|
 |
|
|
|
|
Musings #4:
Alas, Poor Bagman - I Knew Him, Horatio
by Matthew Vines
November 22, 2004
Rumors stating that Professor Sprout (played by Miriam Margoyles) has been cut from the fifth Harry Potter film have been making their way around the Internet and have supposedly shocked HP fans. No offense to the character of Professor Sprout, but who really cares? Within mere minutes I was able to compile a list of every time she does anything in the fifth book:
In chapter eleven, her eyebrows disappear into her flyaway hair
In chapter thirteen, she lectures Harry's class about the importance of O.W.L.s and assigns them an essay
In chapter eighteen, her lecture is inaudible due to heavy rain
In chapter twenty-five, she reads the newspaper and accidentally lets egg yolk fall into her lap
Professor Sprout also appears in a dream of Harry's, in which she waltzes with Neville in the Room of Requirement (with McGonagall playing bagpipes in the background), but who actually expected that to be in the movie? Who even remembered that from the book?
What a tragedy. How could they leave out a character so important to the plot? I admit, seeing Harry's dream would've been quite humorous, but a colossal waste of time. A note to distraught Harry Potter fans - get over it. Feel free to fret about David Yates, the fledgling director who will attempt to tackle the fifth movie (I'm not being judgmental, but he hasn't done any mainstream films) and the new screenwriter, Michael Goldenberg, but not about a character as negligible as Miss Sprout.
Ever since August, I've been rather worried that one of the characters who so graciously provides comic relief in the fourth Harry Potter novel wouldn't make it on screen. And as time goes on, it seems more likely that he won't. Mr. Ludovic Bagman, if you truly are gone, I shall dearly miss you. Yes, I've experienced most of the phases of emotional reaction - denial ("No, they can't cut Ludo!"), bargaining ("Perhaps he'll just have a smaller part...yes, that's it"), anger ("Not my Ludo!"), depression ("Ludo, can you hear me now? Sweet Ludovic, hear my cry!"), but I refuse to move on to the fifth stage, acceptance, until we know for sure whether or not he'll appear in the movie.
While Prof. Sprout only does five things in OotP, the name Ludo Bagman is mentioned more than 230 times in the fourth Harry Potter novel, which makes it much more difficult to understand why he would get the dreaded axe. However, earlier today, seven new cast members were announced for the fourth movie. Amongst these are Nigel, a first year student who isn't in the book, Karkaroff's aide, another character who came from who-knows-where, Ernie McMillan, and Hannah Abbott, none of which are terribly crucial characters. As Bagman is a major character, it's highly unlikely that a casting announcement wouldn't have been made by now if he were in the film.
In the fourth book, Ludo Bagman informs the champions about the First Task and holds the bag as they reach inside and blindly select a dragon to battle. However, in the script excerpt from the fourth movie, Barty Crouch fulfills Bagman's book duties. This is what originally led to speculation that Bagman had been cut from the film, and as the wheels of time keep turning, Ludovic's fate is gradually becoming clearer. Unfortunately for the Harry Potter fandom, it does not look like a pleasant one.
However, I sincerely hope that this omission will not taint the fourth film in any way and that no fan will walk away from the movie disappointed because of it. Although it is disappointing, if we give ourselves sufficient time to make it through the five stages mentioned earlier, we can still enjoy the movie immensely. The only negative things from recent set reports are in regard to the actors not staying around to chat with fans - all reports solely about the film have been very positive. And even though the average Harry Potter fan will go ballistic when they hear that one sentence from the book (about Hermione's mother's sister's cousin's best friend's visit to Disney World) has been cut, we must have faith in Mike Newell and Company and trust them to produce an outrageously incredible film!
P.S.: Newell is doing a fine job casting so far. Now if Jim Carrey were cast as Voldemort, Harry Potter fans would have every right to ransack WB.
Back to HP Musings
|
|
|
|
-->
