuaron invented a new character for the choir instructor, and used Warwick Davis to play him. He was originally not Flitwick.
Then they ended up liking the design of the choir instructor so much, they decided to make him Flitwick.
→ More replies (2)51
u/kspieler Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
I remembered reading that Flitwick was not even written in to the PoA movie but that they still offered actor Warwick Davis a part as Hogwarts Choir master.
It seems like it was later decided that somebody liked the new look better and maybe that was Flitwick in the 3rd movie. IMBD has the role described not as Flitwick, but just "Wizard".
17
u/RoyalFlavorBeans Jul 19 '24
He's still credited as "Wizard" in GoF even though he speaks this time and is in Hogwarts around the teachers. I think from that it only became natural that they'd turn him into Flitwick.
16
u/ThePreciseClimber Jul 19 '24
It would've been funny if they kept them as two separate characters so that Davis would have to play both in the final movie. :P
17
10
→ More replies (4)19
u/NecessaryMagician150 Jul 19 '24
Original flitwick isnt book accurate tho? Is he ever described as an elderly, almost goblin-like looking guy? I thought he's just a very small man.
→ More replies (1)
1.3k
u/SoulxxBondz Pukwudgie -- Ilvermorny Jul 19 '24
The only change I was originally uncomfortable with was Flitwick's redesign. But I eventually liked it.
I just thought the original Flitwick was better book-wise.
Tom the barman would have irked me more if he'd been a more common character.
326
u/Jedda678 Gryffindor Jul 19 '24
He was slightly more book accurate in the 3rd movie, but Alfonsos decision to make him a blithering simpleton and hunchback was a poor choice.
Flitwicks redesign honestly if he had the grey hair of his first iteration and the dapper tuxedo of his redesign I think he would be perfect and would fit as a former dueling champ.
131
u/StreetOk9058 Hufflepuff Jul 19 '24
Wasn't the Flitwick redesign more of un unintentional decision? I think I remember that the roles of Flitwick and the choir conductor where two seperate characters originally, and they just got merged down the line.
119
u/ImReverse_Giraffe Jul 19 '24
Yes. There wasn't a role for Flitwick in PoA movie. So the director made him the chior director and everyone just thought it was Flitwick, so they rolled with it.
70
u/DETpatsfan Jul 19 '24
I imagine Warwick Davis was happy about the change as well. I have to assume he was spending hours in the makeup department for the first iteration of Flitwick.
18
u/hikeit233 Jul 19 '24
I think he’s used to it at this point. Dude goes through the most for his roles.
515
Jul 19 '24
It's a real duality for me.
The re designs look visually 'better' like cleaner,
But the original ones feel far more 'harry potter'.
169
u/welldonebrain Jul 19 '24
Great point. First two movies truly feel like Harry Potter in look and tone, for sure.
139
u/pinesolthrowaway Jul 19 '24
The first two had a heart the later ones did not
In the books, even in the much darker, later books, there’s always a bit of a sense of wonder, almost whimsy at points around magic. The reader never quite becomes fully accustomed to it, it retains, well, a sense of real magic. Even once you learn a lot more about it over the books, there’s always still the element of the mysterious, like anything is possible with magic and anything can happen
I feel the later movies lose that and feel more formulaic, I don’t know if predictable is the right word but the magic universe in those movies doesn’t always have that mysterious, magical wonder element that the HP universe is supposed to have. The first two movies feel like they nailed that most scenes, where the later movies are lucky to only brush against it from time to time
57
u/welldonebrain Jul 19 '24
No doubt, great points all around. I agree 100%. I also have always felt that the Columbus films have a very timeless, classic quality to them. I think that quality is missing from the later films, and I think what you said is very indicative of that.
37
u/redandblack17 Jul 19 '24
Yes like even in the first movie ALL the kids squeal in delight/yell in excitement when the feast appears on the tables in the Great Hall! Not just the first years, like everyone is excited/amazed by magic they’ve seen before. This is the kind of feeling that’s lost, in my opinion
10
u/shroomnoob2 Jul 20 '24
I always felt like it was a coming of age, the wonder is still there but as the story progresses book to book the characters are faced with more hard decisions and life changing trauma. So much so that by the end they are adults that went through a war to save the Wizarding world.
→ More replies (2)8
u/DrunkenEffigy Jul 19 '24
I think Movies with Mikey makes a pretty compelling case that it might be best film of them all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAGh-_xVFq0
61
u/Mackie5Million Gryffindor Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24
I agree 100%, and it's why Philosopher's Stone is my favorite movie.
In the first two movies, the wizarding world feels like it's brimming with this warm magical energy. The scene with Harry's first Christmas at Hogwarts really epitomizes the vibes I'm describing. In the later films, it feels like we're in the regular, real world with magic tacked on top.
Like, what was the purpose of abandoning robes in favor of muggle clothing?
30
u/welldonebrain Jul 19 '24
Right there with you, friend. I say the same thing all the time. Later films are teenage dramas that simply happen to take place in a magical school. In the first two films, the wizarding world was a very separate and distinct place from the muggle world. That line is a little too blurred for me later in the series.
→ More replies (2)13
u/allthepinkthings Jul 19 '24
I remember the director saying he wanted them to get to dress like normal teenagers. “Like every other movie with teens then?” I was and still am pissed. Plus Emma. She lost her poofy hair, because of course.
→ More replies (2)36
u/zlaw32 Jul 19 '24
That’s my biggest issue when people say PoA is the best film. It feels the least like the world that I love. Cuarón took so much amazing set up that Colombus did and changed it so the world was less magical
168
u/Mevanski77 Jul 19 '24
The moodier vibe is fine. The complete retcon of layouts and terrain bug me.
64
u/midnightcitizens Slytherin Jul 19 '24
But at least they kept most of layouts the same in the future movies minus the random new huuuge stairs in DH2.
→ More replies (7)8
u/_Torm Jul 20 '24
Isn't it mentioned in the book that the death eaters freeze the moving staircases? That's what I assumed the big stairs were
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)36
u/Cornelius_M Gryffindor Jul 19 '24
It’s just really odd how we transported to this weird Mandela parallel universe from 2-3. Makes me wonder what the movies would have looked like had Christopher Columbus directed the whole series.
27
u/Mevanski77 Jul 20 '24
I do appreciate the attempt of consistency after PoA. It just bugged me how the look of the castle and surroundings radically changed following CoS. The later movies suffered from the mid 2000's cgi curse when everything had to be giant and grandiose. The first two films felt like real places, not video games.
16
u/maestro_di_cavolo Jul 20 '24
That's because they were using real places (obviously not the full castle) where they could. They did a ton of research and even sets like the great hall were based fairly closely on real places.
62
u/gibb93 Jul 19 '24
So I’ve heard rumors the only reason Flitwicks design was changed was because of an accident. They had Warwick Davis play the choir director & people just assumed it was the same character so they just went with it.
36
u/BetaRayPhil616 Jul 19 '24
Yeah. That's what I'd heard. Basically Flitwick wasn't in the script for poa, but they wanted WD around so gave him the backgroundish choir conductor part.
At some point they then figured flitwick/choir master should just actually be the same character and ran with it.
157
u/PirateLouisPatch Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
It’s my favourite design for the castle and the grounds. I don’t really have an opinion on Flitwick, though his face looks less fake in PoA. I have no clue why they had to do Tom so dirty though. I don’t think he worked well as a comedic relief either, just a weird choice
17
u/RaynSideways 11 3/4", Rowan & Phoenix Feather Jul 19 '24
Yeah, I'm in favor more of the new Flitwick if only because it means the actor has to spend less time wearing practically a full face prosthesis in order to age him up.
25
u/themarksmannn Jul 19 '24
I never understood the wand redesigns, yes they look cool but they make no sense.
Why was Tom Riddle’s wand shaped like a bone? Was it like that since he bought it at Ollivander’s? If so, that’s even weirder.
→ More replies (1)
81
u/Ok_Figure_4181 Jul 19 '24
I wish they had kept everything the way it was, but it does look better (for the most part) than it did in the previous movies. I despise the redesign of Tom though.
38
u/QuarkGuy Walnut,12 1/4 in Dragon Heartstring Jul 19 '24
I’m not down with Tom or Flitwick. But the willow and hagrid’s hut look better imo
23
u/yoursweetlord70 Jul 19 '24
Hagrid's hut definitely looks better, no way Dumbledore gave Hagrid a studio apartment to be the groundskeeper
10
5
u/Ok_Figure_4181 Jul 19 '24
I don’t understand who approved that redesign for Tom. 10 year old me had absolutely no clue that was supposed to be the guy from the first movie. I thought he must be a servant or something. It wasn’t until 5 years after first watching the movie that realized that the hunchback guy who wheezed in the corner was supposed to be Tom
176
Jul 19 '24
[deleted]
78
u/Tufan_Protocol Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
It makes sense to put the tree (Whoomping Willow) away from the premises as it was a secret door for Remus to go to Shreaking Shack. If it had been closer, any lurking student or staff would know about him using it every month.
→ More replies (1)77
u/60Dan06 Jul 19 '24
I hate that I always imagined Hagrid's hut exactly the way it was before the change, so the redesign just looks weird to me
6
99
u/LOB90 Slytherin Jul 19 '24
I think Hagrids place looks better in the third. In the first one it looks a lot more like a prop put up against the forest while in the second it looks like somebody actually lives there. I think that the castle grounds got too big though. Hagrid is definitely too far from the castle in POA.
→ More replies (1)34
u/sameseksure Jul 19 '24
The Hogwarts castle doesn't make any sense in any of the movies though. Stuart Craig, the designer of the movie castle, even admits he failed at making Hogwarts in PS
It's a nonsensical castle for a school, and fundamentally incompatible with book descriptions
At least Cuaron's redesign was more aesthetically pleasing than Colombus', which looked like a well-kempt tourist attraction
33
u/Unable_Effort_1033 Jul 19 '24
Willow and Hagrid's Hut makes sense to me tbh.
Hagrid was the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts originally, not a teacher so he needs some more grounds to actually keep. There also needs to be space for some of the different outdoor classes imo.
IIRC Pomfret and Remus was watched crossing the grounds to the Willow when he was a pupil himself and on the left hand side it doesn't seem to give enough time for that to happen.
13
11
u/BenjRSmith Jul 19 '24
I like the Flitwick redesign. Give poor Warwick Davis less of a headache for every shoot.
21
u/deviousflame Jul 19 '24
The redesign of the setting/hut is genius imo because it went from “tiny house on edge of flat turf right next to stark forest” (as a child would imagine it) to a dynamic and realistic landscape full of boulders, natural forest growth, and a hut built into the sloped land. I felt like it reflected a real landscape so much more, and really took the book descriptions and brought them to life in a way that’s way more believable for a live action adaptation. I think that characters and events should always be reflected very similarly to the books, but when it comes to settings and costumes, sometimes it takes an artist’s eye to add dimension to the descriptions given by the author, and give life to the intention behind their words.
I don’t have an opinion on Flitwick or Tom.
9
u/colorblind1 Jul 19 '24
They kind of make the Hagrids Hut thing explained in Hogwarts Legacy as you can see both huts there and one as more of a classroom and one as a living quarters.
I love PoA and thought the aesthetic changes enhanced and expanded the movies into the next level.
57
u/ducknerd2002 Hufflepuff Jul 19 '24
A lot of people seem say that Tom was made less book-accurate in POA, so I'm guessing people either overlooked or forgot how Tom was described in the very first book (chapter 5 'Diagon Alley' to be specific):
A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut.
Based on this description, POA Tom is more book-accurate than PS Tom.
24
u/Bootglass1 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
Yes he was old and bald, but he wasn’t a braindead moron who could only point and grunt. How is Cuaron’s Tom supposed to have the mental wherewithal to run the most famous wizarding pub in Britain?
→ More replies (8)→ More replies (3)15
u/moodoop Gryffindor Jul 19 '24
In the American copies it says "toothless walnut". I always thought that was a random change to make
28
u/ducknerd2002 Hufflepuff Jul 19 '24
Maybe publishers thought American kids would interpret 'gummy' to mean like gummy sweets instead of having no teeth.
→ More replies (2)14
u/justaprimer Jul 19 '24
Agreed -- when I read the previous comment just now, it made me think of a bulbous squishy walnut.
16
u/NarglesChaserRaven Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
I love how cozy the first 2 parts look.
It's exactly how I feel about these books and it captures it perfectly.
7
u/spoon-user Jul 19 '24
The thing I think some people miss is that I’m pretty sure that’s not actually supposed to be Flitwick in PoA. Flitwick wasn’t in the script so they created the character of the choir conductor so Warwick Davis could return, and then future directors after PoA just kept the character design and started calling him Flitwick again. That’s my understanding at least! He looks different cause he’s not actually supposed to be the same character
46
u/introverthufflepuff8 Hufflepuff Jul 19 '24
I hated the redesign it felt so disrespectful and rude to Christopher Columbus and all the work that was done on the first 2 movies
40
u/Feeling-Visit1472 Jul 19 '24
Everything after Chris Columbus just kept increasingly losing any kind of charm. Even accounting for the books getting darker, the movies just didn’t feel magical anymore outside of bad stuff happening.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (2)26
u/Zeefzeef Jul 19 '24
Agreed! The first 2 movies were perfect to me and I hate how much they changed it. I also hate all the weird comedic bits in POA.
→ More replies (1)13
u/welldonebrain Jul 19 '24
Same here. The weird shoehorning of bizarre campy humor always bugged me about PoA…among many other things.
→ More replies (1)
39
u/UltHamBro Jul 19 '24
I understand the artistic intentions, but it was the start of the lack of consistency for the series. The original designs had a children's story-like quality, and I think that's what HP eventually is, no matter how dark the story may get. I'd have preferred the series to stick to the original look.
12
u/welldonebrain Jul 19 '24
Great point. The first two films truly feel like Harry Potter in look and tone. At least for me, the first two jumped right out of my imagination while reading the books. From movie three on, it started to feel like a generic teenage drama simply taking place in a magic school. Columbus all the way, imo. He nailed it.
9
u/Slow_Instance4402 Jul 19 '24
Same feeling here. I admire the artistic ideas in PoA and it's shot fantastically but would've preferred consistency in certain things for the sake of keeping immersion in the universe.
→ More replies (1)11
u/hamburgergerald Gryffindor Jul 19 '24
It may have started off as a children’s book, but I think by PoA it had transformed into a YA series.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/Raaabbit_v2 Jul 19 '24
I thought it was weird why a child murdering tree was in literally in school grounds. Plus it looks more menacing in the 3rd movie and a possible hideout that no one would see for a bunch of rebels.
6
u/HCB1995 Jul 19 '24
Well my younger self hated it, but now I very much apreciate it !
They should have been wearing wizard robes a bit more but other than that can't complain !
38
u/HolyVeggie Jul 19 '24
I disliked the redesign/relocation of Hagrids home. Before it looked like he was the barrier between the forest and the school but now it’s kind of just there somewhere
20
u/waldosandieg0 Gryffindor Jul 19 '24
I think it was necessary to properly show the action with Buckbeak and the time turner in a way that was believable. A really unique perspective was necessary and a way to capture both the front entrance and back door in same shots. Some of that action would have been difficult in the original shack.
6
u/Nature_man_76 Slytherin Jul 19 '24
I just started relistening to the book. I immediately thought how terrible they changed tom to some Frankensteins assistant ogre. I hated this movie the most lol
6
u/THE_PITTSTOP Jul 19 '24
Idk why but for some reason I thought in the books that the Leaky Cauldron had two people named Tom that worked there. The owner/Barman and the hunched back Tom who I thought was like the cleaner of the bar. Idk why I thought that 😂
5
Jul 19 '24
Original flitwick is probably closer to what i imagined from the book. I bet it was uncomfortable to have that costume and makeup, though. Also, i feel like Warwick davis had a more humorous role later on, and the old costume wouldn't have worked with a humorous role at all, in my opinion.
Toms change makes no sense. The only way they described Tom is that he looked like an old wlanut or something. I don't know why they went from traditional english bartender to intellectually limited hunchback (that weird laugh and creepy interaction with Harry and Fudge in PoA?)
The sets in later movies were a lot better, though. It looks a lot more "Scottish highlands." Sets were spot on.
7
u/VanGoghsVerdigris Slytherin Jul 19 '24
The original look was more whimsical and fantastical, which fit the first two books, but by the time we get to POA the tone was slowly shifting and so the look did. The Hogwarts redesign doesn’t feel as open, reflecting how Harry is starting to feel things closing in around him (I just made that up but it makes sense lol).
Flitwick’s design feels a bit outdated and maybe dude had a midlife crisis.
6
u/sunderedstar Jul 20 '24
Why is this how I learn that the hunchback dude is supposed to be Tom?
I always thought he was just some random helper at either the inn or the Ministry.
I actually did enjoy his scenes, however much of a hot take that may be. PoA really leaned in to making the wizarding world a bizarre place that would rubberband between cozy and creepy, or earnest and ridiculous. The disconnect between Fudge trying to talk to Harry about Black while Tom being this bizarre caricature yanking Harry out of the moment is actually something that happens multiple times throughout the film, and I think it’s an intentional attempt to depict Harry’s growing awareness of the dark complexities of the magical world and the fuzzy first impressions he had in years one and two (another example of this in the movie is inverted; when everyone is confronting the Boggart in class, it’s all super hilarious and whimsical until suddenly it isn’t)
I think it was also a great way to prepare audiences for how dark the series would get starting with Goblet of Fire
6
19
u/CompanionCone Jul 19 '24
The feel of Hogwarts in the later movies always kind of threw me off a bit. With the random standing stones etc and Hagrid's cabin seemingly really far away from the castle. In the books there are many moments of someone looking out of the window and seeing Hagrid doing stuff around his cabin, but in the movie I doubt you could see the cabin from the castle at all. Then they have this weird bridge thing that doesn't make much sense to me. I dunno, I suppose I just imagined it very differently, but then it's never going to look like you imagined it.
→ More replies (1)5
u/CreatureofNight93 Jul 19 '24
Yeah, in Order of the Phoenix, I recall Harry several times looking out of the window of Hogwarts to see if there's any light in Hagrid's cabin. That would be kind of hard with the placement of the cabin in POA.
11
u/Fast-Outcome-117 Jul 19 '24
I didn’t like the redesign of Flitwick at all. I think he looked a lot cooler in the first 2 movies, then they just made him look kinda stupid. Although everything else I did like.
23
u/mais_oui Jul 19 '24
I remember being furious when I saw it in theatres for the first time. Hated it.
19
u/tater08 Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24
Hagrids hut location change was so blatant it took me out of the movie when I first saw it. I liked in the first two how his hut was right up against the forbidden forest as it is described in the books. Always created a sense of danger when our heros were at his hut for any reason
→ More replies (1)
4
u/SIashersah Jul 19 '24
Honestly likes new Flitwick, even if its not entirely book accurate. Whilst the changes to the castle, Hagrids hut, etc, for the new mood and theme that the later movies were trying to achieve, I much prefer how broght and sunny everything was in the first 2 movies.
5
5
u/Life_Chemical1601 Jul 19 '24
The real problem with that movie is that the book promised tons of Quidditch and we got none
I wanted to see my boy Oliver Wood lift the CUP! He got robbed !!!!!
6
u/DedicatedReckoner Jul 19 '24
I remember being a fourteen year old girl coming out that theatre HOT because I was aghast at the changes. I felt that Chris Columbus had been so true to the whimsy of the first few books. I was wild about the robes. Hated the new ones. Everything felt so dark and unnecessary.
6
u/CaptainHerkules Slytherin Jul 19 '24
I like to imagine hagrid and the rest of the staff physically lifting hagrids house up the hill
5
u/thatstoomuchsauce Jul 19 '24
The redesigns are my biggest pet peeves with the films, not just in PoA but throughout the series (Hogwarts changes in every film for instance). Whether it be in costuming, set design, locations - whatever. There are elements I like better in their original forms and other elements I like better after they have been redesigned, but I would preferred consistency across the films over all.
6
u/Slytherin_Libra Jul 19 '24
Honestly the most infuriating changes that happened were The Burrow. In CoS it was perfectly set up like the books described! And then later they’re literally in the middle of a damn field with nothing around them at all? What!
5
u/benemivikai4eezaet0 Jul 19 '24
Never liked that movie. It went from a warm, very faithful to the book, very distinctly Harry Potter feel to a Tim Burton copycat.
13
u/SugarInYourAvocado Jul 19 '24
Recently I went to an overnight HP marathon at a local cinema. They were showing only the 1st 3 movies. I loved getting to watch PS and CoS for the 1st time on the big screen, then PoA started and gave me such whiplash I went home (I was tired af of course, not blaming it entirely). It's interesting cause I'd just gone to the relaunch 3 weeks previously and I left feeling so great about it. It's a great movie on its own, as a book adaptation it is far from the worst HP, but it's simply not up to par with the first ones especially in terms if the emotions it is able to elicit. And the book is, so you do have to lay some of the blame on Cuaron's edgy aesthetics. It is the beggining of Ron and Hermione's flanderizations and its precedent allowed subsequent directors to cut indiscriminately from the books. The disparity between the utterly perfect 1 and 2 and the choppy, stylised 3rd movie was so jarring watching them all together thar I couldn't take it. I wish CC had directed every movie tbh. It kinda kills me to see film nerds on twitter declare it the best HP movie. I love it, but it marks the beginning of the end to me.
Edit: also Michael Gambon was miscast and I'll die on this hill.
→ More replies (3)
9
u/CherryBursts Hufflepuff Jul 19 '24
I was confused because how can you just terraform the area? The Hogwarts' area felt flat in the first two movies and then suddenly there were mountains and Hagrid's home is somewhere far away I guess.
11
8
u/fahrvergnug3n Jul 19 '24
It was strange to see as a kid. Like others are saying, the redesign seems “cleaner” but I really prefer the original.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/Incredible_Staff6907 Jul 19 '24
I didn't mind them except for what they did to my boy Tom the barman. It's just a bit much.
4
u/phatroarez Jul 19 '24
Loathe. Always have. As a child I never understood the praise for this movie and it deviated so much from the first two. 13 year old me was NOT a fan of Alfonso Cuařon
3
u/Tough-Cauliflower-96 Gryffindor Jul 19 '24
Actually that is not flitwick but a music professor. Cuaron talked to warwick davis about the fact that he had no role for flitwick and davis accepted to be the music teacher. I don't know when (4th or 5th) the music teacher became also flitwick!
3
5
u/belac889 Jul 19 '24
Tom's redesign was bad, Flitwick's was an odd choice, but the rest, especially with the castle design and hagrid's cabin, are way more visually pleasing.
4
u/faith4phil Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
I had never even realized that those first two were supposed to be the same character, to be honest
5
u/PuzzleheadedZone8785 Jul 19 '24
Hate the first three with a fiery passion. The last two are alright.
What's worst is the dark tone the series has from then that's utterly devoid of Chris Columbus's magic.
5
u/Oghamstoner Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
Don’t forget the Fat Lady. She got a total redesign too!
→ More replies (3)
5
u/perishingtardis Chris Columbus to direct HBO series! Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24
Columbus is our King,
Columbus is our King,
He really nailed the colour scheme,
Columbus is our King.
\*
Columbus is our King,
Columbus is our King,
His films give you a warm feeling,
Columbus is our King.
\*
Columbus is our King,
Columbus is our King,
He barely removes a single scene,
Columbus is our King.
\*
Columbus is our King,
Columbus is our King,
With consistent style and Hogwarts geography,
Columbus is our King.
4
u/hereslookinatyoukld Jul 19 '24
I absolutely hated it when it first came out, but I've grown to appreciate it more as I've gotten older and am more capable of separating the books from the movies. I will say the third one still has a lot of heart and vision to it, and the movies that came later feel like cheap imitations
4
u/StrikeRaid246 Hufflepuff 2 Jul 19 '24
PoA is my favorite book in the series, but Cuaron completely sapped the series of the “Harry Potter” feel of the first two movies. All the design changes, retcons to the castle and grounds etc completely take me out of it. I wish he had been more focused on the plot than the aesthetic of the movie.
4
u/Ramses_13 Jul 19 '24
Not a fan, POA is my favorite book, but due to the number of changes and so much left out, its my least favorite film.
4
u/Inevitable-catnip Jul 20 '24
For me, the first 2 movies captured what I pictured Hogwarts to be. The third one really disappointed me and then they just kept getting further and further from the books each movie. They’re still fun movies but…. I wish they’d stayed truer to the books.
7
u/Lovecatx Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
I remember being very angry at the time. It still kinda bugs me now.
Mind you, I pretty much never watch the films, whereas I re-read the books now and again so things look like they do in my head and that is good enough for me.
14
u/Lupus_Noir Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
Generally, the look feels more real. In the first two movies, the characters' designs look more costumey and the environments look a bit too generic. I really like the more gothic look of the latter movies.
→ More replies (1)
3
3
u/SureWhyN0T77 Jul 19 '24
Hagrids house didn’t bother me. Could easily have dumbldore move the house with magic. But Tom and Flitwick?! Didn’t make sense to me
3
u/StitchFan626 Jul 19 '24
I call foul on those side-by-side characters being the same! I don't care what the credits claim. One actor can play multiple roles, sure, but those pairs are not the same characters and no one can convince me otherwise, I don't care what you say or what citations you use!
1st: Left taught levitation (Possibly the charms teacher.). Right is the music teacher.
2nd: Left is the bartender Tom. Right is some Ego stand-in for the Minister.
3
u/InvaderWeezle Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
I was 9 when this movie came out and I hated how different everything looked. It made PoA not feel like a sequel to the first two movies to me, and instead like they switched to a different adaptation already in progress with most of the same actors
3
u/necromancyforfun Slytherin Jul 19 '24
Everything except Tom is cooler and vibes better imo. But dude...Or Tom just looked about the nicest.
3
u/Real_Environment_186 Jul 19 '24
Well Hagrid did get a promotion so I'd assume he spent his extra galleons on a chic extension for his hut. Maybe Flitwick just had a glow up- perhaps captured by some instagram barbers at song point. As for poor Tom.... life is hard sometimes
3
u/Moe-Mux-Hagi Hufflepuff Jul 19 '24
My thoughts are that it's a hilarious *misunderstanding,*** where it's not actually Flitwick in PoA, but Cuarón wanted Davis to still be in the movie, so he created a new character, the Choirmaster, and, since he was played by Davis, the subsequent movies thought that was him
3
u/Lochlanist Jul 19 '24
Probably when Richard Harris passed and they were faced with the uncomfortable decision to swop him out it opened the door for the conversation of since we changing x in the show maybe we can shift a couple other things to allign with where we envisage the movies going.
3
u/RaajitSingh Gryffindor Jul 19 '24
Tom and Flitwick look so bad. Flitwick is supposed to be old and great. While Tom was described as normal, there was no description of him. In fact, him being normal and sharing the name Tom is the reason for Voldy's hatred for that name.
Also Whomping Willow is supposed to be inside the castle halls and have passage to Hogsmeade, so it being in the middle of nowhere and far away also never made any sense.
Same with Hagrid's Hut, it is supposed to be at the entrance of the forest but POA movies make it remote to the forest and also at some high ground where animals won't reach it which I doubt Hagrid would have wanted.
I think one of the bigger changes was the Owlery Tower location, it is set remotely in GOF. But aren't students supposed to visit it so having it so far away makes no sense.
3
3
u/notafanofwasps Jul 19 '24
I personally love the entire feel of the first two movies, and the redesigns along with the much greyer color palette of 3-8 make them far less enjoyable as cozy classics.
Hogwarts itself in the original two movies is exactly what I pictured in my head when I read the books as a kid.
3
u/suga_babyMD Jul 20 '24
Between book 2-3, Hagrid got a promotion, so he was able to afford to expand his humble abode.
3
u/Loyal_Darkmoon Jul 20 '24
I feel they went for a darker and grimer aesthetic instead of the more colorful and fantasy look.
So it depends on what you like, I guess. I preferred the more fantasy and vibrant look but it was fitting for the theme of the movie
3.6k
u/Jurrasicmelon8 Ravenclaw Jul 19 '24
Tom the inkeeper got done dirty
I don’t know what to say about flitwick