Almost everyone knows him: a boy with round glasses, dark unruly hair, and a knack for getting into dangerous situations. He looks exactly like his father, except for his eyes, which he has from his mother. His defining feature: the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. The boy’s name: Harry Potter.
The books sparked a phenomenon, and although the series has ended, they live on through the movies and devoted fans.
The fourth, fifth and sixth movies alone made just under $1 billion each, with the entire series making roughly $5.4 billion worldwide.
The franchise has also spawned various video games, accompanying books and even theme-park rides.
Some attribute the popularity of the books to the fact that they were extremely well-written, while others say that the books happened to be released at the perfect time to become popular.
Paul Keen, chair of Carleton University’s English department, says it’s a mix of the popularity and the literary value.
“It’s created a desire and a thirst for reading in people that might not have been that way otherwise. [There’s] a huge popularity and it’s hard to imagine any book that matches that kind of impact, ever,” he says, adding that the style of writing only added to the popularity.
“I really think that it’s one of those great books which is great because it’s not either popular or well-written,” he says.
“It’s got a huge impact, and it’s got fantastic literary value.” The movies have had a similar effect.
Gina Freicag, who is in her second year of her master’s in film studies, says that the success of the movies is thanks to the popularity of the novels. “A lot of adult-type novels are becoming really popular. People are really discovering them and you’re seeing a lot of novels or books being turned into movies,” she says. “It’s getting people’s attention.” The books have also inspired people outside of the world of literature.
For example, Quidditch, a sport played in Potter’s world involving people flying on broomsticks, has gotten its own non-flying variant, with various universities, including Carleton, getting their own teams.
Anthony McCanny, who plays seeker on Carleton’s team, says that not all the people joined because of the books. “Truthfully, half the people on the team are hardcore Harry Potter fans, and are there because it’s fantastic they’re playing something out of [the books],” he says.
“But the spirit of the game itself is overwhelming. Sometimes we forget that we’re playing a sport from [the books] and it takes on a spirit of its own.”
With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the movie based on the first half of the final novel in the series on Nov. 19, the world is once again preparing to get Potter-crazy.
When thousands of people line up all over the world in order to see their favourite hero on screen for nearly the last time, it will be the love for a boy who, despite magic, is really not that different and will bring them together.