CBBC Visits the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts

For close to two decades now,

JK Rowling's stories of Harry Potter and the rest of the wizarding world

have dominated popular culture.

Along the way, they've amassed arguably the largest

and most passionate fanbase in the world...

You are the most wonderful fans in the world!

..given us some of the most recognisable stars on the planet

and created an enormous demand for more of this.

So, earlier this year we got a West End play and now,

five years since The Deathly Hallows, Part Two...

We're pretty sure it's going to be five movies.

..kicking things off with the kind of, sort of prequel,

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

Don't panic. There is absolutely nothing to worry about.

But what is it about these stories

that has made them such a phenomenon?

Gryffindor!

We'll be speaking to star Eddie Redmayne,

director David Yates, the crew,

the fans, and some bloke called Daniel Radcliffe

to answer the all-important question -

what is the secret of the wizarding world?

Before we get started, just in case you recently escaped

from Azkaban after a 20-year stretch

and aren't in the know,

I've set my good friends, The Vamps, a challenge -

recap all of the Harry Potter films in under a minute,

just so you're totally up-to-date with everything that's going on.

I'm cruel, I know.

Voldemort kills Harry's parents.

But Harry's a bit of a Batman and doesn't actually die.

He gets adopted by his auntie and uncle.

But then he gets a letter through that gives him

the chance to go to Hogwarts.

Hagrid comes and boots the door down and picks him up and goes,

"You're coming with me, mate."

He loves it. He meets Hermione and he meets, erm...

..Ron. Ronald.

They kill a guy that's got a Voldemort head

on the back of his head.

-And... Is that...?

-The second film...

I didn't make it to the second film!

..something happens with the wand, and some, erm...Quidditch.

They go kill a big snake, take his tooth,

stab something with it.

Third film, pretty much the same thing.

He's got, like, a relative, Sirius Black.

Snape's kind of bad as well in this.

Dobby is a little elf - also dies at some point.

Then... Oh, Oh.

Voldemort is in it as well.

They're trying to find a Horcrux.

I've skipped two movies.

They get them all and there's a massive battle at the end.

Loads and loads of people die,

but all in all, it's a good family movie.

I'd thoroughly recommend watching it.

-HAGRID:

-You're a wizard, Harry.

That's it. Yeah.

LAUGHTER

And what about the story of Fantastic Beasts?

Can the star himself, Eddie Redmayne, tell us?

I can tell that story.

I'm going to stop you, and I hate to do this, because I've been sent...

No. Shut up. Is this a Newt one?

I've been sent your very own wand.

This is quite a moment, because we went to Comic Con recently,

and I handed out 3,000 of these wands, and I was given one,

and I had to make 3,000 people do a spell.

But when I handed them all out, I handed them ALL out,

so I got on stage to do this spell and realised I didn't have a wand.

So I ran back into the audience and there was a girl there,

and I said, "Look, please, can I just borrow this one?"

and she was like, "Yeah, if you give it back!"

And I was like, "OK."

So I went and I did the spell

and I could see her in the front row being like...

So I've actually not... I don't have my own wand,

so this is a big moment.

-Allow me to give that to you.

-Thank you.

ROARING

You've known for 24 hours that an unregistered wizard

set magical beasts loose in New York?

-Yes.

-Where is this man?

-Teeny.

-That's Mr Scamander.

He's lost something I'm going to help him find.

Some of these characters and families that we've grown to love

through the Harry Potter films, you hear their names

and you begin to get a sense of their legacy.

What makes Albus Dumbledore so fond of you?

It's like sort of jumping back in the family tree, in some ways.

You kind of realise how thoroughly

JK Rowling has got her world in her head.

It's not an adaptation of Fantastic Beasts,

it's a new project, it's a new set of stories with a character

called Newt Scamander, who exists in that book.

Newt Scamander is a British self-proclaimed magizoologist.

Newt gets off a boat in New York in 1926.

-First trip to America?

-Yes.

They've got these rules that the Brits just don't have.

He's a wizard who loves fantastic beasts and magical creatures.

They are kind of illegal

because they might give away that wizards exist.

You're the guy with the case full of monsters, huh?

News travels fast.

He's basically spent a year in the field all across the globe,

finding, studying magical creatures.

ROARING

And some of them live in his case.

It was open?

Just a smidge.

Mr Scamander, do you know anything

about the wizarding community in America?

-We don't let things loose.

-We got a plan, right, guys?

They need our help.

I found it such an amazing mixture of action.

There were sort of thriller elements...

It wasn't Hogwarts,

it wasn't what we'd done before, and it felt fresh.

I think this is related to Grindelwald's attacks in Europe.

There was great darkness in it,

and wonderful emotions.

I have seen a vision of immense power.

It had that sort of feeling of coming home.

There were comedic elements, there was sort of romance,

and I just hoped that we would be able to capture that spirit.

I hope we have, and I hope you guys enjoy it.

There was a time when we thought it was all over.

No more films, no more books,

no more anything, apart from maybe a couple of theme parks

and a studio tour,

but that's a big reason why fans are so excited right now.

They cannot wait to find out more.

So, what is it about the stories of the wizarding world

that fascinate us all?

Let's meet a die-hard fan to find out.

I'm Jenessa Baber, and I'm a very proud Hufflepuff.

The first book came out in 1997 when I was only a year old,

and the first films in 2001, so I was only like three or four.

But my earliest memory of it is going to see Prisoner Of Azkaban

with my uncle and his daughter.

And we'd literally missed the viewing by about ten minutes,

so we had to wait three hours for the next viewing,

and we were sat at Vue, and we were just waiting

for the next one to come on.

And we got lost on the way there,

and it was just the most traumatic experience ever,

but I think I was about five or six.

The time in most people's lives when they discovered it

meant that it has an incredibly important place

in a lot of people's childhoods and, you know,

they still feel very, sort of, protective over it.

Expecto Patronum!

A full-bodied Patronus is the most difficult to produce,

but shield forms can also be equally useful

against a variety of opponents.

'I've been told by several friends that it just takes them to a place'

of warmth and comfort, and that is so lovely to me.

That's the real-world effect a film can have on someone's life

and I think that's great.

Think of the happiest thing you can.

I'm trying.

I know. It's good.

This is really advanced stuff, guys.

You're doing so well.

I think they got it so right with the characters, you know,

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma and Rupert, I believe.

-The way they kind of, like, gel together.

-Chemistry.

And then we grew up with them.

They're immediately accessible.

They feel like someone we know,

or they feel like an extension of ourselves,

and she's done that again with the characters in Fantastic Beasts.

Hey, Mr Scamander.

You prefer pie or strudel?

I really don't have a preference.

You prefer strudel, huh, honey.

Strudel it is.

JK Rowling often writes about outsiders and she herself says that,

and I think that that's what connects everyone

to both the Potter films and hopefully to Fantastic Beasts

is that no-one's an insider.

Like, even those people in life who sort of put on this front

of being cool, or, I don't know, somehow an insider,

they secretly are probably crushing inside.

Well, sit down, Mr Scamander.

We're not going to poison you.

And so I think that's kind of the appeal,

is none of us necessarily feel like we really fit in.

I also get a kick out of the fact that this is our world,

but underneath it all, I might be a wizard.

And probably are.

-Well, this has got awkward.

-I'll see how your wand work is.

Having that close reality to our world and another world is something

really clever, and because it's so relatable,

you are almost there,

and it's just that little bit of reality holding you back.

But you can always dream, can't you?

Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me where I might find

-platform nine and three quarters?

-Nine and three quarters?

Think you're being funny, do you?

Suddenly, you'd go to Kings Cross

and that wall would just be so exciting!

And I hope that in Fantastic Beasts, the Woolworth Building in New York,

these places that you're really familiar with...

Lots of our cast were from New York, and they were just so excited by

the detail of that, and it makes you feel that magic

literally lives around you.

We've all been to school,

we've all had teachers who we don't like and teachers that we adore.

It's a universal experience, and then you add magic on top.

Everyone wants to be a wizard and everyone wants to, like, you know,

flick the wand.

You'd be able to tidy your room quicker,

you'd be able to transport yourself to a different place

in, like, the split of a second.

All these abilities that you know

you'd never be able to do in reality.

But everyone wants to be special,

everyone wants to feel like they've got the power to do something,

and being a witch or wizard completely gives you that power,

and I think that's why everyone wants to be a witch or wizard.

And to meet Dumbledore!

Of course, stories involving magic aren't a new thing -

just ask a distinctly younger-looking Stephen Fry.

I think what I liked from the first about Harry Potter

was what's woven into them is a true history

of the English folkloric tradition of magic.

She hasn't made up a magic world

which is simply a great wish list of Disney-esque fantasy of,

well, if you have a dream it's going to come true,

because Harry Potter doesn't present a world like that.

It's connected, and it comes out of the whole fabric of English history

and folkloric mythology.

That's why it works, because things don't work

if they are the result of a feeble-minded fantasy.

A lot of sort of motifs that we associate with witchcraft

have been picked up by JK Rowling.

They have the black robes and the hats and the broomsticks,

the cauldrons, but these have all been updated as school kit,

things Harry needs to go to school.

We look at Arthurian literature and there are lots of connections

between Harry Potter's story and the story of King Arthur.

Both are separated from their parents,

both are watched over by a powerful wizard -

Merlin in the case of King Arthur, Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

Although they're drawing upon these much older mythic themes

of good versus evil, death and resurrection,

they also tie into themes that are very relevant to us now.

There's a key theme in what the story is fundamentally about,

which is to embrace and accept the things

we don't necessarily understand

and to develop our curiosity about those things,

and to be open to the wonders of the world and to be open to things

that are different to our immediate experience,

because otherwise, you know, the world becomes a darker place.

I think a lot of it is all about life lessons.

Harry's story is he's the orphaned child and he has to go on and defeat

all these awful things, but it brings you back to

there is war, people die.

Harry Potter...

..the boy who lived.

She isn't afraid of dealing with death.

She isn't afraid of dealing with the darker side of human nature

and she goes there very easily, I think.

She kind of enjoys it!

This dark edge that occasionally comes into the stories

I think is essential, because she recognises that the world

is not an easy place, and I think, even for younger readers

and younger viewers, it's important to acknowledge that there's a side

to life that needs to be acknowledged

and dealt with sometimes.

What you've fallen in love with is the story,

the characters, the themes we can all relate to.

How you fall in love is by getting lost in the detail,

and there is a lot of detail to get lost in.

There is no stone unturned with JK Rowling.

She can literally answer absolutely every question,

and you can be waiting for that for the rest of your life,

but you still will not know the full story of Harry Potter,

and that is really exciting.

I asked a question about Madam Picquery,

who runs the Ministry of Magic. You know, where is she from?

And literally 48 hours later,

Jo came back with a ten-page breakdown

of the history of magic in America,

and she said, "I just started and I couldn't stop."

She creates such a fully-fledged world that that's the one

we all want to dive into, and I feel like since they started making

the Potter films, and it's lots of the same crew into Fantastic Beasts,

they sort of respect that and so they go that extra step further with

getting the absolute intricacy of the details right.

In charge of all those details for Fantastic Beasts is Oscar-winning

production designer and Potter movie veteran Stuart Craig.

In the books, in the screenplay,

there's a huge amount of description,

so we set about it just delivering what was expected of us.

I was somewhat surprised at the level of interest

in the so-called detail, or that people perceived it

as different to a lot of other films.

I get it now.

I remember coming onto set on one of the first days

and seeing newspaper cuttings like that were in a newspaper stand

at the back of a massive set miles away -

there was no chance they were going to be in shot - and you sort of...

I was wandering past there on a coffee break moment, and I sort of

looked at what was written in the newspaper, and it was like

the entire history of, sort of, what was going on

in the wizarding world that day.

I was like, "God, if you..." It was totally enthralling.

If you believe in the surroundings, in the situations,

in the newspaper you're holding the contents of,

if you really believe in that,

it gives credibility to the whole thing

and to the extraordinary bits of cinematic magic.

That's it, really, it's the pursuit of credibility, I think.

What's amazing about these films is there are so many

extraordinary people behind the scenes

whose job it is to create wands.

The interesting thing about wands is that it's a prop

that's absolutely specific to a character.

Often it can be an expression of their taste

and their fields and their ideals.

When I first got cast, they came with all these designs

and possible ideas, and we talked it through.

I got super method on my wand.

And when we make the originals, we make them in the proper materials

as much as we can - wooden shafts etc -

to give it as much authenticity as possible.

And so you'll see there are no, sort of, animal products,

this is like a sort of shell, so a bit of mother of pearl and...

But it's a bit battered because he's sort of gone, you know,

he's been out in the field with it.

For me, the most important thing is the actor makes the final choice,

so is able to sit there and go,

"This one feels right to me."

So happy to have this back.

-I can tell.

-Just made me really happy.

Sorry, because... Yeah. Go on.

-Question?

-Yeah. Repeat.

I feel like everything you say has more impact.

-If I do that?

-When you do that.

Do you know what? I started, I was doing all this...

Oh, my God, I just did it. Was that caught on camera?

I was like, "I think I'm going to make Newt really cool,

"and he has this fiddle," because I always watch people

do that with their pens, but I could never do it,

so I spent months trying it and then I could never do it on camera,

so I decided to ditch that, but I just did it on camera.

Did you catch it? That's so exciting!

My tenth birthday I got my first wand from my mum,

which was Hermione Granger's wand.

It's just really cool.

Well, probably not to some people,

but to me it's really cool because it's like

bringing a piece of the film home with you.

And, yeah, I do play with my wands every now and then.

As well as a few more wands,

Fantastic Beasts introduces us to a new must-have bit of merch

with a key role to play in the film -

Newt's case.

It's a bit like Doctor Who's Tardis. Doctor Who's Tardis looks very small

but you open the door, you go in, and it's enormous.

Well, that's Newt's case.

It's basically the size of a football pitch,

which is kind of the space that Newt could create.

And it's all put together with sort of British glue

and, sort of, elastic tape.

I ain't got the brains to make this up.

But still kind of extraordinary and bonkers.

You open it, you end up in a shed, because, you know,

being a British bloke, you've got to have a shed,

and that's where he keeps all his books and all his

sort of, like, medicines for all the animals.

And then you open the door to the shed and that takes you into

this next level of the case, which is this set of enclosures, really,

and that's where he keeps all the beasts.

The creatures have always been my favourite thing about Harry Potter.

And people have got cats and dogs in the real world,

but over there you'll have a pet Niffler or...

Yeah, I'm so looking forward to seeing how they tackle that

and what they look like. Yeah, it's exciting.

There's always been a visual effects department,

but as the years have gone on, techniques have improved and...

That's where the heart of this movie is, in the digital technology,

extending what was previously possible.

We were on it for about 21 months or so,

so it was quite a few months of play

and "Wouldn't it be cool if...?"

And so, yeah, something like the Niffler, we had several designs.

I think it was kind of based on a honey badger.

-You do not mess.

-You do not mess with the honey badger.

The honey badger, for those who don't know,

and do look it up on YouTube,

is this kind of badgery thing that eats anything.

Ew, eating snakes.

Ew, what's that, a mouse?

Oh, that's nasty.

I mean, we did over 200, 300...

-Yeah.

-..sketches of different creatures.

Come on, give me a smile.

Some of the things like the Bowtruckle, Pickett -

of him alone, we had over 200 different versions

of a design for him.

Newt has several Bowtruckles but he has a particular favourite

in Pickett, and he sort of keeps him in his top pocket.

Wait a minute.

'So, evidently has a favourite and it's not the greatest of parenting.'

That's a Bow... That's a Bowtruckle, right?

-No.

-Ah, come on, they pick locks, am I right?

You're not having him.

We develop puppets for all the hero characters,

which range from sort of small Pickett-sized

little animatronic things that could be operated by hand

to a 17-foot-tall Erumpent.

Put this on.

Put... Why would I have to wear something like this?

Because your skull is susceptible to breakage under immense force.

We projected the creatures onto the wall and then Eddie stood there,

and we decided how big the Erumpent was by moving the projector

back and forth, and he could stand there with it

and David could see the creature next to him,

and it would at least give you a sense of scale.

He's hurt. Oh, wake up, Mr No-Maj.

SNARLING Argh!

Mercy Lewis, what is that?

Nothing to worry about.

That is...a Murtlap.

What else have you got in there?

Its success has instilled confidence, really,

in everybody in the studio, in the producers, in the director.

Normally, as we did on Harry Potter 1, Harry Potter 2,

we had to, out of necessity, find real locations.

And as the series went on and with Fantastic Beasts,

we have designed and built here at Leavesden

more and more of the world.

But as people watch it, I'd like them to realise

that not a single scene with actors was shot in New York at all,

and the success of the franchise has afforded us that luxury.

Story, detail, sure,

but for me, what really sets the wizarding world apart is the fans.

Everyone I've met is passionate,

fiercely loyal and very knowledgeable indeed.

And when they get together,

you can really feel their amazing sense of community.

I went down to the international fan event

for Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

in London's Leicester Square.

What better place to find fantastic fans than here?

You're going to a fan event.

-This is true.

-Are you nervous?

I am a bit nervous, yeah.

Are you worried that there might be quite a few people dressed as Newt?

Have you seen Eddie Redmayne? He's just over there.

-Oh, yeah.

-Oh!

I love that! I love it, it's really weird.

And did you just so happen to have a blue jacket and a bow tie?

I actually went shopping for this entire outfit yesterday.

The people that we've met are so supportive

of Fantastic Beasts, really,

and getting to see more into JK Rowling's imagination.

I think I'm just mostly excited about being back

in the wizarding world and being just amazed at JK Rowling's work.

They are a passionate crowd and that's...

that's always a wonderful thing, being passionate.

We are really proud to be here and to be part of

something new in the Harry Potter universe.

No, it's definitely special,

it's just great to see everyone else enjoying themselves.

Let's get a big cheer, everyone.

CHEERING

Hi!

Hello, hello to everybody.

We are thrilled to be here at the AMC Kips Bay IMAX theatre

in New York City!

It's definitely a family and it's so accepting.

You can be whoever you want and it's...

You're welcomed into that family.

So we've got friends all over the world,

we've got different team members in different countries,

and its just amazing to be part of, really.

What sets them apart is their curiosity

and that JK Rowling's books and the films then...

You know, a lot of fandoms are kind of exclusive and they're like,

"We can only be a fan of this thing," where I think Harry Potter

actually has introduced people to a lot of other things,

a lot of other literature and a lot of other films,

and the people I meet are all, like, incredibly kind and sweet,

and I think it gives people a hunger to find more things

that they like as much as Harry Potter and other forms of art

that they are as hungry for.

The Harry Potter generation is also the internet generation.

We've got all the books here and I thought I would show you

just to prove that I do have...

As the internet grew,

so did people's ability to instantly communicate with everyone else.

And before we had social media, before we had Twitter and Facebook,

we had these Harry Potter fan sites and forums

that would talk about Harry Potter in one place.

It's about people connecting, and again, people that feel themselves

to be outsiders finding other kindred spirits and souls.

Hmm.

Difficult, very difficult.

Plenty of courage, I see.

Not a bad mind, either.

There's talent, oh, yes,

and a thirst to prove yourself.

But where to put you?

(Not Slytherin.)

Harry Potter gives you an ability to be put in a house,

which makes you find other friends, which makes you find other friends,

and it's just this one big collective group of people

who love the same thing, but you identify yourself as something.

Well, if you're sure...

-(Anything but Slytherin.)

-..better be...

Gryffindor!

So, for the sorting on Pottermore,

the questions are devised by JK Rowling.

There are questions that are designed to really test you,

and it will pull out different parts of your personality

without you sort of realising. It's quite hard to sort of guess

what house you're going to end up in.

I think a lot of fans are quite surprised when they go on

and they might be a bit offended, like,

"Oh, I never saw myself as a Slytherin!"

This is going to sound awful, but I did the Pottermore test

and I was actually placed in Slytherin, which I would never,

ever have put myself in.

And not that I totally disassociate myself with it, but I just...

I don't feel like a Slytherin at heart,

I've always considered myself a Hufflepuff,

so I overruled JK Rowling's opinion on my house!

I wrote to her and she wrote back to me.

It even came back with a Harry Potter stamp,

which was really amazing.

She has seen the dress on Twitter.

I wanted to paint the chapter The Marauder's Map onto it

in the style of the Marauder's Map.

She liked my post about it, at which I was like,

"Did this just happen?"

A lot of fans have some kind of connection with her.

I think that's one of the things that you love about the fandom,

is that you can connect with a lot of people involved.

The fact that Jo Rowling is still so heavily involved

nearly a quarter of a century since she first

came up with the whole idea -

is that the secret ingredient that sets the wizarding world apart?

I mean, I think so.

I think it would be very hard for anything to happen

in the Harry Potter world without her, you know,

involvement, really, and it feel like the same world.

The more time you spend with Jo, the more you hear about not just

Fantastic Beasts but the world around it,

the more detailed and intricate and compelling and exciting it becomes.

My breath is frequently taken away.

Like, I can't believe she has the capacity for such imagination.

The most important aspect of it for me is that she delivers

these positive values, the values that's held together, you know,

certainly in my lifetime, of civility and decency

and respect and curiosity for others and sort of respect for truth,

and that is probably a testament

greater than any other to her work, I think.

Jo really cares about the people that she writes for, about the...

She cares about the people she writes

and about the people she writes for, and it's lovely that she has chosen

to expand the world in so many different ways

because there is still such a hunger for that.

But, yeah, I mean, she's just an immensely...

just intelligent, funny,

kind human being,

and I think that obviously comes across in her writing.

When you spend time reading a book,

you don't just spend time with the characters

but you spend time with the author, and she is a lovely person

to feel like you're hanging out with, I think.

There's no other set of stories, be it Star Wars

or Star Trek or Lord Of The Rings,

where still just one person has all of the answers.

And it's her passion and knowledge

and sheer humongous imagination

that has set the wizarding world apart

and made it so special for so many people.

I want to be a wizard.

That, for me, is why Jo herself is the secret of the wizarding world.

-Do I actually get to keep it?

-You actually...

-That's amazing!

That is for you. And...

And it gets its own little, own little sleeve!

It gets its own ornamental sleeve. That's for you.

Thank you so much. I'm really very excited about that, thank you.

-It's my pleasure.

-Nice to see you.

I can't believe I was the guy that got to do that!

You gave Newt his wand!

-Have you got, like, a wand pocket?

-Yeah, no, I wish!