The visual panache comes with a whole lot of plot. But thanks to Rowling’s capacity for invention and some utterly glorious new beasts like kleptomaniac platypus the Niffler, the gamble largely succeeds - and, as you’d expect, it looks dazzling doing it. That’s a lot of world-building to do, so this film has a bit of the same dense exposition of the first two Potter films. team have opened a completely different wizarding saga: a new era, new country and entirely new characters (at least so far). Rather than spin off new big-screen adventures for the generation-defining boy wizard, she and the Warner Bros. Hermione mentions that 'There are mountain trolls riding Graphorns through Hungary' nearly 100 years later in 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.You have to credit J.K. If they were indeed the last pair of breeding Graphorns, then Newt's preservation efforts seem to have worked. As he and Jacob feed the small family that stride over to them in the magizoologist's suitcase, Newt explains that he has the last two breeding pairs in existence, and they were near extinction. Maybe they understand that he's trying to help them, because if there's any creature that exemplifies Newt's mission, it's the Graphorn. The guidebook also describes them as highly aggressive, though the family in Newt's care seemed accustomed enough to his presence.

It had to be intimidating at first glance but also endearing and nurturing with strong family bonds.' In describing their design for the film, visual effects artist Rob Jensen explains in 'The Art of the Film: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,' that they wanted the Graphorn 'to move like a cat but be big and powerful like an elephant or rhino. The clouds he has created flash the same blue as the venom, and the rain that falls wipes away all memory of the Obscurus from the minds of the No-Majs. At the end of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,' Frank carries a vial of Swooping Evil venom into the sky, where he seems to take a bolt of his own lightning.

Newt writes that the creature 'is so sensitive to supernatural danger that wands created with its feathers have been known to fire curses preemptively.' It's not entirely clear how the Thunderbird's powers work, but apparently they can be melded with other magic. They're closely tied to Native American wizards and witches, which makes sense as in the real world, thunderbirds are some of the most recognizable Native American symbols on the planet. Newt's whole point in coming to America was to return Frank to his native habitat in Arizona, which is, he writes in his 'Fantastic Beasts' book, where the creatures are most plentiful.Īnd just as Phoenix feathers impart incredible power to wands, so do Thunderbird feathers.

Fantastic beasts and where to find them