Movie Wednesday: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them
Harry Potter is the teenage wizard at the heart of one of the most beloved series of all time.
[This post contains Amazon affiliate links. When you click on those links to make purchases,
Brave Writer receives compensation at no extra cost to you. Thank you!]
First through books, then through films, Harry Potter has captured the hearts of millions. Now, a new series of films set in Harry’s world is just beginning, and it promises to be every bit as magical.
In the movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander is a friendly, awkward “magizoologist.” He travels around the world seeking out extraordinary creatures and befriending them. When he arrives in New York City, 1926, he doesn’t expect to stay for long. But when he loses his suitcase full of fantastic beasts and accidentally gets in the wrong side of the American wizard police, his trip to America may be a bit more complicated than he thought!
If you loved Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will show you even more of the magical world.
Discussion Questions
- The word “fantastic” sometimes means “extraordinary,” but it is also used to describe things which are imaginative, fanciful, or remote from reality. Which meaning do you think the film title uses—or does it mean both at once? Explain your answer.
- Which character or characters do you think change the most during the course of the film? How do that change? And why might it be important for characters to change or grow during a story?
- Why do you think J.K. Rowling has chosen to tell the story of Newt Scamander, as opposed to one of her other minor characters? Is there anyone else in Harry Potter you want to find out more about?
- Which of Newt’s fantastic beasts would you most like to meet? How might the conversation go?
- If you had a suitcase like Newt’s, what would you keep in it?
Additional Resources
