Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first film in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, a film series taking place in the extended Harry Potter universe. It is set in 1920s New York and revolves around the adventures of Newt Scamander, celebrated magizoologist and author of the textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which features in the main Harry Potter book series. The film's setting also spans the initial rise to power of the dark wizard Grindelwald, who is the main antagonist of the series.
The Fantastic Beasts films have been generally fairly mixed by fans, with opinions difering between fan spaces, with some controversy over the casting of Grindelwald, and elements of J.K. Rowling’s world-building of the North American magical world, which were perceived to be racially insensitive. Fanworks, headcanons, meta and shipping revolving around the Fantastic Beasts universe all sprang up following the release of the first film. This first film was generally fairly well received.
==Fan Reception of the Film==
===Casting and Reaction===
Casting decisions for the four protagonists were announced in June–August 2015: Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander (4 June), Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein (16 June), Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein (9 July), and Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski (16 Aug).Casting decisions and announcement links on the Fantastic Beasts (film series) page on the Harry Potter Wikia.
In a Reddit discussion thread on r/harrypotter about the news that Eddie Redmayne had been cast as Newt, fans expressed their disappointment over the choice of a white actor:
During the course of this discussion, several Redditors pointed out that any users who disagreed with Redmayne being cast as Newt, and particularly those who argued for a PoC casting instead, were being downvoted en masse by the rest of the community.Comment by bananiepie, r/harrypotter, 2 June 2015 (Accessed 25 August 2018).Comment by sylviecerise, r/harrypotter, 2 June 2015 (Accessed 25 August 2018).Comment by jondegi, r/harrypotter, 2 June 2015 (Accessed 25 August 2018).
For more on the casting hopes and fan headcanons for Newt Scamander, see Hopes for a PoC Newt Scamander.
On the overwhelmingly white main cast of the Fantastic Beasts film, which included but was not limited to a white Newt Scamander, fandom critic Stitch made this point in a meta essay:
==Controversies==
Eddie, when cast as Newt, made it clear in some interviews that he portrayed him/refractory as a person on the autistic spectrum, which Rowling has never confirmed. Some fans embraced the headcanon, others have criticized it, as Eddie seems to have a history of trying to play autistic without being one, not talking to one, not even knowing if the character is autistic, which has sparked outrage in some autistic fans and activists for the cause.
==Fandom==
===Terminology===
* Original Percival Graves: This term refers to the fan characterisation of Percival Graves as a character separate from the Grindelwald impersonation that we see in the movies. While this character does not appear in the movies, fans have formed their own headcanons about what he might be like, and he often appears in fanworks, either pre-Grindelwald, post-Grindelwald, or in AU fanworks where he is never impersonated.
* Grindelgraves: The fan term for Grindelwald-as-Graves, i.e. Grindelwald's impersonation of Percival Graves. Sometimes written Grindel!Graves. (Not to be confused with the pairing Grindelwald/Graves).
==Notable Fanworks==
===J.K. Rowling Features kirikawa_juu’s Fanart on Twitter===
On 22 November 2016, the day that the first Fantastic Beasts film was released in Japan, a Japanese artist named kirikawa_juu posted an anime-style digital painting to Twitter. The fanart, entitled “Hero, change” (主人公、交代) featured Harry Potter walking away with his back to the viewer, “tagging in” Newt Scamander, the protagonist of the next series of Harry Potter films.Tweet by kirikawa_juu, Twitter. Posted November 22, 2016 (Accessed December 26, 2017).
Two days later, Twitter user thatarabicwitch drew the piece to the attention of J.K. Rowling, tweeting, “i'm in love with this pic, are you?” The tweet contained a link to the image but no attribution.
Rowling herself replied just three minutes later, eager to find out who the artist was.Tweet by jk_rowling, Twitter. Posted November 24, 2016 (Accessed December 26, 2017). thatarabicwitch replied that they didn't know, as they had discovered it on the social networking site We Heart It.
Fans immediately rallied to hunt for the artist, and multiple links were posted to kirikawa_juu’s original Tweet as well as to the artwork on pixiv.Tweet by aikajellybean, Twitter. Posted November 24, 2016 (Accessed December 26, 2017).Tweet by DulcimerKJ, Twitter. Posted November 24, 2016 (Accessed December 26, 2017). Rowling then tweeted again to verify that she was being given the correct name: “I'm being told the painting is by @kirikawa_juu, is that correct?”Tweet by jk_rowling, Twitter. Posted November 24, 2016 (Accessed December 26, 2017).
kirikawa_juu then replied to the tweet: “I'm kirikawa ,Thank you for seeing my picture. It can't get any better than this!　I will be your biggest fan forever...!!! 😭”Tweet by kirikawa_juu, Twitter. Posted November 24, 2016 (Accessed December 26, 2017). Rowling responded: “Thank you for that beautiful painting. It really moved me! They're two characters that mean so much to me.”Tweet by jk_rowling, Twitter. Posted November 24, 2016 (Accessed December 26, 2017).
Rowling then posted the fanwork in a new tweet, complete with attribution, and Pinned it to the top of her Twitter feed.Tweet by jk_rowling, Twitter. Posted November 24, 2016 (Accessed December 26, 2017).
The next day, kirikawa_juu posted a Tweet with a message of thanks to the Harry Potter fandom.Tweet by kirikawa_juu, Twitter. Posted November 25, 2016 (Accessed December 26, 2017). Translated, it reads:
(Translation taken from RocketNews24)
===Fanfiction===
* Mother May I by esama. In which Newt can recognize an Obscurial by sight. Canon divergence fix-it fic.
* The Cigarette Case by AgentMalkere. Apparently even Gellert Grindelwald isn't immune to a niffler's sticky paws. (In which Newt was not expecting to find Percival Graves in a stolen cigarette case.) Post-movie, Percival/Newt.
* Basic Instincts by manic_intent. Canon divergence A/B/O with non-traditional dynamics. Percival/Newt
* Newt Scamander and the Impossible Stowaway by sir_not_appearing_in_this_archive. Newt can't stay in New York forever, but leaving is hard, and lonely--until he discovers Credence is alive and well, sleeping in Newt's cabin. Credence doesn't deserve mercy, but he still can't help following the man in the blue coat who tried to save him. Credence/Newt
* the king of oak by saltpans. Post-movie AU with fae!Credence. Graves/Credence and Newt/Tina.
* Every Beast Has Its Home by DoceoPercepto. In which Credence survives, and Newt discovers that his suitcase has exactly one more resident than usual.
* Drizzle by PinkPunk010. Tina and Newt. Newt and Tina. Magical Adventurers. But no matter how far they go, London is there. With the drizzle. And Tina doesn't much appreciate the drizzle. Newt/Tina and Jacob/Queenie
===Fanart===
===Fanvids===
==References==
Category:Fantastic Beasts