Trivia / Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The Book

• Accidentally-Correct Writing: The American edition kept the line in about Harry wanting to buy as many Mars Bars as he could eat, even though this was referencing the European version (closer to what Americans call a Milky Way). However, at the time the book takes place and when it was printed, there was a candy bar called Mars available in the U.S.
• Breakthrough Hit: Immediately after the release of this book, everyone knew about J. K. Rowling.
• Completely Different Title: The book is known as Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers (roughly Harry Potter at Wizards' School) in French. Coincidentally, a similar title, Harry Potter and the School of Magic, was suggested by the American publisher but rejected by Rowling before they settled on Sorcerer's Stone.
• Executive Meddling: J. K. Rowling regrets caving to Scholastic and letting them Americanize the book's title and text for the U.S. market. She made sure to assert herself and keep everything unchanged for the American releases of future instalments.
• What Could Have Been: Shares a page with the film version here.
• Word of God: Due to the books' covers showing Harry with a scar in the middle of his forehead, most fans assumed this is where his scar was meant to be. However J. K. Rowling insisted on having it on the side of his forehead, the books never specifying where exactly the scar was.

The Film Adaptation

• Ability over Appearance: J. K. Rowling has said that she felt Emma Watson was perfect for Hermione after speaking to her on the phone — where in true Hermione fashion she spoke for sixty seconds without taking a breath. She's joked that if she had met Emma before and seen how pretty she was, she may not have been cast.
• Acting for Two: Ian Hart played Quirrell and provided the voice and motion capture for Voldemort. (Richard Bremmer was not the voice, he portrayed Voldemort in the flashback to the death of Harry's parents.)
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Harry Melling absolutely loved playing Dudley, saying how much fun it was to play a shameless spoiled brat.
• Beam Me Up, Scotty!: "Yer a wizard Harry" is only in the film. In the book, Hagrid says "Harry — yer a wizard."
• California Doubling:
  • Hogwarts is meant to be located in Scotland, but with the exception of some background plates, the entire film was shot in England. This would continue for the rest of the series, with the notable exception of Prisoner of Azkaban, in which some exterior scenes were filmed on location in Scotland.
  • They couldn't afford to build every room in Hogwarts at the studio because this was the first movie and everything was being created from scratch. Therefore, certain parts of Hogwarts are represented by real-life locations throughout England. In reality, the entrance hall and the library are in Oxford, the corridor outside the Gryffindor common room is in Gloucester Cathedral, McGonagall's classroom is in Durham Cathedral, various classrooms and hallways are in Lacock Abbey, Madam Hooch's flying lesson is at Alnwick Castle, and Flitwick's classroom is in Harrow School. Many of these locations recurred in the second movie, but from the third movie onwards, the Hogwarts interiors were mostly shot in the studio.
  • Outside of Hogwarts, the Privet Drive exteriors are Picket Post Close in Berkshire, the Gringotts lobby is London's Australia House, and the Hogsmeade station is Goathland railway station. All three of these filming locations were used only in the first movie, and when the in-universe locations showed up in subsequent films, they were recreated at the studio.
  • While the King's Cross scenes were filmed at the real King's Cross, platforms nine and ten in the film are actually platforms four and five in real life. This is because the real platforms nine and ten don't match the description in the book. J. K. Rowling has admitted that she made an error and was thinking of Euston Station when she wrote the scene in the book. Production designer Stuart Craig also cited the additional reason that shooting at platforms four and five allowed them to showcase the station's Victorian architecture whereas platforms nine and ten look more modern in reality.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Chris Columbus expressed regret over the visual effects in the film, saying they weren't very good. When it came time to make Chamber of Secrets, he made sure to film all of the scenes requiring effects first so the effects team would have more time to work on them. This is why the effects take such a leap in quality when you go from the first film to the second, despite them being made only a year apart and with similar budgets.
  • Rik Mayall had this to say about being cut from the film:
    The film, with respect...no, with no respect at all...the film was shit.
  • Richard Harris only took the role of Dumbledore for his granddaughter and made it no secret he thought the whole thing was "made up crap."
  • Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson all have said they have a hard time watching themselves in this film (along with the second) as they feel their performances were not up to par with their work in the later films. Watson is particularly embarrassed over the fact that she can be seen mouthing the other actors' lines in a few shots.
• Deleted Role:
  • Rik Mayall filmed several scenes as Peeves but they were all cut and he wasn't brought back for any other movies. He claimed that this was because he kept making the child actors laugh.
  • Simon Fisher-Becker signed a four film deal to play the Hufflepuff ghost the Fat Friar. However he only appears in one scene in this film, and not in any others.
• Deleted Scene:
  • The DVD extras include seven deleted scenes, which are the same ones reincorporated by the extended edition. These include:
    • Dudley tries on his Smeltings uniform while Harry is told that he'll be going to "the state school where you belong."
    • Aunt Petunia finds Hogwarts letters inside of eggs.
    • Harry reads through his Hogwarts supply list while riding on the subway with Hagrid. Notably, this scene includes Hagrid mentioning that he'd like a dragon, a moment that receives an Orphaned Reference in the theatrical cut.
    • An expanded version of the Potions class. In the theatrical cut, the scene ends when Snape says, "Clearly, fame isn't everything, is it, Mr. Potter?" The expanded version follows this up with Snape revealing the answers to his questions and taking five points from Gryffindor.
    • A brief scene of the trio after the troll incident, with Harry and Ron thanking Hermione for getting them out of trouble.
    • Ron warns Harry not to go back to the Mirror of Erised.
    • Neville suffers the effects of the Leg-Locker Curse, and Harry finds Nicolas Flamel's name on the back of Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog card. In the theatrical cut, we're led to believe that Hermione found the right book on her own.
  • There are more deleted scenes than just these seven, however. Most notably, Rik Mayall filmed at least one scene as Peeves, which has never been publicly released.
• Descended Creator: Defied. J. K. Rowling was offered the role of Lily Potter, but she turned it down, and Geraldine Somerville played it.
  "I really am not cut out to be an actress, even one who just has to stand there and wave. I would have messed it up somehow."
• Duelling Movies: The film came out one month before the movie version of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Both managed to be massive box office successes and spawned a revered film saga with an enduring pop culture footprint, and the duel would be repeated twelve months later with their respective sequels to similar results.
• Enforced Method Acting:
  • The child actors did their actual school work while filming the Hogwarts scenes, to make the school setting appear that much more real.
  • The final scene was actually the first scene filmed, and they gave Daniel Radcliffe colored contact lens to match the description of Harry's green eyes in the books. They irritated him so much that they decided not to use them in any subsequent scenes. But for the scene in which they were used, they make it look like Harry is appropriately choked up about leaving Hogwarts.
• Fake Brit:
  • Defied by J. K. Rowling, who insisted all cast members be British or Irish. The exceptions are Eleanor Columbus's non-speaking role as Susan Bones (the first girl to get sorted), and Verne Troyer (Griphook) who was dubbed by Warwick Davis. Zoë Wanamaker (Madame Hooch) was born in New York but raised in the UK as her father, actor Sam Wanamaker, fled the U.S. to escape The Hollywood Blacklist.
  • There are a couple inter-British examples. Robbie Coltrane was Scottish but played Hagrid with an English West Country accent. Conversely, the English Maggie Smith played McGonagall as a Fake Scot.
• Missing Trailer Scene:
  • In the theatrical trailer, Dumbledore's welcome speech includes the line "no magic is to be used between the classes in the corridors".
  • The theatrical trailer also features a deleted shot of Percy leading the first years down a corridor, most likely part of the deleted Peeves scene.
  • Numerous TV spots feature a shot of Hermione saying, "He's rather disagreeable, isn't he?" This line would have been said in reference to Draco Malfoy, right after Harry rejects his handshake.
  • One TV spot shows Dumbledore saying, "and most importantly of all," presumably another deleted snippet from his welcome speech.
• Money, Dear Boy: As mentioned above Rik Mayall thought the finished film was "shit" and didn't care that he was completely cut out as he'd already been paid.
• Never Work with Children or Animals: There are two moments where one of the kids is silently mouthing the lines of a speaking co-star. During the jinxed broom sequence in the Quidditch match, Rupert Grint is mouthing "He's jinxing the broom!" when Emma Watson says the line, and when the kids are going to Hagrid's hut during the day towards the third act of the movie, Watson is mouthing all of Daniel Radcliffe's exposition as they walk side-by-side.
• Orphaned Reference:
  • At the start of the novel, McGonagall in her Animagus form is noted to have been observing Vernon Dursley prior to her meeting with Dumbledore and Hagrid. While the scene is omitted from the film, it's still referenced when McGonagall voices her objections in leaving Harry in the Dursley's care when she says she had "watched them all day".
  • After the dragon hatches, Harry mentions that Hagrid had said he wanted a dragon "more than anything" when they first met. This references a scene from the book, which had been filmed but was ultimately cut. The scene is restored in the extended cut.
• The Other Marty: Well, more like the "Other Locomotive", but British Railways 34027 Taw Valley, a West Country class locomotive, was replaced as the Hogwarts Express by the Great Western Railway's 5972 Olton Hall when Chris Columbus felt the former engine looked too modern.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: J. K. Rowling has also denied the story that she turned down Steven Spielberg's offer to direct the film, because he wanted it to be animated and have Haley Joel Osment voice Harry. It was actually Alan Horn, president of Warner Bros. that vetoed this, and that was just the idea of making the films animated and combining several books into one. Spielberg still did five months of pre-production before stepping down because he didn't feel connected to the material. No one wanted Haley Joel Osment as the voice of Harry either, or at least no one was pushing for him in the role. He had just expressed interest in playing Harry.
• Real-Life Relative: Susan Bones is played by the director's daughter, Eleanor Columbus. Another of his daughters, Violet Columbus, appears in a moving portrait as a girl holding a bouquet of flowers. Tom Felton's grandfather, Nigel Anstey, is the bearded man seated next to Lee Jordan during the Quidditch match.
• Sleeper Hit: 19 years after its initial release, it finally crossed the billion mark in the summer of 2020 after a release in China, which still banned most Western movies in 2001. The country has become the second biggest market for the franchise in the ensuing year whereas it was Japan during initial release.
• So My Kids Can Watch: Richard Harris was unsure about taking the part of Dumbledore, fearing his health would mean he wouldn't be around for seven movies. His granddaughter threatened to never speak to him again if he turned it down, so he signed on anyway. Sadly, he did indeed pass away after filming the second movie.
• What Could Have Been: Shares a page with the book version here.

The Video Game

• Acting for Two:
  • Joe Sowerbutts voices both Harry and Draco.
  • Gregg Chillin voices Ron, the Weasley twins, and Lee Jordan.
  • David de Keyser voices Dumbledore, Quirrell, and Voldemort.
  • Ève Karpf voices McGonagall, Hooch, and Sprout.
  • Allan Corduner voices Snape, Flitwick, and Filch.
• Dummied Out:
  • The first PC game was to feature a spell [Flintifors] for turning small objects into matchboxes. If you happen to come across the Transfiguration classroom in Chamber of Secrets, McGonagall briefly mentions this spell^note In this case, Flintifore.
  • In the PC version, you were supposed to learn Avifors and Verdimillious, like in the PS1 and in the former's case, 6th generation console versions, but both were cut out.
• Early Draft Tie-In: The reason for much of the game's Truer to the Text aspects, such as the presence of Peeves. Fearing leaks, Warners actually wouldn't tell the game developers much about what would or wouldn't be included in the movie, forcing them to make guesses based on little more than the original book. The end result is that the final product comes off a bit like The Game of the Book even though it was supposed to be a movie tie-in.
• Executive Meddling: For unknown reasons, Warner Bros. forbade Hedwig from appearing in the first PC game... and only the PC game, as she appeared in every other version of the game.

---