January 8, 2001 -

Those following the Harry Potter production closely will know that several rumors have surfaced over the last few weeks that turned out to be false.¿ One being that composer John Williams wouldn't be scoring the film after all (although he indeed will be), and another that popular short actor Warwick Davis would no longer be playing Professor Flitwick.¿ After hearing these initial rumors we contacted Warwick to get the official word, and can now put them to rest officially.¿ Warwick confirmed to IGN FilmForce¿ ("To put an end to all these silly Internet rumours...") that he is indeed playing Professor Flitwick & The Goblin Bank Teller in the film.¿ We're sure Warwick is the right man for the job.

In other Potter news, Director Chris Columbus says he's being very careful to work with author J.K. Rowling to get the little details right when translating her book to film.¿ Thanks to "The Butler" for sending in this Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone production update from the February 2001 edition of the UK's print magazine Empire.¿ Columbus tells the mag, "I wanted to have the opportunity to call or e-mail her and say. What color are the wings of the Golden Snitch? Or how many uses are there for dragon¿s blood?"¿¿

I think that's great, but is it actually working?¿ I must say I've gotten countless nit-picky emails from Potter readers each time a new photo comes out from the production.¿ For instance: In the book, Hagrid's hut is mentioned as being made of wood (this is brought up when Hagrid attempts to raise a fire-breathing dragon in his home), and in the film it looks really cool, but is seemingly made of stone. Also, there were a set of photos that showed the Hogwarts trophy case.¿ Now, admittedly the detail on the trophies may have been made just for a goof, and may not make it into the film, but the name of a very important Potter character (one "T.M. Riddell") is misspelled on one of the more prominent awards. This would be excusable if the spelling of the name weren't so important in the Potter mythos.¿

The Empire article goes on to discuss Potter special effects details saying that Nick Dudman, the creature effects wizard that worked on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, is handling all of the prosthetics for the film.¿ Just no Neimoidians please!¿ Also doing creature effects on the film is the outstanding Jim Henson's Creature Shop.¿ I think the look of their effects work will fit superbly into the magical realm of Harry Potter.

¿ Brian Linder hopes that trailer comes out soon.