MuggleCast 254 Transcript
Show Intro
[“Hedwig’s Theme” plays]
Andrew: Because Eric needs to keep his clothes on, this is MuggleCast Episode 254 for June 9th, 2012.
[Show music begins]
Andrew: This week’s podcast is brought to you by Audible.com, the Internet’s leading provider of audiobooks, with more than 100,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, non-fiction, and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast.
[Show music continues]
Andrew: Welcome to MuggleCast Episode 254. It is another exciting episode, we have some good stuff to talk about this week. One thing, actually, we forgot to bring up on the last episode – which was kind of embarrassing, it completely slipped our minds and yet it was pretty big news. So…
Eric: Pretty big. Big for Japan, kind of like Godzilla.
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: It’s out of this country.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Micah: Not Selina’s country – well, yeah, I guess it is.
Selina: It’s still my country. Not all of the countries are my country.
[Micah and Selina laugh]
Andrew: Wait, which story are we talking about? Tokyo? Wizarding World Tokyo?
Eric: Now I’m confused. That’s what I thought about.
Andrew: Yeah, that’s what I thought about until Micah said, “Selina’s country,” but Selina is not in…
Selina: Yeah, there’s going to be a Wizarding World in Denmark, that’s the big news.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Micah: Sweden!
Selina: No, yeah, Sweden. Whatever. [laughs] It’s not going to be there.
Eric: Wherever it is that Selina may or may not be from.
Micah: See, look, the good thing about always pretending that you’re from somewhere else is that listeners of the show can never track you down accurately.
Selina: Exactly, yes.
Andrew: Right. [laughs]
Eric: Except I have you on foursquare. [laughs]
Andrew: And with podcasting – the type of podcasting we do, it’s only audio, so you could pretend I’m a woman or…
Selina: Yeah. You’re not? [laughs]
Andrew: …I’m six foot five. Nobody would know the truth.
Selina: Yeah.
Andrew: Ever.
Eric: Speaking of the show being only audio, is it weird that I always brush my teeth before we record a podcast?
Andrew: Do you really?
Selina: I appreciate this.
Eric: It’s a courtesy to you guys, basically.
Andrew: Well, I was going to say, maybe that’s a good idea because your mouth is clear, so when you’re speaking it’s free of any particles that may get in the way of your voice.
Eric: This episode of MuggleCast is minty fresh.
[Selina laughs]
Micah: Is brought to you by Crest.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Okay, well, we will get to the news in a moment. From Hypable.com, I’m Andrew Sims.
Eric: From MuggleNet.com, I’m Eric Scull.
Micah: From MuggleNet.com, I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Selina: And from Hypable.com, I’m Selina Wilken.
News: Wizarding World of Harry Potter To Be Opened in Japan
Andrew: All right, Micah, actually do your job this week. Don’t skip any important news items.
Eric: Gosh!
Andrew: Tell us what is going on in the news. Actually, start with what we missed last week, and then we’ll get to the rest.
Micah: Last month is more like it.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Several weeks ago.
Andrew: Time flies.
Micah: Yeah, this story actually broke at the beginning of May, and…
Eric: [laughs] Wow!
Andrew: [laughs] Wow! Wow!
Eric: We don’t need any listeners’ help making us look bad, you know?
Andrew: Yeah. I had no idea it had been that long at this point.
Eric: Didn’t it happen the night before we recorded the last episode and we just forgot to sneak it in?
Andrew: Yeah. It was really soon, too.
Micah: See, the problem is that WB is just opening up so many theme parks that the next one and the next one just – they all run together.
[Selina laughs]
Micah: It doesn’t matter. It’s not any big news, is it? Okay, well, I guess it is because it’s the first international Harry Potter…
Eric: Ooh!
Micah: …theme park that’s opening up in Osaka, Japan, and it’s slated to open in 2014. This was reported, like I said, at the beginning of May by the Los Angeles Times and later confirmed in a press release by Warner Bros. So…
Eric: Osaka, Japan.
Andrew: Yeah. I mean, I think – I guess the first question is was this the right place for – even though this is the third park announced, this is technically the second park opening because the funny thing is it’s opening up before Wizarding World Hollywood.
Eric: Interesting.
Andrew: Yeah. And that apparently is because at Wizarding World Hollywood they don’t have as much room to work with, so they have to clear a good amount of space first.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: And that’s going to add construction time.
Eric: Demolition first and then construction. Yeah, I got you.
Andrew: And they haven’t even started yet, despite the fact that it was announced in what, February? So…
Eric: Oh, really? They haven’t started yet?
Andrew: Well, because – we will talk about this story in a minute, but it’s actually going to be replacing the Gibson Amphitheater. They’re knocking that out.
Eric: Oh yeah, I saw those tweets at the MTV Movie Awards… [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …about that.
Selina: I think it’s a good thing that they’re bringing something like this to Japan, because – I mean, the U.K. already has the – I mean, it’s not the same thing but we already have the studio tour, and Asia needs something like that as well for the Asian fans that have to travel all the way to the U.S. I just feel like Australia should get something soon. They never get anything.
Eric: [laughs] Well, speaking of that, Selina, Australia had the exhibition…
Selina: That’s true.
Eric: …which is now in Singapore. So that’s – fortunately that’s making its way west. I know the first four stops were in North America, so again, a lot of people were upset. “Give us some international love…”
Selina: Mmm.
Eric: …that kind of thing. So now with the theme park opening in Japan, it’s more of a permanent fixture. I don’t know, I think it would be cool. But I’ve never been to Japan, so it might be a good reason to go.
Selina: It will be really popular, I think.
Eric: Yeah, it’ll be totally popular. I wonder how many rides they’ll have. I wonder how they’re going to design it.
Selina: That’s a good question.
Eric: Considering we know how the Florida park is laid out.
Andrew: I think they said it’s going to have the same attractions.
Eric: Ehhh.
Andrew: I mean, it could be laid out a bit differently, but I have to think that all these parks are probably going to be even laid out the same because when you walk through the grand entrance, you get that kind of perfect view of Hogsmeade and the castle in the background. It’s just like a really picture perfect kind of setting, so I think they would want to keep that for all of the parks. I imagine these are all going to look pretty similar.
Selina: But…
Eric: I think you’re right. Sorry, go ahead, Selina.
Selina: No, I was just going to say the question is if they’re going to try to make this one British as well, because I know – doesn’t the Orlando one – don’t they try to do British accents?
Andrew: Yes.
Selina: So are they going to try to make it an English-speaking park?
Andrew: Well…
[Eric laughs]
Selina: Or is it – do you think it’s…
Andrew: Well, the characters are British. Not all of the employees, but the Hogwarts conductor speaks in a British accent and he acts like a wizard. He doesn’t know anything about wizard technology – or Muggle technology. And the people who do the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang shows, they have British accents. But the rest…
Selina: Which is funny because they’re supposed to be French.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Andrew: Right. Or maybe they speak – no, they do speak with a – no, they don’t speak at all.
Eric: [laughs] They just dance.
Andrew: The Hogwarts students do.
Selina: Yeah.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Eric: Yeah. Well, the interesting thing is no matter how many times I go to the theme park I love it. But seeing that Tokyo, or thinking about Orlando – or sorry, California, Hollywood being laid out the same, I don’t like that as much as an idea. Because no matter how awesome Orlando is, and it’s totally the greatest thing for us as Harry Potter fans, as soon as that park opened I could have pointed out ten or fifteen things I would rather see or do on the next one.
Selina: Mhm.
Eric: And I’m sure I’m not the only fan there. But the fact that you can only explore Hogwarts as part of the line of the Forbidden Journey ride, no, I would open up a courtyard or something. I’d have you climb that mountain, go up a little bit more, something like that. Just as a sightseeing thing, having more areas not necessarily to shop, but just to hang out with even different views. I would just install that on my next park. I’m not saying they need to edit what’s already there, but if you’re talking about expanding, building more parks around the world, why wouldn’t you add a little touch of something that’s different?
Selina: Yeah, we don’t want ten clone parks.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, that is kind of boring. So…
Micah: Well, one of the questions to ask though is would the expansions that are being made in Orlando be included in what’s opening up in Japan, or is it just going to be the basic park that we’ve already experienced down in Florida?
Eric: I have a hard time believing the landscape is exactly the same. I mean, unless there is a Universal Studios Osaka with an Islands of Adventure Osaka, I don’t…
[Micah and Selina laugh]
Eric: I see what you’re saying with – you know what I’m saying.
Andrew: There’s not…
Eric: Will Diagon Alley open up into the theme park or what are they going to do? It’s a good question.
Andrew: I don’t think it will be the expansion that Orlando is going – you’re not going to see any parts of the expansion that Orlando is getting, because I think they still want Orlando to kind of be the supreme location.
Eric: More so than Hollywood?
Andrew: Yeah. Well, they’re – I mean, there’s definitely not going to be room there to do it, because – well, I mean first of all, they’ve already said it’s going to be just like the one in Orlando. They didn’t even hint at any relation to the expansion. But yeah, I just – I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Selina: I really want to go to one of these parks.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Eric: Oh, you’ve never been?
Selina: No.
Eric: I wonder…
Andrew: Well…
Eric: Yeah.
Micah: Get one in Sweden!
Selina: Yeah, why not? [laughs]
Andrew: Or the U.K. What could be next, though? I mean, because you have to think eventually – I think they said in the Japan article, L.A. Times or somebody interviewed somebody in Universal and they said, “Well, we have three now. Now we’re definitely not thinking about other places to put it.”
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: For now. But what could be next? I mean, I would have to think U.K. The U.K. would have to be a priority now that they’re looking at a fourth park.
Eric: Hmm. Maybe Australia?
Selina: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Like somebody said. Just because it’s a big – it’s its own continent. What was I going to say? I think they’re going to start franchising out, to be honest, like Starbucks or 7-Eleven.
[Micah and Selina laugh]
Andrew: I hope not.
Eric: I’ll be able to open one in my backyard.
Selina: There’ll be one on every corner.
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Eric: My little patch of grass, I wonder what ride we can put there. But I’ll have to think about it. But yeah, I just hope that they keep – I don’t know, are more parks a good thing or a bad thing? If there are – so there are going to be three in the world, does that detract from the value? Or what if there are four? What if there are five?
Selina: I mean, there are three Disneylands – or Disney Worlds. There’s one in…
Eric: Oh, there are, aren’t there?
Selina: Two in America, one in France.
Andrew: And Tokyo.
Eric: And there’s one in Tokyo?
Selina: I’ve only ever been to the French one.
Andrew: In Japan. There’s a Disney…
Selina: Oh, were there? Okay.
Andrew: …in Japan. Yeah.
Selina: And there’s…
Andrew: There may be a fifth.
Selina: …Legolands everywhere as well.
Andrew: Right.
Selina: The first one was in Denmark. Woo! Anyway…
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Andrew: I think they’re all going to be…
Micah: But you live in Sweden. [laughs]
Selina: Yeah.
Andrew: I think they’re all going to be pretty special. I just think – and I think it doesn’t hurt any of the other parks. I think the only two that are – may kind of hurt each other are, of course, Orlando and Hollywood.
Selina: Mhm.
Andrew: Because they’re in the same country.
Eric: Well, now I think…
Micah: Well, they’re on different coasts.
Eric: Yeah, now that I think about it…
Andrew: They’re in different coasts, but let’s say you live in Seattle, you’re like, “Oh, I really want to go to Wizarding World.” And if Hollywood didn’t exist, you would absolutely be going to Orlando. You wouldn’t be sitting there saying, “Oh, I’m just going to wait for Hollywood to open.”
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Before it being announced, of course.
Micah: But one of the things, though, is that Orlando is sort of the resort mecca of the world, right? In terms of theme parks and other things like that.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: So maybe you do go to Orlando. I was just looking at the list here. We mentioned Hollywood, we mentioned Orlando, we mentioned Japan. Funny enough, the other location where there is a Universal Studios [laughs] is in Singapore where the Exhibition is right now.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: So that could be another future option for The Wizarding World. Taking a look now at the franchises – but that has actually nothing to do with the theme parks, that is more to do with the movies, so…
Andrew: I’ve been thinking about the expansion a lot because I’m really excited about it, and I realized that the reason they’re keeping it quiet for so long – I mean, come on. All of Jaws is knocked out at this point, it’s just dirt.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: They have to start building vertically really soon, it can’t be far off. I think they are doing it because they feel that as soon as they announce it, that’s going to hurt ticket sales for newcomers. Because everybody’s going to want to wait until the expansion opens up. Let’s say I have a family with three kids and I’m sitting here right now thinking I want to take them to The Wizarding World for the first time. If I heard there’s going to be an expansion, if I read this news article about this new expansion coming in, let’s say, 2015, I’m going to wait until 2015 for the expansion to open up.
Eric: Hmmm.
Andrew: So I think Universal is keeping it quiet for as long as they possibly can, and then they are going to announce it, because they don’t want to hurt ticket sales.
Selina: Mhm.
Andrew: I just wanted to point that out. That may be kind of obvious, but I just wanted to point it out.
Micah: But would you really wait three years?
Andrew: Yeah, definitely. A family with kids? They want to get their money’s worth. If they’re big Harry Potter fans…
Eric: Yeah, I get that.
Andrew: People do! I have people asking me – or people asking my mom, and then she asks me.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: “When is the expansion opening up? They want to wait until the expansion.”
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: I was like, “I don’t know, sorry!”
Eric: Yeah. And the existing park is great, let’s not cast a negative light on it, but I can see exactly what you’re saying. I mean, people wanting to wait until the newest thing is up. Because if there’s going to be a crowd, if there’s going to be all this money that you spend taking your family…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …to the park…
Andrew: Right, it’s thousands of dollars!
Eric: Yeah, it is these days to travel with a family. So I see how that makes sense, and I see how that would sway the decision. I mean, we already know there will be an expansion. I guess what you’re saying is just the details surrounding it.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Like how many rides, etc. will be added.
Andrew: And when it’s going to open, and – right, what rides, what’s this going to entail. All they have said – literally they have said, like, five words about it, that yes, they are planning an expansion but no time frame.
Eric: That’s exciting.
Andrew: But to wrap up this – yeah, it is. To wrap up this portion, I just want to say that it will be interesting to see the Tokyo park be built – or sorry, the Japan park be built – because there are lots of questions. Like Eric said, will it be laid out the same, or what differences will there be? So it will be very interesting, I’m looking forward to seeing the construction photos and whatnot.
Micah: Yeah, I’m interested also in the differences. I think there has to be something that makes each of these parks unique from the other, because there are going to be people who are going to travel and want to go to all of them if they can.
Andrew: Mhm. That’s true, that’s a good point. Yeah, we haven’t even seen concept art for these other parks. [laughs]
Eric: Maybe they’re just using the same concept art. [laughs]
Selina: Yeah. [laughs]
Andrew: I guess so. Because I remember when they announced The Wizarding World: Orlando, that was a huge announcement.
Selina: So many sketches and stuff, yeah.
Eric: The concept art for that was amazing.
Andrew: Yes.
Selina: Mhm.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: It was absolutely amazing. I still sometimes set that one concept art as my desktop. It’s got the family in front, and they go up the hill and there’s Hogwarts.
Andrew: Yeah, that is cool.
Eric: It’s cool.
Andrew: Okay, we’re going to continue with the news in a moment, but first we need to remind you that today’s podcast is brought to you by Audible.com, the Internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 100,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature and featuring audio versions of many New York Times Bestsellers. For listeners of this podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook to give you a chance to try out their great service. Here’s a book perfect for the summertime: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. This is Oprah’s first selection for her brand new book club called Oprah’s Book Club 2.0, just launched a couple of weeks ago. Wild is a powerful, blazingly honest memoir, the story of an 1,100 mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe and built her back up again. I’m actually going on a road trip in a couple of weeks. I cannot wait to listen to this, I have a good feeling about this one. Oprah picked it so it must be great, and I have a feeling I’m going to be listening to this all the way across the country as I drive. So for a free audiobook of your choice such as Wild, go to AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast. That’s AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast and we thank Audible for their support of the show.
News: J.K. Rowling Has No Plans to Publish Harry Potter Encyclopedia
Andrew: What else is going on in the news?
Micah: On the last episode, we read this quote from J.K. Rowling’s new website at the time, and it said:
“For a long time I have been promising an encyclopedia of Harry’s world, and I have started work on this now – some of it forms the new content in Pottermore. It is likely to be a time-consuming job, but when finished I shall donate all royalties to charity.”
Andrew: Woo-hoo!
Micah: Now this was a pretty big news story, it broke in other forms of media, not just your average fan site. I mean, newspapers and other media outlets were picking it up, the fact that she was actually going to be writing an encyclopedia, that the proceeds were going to charity. Then, just a couple of weeks later, she updated her website again, and this quote that I just read was removed. In its place was:
“I have been enjoying sharing information about Harry’s world on Pottermore for free, and don’t have any firm plans to publish it in book form.”
Selina: Boo. [laughs]
Eric: Sorry!
Andrew: What?! What?!
Micah: So, bit of a flip-flopper.
Eric: What changed?
Selina: That is weird.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: What happened? Micah, you’ve got to catch that fish in that net. It’s flopping around.
Micah: Well…
Andrew: My theory is that they put out this little blurb, the initial blurb that said, “I am working on this now,” and obviously, like you said, Micah, it made national headlines all over the Internet, and I’m sure some television outlets and newspapers reported it, too, because it is big news. And I think they got a little scared. I think they were like, “Well, wait a second, wait a second, do we have firm plans about this? When are we going to release it?” And, as we’ll talk about in a bit, J.K. Rowling, in the meantime, has been busy releasing new material in other ways, in the form of Pottermore and a video game that we’ll talk about in a little bit. So, I think they may have been afraid to take the attention off of those as well. They want all the focus to be on Pottermore and Book of Spells right now.
Selina: Mhm.
Andrew: Not an impending encyclopedia. But it was a big flip-flop.
Selina: It was.
Eric: Yeah.
Selina: And it is sort of worrying because I think for most fans, at least – we enjoy Pottermore, we enjoy all these little re-releases of the books we’ve already read, but we want the encyclopedia.
Eric: Yeah.
Selina: At least I do.
Eric: I mean, she better put all that info into Pottermore then. [laughs]
Selina: Yeah.
Eric: Double or triple the size per book of content that Pottermore has.
Selina: But it’s not the same! Having to click from one thing to another and find a little feather, and it’s not…
Eric: I know, and you get cancer because you’re sitting in front of your computer for so long. I know, I know.
[Selina laughs]
Eric: It’s tough being us.
Selina: Well, I don’t know, I just want the tome. I feel like Hermione, I don’t know. [laughs]
Eric: I do want the tome. You’re right, you’re right.
Andrew: I’m saving my thoughts until we get to the video game discussion.
Micah: But if you read the words carefully, it says that she doesn’t have any plans to publish what’s on Pottermore in book form.
Selina: In book form, yeah. That’s true.
Micah: Not that she won’t do an encyclopedia. However, she does say in that other quote that some of the content from the encyclopedia that she was considering writing forms the new content in Pottermore. So it’s just – it’s frustrating, I think, for a lot of people because it did make such big news when that quote was found on her website and really pushed out there through all the major channels. But I wouldn’t understand, though, why she would still be hesitant to do this, because she talked about the proceeds benefiting charity.
Eric: The thing is, there are three pages on J.K. Rowling’s new site, it feels like. Maybe a hundred words to the whole site. [laughs] And to think that she didn’t choose the words that carefully, that she had to go and remove something that was on there, because there’s really – they removed everything, there’s not a lot on that site. The timeline, I think that’s about it. And the fact that they had to remove this and change this – I don’t know, I just want to know what’s going on. I want to know what her thought process is.
[Selina laughs]
Eric: I want to know more about The Casual Vacancy, and this is just confusing to me all around, now that there are – well, there was going to be an encyclopedia and now there’s not?
Selina: She’s really embracing these alternative outlets, isn’t she? With the e-books and Pottermore and our next news story and all that. [laughs]
Eric: Yeah, I think Sony has probably got her in handcuffs right now.
Selina: But surely not!
[Andrew sighs]
Selina: I mean, she’s J.K. Rowling. She rules the world. [laughs]
Andrew: Well, let’s talk about that.
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: Micah, please. I’m going to take a shot while you introduce this.
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: I already took three.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
News: Sony Announces Wonderbook: Book of Spells
Micah: So you need to catch up. But earlier this week it was announced that Sony will publish a new book with Wonderbook technology that was presented at the E3 conference, which is a big video-gaming conference, and it’s going to be titled Harry Potter: Book of Spells, an interactive spellbook that will let the reader flip through the pages and learn spells from the magical world of Harry Potter.
Andrew: Hold on, you know what’s weird so far about this too? It’s not even called Harry Potter: Book of Spells. Technically, it’s called Wonderbook: Book of Spells.
Selina: Mhm.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: For some reason they don’t want to include “Harry Potter” in the title of this game. Anyway, go ahead.
Micah: Yeah, I guess that is a little weird.
Selina: Maybe they have some – with the Harry Potter branding, isn’t it E-something who’s been doing all the Harry Potter games? What is it called?
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: EA?
Andrew: Electronic Arts, EA.
Selina: Electronic Arts. So maybe they have some kind of patent on the name.
Andrew: No, it can’t be that. I think it’s that Harry Potter is not in the game.
Selina: Right, that makes more sense.
Eric: Hmm. Right, you don’t want to promise something that’s not…
Andrew: Right.
Eric: Well, the interesting thing – isn’t J.K. Rowling writing this game?
Andrew: Yeah. Well, yeah, go ahead, Micah. So tell us more about Book of Spells.
Micah: Sure. Well, while reading the story and seeing it unfold in front of you, you can use a Playstation Move to cast spells. Isn’t that exciting?
[Selina laughs]
Micah: So, I’m assuming that a lot of these components that they’re talking about for this particular game, you’d have to go out and purchase separately from anything that you would normally get with your Playstation 3.
Andrew: Right. You do not just need your Playstation 3 and the game itself. You need the Playstation 3, the Book of Spells game, the Playstation Move controller, the Playstation Eye – which is a camera – and the Playstation Wonderbook. So you need three Playstation devices, plus the Playstation, plus the game itself.
Selina: Do you guys remember back when Order of the Phoenix game was being released for the Wii and everyone was so excited about the new Wii technology that would allow you…
Andrew: Yeah.
Selina: …to use your Wii controller as a wand, and then the game came out…
Andrew: Yeah.
Selina: …and you were literally just shaking it…
[Andrew and Selina laugh]
Selina: …every way you could to get the stupid book to fly across the room? I’m sure the technology has moved since then, but I just almost could not get excited about having to move my Playstation whatever it was [laughs] around in a circle. I don’t know.
Andrew: Right. Well – and what happens is you lay this book, this new technology – they debuted the Wonderbook at E3, this was the big reveal. And you lay this book on the floor, and your Sony Eye camera is looking at the book on the floor, and so it takes that picture and puts it on your television screen, and then that book laying on the floor magically gets turned into a Harry Potter spellbook. And then you discover spells by practicing them, and you get to learn all this new history, and one example that they provided is how the Wingardium Leviosa spell is discovered. And I thought that was a great idea.
Selina: Mhm.
Andrew: I think that’s kind of classic J.K. Rowling information you could expect from her, something you would probably expect to see in Pottermore or in the encyclopedia, but nonetheless it’s in this video game. And I wrote a piece on Hypable, venting my frustration. I just got so worked up and it was, like, 11 o’clock and this came out of nowhere. 11 o’clock at night and I just started writing it, because I just can’t believe that – the other angle to this is that Sony announced this is the latest step in their partnership with J.K. Rowling. And what bothers me most is that J.K. Rowling is now releasing all this information the fans have been craving for for years in the encyclopedia, she’s decided to release it via Pottermore and now via Book of Spells, and who knows what else Sony and J.K. Rowling may come up with. And I just feel like it goes against everything that she’s sort of been about when all the Harry Potter books were coming out. We always liked Jo because they weren’t selling out. You had the books and the movies and you had some merchandise, and that was it. But now there’s this whole new level where you’re required to buy all this extra stuff, in the case of Book of Spells, to get this new J.K. Rowling material. And I just think it’s – I think it’s bad, and I feel like Sony has J.K. Rowling tied down in a way that – come on, does she really – did they actually go to her with this and she actually said, “This sounds great, I’m going to release new information through a video game”?
Eric: Through a video game book.
Andrew: I mean – yeah!
Eric: I’m not sold on the book format, to be honest. I need to…
Andrew: Yeah, this is stupid! [laughs]
Eric: I need to read – I need to look at the – I haven’t watched all the E3 footage and I haven’t watched this Wonderbook promo, but I’m not sold on this book idea. I don’t know. It’s making books cool, which could be cool.
Andrew: But you’re not even reading it like a book! Do you know what I mean? It’s just…
Eric: If you’re setting the book on the floor and your camera is looking at the floor, I don’t know how that’s exciting.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Eric: I don’t know at what point that got through the approval process. But I’m…
Andrew: It’s going to bomb.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: The Wonderbook technology is going to bomb.
Eric: Maybe this Book of Spells will be what keeps it afloat. I don’t know, it could be a really cool game.
Micah: No. It begs the question, though…
Andrew: Well, thank God they have this!
[Eric laughs]
Micah: What age range is it aiming for? Because people our age are not going to buy this.
Selina: That’s what I was thinking.
Andrew: Right, that’s the other thing. J.K. Rowling…
Eric: People our age are the only ones who can afford it!
Andrew: J.K. Rowling – again, they did it with Pottermore, we had talked about how they’ve been catering to kids with Pottermore because you couldn’t use your real name and all that, and this Book of Spells is another children’s thing!
Selina: You know…
Andrew: I don’t want to sit there with all my – with 350 dollars worth of PlayStation equipment…
Selina: Mhm.
Andrew: …and be flicking at the screen. I’m sure it’s not going to be perfect so it’s going to be frustrating to get this stuff to work. [sighs]
Selina: But you know, the thing though with J.K. Rowling over the past few years is that even though she’s all about – she clearly must know that we fans have grown up with the series. She is still so intent on appealing to children. I remember a few years ago she came to Denmark to accept the H.C. Andersen Prize, and this is just a random example but she – I went down to see her and I got to see her speak, but then she had this exclusive reading of her books that was only for children aged – I think it was eleven and under. And the interesting thing about that is that they don’t speak English in Denmark, so they were not able to understand what she was saying but they were the only ones allowed into her reading. It’s just that kind of logic that sort of seems to go through everything that she does these days, that she’s so intent on making these things for children, the Wonderbook, Pottermore. But then all this huge background information about the books, that’s something that we care about. So it doesn’t really correspond, you know?
Eric: I understand that point. I get that point. And like Andrew was saying, with the books, they were available to everyone, and [laughs] if a Harry Potter book isn’t published in your language, I don’t know where you live, because those books…
[Selina laughs]
Eric: Over time they’re available in all the countries, under 37 or more different languages. I don’t know where “37” came from, it just…
Selina: Even in Latin. [laughs]
Eric: Even in Latin which hasn’t been spoken in, like, 3,000 years. So, anyway, just the idea that you need a Playstation, you need the Move, the Eye, the cam, the book, the Wonderbook – Wonderbra, I almost said.
Andrew: Electricity, television…
Eric: Electricity and television, oh my God! They’re so demanding!
Andrew: [laughs] A chair.
[Selina laughs]
Eric: Nothing like candlelight…
Selina: Arms.
Andrew: Some Pepsi.
Eric: Harry Potter – yeah, okay.
Micah: It is contradictory, though, to what she said about the encyclopedia because the quote from that was, “I have been enjoying sharing information about Harry’s world on Pottermore for free.”
Selina: Mhm.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: But you could go out and spend 300 dollars on the PS3.
Eric: Yeah. I don’t know, this could be – I want to see more about Book of Spells before I make my final decision, but I think you guys are right. Because even something like Rock Band, where you have an entire set of instruments that comes with a thing – I just find that it sits around, and it takes up a lot of space, it costs a lot of money…
Andrew: Right.
Eric: …it’s a huge investment to get it going. And in the end, I’m not sure it’s worth it, because even if – say Book of Spells manages to interest me and I get the Wonderbook. There’s really not – I really don’t think there is going to be a second Wonderbook game that really interests me. I don’t want to be too negative here, but what could the second Wonderbook – I would have to get a lot of books, or a lot of games that are Wonderbook games, in order to justify getting the Wonderbook.
Selina: They could do some kind of Wonder-monster thing, like – I don’t know, you have to raise a bunch of monsters in Hagrid’s class.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Selina: Learn about them.
Eric: Well…
Andrew: See, this doesn’t – that wouldn’t even require the Wonderbook device.
Selina: I know.
Andrew: I mean, this technology is strange.
Eric: Monster Book of Monsters? Here’s the thing, that scene in Diagon Alley in Pottermore when you buy all the spellbooks and stuff – because they’re in your item or your cart and you need them in your cart before you can progress through a level, I assumed we could at least read a paragraph or two from each of those books, but we can’t. There are still so many parts of Pottermore that I wish were more in-depth, you know? More books, details and stuff. I don’t see why they’re resorting to this format. It could be cool but it could also not be cool, and I just think they should really focus on making Pottermore better. Like, has everybody moved on from – there was that eight or nine month hiatus between ‘Pottermore beta opening’ Book 1 and then ‘public opening’ Book 1, and they still haven’t gone back or changed much with Book 1. There’s still way many ways they can make it better. Why are they moving onto this game with this new technology, with this new stuff? I’m thinking Pottermore still needs some work, guys. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, they’re kind of taking away the attention of Pottermore.
Selina: At the same time though, just to sort of play devil’s advocate – because we’re being really negative, I just realized. [laughs]
Micah: Never. Never on this show are we negative.
Selina: [laughs] Yeah, never. But I guess a good thing, though, could be that even though Harry Potter has ended quite a few years ago now, new things still keep coming out. It’s not like Harry Potter is in the past…
Andrew: Yeah, that’s true.
Selina: …and J.K. Rowling has moved on. Even though there’s no more books coming out there are theme parks, there are websites, there are games, there are all these different things, and even though it might not be the encyclopedia that we want, I’m sure that it’s going – this whole interactive experience is getting new generations involved with Harry Potter…
Andrew: Yeah.
Selina: …and that is a positive thing.
Andrew: I still think that an encyclopedia will happen. I just think it’s disappointing that we’re seeing all this other stuff that includes material which could have been in the encyclopedia being released first.
Selina: Mhm. It’s kind of like spoilers, isn’t it? Like, spoilers for the encyclopedia?
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Andrew: Yeah. I mean, the one saving grace – I could kind of imagine a behind-the-scenes situation happening where J.K. Rowling agreed that Wonderbook: Book of Spells has the exclusive on all this wand information – or this spell information – for, let’s say, a year or two. I’m sure Sony – because Sony wanted her to release some brand new stuff to make this more interesting, and she said, “Okay, I’ll do it, but this stuff is going to end up in an encyclopedia. But I’ll release it in 2015, so you guys have all this information just exclusively in this game for two or three years.”
Micah: That’s part of what I was going to talk about a little bit before we move on, is that you have to remember Sony is this multibillion dollar corporation that signed a deal with J.K. Rowling for Pottermore, and chances are there was probably something in that agreement that allowed for something like this Book of Spells.
Andrew: Right. They probably had this clause where they could creatively come up with new ideas and work together on the project.
Eric: Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like they’re just not caring about it. It does seem like – it’s at least an original idea. Obviously we’ll wait to see how the execution is, but it is a solid idea and for that I think we should give it credit. I guess I’m just feeling what Selina said about it being new content. J.K. Rowling could be like J.D. Salinger and go in a hole for sixty years until her death, and she didn’t.
Andrew: That’s true.
Eric: She’s still out there doing stuff. So, new content from J.K. Rowling, that’s a plus. Obviously the exclusivity of that content, how easy it’ll be for us to get it, and whether or not we’ll like it once we do, is our concerns here, but ultimately I’m glad that at least – if Sony is or has to be doing these things with Harry Potter, at least it’s – I don’t know, it is kind of a unique idea, and at least they keep trying that stuff.
Andrew: And the reason they – like you said, Micah, I think – Sony is a company, they’re here to make money. And they’ve got to compete with Wii, so this is kind of an original idea to kind of go at Wii. I mean, it’s certainly going after the kids, which Wii is so successful with. But I will also say some positives about Book of Spells. First of all, the new material makes it very cool. Second of all, the graphics look fantastic. It looks very – it kind of looks like it’s straight out of the movies, all the artwork. In the Wingardium Leviosa history scene, there’s this pop-up paper theater that you hold in your hands digitally. You hold up the Wonderbook and it appears on the television screen, and you see the history of Wingardium Leviosa being played out in your hands, basically. So that is cool. I personally just have been hoping for all this to be coming out in an encyclopedia, and to not require people to spend so much money on new J.K. Rowling material. Do as many Harry Potter video games as you want. It’s the original material that bothers me.
Eric: Man, with the Playstation Eye, I guess that means I’m going to have to start wearing clothing when I play my games.
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: Well, I don’t think it’s uploading pictures of you.
Eric: [laughs] No, but I would never trust it, you know what I’m saying? Just hanging around with my Wonderbook in my boxers or whatever, I’m not going to do that.
Andrew: Right. Well, the Playstation Eye may get confused as to which is the controller and which is – well, what else is in the news, Micah?
[Eric and Selina laugh]
MuggleCast 254 Transcript (continued)
News: Harry Potter Wins Two MTV Movie Awards
Micah: Well, that’s a great segue to MTV.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: [singing] “I want my MTV.”
Micah: So, the MTV Movie Awards took place over the weekend, and not surprisingly Potter did not so well. [laughs] So, they did walk away with…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Hang on! Hang on here because I thought that Potter – I thought we discussed this, and we thought it had a chance…
[Selina laughs]
Eric: …and the two categories that it actually won in…
Micah: Well, no, because the category – one of the categories didn’t even exist when we did our last show. [laughs] So…
Eric: Oh, geez. Okay.
Andrew: It was interesting that the movie awards – The Hunger Games actually ended up doing the best with four awards. Harry Potter won two.
Selina: It’s not really that interesting.
[Eric laughs]
Selina: Or it’s not really surprising, is it? [laughs]
Eric: Well, it’s freshest on everyone’s mind, right?
Selina: Yeah.
Eric: I think the good thing here is that the Potter fan sites all reminded people, “Go out, vote, make your vote count,” because ultimately it was down to the users. This awards show, we could affect change. So, Hunger Games is freshest on everyone’s mind, I think.
Selina: Mhm.
Eric: Out of the nominees, it was probably the most recent film.
Micah: Yup. That’s a good point.
Andrew: So why didn’t it win ‘Best Hero’? Harry Potter won ‘Best Hero’ by a landslide.
Eric: People don’t like Peeta, I guess. I don’t really know.
Andrew: No, no, Katniss was the nominee in ‘Best Hero’.
Eric: Katniss is a girl, dude. Sorry, she’s not the best hero.
Selina: Well, I think because Harry as a character…
Eric: As a character?
Selina: …probably has a lot more cred than the Potter films. Does that make sense?
Eric: Katniss is awesome, but I can see where…
Selina: Yeah.
Eric: If you’re talking about a category of ‘Best Hero’ and you’re talking about Harry Potter who’s just been around longer, I think that’s probably why. Also, maybe it was just people frustrated because Harry didn’t win anything at the Academy Awards.
Selina: [laughs] Yeah.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Still, though, you’re talking about Harry Potter’s last or second to last – I think the Saturn Awards are later this month, but pretty much his last big chance at winning an award. I’m glad that he won ‘Best Hero’ but maybe that had something to do with it.
Micah: Yeah, so the other award that it picked up was ‘Best Cast’ and it beat out The Hunger Games there as well, but…
Andrew: Emma…
Micah: Go ahead.
Andrew: And Emma Watson was there and she accepted the award, and…
Eric: I’m glad they had somebody there.
Selina: [laughs] Yeah.
Andrew: Well, she was actually there for Perks of Being a Wallflower.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: And that trailer premiered, which actually – by the way, very, very, very good trailer.
Eric: Oh, I haven’t – I read it a long time ago and I haven’t seen the trailer yet, so I’ve got to look at that.
Andrew: Yeah, great book.
Micah: Now, just out of curiosity, how do you pronounce Voldemort’s name – the actor who plays him?
Andrew: Oh!
Selina: Ralph? [pronounced “Rafe”]
Andrew: Yeah.
Selina: Is it Ralph Fiennes?
Andrew: She…
Micah: I thought it was Ralph Fiennes, right?
Selina: Yeah.
Eric: Ralph Fiennes.
Andrew: Yeah, me too. But then Emma said “Ralph”, right?
Selina: Oh.
Micah: Yeah. [laughs] So…
Eric: Wow.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: It must be her – she spent some months filming in America. I think that’s her American showing.
Andrew: It could be. Yeah, that’s funny, Micah. I thought the same exact thing when I heard her say it.
Eric: [laughs] Ralph.
Andrew: But her acceptance speech for ‘Best Cast’ was really good because she even thanked Dobby and another creature, Hedwig.
Eric: Oh, wow.
Andrew: And that was like “Aww.”
Selina: Aww, Hedwig. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, she was like, “There’s Harry, Dan, there’s Ron, there’s Rupert, and there’s Dobby and there’s Hedwig.”
Eric: [laughs] Oh, Hedwig. I wonder how much – if Hedwig was real at any point?
Andrew: But that’s it now, right? Are there any other awards show that could possibly recognize Harry Potter?
Eric: Yeah, I think the Saturn Awards.
Andrew: It’s been a year now.
Eric: Yeah, I’m going to look it up. I’m pretty sure the Saturn Awards, I’m looking that up now. But ‘Best Cast’ – this…
Selina: I’m still pissed about that ‘Best Kiss’ one. [laughs]
Eric: This one we did talk about – nope, Saturn happened in February. Jupiter Awards? [laughs] No, I’m just throwing awards…
Selina: Pluto Awards? [laughs]
Andrew: How about the Pluto? Thank goodness, I can’t take this pressure anymore.
Eric: Yeah. We talked about ‘Best Cast’, though. We did think that that was the film that was nominated…
Selina: Yeah.
Eric: …that had the best chance, because you’re not going to beat all of those British actors that came out, the entire cast. Not even for Deathly Hallows – Part 2, but yes for Deathly Hallows – Part 2, just throughout the years. Hunger Games, great movie and good cast, but it just doesn’t hold a candle to Harry Potter when you’re talking about the whole group.
Selina: Mhm. Yeah.
Micah: I mean, obviously when they say “cast” they mean the entire cast, but they only mentioned a few. I think sort of the main younger actors, but really I thought it could have been more impactful had they included some of the adult actors in that category as well.
Eric: The interesting thing is that when you’re voting for these awards, your interpretation of what that category means is different from – an awards show can only list maybe three or four people because they have to read under each award, because they have to read those on the air, who this means. But if you’re talking about ‘Best Cast’ that means everybody, and I think everybody who voted accordingly, they didn’t – or otherwise it would have just said ‘Best Main Character’ which is another category, right? So…
Micah: But you know what bothered me? And it probably shouldn’t because this is just the MTV Movie Awards. [laughs]
Eric: Whoa.
Micah: Is that you saw The Hunger Games win a lot, but then it got to ‘Movie of the Year’ and it was the Twilight film.
Andrew: Breaking Dawn: Part 1.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Don’t act like you don’t know the title.
[Eric laughs]
Selina: That movie with vampires. [laughs]
Micah: I’ve never seen the movies and I’ve never read the books.
Eric: You know what? I thought that movie – sidetrack, I thought that movie was actually pretty good.
Andrew: Well, we know who voted. You, clearly.
Micah: Over and over and over again.
Selina: I just…
Andrew: That was odd. That was odd because Harry Potter and Twilight…
Micah: No, but you see what I’m saying from a continuity standpoint.
Andrew: Right.
Selina: I just think it was odd.
Micah: You would have expected The Hunger Games to win.
Selina: Yeah, exactly.
Andrew: Right. That would have made perfect sense.
Selina: Because they are sort of the strongest fanbase at the moment. But I suppose in a way – could it make sense that maybe The Hunger Games and Harry Potter fans sort of split the vote? I know that all three kind of overlap, but…
Eric: Yeah, I think maybe the Breaking Dawn people thought – the Breaking Dawn troop, Twilight troop…
Selina: Right.
Eric: …thought that they had the best chance under that one award, because you’re talking about ‘Best Hero’ – sorry, Bella Swan doesn’t really cut it, and some of the other cast. Just in terms of all the other awards, I think maybe they all saw and united under one award. Not like I saw tweets about it saying, “Oh, only vote for – get Breaking Dawn in there,” but you’re right. But I think maybe they just all realized that that was kind of – their way to make their mark was for ‘Best Film’. I guess it is interesting.
Micah: One of the big things this year…
Andrew: Well, it was truly the Harry Potter/Twilight/Hunger Games awards because every single award that they presented on stage either went to Harry Potter, Twilight or The Hunger Games.
Eric: That is funny.
Selina: This is the only year where all three major franchises would…
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: Yes. That’s why it was so exciting, and yet it wasn’t exciting at all.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: What I was going to ask, though, is I thought that there was a lot of news about the fact that Twilight hadn’t been nominated in a lot of the categories that it usually was. In fact, their nominations were cut down, so their chance of winning actually wasn’t as high as it has been in years past.
Andrew: Oh.
Eric: Hmm.
Andrew: Yeah, because they’ve been winning non-stop for the past few years, so…
Micah: Yeah, might as well not even host the awards.
Andrew: Right.
Micah: Just give them out to Twilight every single year.
Andrew: But you know what? Truth be told, Harry Potter won all the awards because that Gibson Amphitheater is being torn down and Hogwarts is going to be sitting on top of it.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Andrew: So take that, Twilight! Take that, Hunger Games!
Selina: Wow.
Eric: The last laugh goes to Harry.
Selina: I love that.
Andrew: Harry Potter has pwned them.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Cedric is just sold out.
Eric: [laughs] I just pwned them? He’s pwned them.
Andrew: I just wish there was a commercial at the end that said, “Coming to this exact location…”
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: “…in three years: freaking Hogwarts!”
Selina: [laughs] They’d have a graphic of – yeah, all of the people in the audience being crushed by a massive Hogwarts falling…
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: All those…
Andrew: The Twilight cast gets bulldozed over because…
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Andrew: …they’re starting to clear the amphitheater for the park. [laughs] “I’m sorry, we started an hour too early! Thought the show was over!”
Selina: [laughs] Oh no, this is so inappropriate.
Andrew: It was the last – was it ‘Best Movie’? That was the last award, they could have done that.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Andrew: A bulldozer could have came in and knocked them over, and they could have started laying down some Hogwarts bricks.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Micah: Yeah, I mean, all those guys’ and girls’ acting careers are over anyway, after being in Twilight, so…
Andrew and Eric: Oh!
Andrew: Come on.
Eric: Oh man.
Selina: Aww.
Andrew: That’s below the belt.
Eric: [laughs] Oh.
Micah: It’s a joke, come on.
Andrew: Maybe they could work at the theme park.
Micah: [laughs] Exactly!
Eric: I’d suggest we move on but I’m not entirely done laughing yet.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: Says the person who liked Breaking Dawn.
Eric: Okay.
Micah: Cedric could work in the theme park. He knows all about Harry Potter.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: No? Enough.
Announcement: Ascendio 2012 & LeakyCon 2012
Andrew: Okay, well that’s it for the news this week. We don’t have a new theme park to look forward to this summer, but we do have LeakyCon and Ascendio, two Harry Potter conferences happening this summer. First up is Ascendio, happening in Orlando. That will be taking place July…
Eric: 12th…
Micah: 12th.
Eric: …through the 15th.
Andrew: 12th to the 15th.
Eric: Yup!
Andrew: [laughs] At the Portofino Bay Hotel, that’s on the Universal property. They’re going to be having a private party in the park. That is an extra ticket, just FYI, but when you go to register on HP2012.org, you can learn all about all the extras that you can buy. And MuggleCast will be there. No word yet on what day and time exactly what’s happening, but…
Eric: Oh, we’ve got to have a talk about that. [laughs] We can – hmm, excuse me. Yeah, to be announced. We’ll discuss that.
Andrew: And then a month later…
Eric: Woot!
Selina: Yay!
Andrew: …almost exactly a month later, is LeakyCon 2012, taking place August 9th until the 12th in Chicago, and we will also be there.
Eric: This, ladies and gents, listeners, boys and girls of all ages – MuggleCast is going to be celebrating our seventh birthday…
Selina: Wow!
Eric: …during LeakyCon week.
Selina: The magic number.
Eric: This is – I cannot say – yes, seven. Isn’t seven the most magically powerful number?
Selina: [laughs] Something about that, yeah.
Eric: Yes. Yes, it is. So, anyway, just throwing that out there. We don’t know what we’re doing yet, but it’ll be cool.
Andrew: Maybe we should get stickers printed up, like “Celebrating seven years” or something.
[Selina laughs]
Eric: The number seven? What would be really cool is if we could get all seven original hosts to go out. So pick up Laura, Jamie…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: …Ben – what’s Ben doing? Kevin Steck, bring him back. And get all of us there.
Andrew: You could probably talk Kevin into going. I feel like he would…
Eric: I could probably – I’ll give him a call.
Andrew: He’s doing well, he could come out. So yeah, so that is August 9th to the 12th. You go to LeakyCon.com for information about LeakyCon, you go to HP2012.org for information about Ascendio. And we’ll see you at one or the other, or maybe both.
Eric: Ooh.
Listener Tweets: Future Release of Harry Potter Encyclopedia
Andrew: Or maybe both. Okay, so now we have a Twitter question of the week. We asked to those who follow us on Twitter, Twitter.com/MuggleCast – we said:
“With all that has been said and announced by JKR recently, when do you predict an encyclopedia may be released?”
We’ve talked about all this conflicting info, and now there’s Book of Spells with new info, so we want to know when you think it realistically will be out. YESENIAORTA…
Micah: [laughs] What?
Andrew: …says:
“At least another two years until its release.”
cassiesavini says:
“I thought it was all going on Pottermore and there wasn’t going to be a book? If not, not until Pottermore is completely done.”
Uh-oh, that could be years away. That could be four or five years, for all we know. dakotah109 said:
“Not very hopeful it will be anytime soon, unfortunately.”
Catapiee says:
“I’m guessing not for a few years, based on her recent statement about it and that she is giving info for free on Pottermore. :(“
TDADC said:
“Honestly, I don’t see it happening anymore.”
[laughs] That’s a bold statement.
“My hype has gone down the drain. Guess digital world (Sony) is Jo’s new fav. #bummer”
This user is also giving the middle finger in his profile picture, so he’s naturally a very negative guy. Ceilidh Brennan said:
“Even though I’d love there to be one, I have a feeling we’re never going to get a physical book, which is really disappointing.”
Here’s another surprising comment. Alissa_V says:
“I’m not convinced she’ll ever write it, at least not in a traditional format with all extra material compiled in one book.”
Eric, Micah, Selina, everybody thinks – a lot of people think this is the end.
Eric and Selina: Yeah.
Andrew: No encyclopedia.
Eric: This is the end.
Selina: I’m kind of with them. Yeah.
Andrew: Really? Why, Selina, why?
Selina: Because I…
Andrew: Don’t say it’s so.
Selina: [laughs] Because I just – all this information that’s being released…
Micah: What do you know?
Selina: [laughs] I have secrets.
Micah: What have you heard in that country of yours over there?
Selina: [laughs] All of this information that’s being released online, and through games and what have you, I just think the more information is released in other ways, the less likely it is that we’re ever going to get an official handwritten – not handwritten, [laughs] that would be too much, but an official written…
[Andrew laughs]
Selina: …encyclopedia by J.K. Rowling where she gathers all this and she took all this stuff that she’s already published everywhere else. Because the great thing about the encyclopedia was supposed to be that she – we got all this new information about all the characters, all the backstory, but if that’s already been released, that’s not going to be – I don’t know. But then again, she will be doing it for charity – I don’t know. Andrew, you can convince me otherwise, because I want to believe. [laughs]
Andrew: I think she’s said so much at this point about an encyclopedia happening, it has to happen.
Eric: Yeah, possibly.
Selina: Okay, that’s a fair argument. [laughs]
Andrew: I mean, there’s no way she started working on it and then what, she changed her mind?
Selina: Yeah.
Andrew: She started working on it – let’s say a few months ago, even though it may have been a year or two ago for all we know.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Even though – in that message on her site, she said, “I have started work on this now,” implying that it just got started. So what, she just started working on it and then changed her mind? No way.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: No way.
Eric: Well, it did sound like that though. That’s what I thought. I was like, “Maybe it’s not going as smoothly as she hoped. Oh well, there goes that idea.”
Andrew: Well, it hit a bump in the road when Sony came knocking and said, [in a snobby voice] “Uhhh, don’t tease the encyclopedia, we need to tease Book of Spells and Pottermore.”
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Selina: Maybe.
Eric: That could be it.
Selina: That could be it.
Andrew: [in a snobby voice] “You’re taking attention away from our deal with you.”
Eric: That’s how Sony sounds to you?
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Selina: The voice of Sony.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Selina: Sony. But, yeah, no…
Eric: I love your voices.
Selina: I think that because she has been doing all this stuff with Casual Vacancy and whatever else she’s writing, I’m sure this is just a way for her to say, “Okay, well, it might not be in the next two years. It might be in five, even ten years.” But…
Eric: Speaking of, guys, where is The Casual Vacancy book cover? Come on! How many pages is it going to be?
Selina: [laughs] It’s just going to be Jo’s face.
Eric: Where are the…
Andrew: Oh, I love sitting in anticipation.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: She can take her time with that.
Eric: Really?
Andrew: I’m looking – well, yeah, but I would bet – I’ll guess next month.
Selina: You know what? I think…
Eric: Really? With a – September 27th, is it? 29th release date? When will the cover have to be completed for that? Not to change the subject, but…
Micah: Ask Little, Brown, I don’t know.
Eric: Okay.
[Micah laughs]
Selina: I think it’s going to be something like a door, or something like that on the cover. I don’t know.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s going to be boring.
Selina: Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: It’s not going to be interesting.
Selina: That’s the thing with The Casual Vacancy, is that I don’t know if she intentionally chose the most boring title imaginable, but it’s just – [laughs] I wish it had a more exciting name, I don’t know.
Eric: Is J.K. Rowling trying to be boring? As if, as if she could.
Selina: I don’t know! [laughs]
Andrew: No, but I really think – there’s not going to be anything to the cover, it’s not like we’re going to be able to analyze it much.
Selina: Mhm.
Andrew: We don’t know the characters, we don’t know anything about it. We’re not going to be able to be like, “Oh wait, is that Harry in the background? Is that Sirius in the background?”
Selina: Or maybe we will. [laughs]
Eric: Well, our track record is not that great either, because [laughs] remember when we analyzed Book 7 and they were in, like, a colosseum and it was…
Andrew: Hey, we got some things right over the years!
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Give us credit.
Eric: It did look like a colosseum, I’m just going to say that. But…
Andrew: Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I’m excited for the cover, don’t get me wrong. I just think we’re not going to be able to – and it will be very exciting to see it, [laughs] there just won’t be much to discuss. Because also remember, it’s an adult book and traditionally, I think those have pretty simple covers.
Eric: Yeah, usually focusing on one object, like a typewriter with blood on it.
Andrew: Right. Or even look at The Hunger Games. I mean, those have just a simple…
Eric: It’s the mockingjay.
Andrew: I mean, they’re representative of a lot.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Right, but it is simple. Of course we’ll analyze it no matter what.
Selina: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Selina: I was going to say that. [laughs]
Andrew: It could be a trash can and we’ll pick it apart.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: This is where the encyclopedia went!
Micah: But was there much anticipation for the original Hunger Games? Didn’t it kind of take off on its own? I feel like there’s a lot more anticipation because J.K. Rowling is a known author, and having written Harry Potter, then anything on the cover is going to be analyzed and…
Andrew: Definitely, definitely. And that’s why I think there’s going to be midnight release parties for the book because people want to recapture that spirit.
Eric: That’s what I do want to organize, or see organized. I want to get that e-mail – I almost said from Borders. I do want an e-mail from Borders, I’m still waiting for another one – but Barnes and Noble, saying, “Hey, come party with us, we’re going to do some Casual Vacancy stuff.” I mean, it’s never too soon to…
Andrew: I’m going to one!
Eric: I’m going to plan my – you’re going? So is that set up? You already…
Andrew: No, no, but of course I’ll go to one.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: I don’t care where it is. I’ll find one and I’ll go. I don’t want to out somebody, but somebody prominent in the Harry Potter fandom said that they are not – they don’t want a midnight release party.
Eric: Oh, wow.
Selina: But why?
Andrew: I thought, “You are nuts!” I – but yeah, midnight party, count me in. I’ll make my own midnight party if people aren’t – if bookstores don’t have them. [laughs] I’ll sell my own. I’ll buy a crate of Casual Vacancies and I’ll [unintelligible] to my apartment.
Eric: [laughs] I was going to say, Walmart will be the only bookstore still open at midnight if everybody doesn’t decide to do them.
Andrew: Yeah. Or you know what? This is what anybody could do at home: Have an e-book midnight release party. Everybody come over with their pajamas and their e-reader…
Eric: Oh no!
Selina: Oh my God, that’s just sad.
Andrew: …and at the same time…
Eric: A slumber – wait, do e-books…
Andrew: Everybody hit refresh at the same time and get their purchase at midnight.
Eric: Does that work? Do e-books become available at midnight?
Andrew: Yeah!
Eric: Crazy.
Andrew: Yeah. Just like with iTunes when an album is released.
Eric: Oh, yeah? Midnight. I’ve never bought – I’ve never waited for an album on iTunes, that’s why I don’t know. But okay.
Andrew: Well, there you go. Yeah, I think it’ll happen. And the advantage there is, actually, that if you’re on the West Coast, you can get it at 9 PM.
Eric: Ooh.
Andrew: So you get it a little early.
Eric: Yeah.
MuggleCast 254 Transcript (continued)
Muggle Mail: McGonagall’s Backstory, Hatstalls
Andrew: Let’s move on to e-mails now. Go ahead, somebody read the first one while my dog is barking.
Eric: This one comes from Caitlin, Georgia. This is in response to our Pottermore discussion – either last week or the week before, they do tend to blend together – about McGonagall’s backstory. Caitlin writes:
“McGonagall’s backstory kind of reminds me of Tom Riddle’s, especially the part about her parents where her mother was a witch and her father was a Muggle. The main reason Tom became Voldemort was because of his father, wasn’t it? His father abandoned his mother because of her magic. The only difference was that McGonagall’s parents didn’t leave each other.
Another thing about a Hatstall: I thought Neville was a Hatstall or maybe I read about someone else on Pottermore. I really like the backstories, though. They’re very informative.”
Selina: Neville was not a Hatstall, but he was close.
Eric: We covered this, didn’t we? Hermione – it’s a question of whether or not – the hat can take a long time to decide you, and still not – or even wonder if you wouldn’t be better in another house, but it’s not a Hatstall.
Selina: Yeah.
Micah: There’s – further down, from Sarah, 17, of California, she says:
“Hey guys, so in your Episode 253 you were discussing who were Hatstalls. You mentioned Harry, however on Pottermore they do say that Hermione and Neville were the two that came closest to being Hatstalls in Harry’s year.”
And she quotes specifically from Pottermore.
“Love the show. Keep it coming!”
Selina: It is a bit confusing though because – I mean, even with McGonagall and Flitwick, the hat did eventually decide. Or did they decide?
Eric: No, the hat decided.
Selina: Yeah. So how is that different?
Eric: Yeah, the hat decided. Right, I wonder how that is different. You’re right. Well, I guess timing-wise, right? If it makes its decision within three minutes or five minutes or something like that.
Selina: [laughs] Maybe. Three minutes or less, our Hatstall guarantee!
Eric: I think I read that, yeah. Well – okay, so then with McGonagall and Tom Riddle, interesting parallel, and I just think that people’s parenting really influences who they become. I think the thing with Tom though, with young Voldemort, is that he was an orphan and so he did – his mother died giving birth to him. He did blame his father for his mother’s death and for not being around and the fact that he was obviously not magical. That kind of thing just kind of fuels his hatred, whereas McGonagall – she just had a lot of regret because her parents, even though they were still together – and I think that makes all the difference – there wasn’t much love there after – there just wasn’t trust. So you just see how that influenced both of those characters throughout their lives. Fortunately, McGonagall still held really strong values. And I think that was what the difference is, is that McGonagall had her biological parents stick it out through tough times whereas Tom didn’t have any parents. He just had a shoddy, old orphanage.
Selina: Also, he was evil.
[Eric and Selina laugh]
Eric: Well, did the book ever answer that? Did you feel that way, Selina, whether or not he was born evil or made evil by his surroundings?
Selina: I feel like a lot of kids grew up in orphanages without growing up to be killers and horrible people. [laughs]
Eric: Yeah.
Selina: I think he was definitely evil.
Eric: Okay.
Muggle Mail: Draco Malfoy’s Real Father
Andrew: Next e-mail is from Caroline, 13, of Virginia. She says:
“Hi MuggleCasters! Love the show. Anyway, while I was re-reading ‘Half Blood Prince’ – U.S. softcover, by the way – I noticed something kind of odd. On page 114, Narcissa is talking to Draco about his father but uses a first name. Do you think that it is possible that Lucius isn’t Draco’s father after all? Not to say that Draco is Dobby’s son, like in ‘A Very Potter Musical’ or anything, but I really do think this is plausible. What do you think?”
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: I don’t get it. What does…
Eric: [laughs] It’s plausible that Dobby is Draco’s father?
[Selina laughs]
Andrew: No.
Selina: Is this the encyclopedia, really?
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: I don’t understand what this has to do with Dobby though.
Eric: Well, she’s just saying – okay, so in the Harry Potter books Narcissa, in one scene, is talking to Draco and says, “Your father this or that,” but because she doesn’t say Lucius by name…
Selina: I don’t know. I mean…
Eric: …then doesn’t that mean that he has a different father.
Selina: How many silvery-blond pureblood wizards are there, really?
Eric: Hmm. Is silvery-blond the dominant or the recessive trait?
Selina: That’s a good point.
Eric: Could she – yeah, I don’t know. Interesting, but – I mean, when you’re talking to your son, wouldn’t you say “your father” instead of “Lucius”? That kind of thing? Or “the boy’s father” to somebody else? I don’t know. It’s just word choice. Very interesting because I guess clues can be hidden in that way but I never got the impression that Draco had a different father.
Selina: Maybe Snape was Draco’s father. Dun-dun-dun!
Eric: [laughs] Oh, snap! Yeah, that’s Snape. Such a man gets all the action.
Selina: Maybe James was Draco’s father. [gasps]
Eric: Yeah, wouldn’t that be creepy?
Selina: Harry had a brother! Sorry.
Micah: Yeah, maybe Caroline can clarify what she means because I was looking through the book and I’m not finding what she’s talking about.
Eric: On page 114.
Micah: She uses his first name. Yeah, she refers to him as “Lucius”, but she doesn’t say…
Eric: Oh, she doesn’t say “your father”. Maybe she’s distant with him. I don’t know. Maybe it was that time of the month.
Micah: I don’t know.
Eric: She’s got to distance herself.
Micah: She just says maybe Harry – I closed the book but it said something along the lines – they’re in Madam Malkin’s and they’re fighting with each other, and she says she supposes that Harry will be reunited with Sirius before she’s reunited with Lucius, because he’s in Azkaban.
Muggle Mail: Harry Potter and Shakespeare’s Henry V
Andrew: Next e-mail is from Bailey, 15, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin:
“Hey guys, huge ‘Harry Potter’ fan and long-time listener here! Anyways, in my English class I am reading the play ‘Henry V’ and I made a Harry Potter connection. In Act V of the play there is a battle, and on the king’s side many of the fighters are disguised as the king, who is the main target. This particular scene made me think of the Seven Potters scene. Do you think J.K. Rowling uses history to inspire her writing in certain events in Harry Potter and Casual Vacancy? Keep up the good work. P.S. I think Eric has the…”
Oh, this can’t be right.
“…cutest voice ever.”
Eric: That’s got to be a typo or something.
Andrew: “Love you! :)”
Eric: Oh no.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Now I’m blushing and I have to answer this e-mail.
Micah: Is your girlfriend still listening?
Eric: Yeah, she’s right here.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: Not reading the screen, evidently. Bailey is going to get cut. Okay, look, so…
Andrew: [laughs] She’s fifteen!
Eric: [laughs] Anyway…
Andrew: So yes, I think Jo has made it no secret that she has pulled from history before to influence her writing.
Eric: Absolutely. I mean, you look at examples throughout history of even ones that didn’t happen but through Shakespeare plays. I think there are definitely tons of intentional parallels there.
Selina: Mhm.
Eric: And let’s face it, good ideas like the Trojan horse, how many times is that going to be replicated?
[Prolonged silence]
Micah: Next e-mail?
Andrew: Go ahead, Micah. Read the next e-mail.
Muggle Mail: Pottermore for the Visually Impaired
Micah: Comes from Jim LoPresti, 45, of Perth, Australia, and he says:
“Hiya MuggleCasters. Thanks so much for the continued podcasts on ‘Harry Potter’. You guys are simply the best. I still have withdrawal symptoms and can’t get enough of the wizarding world. Jim Dale’s audiobooks rock and bring it all to life for me as a blind listener. This is the first time I have posted to you guys, but I’m a long-time listener and I’m constantly frustrated as a blind person trying to access and get through Pottermore. I use a talking screen reader and that works wonderfully well with all the text on Pottermore, but forget me trying to find keys or click on items on the screen. I’ve been in touch with Pottermore Help and they say they have contacted the Royal Institute for the Blind in England and the programmers are working on it, but nothing seems to be happening. I, like all ‘Harry Potter’ fans, want to get my wand and proceed through the book but can’t get past the chapter of Diagon Alley. Hopefully, some of the changes and fixes you guys discussed in Episode 253 will fix this problem for me. Again, keep up the good work. Regards, Jim.”
Eric: Completely unique e-mail, and I really just want to say how much I appreciate Jim writing in about this. If he wrote and got a response from Pottermore saying the programmers are in touch with the Royal Institute for the Blind, that they’re working on some accessibility features on Pottermore, I would say remain patient. You got your e-mail back, it says they’re working on it, and I think they’ll probably really be working on it. I don’t think it’s in Pottermore’s character to be disingenuous about something like that, so hopefully there will be a more accessible version of Pottermore for you. And yeah, I mean, the Diagon Alley chapter is really difficult. I didn’t even know where to click and I was staring at the screen for an hour, so I can see how that would be tough.
Andrew: Yeah, this is, I guess, a problem with such a deeply interactive site for people who are blind. This site relies so much on clicking around and discovering certain elements of the site.
Eric: Before you can proceed.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: Whereas a text-only version or – hey, we’ll say it again – an encyclopedia, an e-book or in some other format. Maybe an e-book version of Pottermore, even, would be a possible solution to read the content, which is very interesting. Now, the fact that…
Andrew: I…
Eric: Oh sorry, go ahead.
Andrew: Well, the one other thing I was going to say is that I guess the Pottermore’s argument here could be, well, it’s a video game. Pottermore is a video game and video games really aren’t accessible to the blind, either. Not that they would throw that in your face or something, but I think that would be their take on this type of situation. Yeah, just because they developed this a certain way that they knew would not be accessible to everybody and this is how they’re dealing with it. It stinks, I can imagine you being very frustrated over this, but I guess the one solution I would have for you is to do Pottermore with somebody who could help you through it.
Eric: Oh, that would be cool.
Andrew: Mhm.
Eric: Yeah, bring a friend.
Andrew: I wonder what Pottermore is doing, though. He mentioned that they contacted the Royal Institute for the Blind.
Eric: And they’re working with the programmers. Yeah, that’s…
Andrew: I guess maybe they’re giving Pottermore tips on how to enhance it.
Micah: Sure.
Andrew: I don’t know.
Eric: Yeah. No, that’s cool.
Selina: Could they do speech commands for the questions?
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, maybe.
Eric: Oh, that would be cool.
Andrew: Maybe.
Micah: I just thought it was really great to get this e-mail, the fact that Jim listens to us on a regular basis. And I mean, if there’s obviously anything we can do on our end to help out with getting that taken care of, by all means. I’m sure that, though, as Eric and Andrew both pointed out, Pottermore is working for a solution, because I’m sure there are a lot of Potter fans out there who want to use Pottermore who are visually impaired in that sense, and they should have every means of being able to use it as everyone else.
Eric: Especially if there won’t be an encyclopedia.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Right.
Andrew: And if Jim Dale doesn’t narrate it.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: That would be a problem. Next e-mail – Eric, would you like to read that one?
Micah: It’s the last e-mail, actually. We already touched on the last one when you were away.
Muggle Mail: James Potter’s Relationship with Vernon Dursley
Eric: So Christy, right?
[Prolonged silence]
Eric: Right?
[Prolonged silence]
Eric: Okay, I’m just going to go. This one is from Christy:
“Hi MuggleCasters! It seems unreal that I have now been listening to your podcast for almost two years! It gets better with every episode. On Episode 253, you were discussing how James Potter’s actions resulted in the rift between the Dursleys and the Potters. While this is partly true, it says that Vernon was trying to patronize James as well. Also, James was ashamed of his actions and tried to repair his relationship with his brother-in-law, but Vernon would not speak to him. James had probably never met anyone like Vernon and would not know exactly how to act around him, Vernon being the complete opposite of himself. Let me know if you guys agree. Love the show! Christie. P.S. When is Jamie going to be on another episode?”
Andrew: Well, we should have Jamie on another episode, I certainly agree. We can try to make that happen. Has anybody spoken to Jamie in a while? Are we sure he’s alive?
Micah: Yeah, I catch up every once in awhile with him on G-chat.
Andrew: Oh, good.
Micah: He is alive, as far as I know. [laughs]
Andrew: Okay. I haven’t spoken to him in awhile.
Micah: In England, doing well, as far as I know. So, that’s about all I can provide [laughs] because I don’t know much more than that.
Eric: Micah, I’ll get in touch with Kevin, you get in touch with Jamie, and we’ll…
Micah: Okay.
Eric: …see about bringing them to Chicago with Selina in August.
Micah: Sounds good.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: I think last week we tried to – or last episode – a lot of the discussion focused around how James really didn’t do much to solidify that relationship between himself and Vernon, and it was a bit one-sided but obviously we know who Vernon is and what his character is like, so he is just as much to blame, if not a little bit more so, I think, than James. But there’s still a part of me that thinks James could have made more of an effort.
Andrew: Oh yeah, I agree with you.
Eric: So much for opposites attract, right? We’ve got James and Lily, who are both very adept wizards, and then Vernon and Petunia who are both the same – very boring, very anti-magic. And they just can’t make it work. They just can’t get along very well.
Micah: That’s a good point.
Show Close
Andrew: All right. Well, that’s it for e-mails this week. As you can tell, our e-mail feedback form is working again. So if you go to MuggleCast.com, you click on ‘Contact’ at the top, you can fill out the feedback form there. Get to us with any comments you have about anything we have discussed on the show today. Also on the MuggleCast website, of course, you know what you can find there: a link to our iTunes where you can subscribe and review us, a link to our Twitter which is Twitter.com/MuggleCast, Facebook, Facebook.com/MuggleCast, and our fan Tumblr which is MuggleCast.Tumblr.com. Lots of good stuff to keep you, as a fan, busy. Also, we just passed National Wear Your MuggleCast T-Shirt Day. We retweeted some of the MuggleCast T-shirt wearers on the Twitter account for this one.
Eric: Proud to say I was one of them. Were you guys one of them?
[Prolonged silence]
Andrew: Yes.
Micah: Not this year, no.
Eric: Oh.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Just passed it by. [laughs]
Andrew: Maybe next year. Maybe next year.
Micah: No, I wear it from time to time. I don’t need a special day to wear my MuggleCast shirt.
[Eric and Micah laugh]
Andrew: Right, every day for me is National Wear Your MuggleCast T-Shirt Day.
Eric: It’s been the same day for years!
Micah: I wear it under my shirt at work. Just to the gym, wherever I go.
[Selina laughs]
Eric: I can see Micah ripping off a button-down shirt [laughs] and underneath is the mic bolt.
Selina: [laughs] Yeah.
Micah: Yeah. That’s actually my favorite shirt.
Eric: Oh, yeah?
Andrew: Yeah, that is a cool one.
Selina: I was just thinking I don’t have a MuggleCast T-shirt, but I actually do from the 2007 live podcast in London. I still have that somewhere.
Andrew: Oh. And I’m sure you’ll get another one this summer.
Eric: Wait, were you there, Selina?
Selina: I was there, yes, before I really knew who you guys were. [laughs]
Andrew: She was there. Aww.
Eric: Did you say anything? Did you come and see us afterwards?
Selina: No. Wait, did I? I’m thinking I might have done, yeah.
Eric: I can’t believe we were in the same room. Wait, were you the people in the same room, or were you upstairs watching on that…
Selina: No, we were upstairs.
Eric: You broke the ceiling lights?
Selina: We did. We were the ones, yeah.
[Micah laughs]
Selina: Can you believe it? Isn’t that strange? [laughs]
Eric: That’s so hilarious that you were there.
Selina: Yeah, so…
Andrew: If we only knew.
Micah: Yeah. And just a quick reminder that on MuggleNet, coming up on June 11th, are going to be the O.W.L. examinations where you can sit down and take actual O.W.L. exams in any number of subjects from Defense Against the Dark Arts to Potions to Astronomy to Muggle Studies. It’s all there, and you’ll get your appropriate grade via e-mail afterwards.
[Show music begins]
Micah: So it is that time of year, if you were going to Hogwarts, you would be taking your O.W.L. examinations in your fifth year.
Selina: Awww.
Micah: So it’ll be a lot of fun, so be sure to check that out.
Andrew: All right, excellent. This has been a fun episode. Thank you, everybody, for listening. From Hypable, I’m Andrew Sims.
Eric: From MuggleNet, I’m Eric Scull.
Micah: From MuggleNet, I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Selina: And from Hypable, I’m Selina Wilken.
Andrew: And we will see you next time for Episode 255.
Eric: Ooh, two fiddy-five!
Micah and Selina: Bye!
Andrew: Goodbye!
[Show music continues]