History Trivia / FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem

* IKnewIt: Many fans predicted from a few contextual clues that Grindelwald would be involved in this story, and it turns out that his terrorism is largely responsible for the American government's mistrust of this film's magical, foreign-born hero.

** Creator/SaoirseRonan, Creator/DakotaFanning, Creator/KristenStewart, and [[Series/{{Gotham}} Lili Simmons]] were considered for Queenie Goldstein before Creator/AlisonSudol was cast. Additionally, Johnny Depp had his then-wife Creator/AmberHeard audition for the role.

** Creator/JohnKrasinski, Creator/MichaelCera, and Creator/JoshGad had discussions for the role of Jacob Kowalski before Creator/DanFogler was cast.

** Creator/SaoirseRonan, Creator/DakotaFanning, Creator/KristenStewart, and [[Series/{{Gotham}} Lili Simmons]] were considered for Queenie Goldstein before Creator/AlisonSudol was cast.

** Creator/ElizabethDebicki and [[Film/TheOtherWoman2014 Kate Upton]] were considered for the part of Tina Goldstein before the casting of Creator/KatherineWaterston.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** The decision to expand what was originally planned as a three-film saga into a five-film saga. Aside from [[CashCowFranchise the most obvious reasons that they'd want to stretch this series out]], one of the biggest complaints against the film is that the amount of exposition relative to the amount of action it has wore it down to some degree. Telling a story over a greater number of films would allow for the story to have more room to breathe while also leaving more room for action sequences. [[spoiler:The inclusion of Grindelwald's rise to power makes the decision for several movies even more plausible, as it allows him to be shown as a powerful threat, with people waiting on [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome his duel with Dumbledore in 1945]].]]
** The Obliviate Curse is treated here as a pretty terrible thing, which many fans had thought since the original books, especially since it was shown to cause brain damage if done too much, or if badly cast. [[spoiler:Jacob's memory being erased at the end is one of the film's saddest scenes.]]
** One of the main characters being a Muggle. This means we ''finally'' get to see the world of ''Harry Potter'' universe from the viewpoint of a Muggle. Not to mention said Muggle is a nice and open-minded man, unlike the xenophobic Dursleys. Furthermore, in the previous books and films, the Wizarding World, including the heroes, tended to treat Muggles as inferior to them and without any respect. Here Jacob not only pulls his own weight throughout the adventure, he's even able to help out by using [[MundaneSolution mundane solutions]] that the wizards don't even think of.
** The extreme ease with which Newt or the Aurors are able to repair buildings devastated by the Obscurus attacks provides a back-door explanation for how the Burrow, dramatically burned to ashes by the Death Eaters in the ''Half-Blood Prince'' movie (though not the book), reappears unscathed by ''Deathly Hallows''.
** For those not sold on the idea that "Hogwarts is the greatest magical school in the world!", which some feel to be an InformedAttribute (due to things like [[UltimateJobSecurity inept to abusive faculty]], the grounds having NoOSHACompliance, the House system creating an AbsurdlyDividedSchool, etc), Queenie happily declaring Ilvermorny to be the greatest magical school in the world can be this. While Newt counters that ''Hogwarts'' is the best school (which most fans would agree with), the scene still demonstrates that in-universe Hogwarts being the best is not a universally agreed upon fact, but more an example of, "Of course most people believe their school is the best."

* ThrowItIn: The bit where Newt sticks his wand in his mouth to free his hands was done by Eddie Redmayne as a matter of practicality while doing the scene. Apparently, this led to a "committee meeting" as to whether it "was allowed".

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/JohnnyDepp, whose mainstream Hollywood roles are usually heroes, anti-heroes, or tragic villains, plays Gellert Grindelwald, who is almost literally wizard Hitler.

* DeletedRole: Mildred, Jacob Kowalski's fiancé, was cut from the film.

** Leta’s picture and Newt and Queenie’s conversation about her wasn’t originally in the movie. Zoe Kravitz cast after principal photography was finished and the scene was added in in reshoots.

* MeaningfulReleaseDate: This was released eleven years to the day after ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire''.

** Creator/JohnKrasinski, Creator/MichaelCera, and Creator/JoshGad had discussions for the role of Jacob Kowalski before [[Film/BallsOfFury Dan Fogler]] was cast.

* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine:
** Creator/ColinFarrell and Creator/SamanthaMorton have worked together on ''Film/MinorityReport'' and the 2014 adaptation of ''Theatre/MissJulie''.
** For the Japanese dub: Mamoru Miyano and Shizuka Ito — Newt and Tina's actor and actress — have worked on ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal''.

** Emmi (the voice of the goblin singer in the Blind Pig scene) got the gig via a mysterious email from Abbey Road Studios while she was on holiday (visiting her parents back home). She nearly turned it down because she wanted to chill, but Googled the strange words such as "billywig" and "hippogriff" and said to herself, [[https://www.pottermore.com/news/fantastic-beasts-jazz-singer-emmi-interview "Hey, these are Harry Potter terms -- I'm in!"]]

* DeletedRole: Mildred, Jacob Kowalski's fiance, was cut from the film.
* DeletedScene: Originally there was a [[TheStinger stinger]] filmed which showed that [[spoiler:Credence had somehow survived and was on a boat leaving America]], but [[https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1586630/fantastic-beasts-ending-a-key-scene-that-was-cut-and-why it was cut]] because David Yates felt it was a cheap cliffhanger. Press material for [[Film/FantasticBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald the sequel]] confirms that the scene is still canon.
* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/EddieRedmayne talked about getting into great shape for the sake of one ShirtlessScene - where Newt shows off scars on his body. The scene ended up cut.

** All of the actors playing members of the Barebone family, except for Creator/EzraMiller, are from the UK. Samantha Morton (British) plays matriarch Mary Lou, and her adoptive daughters Modesty and Chastity are played by Faith Wood-Blagrove (British) and Jenn Murray (Northern Irish) respectively. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] with Modesty and Chastity, as all of Mary Lou's children are adopted, though Modesty might be DoubleSubversion, since her biological family's former home was in America.

** Much more important to the plot is the Obscurus. [[spoiler:An Obscurus is a spiritual force that grows inside the body of a young witch or wizard whose magic is being suppressed by physical or emotional abuse]].
* IKnewIt: Many fans predicted from a few contextual clues that Grindelwald would be involved in this story, and it turns out his terrorism are largely responsible for the American government's mistrust of this film's magical, foreign-born hero.

** For the Japanese dub: Mamoru Miyano and Shizuka Ito - Newt and Tina's actor and actress - have worked on ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal''.

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/JohnnyDepp, whose mainstream Hollywood roles are usually heroes, anti-heroes or tragic villains, plays Gellert Grindelwald, who is almost literally wizard Hitler.

** Thunderclaw - Ravenclaw + Thunderbird
** Gryffinbird - Gryffindor + Thunderbird
** Thunderpuff - Hufflepuff + Thunderbird
** Puffwudgie - Hufflepuff + Pukwudgie
** Ravenserpent - Ravenclaw and Horned Serpent
** Thunderin - Slytherin + Thunderbird

* SpoiledByTheMerchandise: Averted by the ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' Story Pack based on this movie: While it hit shelves the same day the film hit theaters, the levels didn't become available to download until a day or two later. [[spoiler:Also, the last cutscene didn't reveal Graves as Grindelwald until after players downloaded a patch put out two weeks after the movie]].
* ShrugOfGod: Producer David Heyman [[https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1588320/will-colin-farrell-return-for-the-fantastic-beasts-sequels-heres-what-david-heyman-says admitted that]] [[spoiler: even they don't know what happened to the real Graves]].
* ThrowItIn: The bit where Newt sticks his wand in his mouth to free his hands was done by Eddie Redmayne as a matter of practicality while doing the scene. Apparently, this led to a "committee meeting" as to whether it "was allowed."

* WordOfGod: Covering an ambiguity the film doesn't explain. [[spoiler: Grindelwald uses an advanced form of human Transfiguration to disguise himself as Graves rather than Polyjuice Potion, which is why Newt is able to remove it with a spell]].

** Creator/MattSmith and Creator/NicholasHoult were considered for Newt Scamander.
** Creator/SaoirseRonan, Creator/DakotaFanning, Creator/KristenStewart, and Lili Simmons were considered for Queenie.
** Creator/MichaelCera and Creator/JoshGad were considered for the role of Jacob.
** Kate Upton and Creator/ElizabethDebicki were considered for Tina.