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Set in New York, over fifty years before Harry’s story begins, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is J.K. Rowling’s debut on the screenwriting scene. Newt Scamander, an explorer and Magizoologist, has been searching the globe for magical beasts of all kinds, however, when he loses his case full of these magical creatures, an assortment of predicaments emerge.
From the well crafted jacket of the screenplay (designed by MinaLima), I must admit, as a Potter fan, I was quite excited to experience Rowling’s latest work. The jacket art and illustrations throughout the novel are a testament to the effort that J.K. Rowling puts into her work. Personally, I found these illustrations as interesting places to reflect on the themes of the text such as identity, tolerance and the pursuit of knowledge.
Rowling’s depiction of scenes such as the interior lobby of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) were portrayed marvelously, although, a noticeable emphasis was placed further on the construction and portrayal of the magical beasts. As this is a screenplay (as opposed to a novel) I can understand the emphasis on character development as something needing to be explored to a greater extent over the scene depictions.
The sublime characters Rowling projects throughout the screenplay are interesting to a contemporary reader in the way that they call upon our love of adventure, friendship and, of course, magic. I also appreciate and enjoy the fact that Newt was a completely new character and thus, depicted separately from the familiarities of the ‘Modern Wizarding World’.
In all honesty, I feel that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them represents Rowling’s plea for tolerance in a heavily segregated society. This is achieved through the juxtaposition of the 1920’s relationships between Wizards and Muggles and the ‘Modern Wizarding World’ in which a more peaceful, coexistence prevails, as evident by the original Harry Potter series. As the reader begins to look deeper into the screenplays meaning, one can see that the divide prevalent in the 1920’s society results in mutual distrust for both populations, as each side regards the other with suspicion through the creation of the ‘Other’.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was a gratifying read and I commend Rowling for stepping beyond the borders of her highly successful novels with this screenplay and another recent publication of hers: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. While the screenplay met my expectations for a work of Rowling’s talent, it didn’t seem to have the magic that drove Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (the first novel in Rowling’s esteemed Harry Potter series) to its success. For anyone interested in the Wizarding World I would certainly recommend reading this screenplay… For everyone else, I would recommend watching the movie.
