Travis Prinzi’s ‘Harry Potter For Nerds: Essays for Fans, Academics, and Lit Geeks’ traveling to Nashville, Tennessee

October 10, 2013 by 12 Comments

I was able to catch up with Travis Prinzi, the young lion of Potter Pundits, the other day and learned he is on the road to Nasville, Tennessee, for a closed door conference. I asked him for a thumbnail description and he responded:

The conference I’m speaking at is Hutchmoot, which is a gathering of Christian authors, musicians, and artists. It grew out of The Rabbit Room website, named after the famous room in The Eagle and Child where the Inklings gathered to discuss their stories. My session is described as follows:

Never Too Old for Narnia: Why Grown-ups Need Children’s Literature – Andrew Peterson, Sarah Clarkson, and Travis Prinzi explore and celebrate the realm of children’s fairy tales and fantasy, including works by Lewis, Tolkien, Goudge, and MacDonald, as well as discussing modern works by authors like J. K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman. They will look deeply into why the beauty and imaginative worlds of such stories stir and captivate readers of all ages.

I’d love to sit in on that — to hear Travis talk is always edifying and fun and because I haven’t spoken with Andrew Peterson since the meeting he described in a RabbitRoom post called ‘Harry Potter, Jesus, and Me.’ You’ll need an Invisibility Cloak to get into Hutchmoot, however, because the sponsors have limited attendance to 100 guests to be sure it’s not a mad house.

Anyone out there think we could do a HogwartsProfessor and HogsHead gathering in like fashion? Let me know if you have a venue in mind that would be willing to host a get together of 50 to 100 serious readers for some challenging conversation about better books. And would you come?

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Rumor Says: Warner Bros Thinking ‘Quidditch,’ Too

October 2, 2013 by 1 Comment

My memory is just good enough to remind me that way back when dinosaurs walked the earth and we didn’t even know the titles of the last two or three Harry Potter novels, there was a vocal cadre that believed much of that information could be discovered in the trademark application logs at Warner Brothers. My memory isn’t what it once was, but I think their confidence derived from at least one direct hit (Half-Blood Prince?).

These prospectors and internet researchers came to mind today when I read that “some believe” Warner Brothers is considering making a Quidditch Through the Ages film series as well as movies derived from Tales of Beedle the Bard. A story in the UK newspaper, the Independent, ‘JK Rowling’s Quidditch Through the Ages earmarked as next Harry Potter spin-off film,’ contends that Warner is “hinting” as much, based on its trademark filings.

According to website Bleeding Cool, Warner Bros has taken out several trademarks that hint at another film based on JK Rowling’s companion book Quidditch Through the Ages.

The Quidditch companion was originally released for Comic Relief 2001 alongside the fictional Hogwarts textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which Warner Bros is to make into a film.

The studio has reportedly trademarked Quidditch Through the Ages, as well as the name of the book’s author, Kennilworthy Whisp, and the names of the Quidditch teams the Wimbourne Wasps, the Chudley Cannons and the Kenmare Kestrels.

I am not looking forward to the films derived from Fantastic Beasts because (a) I am not a film fan but an iconodule (cinema being the victory of the neo-iconoclasts, alas) and (b) I expect it will be another exercise a la Indiana Jones and the Potter film franchises to reduce even a smart story into a series of chases, fights, and CGI ‘wow’ opportunities for teenagers. But I get the hooks of the Newt Scamander story as it has been sketched and would certainly buy the book if it were written as a novel rather than a screenplay.

The worst parts of the Potter films and the chapters apparently Ms Rowling dreaded writing in the novels were the Quidditch matches. I don’t doubt that stories could be told around conflicts on the Quidditch pitch — Cinderella stories, On the Waterfront remakes, even Rollerball translations — but, outside of the guarantee of a big payday, why would anyone make that film?

Let’s hope that, as with the many titles Warner Brother trademarked a decade ago, that this rush to secure the rights to these titles and names is just for future pinball and XBox games.

Your comments and corrections, please, especially if you’ve got a great story line for a cinematic treatment of Quidditch Through the Ages.

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes, Movie Thoughts

PotterMore: J. K. Rowling Discusses Alchemical Colors

October 1, 2013 by 8 Comments

Michael B writes that Ms Rowling is discussing her use of alchemical symbolism at her PotterMore web site:

In the [PotterMore] section The Campsite, Jo has written some new information on colors. The first part talks about the importance of purple and green in the Wizarding World, then there’s more on the association of the house colors and their respective elements. Then, she talks about Alchemy!

The passage on alchemy specifically reads:

Colours also played their part in the naming of Hagrid and Dumbledore, whose first names are Rubeus (red) and Albus (white) respectively. The choice was a nod to alchemy, which is so important in the first Harry Potter book, where ‘the red’ and ‘the white’ are essential mystical components of the process. The symbolism of the colours in this context has mystic meaning, representing different stages of the alchemic process (which many people associate with a spiritual transformation). Where my two characters were concerned, I named them for the alchemical colours to convey their opposing but complementary natures: red meaning passion (or emotion); white for asceticism; Hagrid being the earthy, warm, physical man, lord of the forest; Dumbledore the spiritual theoretician, brilliant, idealized and somewhat detached. Each is a necessary counterpoint to the other as Harry seeks father figures in his new world.

Michael then asks me, “ Has she ever confirmed anything like this before? I was under the impression that the alchemy theory was always well informed speculation. All the best, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this reveal.”

Thank you, Michael, for sharing this news. To answer your questions, yes, Ms. Rowling has admitted that her understanding of alchemy played a large part in how she set “the magical parameters” and “internal logic” of the Hogwarts Saga, and, my response to her comments here is something like bemusement. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes, Literary Alchemy

Teenage Exorcists Work to Save London from Potter Spells

September 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Read about it all here. The lead child-exorcist will be going to Liberty University to further her education. Here’s hoping she doesn’t try to cast any demons out of Prof. David Baggett there! Check out The Daily Mail’s photograph at the article of dad, daughters, and terrific twin Harry Haters… If nothing else, I’m obliged to admire their zeal and the uncompromising nature of their quest.

Hat tip and thanks to Kathleen and Dr. Art for the link.

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Rowling ‘Agrees’ to Write New Film Series for Warner Brothers

September 12, 2013 by 32 Comments

You can read the original facebook announcement on Ms Rowling’s page or the write-ups of same at HollywoodLife, FOX News, or MuggleNet.

Or just read it here if you haven’t already:

It all started when Warner Bros. came to me with the suggestion of turning ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ into a film. I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ realized by another writer was difficult. Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood.

As I considered Warners’ proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn’t dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros.

Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world. The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.

I particularly want to thank Kevin Tsujihara of Warner Bros. for his support in this project, which would not have happened without him. I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it.

Three quick thought for your comment and correction:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes