The Letters From No One
- Dudley appears to know about Hogwarts, as he stares worriedly at Harry like his parents do. In the books, Dudley does not know about magic when Harry gets his letter.
- Harry does not get Dudley’s second bedroom until the second film, with the latter film implying that the Dursleys supplied Harry with the room after the First Year.
- The scene where Harry and the Dursleys go to a random hotel to get away from the letters was omitted from the film, so instead they went straight to the hut.
- Because of this, Dudley’s line of “Daddy’s gone mad, hasn’t he?!” was moved to immediately after Uncle Vernon declares that they are going to move far enough away to ensure that the owls can’t find them. In the book, Dudley says this line only after Vernon pauses driving long enough to do a glance around to see if any owls are following them on a bridge.
Design And Special Effects
Judianna Makovsky served as the costume designer. She re-designed the Quidditch robes, having initially planned to use those shown on the cover of the American book, but deemed them “a mess.” Instead, she dressed the Quidditch players in “preppie sweaters, 19th-century fencing breeches and arm guards.” Production designer Stuart Craig built the sets at Leavesden Studios, including Hogwarts Great Hall, basing it on many English cathedrals. Although originally asked to use an existing old street to film the Diagon Alley scenes, Craig decided to build his own set, comprising Tudor, Georgian and Queen Anne architecture.
Columbus originally planned to use both animatronics and CGI animation to create the magical creatures, including Fluffy. Nick Dudman, who worked on Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, was given the task of creating the needed prosthetics, with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop providing creature effects. John Coppinger stated that the magical creatures that needed to be created had to be designed multiple times. The film features nearly 600 special effects shots, involving numerous companies. Industrial Light & Magic created Lord Voldemort‘s face on the back of Quirrell, Rhythm & Hues animated Norbert and Sony Pictures Imageworks produced the Quidditch scenes.
Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone |
---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
Running time |
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, based on J. K. Rowling‘s1997 novel of the same name. Produced by David Heyman and written by Steve Kloves, it is the first instalment of the Harry Potter film series. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger. Its story follows Harry’s first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as he discovers that he is a famous wizard and begins his formal wizarding education.
Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the book in 1999 for a reported £1 million . Production began in the United Kingdom in 2000, with Chris Columbus being chosen to create the film from a short list of directors that included Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British and Irish, with the three leads chosen in August 2000 following open casting calls. The film was shot at Leavesden Film Studios and historic buildings around the United Kingdom, from September 2000 to March 2001.
Don’t Miss: Are The Harry Potter Movies On Netflix
Aged Five To Eightinfo
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned images
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned images
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Most children over 13 are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film.
Norbert The Norwegian Ridgeback

- The part where the dragon Norbert is sent to Charlie Weasley is omitted. Instead, Hagrid later revealed to the Trio that Dumbledore sent him to Romania .
- In the book, when Harry and Hermione get detention, it is because they left the Invisibility Cloak in the Astronomy tower while sending Norbert to Charlie Weasley and were caught by Argus Filch at the foot of the stairs. In the film, they get detention because Draco Malfoy saw them in Hagrid’s hut past midnight .
- In the book, Neville was also given detention for being out of bed because he was trying to warn Harry about Malfoy and was caught by Professor McGonagall.
- Ron is also with them in the film, while in the book he was recovering in the hospital wing after being bitten by Norbert. Therefore, in the film, Ron gets detention instead of Neville.
Don’t Miss: Who Does Harry Potter Marry
Luggage On Platform 9 3/4
Harry conspicuously wheels his own luggage rack in Kings Cross Station in order to get to Platform 9 3/4. This rack containing his spellbook and his owl, Hedwig, is called a “cart” in the US Edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, while in the UK version, Harry is pushing a “trolley”.
RELATED: 10 Facts About Ron Weasley They Leave Out in the Harry Potter Movies
Likewise, the Hogwarts candy cart is called the trolley in the UK version, though, they did choose to keep that verbiage in the US version of the movies as well. This was likely to give more of a British flair to the language, as it’s not a change that would cause confusion.
The Man With Two Faces
Also Check: Should Hermione Have Ended Up With Harry
Talk To Your Kids About
-
Families can talk about the Harry Potter book series that inspired Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and the other movies. Do you like the books or movies better?
-
Which themes from the first in the series pop up again in later installments?
-
What do you think about Harry and his friends going away to school? Would you ever want to do something like that?
-
How do Harry and his friends demonstrate teamwork, perseverance, and courage in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? Why are these important character strengths?
- In theaters: November 16, 2001
- On DVD or streaming: May 28, 2002
- MPAA explanation: some scary moments and mild language
- : April 26, 2022
-
Even decades later, one of the best family films ever made.
age 6+
-
Pure, sweet imagination for both kids and adults.
age 8+
-
Action- and creature-packed Potter sequel.
age 8+
Differences From The Book
Columbus repeatedly checked with Rowling to make sure he was getting minor details correct. Kloves described the film as being “really faithful” to the book. He added dialogue, of which Rowling approved. One of the lines originally included had to be removed after Rowling told him that it would directly contradict an event in the then-unreleased fifth Harry Potter novel Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
The book’s timeline is not enforced in the film. In the book, Harry’s eleventh birthday is in 1991. On the film set for 4 Privet Drive, Dudley’s certificates from primary school bear the year 2001.
Don’t Miss: Diagon Alley Wizarding World Of Harry Potter
Jazz On The Screen Filmography
- Book/Printed Material Jazz on the screen a jazz and blues filmography by David Meeker This website makes available a searchable filmography which documents the work of some 1,000 major jazz and blues figures in over 14,000 cinema, television and video productions. The filmography is also made available in book form. Web Site.
- Contributor: Library of Congress – Meeker, David
Collection Items:View 6 Items
Differences Between Philosopher’s Stone And Sorcerer’s Stone Films
- Five different takes were necessary to replace the words Philosopher’s Stone with Sorcerer’s Stone in the American version of the film. When the two DVDs were compared side by side it was noticed that in every case but one, only a slight difference in synchronisation was noticed. The most noticeable difference was when Hermione was reading from the book she had taken out of the library for a “bit of light reading”. The words on the page were changed from Philosopher’s to Sorcerer’s and her fingers, while straight in Philosopher’s they are bent in Sorcerer’s .
Don’t Miss: Blu Ray Harry Potter Series
What Parents Need To Know
Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first movie in the massively popular and successful Harry Potter series , has some intense and scary moments. Harry Potter and friends — who are only 11 years old here — are in peril and get hurt, but not seriously, and most of the scares come from fantasy creatures. There’s a flashback to the death of Harry’s parents and discussion about how they died and the villain who killed them. Characters show courage, teamwork, and loyalty. Friendship, standing up for others, expressing compassion, generosity, perseverance, and the triumph of the underdog are also strong themes.
Uses In Education And Business

Writers on education and business subjects have used the book as an object lesson. Writing about clinical teaching in medical schools, Jennifer Conn contrasted Snape’s technical expertise with his intimidating behaviour towards students. Quidditch coach Madam Hooch on the other hand, illustrated useful techniques in the teaching of physical skills, including breaking down complex actions into sequences of simple ones and helping students to avoid common errors. Joyce Fields wrote that the books illustrate four of the five main topics in a typical first-year sociology class: “sociological concepts including culture, society, and socialisation stratification and social inequality social institutions and social theory“.
Stephen Brown noted that the early Harry Potter books, especially Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, were a runaway success despite inadequate and poorly organised marketing. Brown advised marketing executives to be less preoccupied with rigorous statistical analyses and the “analysis, planning, implementation, and control” model of management. Instead he recommended that they should treat the stories as “a marketing masterclass”, full of enticing products and brand names. For example, a real-world analogue of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans was introduced under licence in 2000 by toymaker Hasbro.
Don’t Miss: How Make Harry Potter Robe
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone 20th Anniversary
This 20th Anniversary screening event of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone will include a special look at the Magical Movie Mode, which is the newest version of the film released this summer. Based on the first of J.K. Rowling’s popular children’s novels about Harry Potter, the live-action family adventure film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone tells the story of a boy who learns on his 11th birthday that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses unique magical powers of his own. Invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. At Hogwarts, he finds the home and the family he has never had.
Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone Review
Original Title:
Harry Potter And The Philosopher& #8217 s Stone
Sometimes the best plan is to do things by the book. With over 100 million Harry Potter readers desperate to rush down cinema aisles to see their hero on the big screen for the first time, you can’t blame Chris Columbus for sticking close to J.K. Rowling’s novel. It’s one thing to let your imagination loose with the words on the page it’s another to have those images backed up by a multi-million dollar Hollywood budget. And from the very first sight of an owl perched on the Privet Drive road sign to the closing shot of the Hogwarts Express pulling away from the station with the majestic school sitting high on the hills behind, we know that every golden galleon has been well spent.
That’s why this faithful adaptation won’t fail to win over the book’s fans with its ‘wow’ factor. It thrives on audience recognition. John Williams’ score swells at the key moments – Here’s your first glimpse of Hogwarts! Isn’t Diagon Alley crammed with Dickensian detail! – as Columbus pulls back curtain after curtain to reveal all of the avid readers’ favourite bits. The stand-out sequence is the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match, a fast-paced medieval Rollerball with broomsticks. It soars where The Phantom Menace’s podrace stalled on the third lap.
Also Check: How Old Is Harry Potter In The First Book
Philosopher Versus Sorcerer’s Stone
And the most popular question that fans have, concerns the title differences between Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It seems strange enough that book publishers are willing to change such minimal details in the books in order to make it more understandable for the children, however having completely separate book titles is something that is rarely done.
The simple fact of the matter is that American publishers think that the word “sorcerer” sounds more enticing and magical than the word “philosopher.” At the time, the belief is that American kids would have more familiarity with the term “sorcerer” than they would “philosopher”, therefore, making it more likely for them to pick up the book at the store.
Publication And Reception In The United Kingdom
Bloomsbury accepted the book, paying Rowling a £2,500 advance and Cunningham sent proof copies to carefully chosen authors, critics and booksellers in order to obtain comments that could be quoted when the book was launched. He was less concerned about the book’s length than about its author’s name, since the title sounded like a boys’ book to him and he believed boys preferred books by male authors. Rowling therefore adopted the pen nameJ.K. Rowling just before publication.
In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher’s Stone with an initial print run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries. Her original name, “Joanne Rowling”, can be found on the copyright page of all British editions until September 1999. The short initial print run was standard for first novels and Cunningham hoped booksellers would read the book and recommend it to customers. Examples from this initial print run have sold for as much as US$471,000 in a 2021 Heritage auction.Thomas Taylor created the cover for the first edition.
9+34, from which the Hogwarts Express left London, was commemorated in the real-life King’s Cross railway station with a sign and a trolley apparently passing through the wall.
Read Also: What Are The Harry Potter Movies Rated