The Hogwarts motto, 'Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titilandus', is Latin, and means 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon.' Makes sense to me..
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) - 21 trivia entries
Directed by Chris Columbus, starring Alan Rickman, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Ian Hart, Maggie Smith, Richard Griffiths, Richard Harris, Robbie Coltrane, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton (add more)
The Hogwarts motto, 'Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titilandus', is Latin, and means 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon.' Makes sense to me..
For anyone who hasn't read the book: The inscription on top of the Mirror of Erised says "erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi". If you read the inscription backwards it says "I show not your face but your heart's desire".
Richard Harris agreed to take the role as Albus Dumbledore only after his 11 year-old granddaughter threatened to never speak to him again.
J. K. Rowling recently surpassed Agatha Christie as the world's most-published female author.
Because the title for the US release was 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,' every time a character said 'Philosopher's' in a scene the crew would have to shoot that scene a second time and change the word to 'Sorcerer's' for the US release.
J.K. Rowling has stated in interviews that her favourite authors include Jane Austen. Was Filch's cat, Mrs Norris, named after the busybody in 'Mansfield Park'?
The original title of the book, and subsequently the movie, is 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.' However, Scholastic, the American publisher of the book, decided to change it to 'Sorcerer' for the American publication.
Most of the shots in hallways are filmed in Gloucester Cathedral.
J.K Rowling declined the offer to play Lily Potter.
One of the portraits on the wall is of Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second wife and the mother of Queen Elizabeth. She was popularly believed to be a witch.
Book author J.K. Rowling wanted former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam to direct. However, Warner Bros. chose Chris Columbus, who had experience directing child actors (most notably, Macauly Culkin in the "Home Alone" films). Interesingly, John Cleese, who was in Python with Gilliam, appears in the film as Nearly Headless Nick.
The name 'Voldemort' comes from the French 'vol de mort' which means 'flight of death'. This is perfectly descriptive of Voldemort, and is another interesting name from the brilliant mind of J. K. Rowling.
Susan Bones, who was sorted into Hufflepuff, is shown prominently throughout the film, even in some of the Gryffindor classes. The reason she is used so much is that she is actually Chris Columbus's daughter, Eleanor.
If you look at the early parts of the movie, where you can see the houses in Harry's neighbourhood, all of the houses have Vauxhall Cavalier cars sitting in the driveways. To show the passage of time they are replaced by the then newer Vauxhall Vectra.
Because other information may be revealed in later stories and she is the only one who truly knows what happened that night, J.K. Rowling scripted the flashbacks of the night Harry's parents were killed herself.
When Hermione shows Harry and Ron the Gryffindor Quidditch trophy with James Potter's name, to its left (viewer's right) the award for 'Special Services' is visible. Seen only on the full screen DVD are the last letters 'dle' at the top of the award - for Tom Riddle.
Steven Spielberg was offered the position as director, but was later refused when he couldn't agree with J.K. Rowling's insistence on having an all-British cast, as he wanted Haley Joel-Osment to play Harry.
The only major character left out of the film was Peeves the poltergeist - Rik Mayall was cast, and filmed all of his parts, but they were cut out due to the film's over-long running time.
David Thewlis, who later played Professor Lupin in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," was considered for the role of Professor Quirrell. Ironically, Thewlis is friends with Ian Hart, who did play the role.
The pronunciation of "Voldemort" was changed for this movie. When J. K. Rowling wrote the books, she intended for the final "t" to be silent, just like the French phrase from which the name is derived. For the movie, however, the "t" is pronounced (probably to make it clear that the root "mort," meaning "death," was part of the name, since viewers couldn't see it written down). Evidently Rowling must have consented to this change, because she now pronounces the name that way as well.
Harry Potter successfully battles a Troll in this movie. A character by the exact same name also does this in the 1986 movie "Troll"
You may also like: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Twilight
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