Trivia
Jump to:
Spoilers (22)
Alan Rickman was hand picked to play Snape by J.K. Rowling, and received special instructions from her about character. Rowling even provided him with vital details of Snape's backstory, not revealed until the final novel.
Richard Harris had trouble remembering his lines, and Daniel Radcliffe would ask him to help with running his lines, just to give Harris more practice.
The filmmakers originally wanted to use Canterbury Cathedral as a filming location for some of the Hogwarts scenes, but the Dean of Canterbury refused to allow it, saying that it was unfitting for a Christian church to be used to promote pagan imagery. Gloucester Cathedral agreed to take its place; the Dean of Gloucester, the Very Reverend Nicholas Bury, admitted to being a fan of the books. Nonetheless, there was a huge media outcry in Gloucester when it was decided to use the local Cathedral as a filming location. Protesters wrote letters by the sack load to local newspapers, claiming it was blasphemy, and promising to block the film crew's access. In the end, only one protester turned up.
The child actors and actresses would do their actual schoolwork in the movie, to make the school setting more real.
J.K. Rowling revealed on her website that she was asked to play Harry's mother Lily during the Mirror of Erised scene, but she turned down the role, claiming that she is not an actress and would have "messed it up somehow", so instead it went to Geraldine Somerville.
Richard Harris, who had been acting for more than forty years by the time this movie entered production, stated that he had never been involved with a cast that was as close as this one.
Platform 9 3/4 was filmed at King's Cross, but on platforms 4 and 5. J.K. Rowling has admitted that she mixed up the layout of London's King's Cross railway station when she assigned the Hogwarts Express to platform 9 3/4, reached by using magic between platforms 9 and 10. She meant the location to be in the inter-city part of the station, but 9 and 10 are actually among the rather less grand suburban platforms. The movie conformed to the book: the platforms seen as 9 and 10 are, in real-life, inter-city platforms 4 and 5. However, there is, in fact, a "Platform 9 3/4" at King's Cross. It's located in the walkway area between the real platforms 9 and 10, as a treat for fans of Harry Potter.
The Restricted Section scene was filmed in the Duke Humfrey's building at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. They have very strict rules about not bringing flames into the library. The makers of this movie were the first ever to be allowed to break this rule in hundreds of years.
Warner Bros. originally considered making the entire Harry Potter film franchise as a set of computer animated movies, or attempting to combine several of the novels into a single movie. The studio's reasoning mainly had to do with concern over the rapid aging of child actors and actresses, if production ran too long on any of the movies, or if production was delayed between sequels, the leading actors and actresses might have to be re-cast. Author J.K. Rowling vetoed both of the ideas of combining books, and an animated movie, so the studio decided instead to produce all eight movies back to back, so the same actors and actresses could play their roles in every movie.
The inscription around the Mirror of Erised reads: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi". Reading the inscription backwards it says, "I show not your face, but your heart's desire."
The scenes at Hagrid's Hut were filmed on-location, on a small patch of land in London, not far from Leavesden Studios. The hut was demolished when the shoot wrapped, in case fans of this movie swamped it.
The floor in the great hall is made of York stone. Production designer Stuart Craig had the foresight to invest a significant amount of his design budget on the stone. While this decision was questioned at the time, it proved to be a wise one, as the stone was durable enough to withstand the footsteps of hundreds of actors and actresses, as well as several camera crews, over the next decade to film the entire series.
Rosie O'Donnell and Robin Williams were two of the celebrities who had asked for a role in the movie without pay, in their cases, Molly Weasley and Rubeus Hagrid, respectively. They didn't get these roles, because J.K. Rowling wanted a cast strictly from the British Isles.
In order to understand what he believed to be caretaker Filch's lonely lifestyle, David Bradley and his cat rented an isolated Irish cottage, in which to live for a month, before filming began.
Richard Harris only agreed to taking the part of Albus Dumbledore after his eleven-year-old granddaughter threatened never to speak to him again. Patrick McGoohan was originally offered the role, but had turned it down due to health reasons. Harris later had health issues of his own, dying of Hodgkin's lymphoma shortly before the release of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).
The filmmakers attempted to go the extra mile of matching the kid's appearances to how the novel describes them, by fitting Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) with green-colored contact lenses, and similarly make Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) wear fake buck teeth. But when Radcliffe's eyes reacted strongly to the contacts, and Watson couldn't talk clearly with the fake teeth in her mouth, these ideas were dropped.
The last name "Dumbledore" means "bumblebee" in Old English. Also, according to the factoid trivia show QI (2003), the word "Muggle" existed in the early to mid 1900s, as a "jazz word" that was used for pot smokers.
This movie and the novel on which it is based are known as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" everywhere except the US This was because the US publisher, Scholastic, had changed the title (and corresponding text) to "Sorcerer's Stone", believing that American audiences were largely unfamiliar with the 'Philosopher's Stone' concept. To keep the movie consistent with the book, every scene in the movie where the Philosopher's Stone is mentioned was filmed twice (once with the cast members saying "Philosopher's", and once with them saying "Sorcerer's") or dubbed (most notably, one of the times Hermoine says it in the library and her face isn't shown). J.K. Rowling has since said that she regrets having granted permission for the title change, but as a fledgling author, she wasn't in a strong enough position to fight it at the time (her publisher had even asked her to shorten her name to J.K. out of fear that teenage boys would be unwilling to read a book written by a woman). She is frequently asked by fans in the United States why she didn't call it "The Philosopher's Stone".
Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) was the first person to be cast.
Casting Harry Potter was the biggest challenge; they saw 5,000 boys audition, and none of them felt right. Producer and director Chris Columbus saw Daniel Radcliffe in David Copperfield (1999), and showed it to the casting director, and said Radcliffe was the one, and that he was amazing. But she said they wouldn't get him, because his parents want him to focus on his schoolwork, and not acting, as well as all the attention he'd get. So they interviewed Harry Potters of different nationalities all over the world, and still hadn't found him. She got frustrated with Columbus, because he had his heart set on Radcliffe. By sheer coincidence, the producer and screenwriter of this movie went to a theater, and in the front row was Radcliffe with his father, so they talked, and slowly persuaded him to cast Radcliffe.
In order to make the Dursleys' house even more unpleasant, set decorator Stephenie McMillan deliberately sought out the ugliest furnishings possible.
The floating candles in the Great Hall were created using candle-shaped holders containing oil and burning wicks and suspended from wires that moved up and down on a special effects rig to create the impression that they were floating. Eventually one of the wires snapped, due to the heat of the flame, causing the candle to fall to the floor. Fortunately, no one was injured, but the decision was made to re-create the candles using CGI for the following movies, as using real candles was determined to be a safety hazard.
Tom Felton did not read any of the Harry Potter books before auditioning, and at the audition, Chris Columbus was asking each contender for the role of Malfoy what his favorite part in the book was. When it was his turn, Felton said his favorite part in the book was the part at Gringotts, which is what the previous contender had just said. Columbus saw through this very quickly, and thought it was very funny.
During the Harry Potter movies, Daniel Radcliffe went through 160 pairs of glasses.
All of the food that you see in the Great Hall feasts is real. Chris Columbus wanted a very elaborate welcome feast to match the description in the book, with roast beef, ham, turkey, and all the trimmings. Unfortunately, filming under the hot stage lighting for hours at a time quickly caused the food to develop an unpleasant odor, despite the meat being changed every two days and the vegetables twice a day. For the following films, samples of real food were frozen, so that molds could be made of them, and copies cast in resin.
During filming, Daniel Radcliffe changed the screen language on Robbie Coltrane's mobile phone to Turkish. Coltrane had to phone hair designer Eithne Fennel's Turkish father in order to find out Turkish for "change language".
Producer and director Chris Columbus has stated in interviews that he was disappointed with the visual effects in this movie, saying that they were "rushed" and "never up to anyone's standards", and sought to improve them for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). This did not, however, prevent this movie from being nominated for a BAFTA award for "Best Visual Effects".
In this movie, the scar on Harry's forehead is off-center. This was done at J.K. Rowling's request. Due to the artwork on the covers of her books, many people have assumed that his scar is supposed to be in the center of his forehead. The books, however, never specified exactly where on his forehead the scar is located.
In order to give Hogwarts Castle an authentic look and feel, much of the filming was done at locations around England, including Christ Church, Oxford, Durham Cathedral, Gloucester Cathedral, and Alnwick Castle. In fact, the only sets that were built for Hogwarts were the Great Hall, the Grand Staircase, and the Gryffindor Common Room. In the later movies, additional sets were built for the various classrooms and other locations around Hogwarts.
Emma Watson's Oxford theater teacher passed her name on to the casting agents, and she had to do over five interviews before she got the part. Watson took her audition seriously, but "never really thought I had any chance of getting the role." The producers were impressed by Watson's self-confidence, and she outperformed the thousands of other girls who had applied.
Nicolas Flamel, mentioned as the creator of the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone, has figured as a plot device in novels featuring characters such as Batman, Indiana Jones, and Robert Langdon of The Da Vinci Code (2006). He was (possibly) a real alchemist (born in France around 1330) who was believed by some people to have produced the Philosopher's Stone. Since there were mysterious circumstances surrounding his death in 1418, it has been rumored that he lived for hundreds of years. The book and movie gets his age right. He later received his own spin-off prequel franchise, starting with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016).
One of Chris Columbus' daughters had trouble reading, until she read "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in two days, which opened her eyes to the world of books. After reading "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", she asked Columbus to make movies out of them, but there were fifty other directors already interested. Columbus fell in love with the first two books too, so he sat down with Warner Bros., saying how obsessed he was with making this film more than anything else. Columbus asked to be the last director Warner Bros. saw, which took about ten days. Columbus stayed up until three a.m. re-writing the script each day. It was already a good script, but Columbus wanted to talk about the visuals. He told Warner Bros. he had re-written the script for free, and that made an impression on them, because that didn't happen in Hollywood, where they have to be paid for everything. Because Columbus had done that without any pressure from Warner Bros., it made the difference, and after subsequent meetings, and five weeks later, he got the job of directing it.
J.K. Rowling insisted that the principal cast be British, but also permitted Irish actors, which then created a "strictly British and Irish cast" rule for the franchise. Notable examples to fall under this rule are Richard Harris and Fiona Shaw, who were both Irish. Zoë Wanamaker, though she has made her name as a British actress, was actually born in the United States, but grew up in Britain and formally became a British citizen in 2000. Additionally, Verne Troyer, born in Michigan, played Griphook, but he was dubbed by a Brit (Warwick Davis); and Chris Columbus' daughter, Eleanor Columbus played Susan Bones, though she never says a word.
When Chris Columbus was asked what type of child he wanted to play Harry Potter, he used a clip of Daniel Radcliffe from David Copperfield (1999) to show them what he wanted.
As his audition, Rupert Grint sent a video of himself rapping while explaining why he wanted the part of Ron.
By February 2002, this was the second highest grossing movie worldwide after Titanic (1997).
West Anglia Great Northern Trains, the company that owns "Platform 9-3/4", affixed the back end of a luggage trolley "disappearing" into the wall so as to allow fans to take pictures of themselves seeming to disappear into the wall. Network Rail actually own the station infrastructures. Train operating companies own the trains. During the remodelling and new station works, platform 9 3/4 was moved several times until its final position in the new station concourse.
In the trophy cupboard, to the right of the Quidditch trophy, you can see the "Service to the School" trophy with part of "Tom M. Riddle" engraved on it; the trophy and the name on it are confirmed by Ron in a deleted scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).
The Wizard's chess set, with which Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and Ron (Rupert Grint) were playing in the Great Hall, is based on the Lewis Chessmen, which date from the twelfth century. They were found in 1831 on a beach on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. In all, ninety-three pieces were recovered, with eleven now residing at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, and eighty-two at the British Museum in London.
Professor Quirrell's (Ian Hart's) classroom was filmed on-location at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, in a room known as the Warming room. The cauldron seen in the room is not a prop, but in fact came with the location. It is believed that the cauldron is over 500 years old, and was used by cooks who worked for Queen Elizabeth I.
Almost all the scenes with Harry and/or the trio were filmed in chronological order, most notable exceptions being: The final scene in this movie, where the trio return home on the Hogwarts Express, was the first scene filmed, followed by the scene when Harry first sees the locomotive at Platform 9 3/4 (the only other scene which required the actual train present). Then, the Quidditch match was the last thing filmed, mostly due to how long it took the visual effects departments to figure out how to do it.
Hagrid is eight feet six inches tall, although in the books he is portrayed as about twelve feet tall.
Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) was never meant to say the words "good luck" to Harry at Kingscross. She was not meant to say anything, but the editors kept those lines in anyway.
The platform attendant at King's Cross, who asks Harry, "You think you're funny, do you?" actually works for GNER. He is, however, a train manager, and not a platform attendant.
Liam Aiken was originally given the role of Harry, but a day later the offer was revoked, when it was discovered that he wasn't British (Aiken had previously worked with Chris Columbus).
The troublemaking poltergeist Peeves, played by Rik Mayall, does not appear in the movie, nor in deleted scenes on any home editions of the movie. Mayall claimed he didn't find out that he was cut from this movie until he saw it.
James Phelps and Oliver Phelps, the twin actors who play Fred and George Weasley respectively, both have naturally dark brown hair which was dyed red for their roles. Similarly, Tom Felton's hair, which is also naturally brown, was bleached blonde for his role of Draco Malfoy.
David Thewlis, who later played Professor Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), was considered for the role of Professor Quirrell.
Warwick Davis, who played Professor Flitwick and the first Gringotts Goblin, also provided the voice for Griphook, who was physically played by Verne Troyer.
Robbie Coltrane's 6'10" body double for Hagrid is former England rugby International player Martin Bayfield.
Neville (Matthew Lewis) received a remembrall from his grandmother, but he doesn't remember what he has forgotten. In that scene, Neville is the only student without his robe on. He must not have remembered to pack it.
When filming the scenes at Gloucester Cathedral, the cathedral's modern electric signs, light switches, and door locks had to be concealed behind panels that were painted to match the rest of the stone walls. The stained glass windows were also modified to hide the fact that the building was a church; the religious symbols were covered with colored plastic filter paper to blend in with the surrounding glass. One window depicted the naked figures of Adam and Eve; they were given clothes and even the trademark Harry Potter lightning scars on their foreheads.
Dame Julie Walters has said if had she known that fellow Midlander Mark Williams would be cast as Molly Weasley's husband Arthur in the following movie, then she would have played up their shared accent, feeling that this would have helped signpost their family's perceived uniqueness in the magical world.
Steve Kloves was nervous when he first met J.K. Rowling, as he did not want her to think he was going to "destroy her baby." Rowling admitted that she "was really ready to hate this Steve Kloves," but recalled her initial meeting with him: "The first time I met him, he said to me, 'You know who my favorite character is?' And I thought, 'You're gonna say Ron. I know you're gonna say Ron'. But he said 'Hermione,' and I just kind of melted."
Producer and director Chris Columbus, remembering his experiences with Macaulay Culkin during the production of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), would only audition child actors and actresses without "stage parents" during casting.
The Quidditch trophy that has Harry's father's name on it also has inscriptions for M. McGonagall and R.J.H. King, the latter being a reference to John King, the supervising art director on this movie.
Aunt Petunia's name is particularly fitting considering that she and her husband always begrudged having to take care of their orphan nephew Harry; in "floriography" (the language of flowers), petunias represent anger and resentment.
The statue of the humpbacked witch, which can be seen in the corridor leading to Fluffy's chamber, covers a secret entrance leading to Honeydukes, a sweet shop in the nearby town of Hogsmeade. The statue and entrance play pivotal roles in the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but was left out of the movie adaptation, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).
At one point, when Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) are approaching Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), he can be seen playing a wind instrument. He is playing Hedwig's Theme.
Ron's choice of opening, in the final chess match, is called Center Counter Opening (or Scandinavian Defense), which, due to its asymmetrical nature, is said to be a highly unpredictable, and difficult opening for either side, that rarely results in a draw.
Hermione never flies on a broom, but in the book, she flies on a broom with Harry and Ron to catch the flying key.
Emma Watson has stated that she hates the way her hair looks in this movie. In the following movies, her hair was made less bushy, and more wavy.
Chris Columbus was amazed how beautifully Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint matured over the Harry Potter franchise, both physically and as actors and actress, compared with some child actors and actresses who start out adorable and either lose that or become bad actors and actresses as they grow older.
In the book, Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Draco spend a night in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid for their detention, but in the movie, Neville is replaced by Ron. This is due to an unused section from the book where Ron gets bitten by Norbert the dragon, and has to go to the hospital wing; Neville gets detention in his place because like Harry and Hermione, he is caught outside after hours, ironically because he wants to warn them about Draco trying to trap them.
In this movie, when the birthday cake that Hagrid brings for Harry is shown, the message "Happee Birthdae Harry" is written on it. In the novel, Hagrid did bring Harry a birthday cake, but J. K. Rowling specifies that Hagrid is perfectly able to spell the cake's greeting correctly, describing it as "a large, sticky chocolate cake with 'Happy Birthday Harry' written on it in green icing."
All of the cars on Privet Drive are Vauxhalls, no matter what the time period. The Dursleys own a silver 2000 Vauxhall Vectra Estate. All of the other cars parked in the drives are Vectra Estates in the present day, with Astra, Belmont, and Cavalier Saloons from the late 1980s in the pre-title prologue.
Daniel Radcliffe said that he didn't think that he would play Harry in all of the movies, as he believed he wouldn't fit the part, once he got older. However, he went on to star in all eight movies.
J.K. Rowling made up the names of the four Hogwarts houses while on a plane. She wrote them down on a barf bag (empty, fortunately) so she would remember them.
The film never explicitly reveals who gave Harry the invisibility cloak at Christmas, although Professor Dumbledore gives him a meaningful look. In the book, it's told that the cloak belonged to Harry's father, who gave the cloak to Dumbledore for safekeeping. Dumbledore then gave it to Harry, reasoning that his father wanted him to have it. It is implied several times in both the books and movies that Dumbledore gave Harry the cloak so that he can use it to solve mysteries by secretly investigating and listening in on conversations (which would explain Dumbledore's extreme tolerance to Harry's frequent breaking of school rules while doing so).
Author J.K. Rowling previously stated the "t" in "Voldemort" is silent, as it is in the French word for death, "mort" (Voldemort literally means 'flight from death' in French). Jim Dale pronounced it so in the US audio books that came before the release of this movie, where the characters pronounced the "t". After this, Dale changed his audio book pronunciation accordingly.
The exterior used for King's Cross Station is actually St. Pancras Station, which is just down the road. This was used because the façade of St. Pancras is more visually appealing than that of King's Cross.
This movie has the highest number of Academy Award nominations for a Harry Potter movie, totalling three. The other entry to do this was the final movie in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). This is the only Harry Potter movie to be Oscar nominated for Best Costume.
Troll (1986) features a character called "Harry Potter," who fights trolls, and casts spells. It came out eleven years before J.K. Rowling published "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone." J.K. Rowling denies any connection.
Originally, Bruce Springsteen recorded a original song for the movie called "I'll Stand By You Always". But the producers felt the song didn't match the story and mood of this movie, and cut it from the final cut, along with the scene of Rik Mayall as Peeves. However, the song was released to the public on February 10, 2017.
This movie cost more money to make than The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), and made more money at the box office that year.
The only Harry Potter movie not to feature Mark Williams, who played Arthur Weasley.
As Harry is getting ready to ask the Conductor where Platform 9 3/4 is, the lady holding a baby girl talking to the Conductor on the platform is the same actress who plays Harry's mother Lily Potter.
The word "bloody" appears in this movie six times, along with one "arse", one "bugger", and two "blasted"s. This, and some very scary scenes in the haunted forest, led to its PG rating.
Sir Alec Guinness was considered to play the role of Dumbledore, however he died on August 5, 2000 shortly before filming began in September 2000. One of his co-stars from Cromwell (1970) eventually got the part - Richard Harris.
In the second book of the series, "Nearly Headless" Nick invites Harry to his "deathday" party, celebrating the 500th Anniversary of his demise in 1492 (a fact that fans have used to place the entire book chronology in the years 1991-1998). 1492, is, of course, the year that Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage to the New World; this movie's production company is "1492 Pictures", a deliberate reference to producer and director Chris Columbus's famous namesake.
Daniel Radcliffe learned he'd won the role of Harry Potter while in the bathtub.
Producer and director Chris Columbus had wanted Daniel Radcliffe for the lead role since he saw him in David Copperfield (1999), before the open casting sessions had taken place, but had been told by Susie Figgis that Radcliffe's protective parents would not allow their son to take the part. Columbus explained that his persistence in giving Radcliffe the role was responsible for Figgis' resignation. Radcliffe was asked to audition in 2000, when David Heyman and Steve Kloves met him and his parents at a production of Stones in His Pockets in London. Heyman and Columbus successfully managed to convince Radcliffe's parents that their son would be protected from media intrusion, and they agreed to let him play Harry.
Harry Potter's birthday is stated in the books to be July 31, 1980, as J.K. Rowling was born on July 31, 1965. By coincidence, Richard Griffiths (Uncle Vernon) was born on July 31, 1947. Daniel Radcliffe was once reported to been born on July 31, 1989, but this was merely a publicity stunt. In fact, Radcliffe was born on July 23, 1989.
In the flying lesson, the whistle Madame Hooch is wearing is called a "Boatswain's Call" and was originally used in the early Navy (before P.A. systems) to signal an order, because the whistle could be heard from one end of the ship to the other. It is now used in the Navy as a ceremonial whistle.
The only movie where Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) serves as a supporting protagonist. Starting from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Hagrid gets less screentime and fewer lines than he did in this movie.
It is now well-known that Daniel Radcliffe only briefly wore the green contact lenses to make his eyes look like his character in the book. He only wore them in the first scene that was filmed before they became too painful. The scene that was filmed first was actually the final scene in the movie, that of the Hogwarts Express leaving the school. In fact, in all behind-the-scenes pictures from the filming of this scene, Daniel is wearing sunglasses because he was too afraid to tell anyone that his eyes were bothered by the contacts. In fact, there is actually footage of producer and director Chris Columbus on-set talking to Daniel about the scene, and he asks if Dan is going to take the sunglasses off, to which Daniel hesitantly replies that he wants to keep them on until they start shooting.
In 2011, Emma Watson told Seventeen Magazine that when she started filming the Harry Potter movies at age nine, she had her first crush ever on co-star Tom Felton, who played antagonist Draco Malfoy.
When the producers first came to J.K. Rowling to ask if they could make movies on the entire Harry Potter series, she said yes, but on one condition. She said that as she imagined all the characters to be British, all of the actors and actresses have to be British.
In addition to Steven Spielberg, other candidates for the director's chair were Jonathan Demme, Terry Gilliam, Mike Newell, Alan Parker, Wolfgang Petersen, Rob Reiner, Ivan Reitman, Tim Robbins, Brad Silberling, M. Night Shyamalan, and Peter Weir. Newell directed the fourth entry of the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Gilliam was J.K. Rowling's first choice, but the studio finally picked Chris Columbus to direct, because he had experience directing child actors and actresses. Columbus was also asked many times by his daughter to direct, and he agreed after he read her copy of the book.
Not only was Terry Gilliam very interested in directing this movie, he was also the first choice of J.K. Rowling. He became upset when Warner Bros. rejected him.
Judianna Makovsky re-designed the Quidditch robes, having initially planned to use those shown on the cover of the American book, but deemed them "a mess". Instead, she dressed the Quidditch players in "preppie sweaters, nineteenth century fencing breeches, and arm guards."
Despite the objection to the Harry Potter series by certain Christian groups, several historic churches in the U.K., including Durham Cathedral, Gloucester Cathedral, Lacock Abbey, Christ Church College Oxford, and in the later movies, St. Paul's Cathedral, were used as filming locations for the franchise. They even inspired much of the layout and architectural details of Hogwarts.
Daniel Radcliffe was reportedly paid £1 million for this movie, although he felt the fee was not "that important".
Apart from Peeves the Poltergeist, two other minor characters from the book did not make it into this movie. The first is Mrs. Arabella Figg, Harry's friendly elderly neighbor from across the street, who is described in an early chapter of the book. Although she was omitted from the first four movies, she finally appeared in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). The second character to be omitted is Professor Binns, Hogwarts' teacher of History of Magic. The book describes him as the only teacher who is a ghost, seemingly being quite unaware of the fact that he died in his sleep.
The only Harry Potter movie not to feature a stylized version of the Warner Bros. logo, although the movie's theme is played over the standard logo, as opposed to the original Warner Bros. theme (As Time Goes By).
For most of this movie, the body double for Hagrid would wear an animatronic head that resembled Robbie Coltrane. The head is displayed at the Harry Potter Studios in London.
In the book, Hagrid gave Harry the flute for Christmas, which he later used to lull Fluffy to sleep.
Rik Mayall only took the part of Peeves, as the kids at his own children's school were talking about the books. He later said, "The film, with respect. No, with no respect at all. The film was shit."
The street that Harry and Hagrid walk down to get to the Leaky Cauldron is the same street on which Sir Sean Connery was parked, waiting for Catherine Zeta-Jones to leave the antiques shop in Entrapment (1999).
In the book series, the forest outside Hogwarts is called the "Forbidden Forest". In the first two movies, it is called the "Dark Forest". In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011), Voldemort calls it the "Forbidden Forest".
James Horner was contacted to compose the music for this movie, but he was unavailable because of a schedule conflict. The task ultimately went to John Williams, who had worked with director Chris Columbus on Home Alone (1990), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) and Stepmom (1998). Both Williams and Horner would compete for the Oscar for Best Original Score in 2002; Williams for this film and A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), and Horner for A Beautiful Mind (2001). Neither won, as the award went to Howard Shore for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
In an interview with THE FACE just before the movie premiere, screenwriter Steve Kloves said that Daniel Radcliffe had really impressed him with the way he underplayed his part, because he was "used to American kid actors who are very sitcommy". He called him a writer's dream.
Chris Columbus pitched his vision of this movie for two hours, stating that he wanted the Muggle scenes "to be bleak and dreary", but those set in the wizarding world "to be steeped in color, mood, and detail." He took inspiration from Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), wishing to use "that sort of darkness, that sort of edge, that quality to the cinematography", taking the color designs from Oliver! (1968) and The Godfather (1972).
For the Gringotts interior scenes, the Australian High Commission in London was used. The exteriors are the Silver Vaults located not far from the Australian High Commission.
Snape's costume was the only one that never changed. According to costume designer, Jany Temine:"Because, it was perfect. When something is perfect you cannot change it." She joined in Prisoner of Azkaban and changed most costumes except Snape's.
Fluffy, the three-headed dog, was modelled after Cerberus, the three-headed dog of the underworld, from Greek mythology.
During the scene where Harry sees his parents in the mirror, it was supposed to be his entire family (according to the book). However, when Dumbledore catches Harry as he spends time alone with the mirror, it is implied he sees his entire family as the scene shows the back of the mirror's frame. In the book, Harry also asks Dumbledore what he sees in the mirror; Dumbledore answers that he sees himself holding a pair of socks, a gift that he would love to receive instead of all the books that he usually gets. Harry later thinks that Dumbledore may have been joking.
Tom Felton originally auditioned for Harry and Ron before getting the part of Draco.
Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg wrote a draft of the script, but was ultimately rejected by David Heyman in favor of Steve Kloves' draft. Heyman, however, was impressed with his draft, and was subsequently brought in to write the script for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) when Kloves backed out to commit to a personal project.
In the warehouse section of the National Railway Museum in York, there is an apparently authentic and suitably pitted and rusty white-on-orange sign saying "Platform 9 3/4", in the style that British Railways used in the 1950s and 1960s.
This and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) are Chris Columbus' two biggest financial hits.
Tim Roth was a leading contender for the role of Professor Severus Snape. He was initially going to play Snape as well as General Thade in Tim Burton's adaptation of Planet of the Apes (2001), alternately working on both movies. However, he later decided to fully pursue Planet of the Apes because he felt that the constant flying back and forth would be too overwhelming.
Despite having less than a minute of screentime, and only two lines of dialogue, the unnamed Head Goblin at Gringotts is featured prominently on the American theatrical poster, right under Ron and Harry's faces. It is thought by many, that this is because of his rather striking appearance.
In the original draft, Drew Barrymore, a self-proclaimed Harry Potter fan, had a cameo.
Although Harry casts no spells during this movie, he does perform several acts of magic (such as talking to a snake), all of which are accidental. This is designed to show he is a natural wizard, but untrained, so he must attend Hogwarts.
John Williams composed a piece of music specifically for the movie's trailer without having seen a single frame of film, and it is found on the soundtrack as "The Prologue". As of March 2002, he has done this only once before, for Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991). (However, on the collector's edition of the soundtrack for Jaws (1975), a previously unreleased track appears called "Shark Attack", which was only used in the trailer for that movie, in 1975.)
Theatrical debut of Emma Watson (Hermione Granger).
There is a painting of Anne Boleyn hanging in Hogwarts, to the right of the staircase just before Harry, Ron, and Hermione encounter Fluffy for the first time. Anne Boleyn was Henry VIII's second wife, beheaded for the supposed crimes of treason, incest, and witchcraft.
The design for the Great Hall set was based on the hall at Christ Church, Oxford. Oxford University also served as a filming location.
Hatty Jones auditioned for Hermione Granger before it went to Emma Watson. She and Emma were the last girls for the audition.
Although Steven Spielberg initially negotiated to direct this movie, he declined the offer. Spielberg reportedly wanted the adaptation to be an animated movie, with Haley Joel Osment to provide Harry Potter's voice, or a movie that incorporated elements from subsequent books as well. He finally opted out, contending that, in his opinion, it was like "shooting ducks in a barrel. It's just a slam dunk. It's just like withdrawing a billion dollars and putting it into your personal bank accounts. There's no challenge." It has also been speculated that Spielberg was rejected by author J.K. Rowling herself, because he wanted to situate the action at an American highschool. Although Rowling insisted that the characters keep their British nationalities, she maintains that she had no role in choosing directors for the movies, and that "anyone who thinks I could or would have vetoed him (Spielberg) needs their Quick-Quotes Quill serviced." David Heyman recalled that Spielberg decided to direct A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) instead.
Scenes from Chris Columbus' script for Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) were used in auditioning the young actors and actresses.
In this movie, John Cleese played "Nearly Headless" Nick, a knight whose head barely remains attached to his body after having almost been beheaded. Ironically, one of the many characters he played in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) was the Black Knight, who had every body part cut off except his head.
Much of the stonework around Hogwarts (excluding the areas that were filmed on-location) is actually plaster that has been painted and distressed to make it appear as though it is hundreds of years old.
Chris Columbus originally planned to use animatronics and CGI to create the magical creatures, including Fluffy.
Patrick Stewart jokingly said he and Ian McKellen were the only two actors from Great Britain not asked to participate in the Harry Potter movies.
The cast includes one Oscar winner: Dame Maggie Smith; and four Oscar nominees: Richard Harris, Sir John Hurt, Dame Julie Walters, and John Cleese.
In an interview with THE FACE just before the movie premiere, Daniel Radcliffe said that he really wasn't that mournful by nature, but got his inspiration from the complex emotions shown in the films he loved, like The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Dead Poets Society (1989), 12 Angry Men (1957) and What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993).
Dancing with the Stars (2005) pros Mark Ballas, Derek Hough, and Julianne Hough made uncredited cameos as Hogwarts students.
The "Hogwarts Express" locomotive portrayed in this movie, a 1937 4-6-0 "Hall" class steam engine number 5972, originally belonged to the Great Western Railway and went under the name of "Olton Hall".
Simon Fisher-Becker says he signed a four-movie deal to play the Fat Friar, but this was the only movie he did, and nearly all of his role was removed in post-production.
Warner Bros. had initially planned to release this movie over the July 4, 2001 weekend, making for such a short production window that several proposed directors pulled themselves out of the running. However, due to time constraints, the date was pushed back to November 16, 2001. The prospective release date of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), the next movie, was kept at November 15, 2002, explaining how the first two films were released only a year apart.
Harry's owl Hedwig is never referred to by name in this movie, even though the main musical theme composed by John Williams (which can be heard in all other movies as well) is called 'Hedwig's Theme'.
Steve Kloves described adapting the book as "tough", as it did not "lend itself to adaptation as well as the next two books."
If one looks at old seventeenth century maps of London, Muggle Street exists near Shakespeare's Theater, a possible influence for the word.
After Steven Spielberg dropped out, he recommended M. Night Shyamalan for the project, but he ultimately turned it down.
Chris Columbus' daughter, Eleanor Columbus was allowed by J.K. Rowling to play Susan Bones for the purpose of "director's trademark", on the condition that it will be a non-speaking part. This was done for two reasons: Eleanor's nationality being American and adherence to Rowling's "British and Irish cast" policy, the latter of which was made in order to preserve the franchise's British authenticity.
To make Fluffy appear more realistic, his heads were made to move independently and to each have their own personality.
Chris Columbus wanted to work with director of photography John Seale, and asked the studio to hire him, but at that time, Seale was committed to shooting Timeline (2003). However, production delays for the latter movie enabled Seale to be available for this movie's photography period.
Warwick Davis played Flitwick as an old man with white hair. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), he was recast as the "Choir Master" with a new design. The director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) liked the new design so much, that he recast Davis as Flitwick.
It has been noticed by some that Robbie Coltrane's costume and character in Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988) has a nearly identical portrayal to his role as Hagrid. Also, it's been claimed that J.K. Rowling had said that Robbie Coltrane was always intended to have been cast as Hagrid in the movies, suggesting that the special may, in part, have inspired the creation of Hagrid, both while creating the world within the books, and his costume and casting within the Harry Potter movies as the literal personification of how he was imagined to look.
The ornate ceiling of the Great Hall (including the trusses) was created entirely using CGI. In real life, the ceiling consisted of nothing but studio stage lighting.
William Moseley, who was cast as Peter Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia movies, also auditioned for the role of Harry Potter. His Narnia co-star Warwick Davis played Professor Flitwick and one of his co-stars in The Royals (2015), Genevieve Gaunt portrayed Pansy Parkinson in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).
In the book, Harry is allowed to come on Dudley's birthday outing to the zoo only because the neighbor, Mrs. Figg, is unavailable to babysit him. Mrs. Figg would later appear in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).
Tom Felton's grandfather plays a uncredited extra during the Quidditch match as a Professor sitting beside Lee Jordan (Luke Youngblood).
In the troll scene in the girl's bathroom, Daniel Radcliffe isn't actually on the troll's neck, because the motions would have snapped his neck. Therefore, his image was digitally added.
John Williams composed the score at his houses in Los Angeles and Tanglewood before recording it in London in August 2001.
Once in an interview, Rik Mayall (the voice of Peeves), said he hadn't read the book and claimed that he did to his agent, and it was one of his favorites. On the set, when asked to read his lines, he constantly made the children burst into laughter with his voice, which had gotten out of hand, and he was asked to turn his back to the kids to read it, which was also useless. Then they asked him to go all the way to the other side of the cathedral, and shout his words, which also caused them to laugh. According to him, Peeves was in the movie, but after a few weeks, they decided to take his scenes out. He said that when his children saw the movie, and came back home, they said to him: "That was bloody good make-up. You didn't look like yourself at all. It was really good." He said that they had mistaken him for Hagrid.
Hagrid initially mistakes Dudley Dursley for Harry Potter, prompting Dudley to say that he's "not Harry". This did not happen in the book, and is possibly an inside joke since Dudley is portrayed by Harry Melling.
International Master Jeremy Silman (uncredited) created the chess position for the wizard chess game task. Ron could have checkmated white more quickly by sacrificing Harry on c5 but chose to sacrifice himself instead to save Harry. Harry move is not actually checkmate but mate next move as the queen could block on e3 but then Harry could capture it to deliver mate next move (see goofs).
Chris Columbus sold scripts to Steven Spielberg for Gremlins (1984) and The Goonies (1985), but his career didn't fully take off until the massive successes of Home Alone (1990), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), which led to the even greater success of the Harry Potter franchise.
John Coppinger stated that the magical creatures that needed to be created for this movie had to be designed multiple times.
The first Harry Potter movie to be the highest-grossing movie worldwide the year it was released. The second was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).
Throughout the eight movie franchise, five actresses played Pansy Parkinson:
- Katherine Nicholson (this movie and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), uncredited in both),
- Genevieve Gaunt (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)),
- Charlotte Ritchie (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), originally listed as "Student" and uncredited),
- Lauren Shotton (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), again uncredited as Pansy)
- Scarlett Hefner in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).
Richard Harris often stated in interviews that he did not have much hope for doing the entire film series. He was quoted of saying "I'll keep doing it as long as I enjoy it, my health holds out and they still want me. But the chances of all three of those factors remaining constant are pretty slim". Months after completing work on the second film, he was diagnosed with Lymphoma and suddenly succumbed to it --still with the hope of working on the third film.
Fiona Shaw, who portrayed a woman despising the supernatural and witchcraft, in this movie, ironically portrayed a powerful witch in True Blood (2008).
As Hagrid and Harry first approach the Leaky Cauldron when Hagrid is taking Harry to buy his school supplies the pub sign is totally black. The closer they get to the sign the more the name becomes visible until it comes completely into view when they stand in front of the door.
This film's 2020 re-release helped it pass the $1 billion mark, making it the third film to achieve this milestone thanks to a re-release, after Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) and Jurassic Park (1993).
Like in the United States, the film was released as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in India and the Philippines. However, it was released under the original name "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", in the rest of the world.
In the Italian translation, House Hufflepuff becomes "Tassorosso" (Red Badger), although the official colors of Hufflepuff are yellow and black, while House Ravenclaw becomes "Corvonero" (Black Raven), although its colors are blue and bronze. House Slytherin gets a more accurate "Serpeverde" (Green Snake). The only literal translation is House Gryffindor/"Grifondoro".
In the opening scene Dumbledore is using his own invention to extinguish the lights on Privet Drive, the deluminator. This device will become very important in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010).
Caio César, a prominent Brazilian voice actor who dubbed Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, and in other movies, was also a military cop and died at the age of twenty-seven in 2015 after being shot in the neck at the Complexo do Alemão slums in Rio de Janeiro.
Gabriel Thomson was considered for the role of Harry. His My Family (2000) co-star Zoë Wanamaker plays Madame Hooch.
In the Wizard Pub, The Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Hagrid go into the bar, the bartender says, "usual, I presume" to Hagrid. This is possibly a reference to the books, where Hagrid would frequently get drunk.
Although Rik Mayall's scenes were cut from the film, he still received full payment. He later said that it was the most exciting film he's ever been in, simply because he was playing a character that didn't even make it into the finished film while still getting the money.
When Chris Columbus scripted Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), that movie featured similarities to his future association with the Harry Potter film franchise; the teenage Watson resembles Harry Potter; school experiments; Draco Malfoy's rivalry with Harry is similar to one Holmes has with another student, Dudley; Draco and Dudley both come from rich parents; cavernous libraries; sweets; train stations; the novelization uses the word potty, or Potter; students being injured and needing to see the school nurse; teachers and students eating in the Great Hall; Holmes, Watson, and a third character solving mysteries at school and Harry, Ron, and Hermione doing the same at Hogwarts; staircases; Harry, Holmes, and Watson creeping through a school library at night; both Watson and Hagrid say "sorry about that"; the end of school term; the threat of expulsion; no family for Harry to return to, even at Christmas; Harry has a scar on his forehead and Holmes has one on his cheek; seemingly innocent teaching staff exposed as the opposite; head boys, et cetera.
Snape's first name Severus is the Latin translation of the nickname of the Russian tsar Ivan IV, more commonly known as Ivan the Terrible.
Despite being called a great wizard by Hermione, Harry does not (intentionally) cast a single spell throughout the entire movie. He accidentally makes the glass at the zoo disappear and causes several incidents at Ollivander's while trying to buy a wand, but he does not successfully and purposely cast any spell during the film.
Snape's outfit is the only one to never change throughout the films. According to costume designer Jany Temime, "it was perfect. When something is perfect you cannot change it." she joined in the Prisoner of Azkaban and altered the other costumes to fit the darker tone.
Simon Fisher-Becker signed a four-movie deal to play the Fat Friar. However, he only appears in one scene in this movie, and not in any others.
There really was once a man who had the deformity of a second face on the back of his head, and the story goes that he believed it whispered demonically to him, until he chose to end his life.
Michael Jackson was a big Harry Potter fan and wanted to turn the books in to a musical but JK Rowling refused to grant permission,
According to the call sheets, scenes filmed on Stage A of Leavesden Studios were: the Gringotts vaults, the Gryffindor common room, the Gryffindor boys' dormitory, the fight against the troll in the girls' bathroom, and some of the Quidditch scenes, including where Hermione sets Snape's cloak on fire.
The second film in the career of Tom Felton that there is a character with the family name of Potter. In his first film, The Borrowers (1997), he starred with John Goodman who is named Ocious P. Potter.
The only Harry Potter movie that features a set of triplets, the Saunders Triplets (baby Harry Potter, 1999) and a set of twins James Phelps and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley, respectively, born 1986).
When Chris Columbus scripted Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Watson believed Holmes obsessed over a case, even at Christmas, because unlike other boys his age, he had no family to which to go home, like Harry Potter, or Kevin McCallister. Columbus has ties to both the Harry Potter and Home Alone franchises.
Over 10 years the art department of 58 people created 588 sets, and had 35 babies between them. while In the films over 250 animals appeared the smallest being a centipede and the largest a hippo and 6 different Snowy Owls portrayed Hedwig,
Sociologists have claimed that in real life, Hogwarts would probably not be the magical and happy place as portrayed. Like most boarding schools, Hogwarts meets all the definitions of a total institute: people living in the same place, under the same authority, sharing activities together that are strictly planned to the hour, with a explicit set of formal rules enforced from above, and no freedom to leave at will. Given that students at Hogwarts are grouped into houses according to personality, and competition between the houses is keenly encouraged, Hogwarts would most likely be the perfect breeding ground for a bullying culture.
When Draco Malfoy introduces himself, he introduces himself as "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy". This is an homage to James Bond; when he says "The name's Bond, James Bond".
According to the call sheets, the scenes involving the actors playing the ghosts were filmed in front of black velvet screens on Stages A and I of Leavesden Studios.
The events of the film take place from 1981 (opening scene and flashbacks) and then from mid-1991 till mid-1992.
According to the call sheets, scenes filmed on Stage F of Leavesden Studios were: Hut-on-the-Rock, the moving staircases, and the Devil's Snare room.
Amongst the numerous directors who were interested in tackling this movie were Simon West, Brad Silberling, Robert Zemeckis, Jonathan Demme, Jan de Bont, and Joel Schumacher.
According to the call sheets, scenes filmed in the Flight Shed (Stage L) of Leavesden Studios were: Diagon Alley (which was a complete set), the interior of Hagrid's hut, the stairwell underneath Devil's Snare, the key room, the giant chessboard, and the final chamber where Harry defeats Quirrell and Voldemort.
Chris Columbus released Home Alone (1990) on November 16, 1990, exactly eleven years earlier.
According to the call sheets, the only scenes filmed on Stage I of Leavesden Studios were some of the Quidditch scenes.
The Handyside Bridge in King's Cross Railway Station, as seen in the film, has since been relocated to Ropley Railway Station in Ropley, Hampshire, England.
Included among the American Film Institute's 2005 list of 250 movies nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.
The Dursleys home in Privet Drive was , for the first film located in Burban Street at Bracknell, Berkshire but after that it was created in the studio to avoid all the upset and disturbance for the residents,
According to the call sheets, the only scenes filmed on Stage H of Leavesden Studios were some of the forest scenes, specifically when Harry comes across the dead unicorn.
According to the call sheets, scenes filmed on Stage C of Leavesden Studios were: Dudley falling into the snake tank, the interior of the Potter House in Godric's Hollow, and the room guarded by Fluffy.
The first of eight movies based on the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling.
According to the call sheets, the only scenes filmed on Stage B of Leavesden Studios were the Great Hall scenes.
According to the call sheets, scenes filmed on Stage D of Leavesden Studios were: the interior of the Dursley House and the Hogwarts Express compartment scenes.
Spoilers
In the script, the flashbacks to Voldemort killing Harry's parents were written by J.K. Rowling. The producers knew she was the only one who knew exactly what happened.
When Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe's) scar hurts when he sees Snape (Alan Rickman) at the head table, the back of Professor Quirrell's (Ian Hart's) head, where Voldemort (Richard Bremmer) lies, is facing him. Harry attributed the pain to Snape's presence, when Voldemort was staring at him all along. Also, watch Snape's reaction when he sees that Harry's scar is hurting. He looks over at Quirrell, obviously suspicious of him.
During Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe's) first Christmas at Hogwarts, Fred (James Phelps) and George (Oliver Phelps) bewitched snowballs to zoom in and hit the back of Professor Quirrell's (Ian Hart's) turban. In doing so, they were unknowingly hitting Voldemort in the face.
When Harry first meets Professor Quirrell in the bar with Hagrid, Harry extends his hand to him to shake it, but Quirrell makes it a point not to shake it. It is shown at the end of the movie that when Harry does touch Quirrell, it causes him to physically break down due to his dark magic and association with Voldemort. It is later revealed in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) that unless he finds a way around, Voldemort cannot touch Harry due to a magical incantation that occurred when he tried to kill Harry as an infant.
On Christmas Day, when you see the sweater Ron's (Rupert Grint's) mother made him, there is a yellow "R", but in the book, his sweater didn't have a letter. In the book, George and Fred come into the room and complain Ron doesn't have a letter. They said "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid. We know we're called Gred and Forge."
Rupert Grint was actually injured after he was attacked by the queen during the chess game. After he falls a rock can be seen striking him on the cheek after he hits the ground.
The fire trapping Harry in the dungeon with Quirrell and Voldemort was not in the book, but it was based on the colored fire Harry and Hermione face with the seven potion bottles in the novel (but not in the movie) after winning the chess game. This practical effect of the fire surrounding the dungeon was accomplished with pipes placed in the floor around the dungeon set, which were lit after Ian Hart snapped his fingers.
In the book, it is Neville Longbottom instead of Ron who gets into detention with Harry, Hermione and Draco. The movie omits a subplot from the book where Harry, Ron and Hermione plan to smuggle Hagrid's dragon Norbert out of the castle after curfew (since keeping dragons as pets is illegal). Ron gets bitten by Norbert and has to spend the night in the hospital wing, so Harry and Hermione take care of the job. However, Draco also learned about the dragon, and tries to expose them, while Neville tries to warn Harry and Hermione about Draco. The four of them are finally caught breaking curfew, and receive detention. In the film, Ron probably replaced Neville because he is one of the main characters, while Neville was only a supporting character.
After Harry picks up the stone, Voldermort's soul attacks him. The reason Voldermort did not die was because of his Horcruxes, but J.K. Rowling did not reveal this until "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".
Behind-the-scenes pictures show a different design for the incarnation of Voldemort that is stuck on the back of the head of Professor Quirrell. This version had much more animalistic features, most prominently a panther-like snout and large jaw filled with big incisors. This was later changed: Ian Hart provided the voice and motion-captured Voldemort's face, which was later added with computer graphics. Richard Bremmer portrayed Voldemort in the flashback to the death of Harry's parents.
It has been stated that this movie causes a discrepancy between the books and movies in regards to one of Harry's abilities. In the fifth book and film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry can suddenly see Thestrals, magical horse-like creatures that pull the carriages to Hogwarts. He is told that only those who have witnessed someone dying can see them; this had happened to Harry a few months before. In this movie, Harry sees Quirrell die (he passes out in the book before that happens), so he should logically be able to see Thestrals now. One explanation given is that it only happens when the memory of death was traumatic; after all, Harry has already seen death when his mother died, but as he was a toddler at the time, he doesn't remember anything from it.
During the Quidditch match when Snape is seen muttering an incantation, it can be briefly seen that Quirrell is also saying a spell. It turns out that his was the hex, while Snape was using a countercurse and Quirrell's concentration was killed when he was knocked over in the stands.
Ron winning the giant chess game is more of an impressive achievement than it first appears as he was playing with quite a severe handicap. In addition to protecting the king, he also had to make sure the pieces Harry and Hermione were representing were not taken as it meant that they would either be seriously injured or killed. Chess essentially involves sacrificing pieces in order to protect ONE but Ron had to focus on protecting THREE pieces which is not as easy as it sounds. Though he proved he was willing to sacrifice himself in order to achieve this.
Although Ralph Fiennes plays Voldemort later in the Harry Potter franchise, he doesn't appear until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).
Several rumors stated that Joe Sowerbutts (who voiced Harry Potter in the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) video game of the same name.) was brought in to voice dub a few of Daniel Radcliffe's lines in a few scenes of the film after his voice began to break during filming. A spokesperson from the studio however, denied this claim.
When Harry loses control of his Nimbus 2000 during the Quidditch match, Hermione focuses the binoculars on the spectator tower where the teachers are sitting. If one watches closely before the binoculars zoom in on Snape muttering his counter-curse, Quirrell can be seen with his eyes focused on Harry's broomstick (presumably using a non-verbal incantation jinx).
In the film the dragon that Hagrid was raising Norbert was mentioned to have been sent to Romania. Although it is not mentioned directly, he was likely sent to Ron's brother Charlie who was working with Dragons there much like the book. Additionally in the final novel "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows" during Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding it was mentioned by Charlie to Hagrid that Norbert is actually a female dragon and had been renamed to Noberta. As this was not included in the film version of the wedding in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) due to Norbert never being mentioned again in the films, his true identity as a female dragon was left out entirely.
Seamus Finnigan (Devon Murray) becomes known for blowing things up throughout the movie series. This becomes important in the final movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).
The entire Sorting Hat and Harry sequence can qualify for the last movie. The former seems very keen to put the latter in Slytherin, believing it will send him to "greatness". Harry actually has a fragment of Voldemort's note soul inside of him, and hence, the Sorting Hat likened him to Voldemort in the choosing.
In the film Harry watches Quirrell die, whereas in the book he was unconscious when Quirrell died. This created a plothole with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), regarding his ability to see the skeleton-horse based Thestrals in that film as Harry could not originally see them until he saw Cedric Diggory die in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). However, the reality was that at the time the novel for the "Order of the Phoenix" was not published, so there was no way the film crew would have known this fact, as the novel was originally published in 2003, two years after this movie was originally released.
