As I wrote before, I’ve been reading the Harry Potter series with NHL.  As we’ve progressed, his enthusiasm seems to have waned.  He still enjoys it when we read and wants to know what happens to Harry and his friends, but it seems as though his anxieties are being triggered.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, he didn’t like the werewolves and cringed upon seeing them in film form.  In the Order of the Phoenix, his problem is with a certain new teacher at Hogwarts and spy for the Ministry of Magic: Dolores Umbridge.

Without giving out any spoilers (in case you haven’t read the book or seen the movie), Umbridge is a big supporter of the Minister of Magic.  (Think of the magical world’s equivalent of a President.)  He is of the opinion that the headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore, and Harry Potter are lying about a big threat to everyone.  He dispatches Umbridge there to spy on them and keep the situation in hand.

Dolores Umbridge quickly reveals that she is not interested in debate about subjects.  Things are to be done her way and, if she is crossed, she will make life hard for the people responsible.

In the movie, Umbridge is played by Imelda Staunton and looks like a sweet aunt (at least until she acts or speaks).  In the book, however, she is described as looking like a toad stuffed into a pink cardigan.

Whether it is due to the description of Umbridge’s looks or her cruelty (especially to Harry), it has NHL spooked.  Until he feels comfortable enough to move on, our reading of Harry Potter has stalled.  I, however, am going to forge ahead alone.  I’ve already finished Order of the Phoenix and plan on starting Half-Blood Prince soon.

Once upon a time, an author named J.K. Rowling wrote a series of books about a young wizard named Harry Potter.  After a few of her books sold an insane number of copies, some movie companies thought they would make wonderful movies.  (READ: Would sell tons of tickets, DVDs, movie tie-in toys, etc.)  So movies were made and released.

B, having read the books, begged me to see the movies.  I watched them initially because it was important to her, but quickly grew interested in the stories I saw on-screen.  However, for whatever reason, my love of the screen adventures didn’t translate to me reading the books.  We had all 7 books sitting in a box, but I didn’t read a single page.

Fast forward a bit and we introduced NHL to the first movie: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  He fell in love with it instantly and soon we had also shown him Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as well.  At this point, we made a decision.  He would see no more Harry Potter movies!  Not until he had read the book that the movie was based on.  Every night, NHL and I would sit down and read a few pages of a Harry Potter book.

As we got through the first two books, we would often stop and discuss how the book was different than the movie.  What scenes were longer in the book or omitted entirely in the movie?  What characters were left out?  How were events altered to fit the big screen?

NHL and I recently finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so we’ve 1) started reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and 2) watched the Goblet of Fire movie.  I remember really liking this movie and sensing the peril that Harry is put through.  However, upon re-watching it after reading the book, I felt that it was rushed.

Harry and his friends go to see the Quidditch World Cup.  The players fly out onto the field and then… we flash back to their camp site post-game.  This was just fine when I didn’t know that the book described the entire game.  There were wondrous sights in the pages of the book that I’d have loved to have seen on the screen.

In addition, whole subplots were chopped out.  In the book, Rita Skeeter is a major thorn in the side of Harry and his friends.  Her stories, and how she obtains them, puts Harry through a lot of grief.  In the movie, however, she’s regulated to one major appearance, two minor appearances, and a mention or two.

Now that I’ve read the book, the movie feels like a faithful rendition… were half of the book ripped out and tossed away.  I still like the movie, don’t get me wrong and  I understand that you can’t make the movie 100% like the book.  (Otherwise, Goblet of Fire would be a 10 hour long movie and who would sit through that?!!!)  Still, I can’t help but miss the discarded sections, subplots, and characters when the movie skips by them.

Curse you Harry Potter books! You’ve totally ruined the Harry Potter movies for me!

Have you ever read a book after seeing a movie based on it?  How did the movie hold up after you read the book?

Note: The "book/movie" image above was created by combining the "Book" image from CrazyTerabyte and the "Cinema" image from Merlin2525.  Both of these images are available from OpenClipArt.com.

Wednesday is Halloween.  However, thanks to Hurricane Sandy, going Trick or Treating is the last thing on many people’s minds.  We knew that Wednesday was likely going to be a washout here.  Of course, if that’s Sandy’s only legacy by us, we’ll count ourselves lucky.

On Sunday, the sky was cloudy, but there was no rain.  It was a perfect time for the boys to a) be outside (something they won’t get to do for the next couple of days) and b) try out their costumes.

JSL had decided he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear.  Unfortunately, all of the Buzz costumes were for little kids and didn’t fit him.  After Buzz, he couldn’t decide on Indiana Jones or Captain America.  In the end, Captain America prevailed.

The costume itself was purchased for Halloween, but the mask and shield were items JSL already owned.  (His mask fit better than the costume’s included mask.)

NHL chose Harry Potter, of course.  We’re in the middle of reading the books and he’s in love with the entire series.  When he needed glasses, back in March, he even picked a frame out because it looked like Harry’s.

NHL loves casting spells with his wand, even if he wasn’t quite character-accurate with the magic he was doing.  Hint: Harry Potter does not tend to use Unforgiveable Curses like Cruciatus or Avada Kedavra.

The kids had a blast playing in their costumes.  We don’t know what the next few days will bring.  Hopefully, we’ll escape this hurricane with minimal damage.  At least the boys were able to have some fun before Sandy struck.

The other day, we were driving and the subject of NHL’s birthday party came up.  He had wanted a Muppets themed party, but switched awhile back to Harry Potter (inspired, no doubt, by the fact that we’re reading the series together).  Then, when the difficulty of making Harry Potter cupcakes became apparent, he reverted back to Muppets.

As we went back and forth, I jokingly suggested putting Harry Potter glasses on the Kermit cupcakes to make Kermit Potter.  We laughed and then ran with the idea.  Mrs. Piggy would have to be Hermione Granger, of course.  Slightly hapless, but well meaning Ron Weasley would be best played by Fozzie Bear.  Meanwhile, completely hopeless Neville Longbottom would have Beaker taking his place.  Hagrid was an easy pick: Sweetums (the large, brown, hairy Muppet perhaps best remembered for running after the other Muppets in The Muppet Movie after being mistakenly left behind).

We couldn’t decide on who should play Voldemort, but I voted for Gonzo.  (He’s done villains before since he’s Darth Vader in the Muppets Star Wars sets that Disney sells.)  Of course, he’d be Weirdomort with a huge shnozz instead of serpent-like slits.  As we debated this, NHL had a stroke of genius.  The Dementors, he declared, should be Gonzo’s chickens.  (Instead of the Dementor’s Kiss, the Cluckmentor’s Peck?)  Mind you, NHL is still on Prisoner of Azkaban so he doesn’t know how the Dementors will align with Voldemort.

We’re still conflicted who Dumbledore should be.  Jim Henson is a big possibility, but I think he should be a Muppet figure.  It would have to be a "wise" figure to which Harry…. I mean Kermit Potter goes to for help.  Maybe Dr. Bunsen Honeydew?

The identity of Severus Snape was another problem until I stumbled upon a site that did their own Muppet-Harry Potter mashup.  (Sadly, I’ve lost the link to that site.)  Snape is a proud individual who sees himself as better than rabble like Harry and his friends.  Thus, Sam the American Eagle is perfect for the job.  Lupid was an easy pick: Rowlf the dog.  For Dobby the House Elf, we chose Rizzo the Rat.  Finally, Professor Trelawney was thought of as the Swedish Chef (even though he’d be playing a female character), but then I figured that Janice would be a better fit.

What Muppet would you cast in a Muppet-Harry Potter mashup and as which Harry Potter character?