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Sorcerer’s Stone Book & Movie Differences

In an August 2001 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sorcerer’s Stone director Chris Columbus said that "95 percent" of the book would be in the movie. Inspections of movie stills and trailers reveal some faithfulness to Rowling’s source material. The big stuff, like the English locale and nationality of the characters, has been retained. But like any Hollywood book-to-screen effort there have been changes. This essay examines the changes made to the novel, especially through Steve Kloves’ screenplay.

NOTE: This essay will be revised once the movie is released and I can see all changes first hand. This is a preliminary report based upon studying “teaser” material distributed and reading news stories in the months before the 16 November 2001 release.

An Extra From Rowling

Director Chris Columbus indicated in early October 2001 that there will be an extra scene in the movie you will find nowhere in the book. This is not a Steve Kloves embellishment, however. Columbus told Empire Online that J.K. Rowling submitted material to the production that she deleted from the final Sorcerer's Stone manuscript. Kloves adapted the Rowling "add-on" and placed it into the script.

"It's in the first film because, she originally wrote it for the first book and decided to take it out. So you’ll see that when you see the film," Columbus told Empire. It is "one little sequence where we get a key into something that happened in Harry’s past."

Another expected scene is with Richard Bremmer, who has been cast as Lord Voldemort, and stunt doubles Joss Gower and Theo Kypri.

The appearance of a human Voldemort reflects the typical path books (words) take the the screen (images). Where it's okay in books, perhaps to have a character sit there and tell a tale, in a movie a person seated, immobile, saying the same dialogue for 5 or 10 minutes may be boring. Flashbacks and stories in novels often become scenes with dialogue in movie adaptations.

Voldemort's attack on James and Lily Potter (Adrian Rawlins and Geraldine Somerville) will be played out full-tilt on screen. Voldemort will go to Godric's Hollow and attack Harry's parents, one by one, with the Avada Kedavra Curse. He will try to hit Harry and -- BOOM! A flash of green light, he will be hit and thrown backward, perhaps? It's going to be something that requires stunt doubles. The production staff has indicated that the way the Voldemort scenes were filmed did require two stuntmen for Bremmer.

These scenes will be the visual replaying of a flashback, more than likely when Hagrid tells Harry the truth about his parents' death in the hut on the rocky beach. Robbie Coltrane will probably be heard as a voiceover narrator as the scenes progress.

The Dursley Hair Color Change

In the book, Aunt Petunia and Dudley Dursley have blond hair. Rowling describes Petunia as “thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck…” Dudley is characterized as a “large blond boy.” In the movie, Fiona Shaw, who plays Petunia, and Harry Melling, as Dudley, have brown hair. Uncle Vernon is supposed to have dark hair and a large mustache. Richard Griffiths, the movie's Vernon, has the mustache, but his hair is gray.

Petrificus Fall-Back-Us

Excerpts from the scene where Hermione Granger zaps Neville Longbottom with the Body Bind spell appear faithful to the book. Neville glares and puts up his fists, Hermione aims her wand and utters “Petrificus Totalis!”; Neville goes completely stiff; and he falls down. However, in the book, he fell on his face. In the second teaser trailer, he is clearly shown falling on his back.

Who Let Those Houses In?

In the book, students from each house attended classes either alone or in “double” sessions with another one. An example is the Potions and flying classes that Gryffindor and Slytherin took together. The filmmakers decided there should be a mixed bag of attendance in classes.

In the movie, in a still depicting Flitwick’s Charms class, students from all four houses are in attendance. They can be discerned by the badge colors on their robes. While many “students” in the scene are Gryffindors, there are a couple of Slytherin students in the front row (green and silver badges), and Ravenclaws (gold and blue) and Hufflepuffs (black and yellow) in the back row!

The same thing is apparent in the flying class still, where students are shouting “Up!” to summon their brooms. Two children on the far right are wearing robes with the gold and blue of Ravenclaw on their patches.

Personally, I don't like this change. There is a fierce rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Rowling emphasizes this by having students from these houses together in classes. It's jarring to see these Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw kids in the pictures, and they dilute the strong conflict between the Gryffindor and Slytherin students.

Bye, Bye, Characters

Now contrast this change with another change that was made to emphasize another of The Sorcerer's Stone's conflicts. Harry and Dudley do not like each other, to the extent that the latter is always beating up on him and breaking his glasses. Kloves wanted to increase the tension between them, so he completely eliminated Piers Polkiss from the story. Only Harry and Dudley accompany the Dursleys to the zoo.

Peeves the Poltergeist also is not in the movie -- his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. The crew filmed the scene where Peeves throws walking sticks at Percy Weasley and the Gryffindor first years and insults them. Rik Mayall, who was to be Peeves' voice, was on hand for the dialogue. However, the scene was cut due to the already 2 1/2 hour running time. Peeves will be back in The Chamber of Secrets.

Extra Flight Students

Speaking of broom class, the book mentioned there were lines with a total of 20 brooms, which implied there were 20 kids in the class. In the movie, there are 26 kids in the class, as shown in the second teaser trailer.

Obvious Owl Post

In the book, Professor McGonagall wanted delivery of Harry's Nimbus 2000 to be a secret. When the package containing the broom arrives via Owl Post, it does get a lot of looks, just like the movie. However, they can’t figure out right away what it is. Here is a book excerpt:

As the owls flooded the Great Hall as usual, everyone’s attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Harry was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way, when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.

The letter from Professor McGonagall tells him a Nimbus 2000 is in the package and to not open it until he gets to the privacy of his room.

The movie’s depiction of the broom mailing was more blatant. Hedwig herself – not half a dozen owls – brings the broom, which is not wrapped at all to conceal what it is. Instead of being in a box, it is simply a packaged broom. So much for the Nimbus 2000 being a secret till the next Quidditch match! Like the book, this delivery catches all the eyes in the room. Hedwig drops the broom package, which Harry catches. It doesn’t land on the table and knock his bacon off.