A Brief History Of Harry Potter Movie Posters

Posted on Wednesday November 17, 2010, 11:03 by Alastair Plumb in Empire States

It’s been nine years since the first Harry Potter film, and six movies later we’ve seen Warners’ overworked publicity team try to maintain interest in the casual cinema-goer with barrage after barrage of Potter posters. They were no doubt aided in their efforts by the humongous worldwide appeal of the original novels, but this lot haven't left anything to chance - and we were left wondering if this is the biggest selection of promotional posters produced for any franchise ever?

There’re more than enough shots of Harry, Ron and Hermione looking frownily at the camera while a mysterious wind blows into their faces, but there’s a definite appeal to each and every onslaught of Pottery posteriness, and to that end, we’ve compiled a little guide, casting a critical eye over the one sheets and character banners of each and every cinematic visit to Hogwarts and charting the evolution of Potter's artwork.

So let’s begin… at the beginning. (*Bum-ba-bum, ba-bum-ba-bum...*)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
The main thing to notice here is, of course, the different markets’ different titles. India and the U.S. followed the names their publishers used for the first novel, seemingly believing the idea of a “philosopher” having a “stone” and the legend surrounding it too complicated for the kiddlywinks, and losing the alchemy reference in the process.

That said, the Drew Struzan Sorceror’s stone one-sheet is stunning, and the simple, sweet posters such as the “cupboard under the stairs” letter, and the boats to Hogwarts remain a joy to look at – the latter brilliantly played with in the Deathly Hallows flaming Hogwarts piece… but more on that later.

As for the character banners, the lettering seems a little ropey to us, and why on earth is there a goblins poster? Didn't Ron and Hermione deserve their own posters? Still, those are all mistakes to be rectified later.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Dobby, God bless him. He’s the Jar Jar Binks of the Potter franchise (yes, we went there – or, at least, I went there) and it’s almost impossible to put him in a poster without ruining the damn thing. There he lurks, whimpering, squeaking, all doe-eyed and CG, rendering poor Harry ever-so-slightly less manly, despite the whopping great big sword in his hand. See the German poster in particular for this. And as for the solo-Dobby one sheet…? Not their finest work.

On the other hand, the character banners have now become, officially, ‘wicked’ – apart from poor Ron’s, whose Mandrake-holding chuckle-fest leaves his poster looking like some kind of brightly-coloured vomitorium. But that’s all made up for by Draco’s dark green evil-off between Jason Isaacs (hello!) and Alan Rickman. It’s just so… evil.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
As the films darken, so do the posters, contracting a particularly virulent form of floaty head disease, as well as suffering from severe shadowing around the edges. Just look at Ron’s poor scared little face – it’s like someone’s nicked his teddy bear and threw it down a well. What's more, Gary Oldman manages to out-act the lot of them in just the posters. What. A. Hero.

Do these look a little bit more obviously photoshopped to you? Ron’s leg trapped in the Monster Book of Monsters, Harry ‘holding’ the Marauder's Map… the backgrounds seem cluttered, which is a shame, as it gives away some of the little things to look forward to during the film. That said, Gary Oldman. Okay, we’re a little obsessed.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
And then it got good. Really good. These smoky one-character posters scream confidence, action, excitement, and don’t rely on cluttering the background with magical trinkets and references. The posters just say: this is a good movie, and chances are, you’ll want to watch it. And that natty Triwizard outfit Harry’s wearing? Very nice.

So many character banners, so little time. With three new lead young ‘uns to add into the mix, as well as Mad Eye and the other headmasters too, it’s a hodge podge of new people and old, and yet the lower camera angles (and Ron’s oh-so-very-cool gown) make it all work.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Here, there’s nothing especially new going on – groups of wizards and witches staring at the camera, pointing wands, lights in the distance – but with the first death of a major character at the end of the last film, as well as the first appearance of the new, reinvigorated Voldemort, it all holds a greater significance… the rebellion begins. Imelda Staunton (a.k.a Dolores Umbridge) deserves a bigger spot, we reckon, especially as she was nothing short of amazing on screen. Still, moody! Magical! Wands!

Each character banner is shared with one other: Hermione with Dolores, Dolores with Dumbledore, Harry with Voldemort, the latter character held within a Prophesy Orb, which is a very nice touch. But it’s Voldemort’s very own one sheet, arms raised, that really steals the show.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Similarly to The Order Of The Phoenix, it’s difficult to differentiate between the character banners and the actual “posters” – but that’s no problem. With such a climactic, character-driven film, it would be hard to do anything else. There's Snape coming into his own, Dumbledore dying, Draco Malfoy stepping up to the plate, and the whole Lavender Brown / Hermione Granger / Ron Weasley love triangle… it’s got loads going on, and it’s all about the characters. The reflecting glasses poster is a particular stand-out, as is the back lit Dumbledore. Plus, Ron wears his Quidditch kit, and in no way looks like a buffoon. Which is always nice for Ron.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
The running-through-the-woods number: fantastic. Hogwarts in flames: jaw-dropping (even if it's more of a Part Two thing). The ‘Nowhere is safe’, London background banners: excellent. The dirty-faced, on the run, tense tone that runs throughout the poster campaign is a brilliant interpretation of the film itself, proving everyone that they’d saved the best until (second)last. Now just look back to that original Hogwarts picture from the first movie… and back to the Hogwarts in flames. Brilliant stuff.

They’d managed to avoid the single cropped face shot beforehand, but when they finally did, they don’t do a bad job of it. Sure, Ron isn’t as menacing as we’d have liked, but that Voldemort number is just so chilling it doesn’t much matter.

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