As most children born in the last 25 years or so, your childhood was revolved around Harry Potter whether you liked it or not. The constant release of books and films, and even a theme park in 2010, kept you in the magical spirit for a span of 14 years (the first book was released in 1997 while the last film was released in 2011). Then, just like that, it stopped.
Four years or so went by and there really wasn’t anything going on in the Harry Potter world. Until in 2015 it was announced that Eddie Redmayne would be playing the role of Newt Scamander in a Harry Potter prequel. Children and children at heart were buzzing with anticipation; Harry’s world was coming back—sort of. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” would be the name of the film and would give us another chance to dive into the world of magic.
When it was announced that the film would be released in 2016, it seemed like a lifetime away. Now that it is only a day away, the magic is definitely building in that air, and it is a “fantastic” way to usher in the holiday movie season.
The film revolves around four characters:
- Newt Scamander (pictured center), a wizard from Europe (and author of the book “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”) who has traveled to New York. With him contained a briefcase of magical creatures. Wouldn’t it be a shame if they……got loose?
- Tina Goldstein (far left), an Auror (think of them as magical law enforcement) and skilled witch, is brought into Scamander’s debacle and decides to help him.
- Queenie Goldstein (right), a witch who joins Scamander and Tina on this adventure. She is also Tina’s sister
- Jacob Kowalski (far right), a “no-maj” (American term for “muggle.” Yeah I don’t like it either) who has a chance meeting with Newt and becomes a part of his magical journey.
Even though we are back in Harry’s world, “Fantastic Beasts” is taking place in New York City in 1926; far before Harry existed. Will we see original characters in this prequel? Dumbledore, perhaps? Who knows. What I do know is that I have my Hogwarts robe on the ready for whatever this film has in store for us Potter fans.
Let’s all hope that this film lives up to the hype, for there are going to be four more of these films according to J.K. Rowling.
Here is the final trailer that was released by Warner Bros before its release this Friday.
