Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a 2001 book written by British author J. K. Rowling about the magical creatures in the Harry Potter universe. Let’s see some awesome facts about the book and the movie!
1.J.K Rowling wrote the book under the pseudonym of the fictitious author Newt Scamander.
2. Fantastic Beasts is the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling.
3. J.K. Rowling wrote this book in 2001, with most of the the profits benefiting the charity Comic Relief. Over 80% of the cover price of each book sold goes directly to poor children in various places around the world.
4. In a 2001 interview with publisher Scholastic, Rowling stated that she chose the subject of magical creatures because it was a fun topic for which she had already developed a lot of information in earlier books.
5. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them contains the history of Magizoology and describes 85 magical species found around the world.
6. Scamander says that he collected most of the information found in the book through observations made over years of travel and across five continents.
7. He notes that the first edition was commissioned in 1918 by Mr Augustus Worme of Obscurus Books. However, it was not published until 1927. It is now in its fifty-second edition.
8. In the Harry Potter universe, the book is a required textbook for first-year Hogwarts students, having been an approved textbook since its first publication. It is not clear why students need it in their first year, as students do not take Care of Magical Creatures until their third year. However, it may be used as an encyclopedia of Dark creatures studied in Defence Against the Dark Arts classes.
9. In his foreword to the book, Albus Dumbledore notes that it serves as an excellent reference for Wizarding households in addition to its use at Hogwart.
10. The book features doodles and comments added by Ron Weasley. The comments would appear to have been written around the time of the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
11. These doodles add some extra information for fans of the series (for example the “Acromantula” entry has a comment confirming that Hogwarts is located in Scotland) along with comic relief (such as Ron saying “Yeah, no telling,” when talking about the Hungarian Horntail being the most fearsome dragon of all, a reference to Harry’s encounter with one in the fourth book).
12. Integrated in the design, the cover of the book appears to have been clawed by an unidentified animal.
13. Newton Artemis Fido “Newt” Scamander was born in 1897.
14. According to the “About the Author” section of the book, Scamander became a magizoologist because of his own interest in fabulous beasts and the encouragement of his mother, an enthusiastic Hippogriff breeder.
15. In Hogwarts, he was sorted to Hufflepuff house.
16. After graduating from Hogwarts, Scamander joined the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. His career included a brief stint in the Office of House-elf Relocation, a transfer to the Beast Division, the creation of the Werewolf Register in 1947, the 1965 passage of the Ban on Experimental Breeding, and many research trips for the Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau.
17. His contributions to Magizoology earned him an Order of Merlin, Second Class in 1979.
18. Now retired, he lives in Dorset with his wife Porpentina and their pet “Kneazles”: Hoppy, Milly and Mauler.
19. He has a grandson named Rolf, who married Luna Lovegood some time after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
20. In the film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Newt Scamander’s name appeared on the Marauder’s Map. Why he was at Hogwarts was not addressed.
21. Scamander himself does not appear in the seven Harry Potter books. He is mentioned in passing in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
22. The movie is about four heroes. Much like how the Harry Potter books are about a trio of heroes, Fantastic Beasts is about four characters working together: Newt (Eddie Redmayne), Tina (Katherine Waterston), Queenie (Alison Sudol), and Jacob (Dan Fogler).
23. The film is planning to ground its story with some real American history. The Salem witch trials, which took place in colonial Massachusetts in the 1690s, are used to show how nervous our wizards are about getting discovered by non-magical folks. The fear of dire repercussions still looms large over the wizarding population and we’ll see that that’s for good reason.
24. Instead of a Ministry of Magic, there’s a Magical Congress of the United States of America led by a wizarding president and hidden inside the very real Woolworth Building — only it’s largely hollowed out all the way to the top floor, creating a beautiful atrium of light.
25. Most Harry Potter fans would agree that Muggle is just a perfect word for someone with no wizarding abilities. It’s snappy and it sounds exactly like the sort of dismissive slang word people would use for someone who isn’t quite as special as they are. A Muggle in the states is actually called a “No-Maj”.
26. Fantastic Beasts will be slightly more “grown up” than previous movies. Director David Yates, who also helmed the final four Potter movies, told us that the new film feels “a wee bit more grown-up” than the rest of the canon. “There are no kids in this movie,” he points out (well, not among the core cast, at least).
27. The whole film is set in 1926 New York. Originally filmmakers planned to make a globe-trotting documentary-style movie that’s more in the style of the book, which chronicled various magical creatures Newt has encountered. The creatures/beasts are definitely a huge part of the film, and their natural habitats are magically shown via Newt’s case. But the film’s setting is firmly in New York, with scenes in different iconic locations.
28. Fantastic Beasts might feel more modern than the Harry Potter films — despite taking place 90 years ago! This is strange, but it makes sense when you think about it. Production designer Stuart Craig notes Fantastic Beasts feels more modern in some ways than the earlier films because it’s set in a large bustling city.
29. Saoirse Ronan, Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart and Lili Simmons were considered for the role of Queenie before Alison Sudol was cast.
30. Michael Cera and Josh Gad were considered for the role of Jacob before Dan Fogler was cast.
31. Kate Upton and Elizabeth Debicki were considered for the role of Tina before Katherine Waterston was cast.
32. The film is directed by David Yates. The film stars are Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Samantha Morton, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell, Faith Wood-Blagrove, Jenn Murray, Jon Voight and Ron Perlman.
33. There is already a plan for several more films. Okay, so this one is not so surprising, but we did get some details: Rowling, who also wrote the first film’s script, has the next two films mapped out. While there are no familiar names from the Potter stories in this first film, due out next November, one or two might appear in the sequels.
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