‘Harry Potter and the Transmedia Wizarding World’: Paratexts of the Harry Potter Franchise, 2011-17 Thesis submitted by Cassie Brummitt In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy De Montfort University, October 2018 Abstract This doctoral thesis examines five Harry Potter paratexts created between 2011-17 and seeks to understand their impact upon the franchise’s trajectory following the end of the Potter books (in 2007) and films (in 2011). As a piece of long-form analysis, the research represents a significant addition to scholarship on contemporary film franchising and Harry Potter more specifically. The following work shows how the Potter franchise has been purposely sustained, extended and reworked as a result of the proliferation of paratexts, and explores the production contexts of those paratexts as well as their structuring textual concerns. The thesis takes a case study approach of five paratexts created between 2011-17. Although each chapter is dedicated to a specific paratext, the discussions in these chapters are interconnected due to what I note is an increasingly coherent transmedia strategy across the Harry Potter franchise during this period. The first chapter will examine Pottermore (2011— ), a website and e-bookstore owned by J.K. Rowling. The second will discuss the ‘Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ theme parks (2011—), spaces that replicate the Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley film sets. The third will look at the ‘Warner Bros. Studio Tour, London: The Making of Harry Potter’ (2012—), a museum and interactive experience based at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden. The fourth is dedicated to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them(2016), the first instalment in a five-film blockbuster series.Finally, the fifth chapter explores the stageplay Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016)and its status as a transitional franchising text. This research utilises two methodological frameworks, textual analysis and empirical research, in order to shed light on the importance of paratexts – traditionally considered “ancillary materials” – in understanding how contemporary franchising works. I use Jonathan Gray’s work as a springboard to consider the role of paratexts in transforming the Harry Potter franchise from an adaptation-based phenomenon into a transmedia world-building commercial force. 2 Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 5 Notes on the Text 7 Introduction 8 Page—Screen—Paratext - Thesis context 10 - Harry Potter: the phenomenon 13 - Why Harry Potter? 18 - Methodology 21 - Structure 24 Literature Review 28 - Paratexts 29 - Adaptation studies 33 - Franchising and the film industry 37 - Harry Potter scholarship 45 Chapter One 52 “I am now in a position to give you something unique”: J.K. Rowling, Pottermore, and Brand Management - J.K. Rowling and the author function 55 - Rowling as brand guardian 60 - Pottermore 1.0: the digital adaptation 64 - ‘J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World’ 72 - Pottermore 2.0: the digital heart of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World 75 - Conclusion 82 Chapter Two 84 Rethinking Theme Parks: ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’, Fantasy Absolutely Reproduced - Understanding the theme park experience 86 - The ‘Wizarding World’ as a “utopia for consumption” 92 - Theming and the pursuit of authenticity 98 - Rides: turning theme parks upside down 106 - Conclusion 111 3 Chapter Three 113 Celebrating Authenticity, Heritage and Prestige in the ‘Warner Bros. Studio Tour, London: The Making of Harry Potter’ - Leavesden’s history 115 - Authenticity, tourism, and the museum 121 - Education + entertainment = edutainment 128 - Consumerism: “We’ll take the lot!” 137 - Conclusion 143 Chapter Four 145 Fantastic Beasts: A Corporate Beast? - From guidebook to tentpole 147 - A balance of familiarity and novelty 159 - Evaluating the success of Fantastic Beasts 168 - Conclusion 175 Chapter Five 177 “I am the new past ... I am the new future”: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Staging a Sequel - Exclusivity and belonging 181 - Rowling’s diluted authorship 187 - Past, present, future 191 - Themes, staging, and creative design 196 - Conclusion 204 Conclusion 206 - Limitations and avenues of further research 214 Appendix I: Figures 1- 13 218 Bibliography 225 4 Acknowledgements One of the things everyone warned me about going into this PhD was that it would be a lonely, solitary experience at times. Luckily, on the whole I haven’t found that to be the case,and I’ve been supported along the way by a bunch of pretty great people. The biggest debt I owe is to my first supervisor, Dr. James Russell, whose support throughout this whole process has been unreal. Even when things seemed impossibly difficult, I left every single supervision meeting feeling positive about what I had to do next. Thank you for making so much time for me, and for your relentless enthusiasm, tactful feedback, great advice, and unwavering belief. I’m also very grateful for the opportunity to teach on the BA Film Studies course, and for the funding to go to Disneyland Paris. Thank you also to my second supervisors, Dr. Ellen Wright and Prof. Andy Mousley, for your help along the way. All the staff and postgraduates in the Cinema and Television History Institute (CATHI) at De Montfort University were a big part of my PhD experience. Thanks particularly go to Kieran Foster and James Fenwick for providing feedback on bits of this thesis; to Kieran Sellars for similar help, and for working with me on our queerbaiting article; to Prof. Steve Chibnall and Dr. Alissa Clarke for securing funding for the research trip to LA; and to Sue and Laraine Porter for letting me teach with them. Dr. Matthew Jones and Dr. Pier Ercole made my formal review as positive an experience as possible, so thanks for that. I met some amazing people during my PhD. Louise, you are the best housemate, PhD confidant and friend I could have ever asked for. Evi, Christian, Claire, and Virginie – our chats and adventures were the best. Remi, thank you for being there and for always letting me ramble. Thank you to Tracey Leung for all your support throughout, and for helping me to be a better person for many years now. Thank you to my aunt and uncle, Christine and Martyn, for helping me out, especially in the last couple of years. I couldn’t have done it without you. 5 Thank you to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London. You changed the game, you changed my life, and I’m not proud of much, but I’m proud of the chapter I wrote about you. Lastly, thank you to everyone at Phoenix for keeping mesane throughout this PhD. Not only is Phoenix a pretty incredible place to work, but whenever I was sat in the cafe on my laptop for hours on end, talking to all of you made me feel better even when you didn’t know it. This thesis is for my dad. He would’ve been proud, I think. 6 Notes on the Text Throughout this thesis I refer to novels and films in the Harry Potter series by shortened titles. These are as follows: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (UK) / Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (US) = Philosopher’s Stone Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets = Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban = Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire = Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix = Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows = Deathly Hallows I treat the films Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 as separate productions, and refer to them as Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Deathly Hallows Part 2. For all other instances of cited books and films, I first use the official title followed by, if stated, a shortened form. 7 Introduction Page—Screen—Paratext “Whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”1 On 7th July 2011, J.K. Rowling shared the stage with cast and crew from the Harry Potter films at the Deathly Hallows Part 2 premiere in London. The lavish affair in Trafalgar Square featured speeches from a number of key figures from the franchise, and was filmed and transmitted around the world. 2011 would prove to be a watershed moment in the history of the franchise: the Potter arc – the books and films – were at the pinnacle of their success, after over a decade at the top of bestseller lists and the global box office. Simultaneously, it marked the end of a 14-year-long narrative journey that had exploded into a pop culture phenomenon. The Deathly Hallows Part 2premiere, featuring a 1.2km-long red carpetand thousands of fans (some of whom reportedly camped for up to seven days)2, epitomised the ground-breaking popular success of the franchise at that cultural moment. It also symbolised the creative ascendancy of J.K. Rowling: her speech paid tribute to key figures involved in the film productions, but her own presence on-stage tacitly signalled her inclusion in that same hallowed company. In particular, her claim that fans could come back “by page or by ... screen”3 collapsed the differences between book and film texts, and staked her creative authority over both. Although the Potter books and films had dominated the media landscape throughout the first decade of the new millennium, the franchise has continued to evolve since the series’ conclusion in 2011, however. As this thesis will explore, Harry Potter is not merely confined to the “page” or the “screen”, but has been and continues to be reimagined and reconfigured through a number of extratextual products, texts, and experiences – paratexts – that rework the existing Potter texts as well as extend the fictional universe into new settings and new cultural forms.