Young Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter

[Shawn Watson]

Am I the only one who notices a striking resemblence between these 2 franchises? If Young Sherlock Holmes was never made would Harry Potter exist in his present form or exist at all?

Like any other writer JK Rowling obviously gets her inspiration from many sources (the Lord of the Rings included) but there are just too many similarities to go ignored here.

Young Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter:

-have three teenage heroes (one bold and brave, one clumsy, one a pretty girl).
-take place in a gothic, labyrinthine private school.
-feature a speccy kid with messy hair.
-were written by Edinburgh born/based authors.
-feature eccentric old teachers, some kindly, some sinister.
-both have our heroes fly in some way.
-have strange, mysterious plots with a dose of the supernatural.
-are about a super-evil bad guy who is so nasty and powerful the ordinary folks on the street refuse to talk about him.
-have characters with whacky names (Bently Bobster, Chester Cragwitch, Prof. Waxflatter-Cornelious Fudge, Severus Snape, Prof. Flitwick).
-both feature a character called Dudley.
-both have a snotty, well-bred student that our hero hates (Draco Malfoy-Dudley).
-have a subplot about our hero having a hard time facing up the facts of his parents demise.
-have scenes taking place in a great dining hall.
-were both filmed in the same studios.
-were both brought to the screen by Chris Columbus.

It's a shame one franchise failed and the other succeeded (YSH took a measly $20 million). I guess this boils down the fact that one comes from a classical source of literature (a bit inaccessable to younger readers) and one comes from a popular kids book. I really would have liked to have seen more from Young Sherlock Holmes. Still there's life in it yet. Never say never.

In an alternate universe we'd be seeing the release of Young Sherlock Holmes and the Prisoner of Azkaban this summer and JK Rowling would be a single mother living on benefit.

Shawn

[videoworx]

very bizarre, i pointed the exact same thing out to someone the other day...

[Lon]

I always thought Harry Potter was more like Star Wars. Both feature a young boy whose parents are dead; lives with his aunt and uncle; unaware of this great destiny he has; goes on a journey to fulfill that destiny; has an all-powerful arch-nemesis; have the two-male, one-female heroic triangle; both have their special powers and weapons (magic wand/light saber); both universes are rich with characters, creatures, fantasy locations, vehicles and odd names for characters; both are incredibly merchandise and collectible friendly.

I love Young Sherlock Holmes and am very disappointed in the DVD. I think Columbus may have gotten the Potter gig based on his experience with writing YSH, Gremlins and Goonies. When he was first announced as the director I recall a lot of Potter fans upset that the Home Alone director was making the film and would turn it into some sort of schmaltzfest. I had faith in Columbus and knew that his talent for fantasy adventure would come into play.

I was hoping that Columbus would write and direct a sequel to YSH. I don't see why he couldn't get the same two actors and launch a series of Holmes films. That character is one of the oldest and most popular in the world. The fact that he lies dormant is, well, a mystery.

[disclover]

When I saw YSH in the theatre many moons ago, my first thought was that it was a sort of junior edition of Indiana Jones..."Sherlock Holmes and the Temple of Doom!"

[Shawn Watson]

Originally Posted by disclover

When I saw YSH in the theatre many moons ago, my first thought was that it was a sort of junior edition of Indiana Jones..."Sherlock Holmes and the Temple of Doom!"

A lot of people say this but when you consider that this was in production at the same time of Temple of Doom's release and that Columbus obviously wrote it beforehand and that they both have the same studio, I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

Shawn