Re-titled as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when introduced to the American market, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the first book in the Harry Potter series. The popularity of this book grew exponentially, and today it would be safe to say that it saved the children’s book industry. It can also be said that this was the first book in recent times to make reading a highly desirable activity among children of all ages. Those “in the know,” had to be aware of the characters and their activities; hence, many households were suddenly quiet on weekends, as children and adolescents everywhere felt the need to read the Harry Potter book series and “catch up.”
With a sympathetic, yet worthy protagonist, quirky and valiant supporting characters and appropriately sinister villains, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a story of Harry’s origins and of those who came before him. Acceptance into the Hogwarts School of Wizardry is Harry’s opportunity to escape his non-wizard relatives, also known as Muggles. On the train to Hogwarts, Harry is joined by Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger, and the triumvirate of wizards for the book series is complete.
As Harry and his friends experience their first year at Hogwarts, they accept magical occurrences as commonplace, and slowly become more adept in the magical arts. Their fantasy existence is vivid and elaborate, while tempered with appropriate doses of morality. Needless to say, these books are “dreams come true” for the special effects departments of film studios, and while the series is still in the process of completion, some of the special effects techniques used for the film version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone have been duplicated for other fantasy films as well.
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