Dobby axed from 'Phoenix' movie Options

[Zola231]

This is part of the article

Toby Jones, the man who voiced Dobby in the the second Potter flick, recently told MTV that the ex-house-elf won't be making an appearance in Film 5, although Kreacher will.

"I know that the filmmakers have a problem with each new film because the books are getting longer - there's so much to include in them," Jones remarked.

While Dobby's absence will not shock fans who have been following the films closely, it does open up some plot questions. In the book, it is Dobby who both divulges to Harry the secret of the Room of Requirement (where Harry and the other members of "Dumbledore's Army" meet to practice forbidden defensive spells), and materializes to warn Harry that his secret hideout is no longer safe from the prowling eyes of the increasingly powerful Ministry of Magic informant (and new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher), Dolores Umbridge. With Dobby's absence, it is unclear how these matters will be handled in the film.

I wouldn't worry - the producers have always found other, plausible ways to fill in gaps after cutting scenes or characters.

Here is the full article

How do you think the movie will be, because Dobby plays some important parts, like i have shown above.

[Nina79]

I think Dobby should be in the movie. I think he's really funny, and helpful to Harry and Ron/Hermione, even if it's too much sometimes. But he's important to the fifth movie. I wonder who's going to tell about Room of Requirement then. WB is going to get a hard time with that...

And who's going to decorate the room with the baubles saying "Have a very Harry Christmas!"? Dobby is so funny, and kinda cute in some way... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laughing.gif)

[My Pensieve]

It will be disappointing that Dobby won't be in the movie. But we all know WB and they have their own way of doing things, and since they are a bunch of cheap money grubbing mongers, they will take every way to cut corners, even at the expense of the movie. It's hard to understand how they base there decisions but I wonder if JK was ever consulted about this discussion?

[Nina79]

It will be disappointing that Dobby won't be in the movie. But we all know WB and they have their own way of doing things, and since they are a bunch of cheap money grubbing mongers, they will take every way to cut corners, even at the expense of the movie. It's hard to understand how they base there decisions but I wonder if JK was ever consulted about this discussion?

You're so right!! Maybe someone should ask her? Is she going to have an interview about the movie soon??

But anyway... WB should put these scenes in, because they'll get the money back anyway... There's fans who's going to see the movies more than once, and will buy the dvd later on. So they'll get the money back on a second or two. So it shouldn't matter how long the movie is, or how much it'd cost (with a few additional scenes).

[Zola231]

I think that JKR thinks the movie does not want to be too long or people won't like it. And thats maybe why she took out some of the less main charecters.

[the_prisoner_of_...]

I'm sure JKR was consolted about the desicion. At the end of the day she has executive power to say yes or no. Remember Dobby isn't the first character to be left out. Ron's older brother's played big roles throughout the books, but are missing from the movies. The same can be said for Peeves and Percy's role in book 4. Personally I'm more worried about the whole Percy thing.

[Perseus_Evans]

Dobby was funny in the books... but it just doesn't work in the film... He was annoying. Sorry... It's true. That may have been a problem with the director, the actor or the special effects artist, but the reality is that the house elf storyline is better played out in the imagination than on the screen.

I'm personally glad we don't have to endure Hermione's SPEW campaign. Buttons and Winky and the loosely veiled social commentary have always been a bit of a distraction from the important events, in my opinion...

But no matter what, the business of the Harry Potter movies isn't for those of us who've read, reread and become hungry for every word of the books. They're for those who want to be shown the story. They don't want to spend time on the mystery... They only want to spend a couple hours eating popcorn and watching the story before their eyes. WB knows this, so they're not going to cater to those of us who are upset with the omissions. They can't please us anyway, at least not without a 6 hour movie...

And no they won't make any more or less money by filming 20 extra scenes... You're buying the DVD regardless. We just have to trust that JKR won't let them leave out the important things...

And on that subject, at least we know that the Percy storyline and the house-elf issues won't be critical to the end of the story. Everything that goes or stays in the movies can help us unravel the puzzle before book 7 comes out, so I kind of like the differences...

[snapes_girl]

I, myself am a little dissapointed about it. He is a strong Ally of Harry Potter and I think his character is important. Guess that means no drunken Winky either. Was looking forward to that.

I wonder who is going to tell Harry about the room of requirements now? Probably Dumbledore or Fred and George. I wish they would put it all in. I for one would sit through a 10 hour movie if they made one! I know there are 1,000's of Harry Potter fans that would!

[Perseus_Evans]

But you don't make a billion dollars a movie by pleasing 1000s of fans, yet alienating millions of others with obscure plotlines and a 10-hr movie...

Tell you what... you can have Dobby and Winky back... But they'll take out the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort... Sound good? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[My Pensieve]

But you don't make a billion dollars a movie by pleasing 1000s of fans, yet alienating millions of others with obscure plotlines and a 10-hr movie...

Tell you what... you can have Dobby and Winky back... But they'll take out the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort... Sound good? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

You're killing me!!!

Winky can definitely be left out, but Dobby? I think 5 minutes of him on screen wouldn't have hurt the money mongers at WB. Then again what the hey, we don't live by the movies themselves. I just feel bad about the people who don't read well yet still enjoy the movies. They will miss out on some good stuff.....

10 hours of Harry Potter? Can we have a potty break in there? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laughing.gif)

[Perseus_Evans]

5 minutes of Dobby? OK...

Let's see... For that, they need an entire team of CG artists to create frame by frame animations at 48 frames/second or better... That's at least $50 per frame, so only about $750,000... I'm sure we can help them find a way to cut costs...

I suppose they could rebudget the casting costs of maintaining arguably the most talented ensemble of actors since Gosford Park had them all... Most movies that have such talent are films that don't also involve a great deal of special effects... Just be glad they won't cut the thestrals since they'll only have to be in half the scenes, (most of the kids will not be able to see them, so they'll probably only have five minute of actual scream time)...

I've got it!!! To cut costs, they can recast Sirius and Voldemort... Instead of Gary Oldman and Ralph Fiennes, we'll bring in Gary Coleman and Ralph Macchio... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laughing.gif)

[My Pensieve]

5 minutes of Dobby? OK...

Let's see... For that, they need an entire team of CG artists to create frame by frame animations at 48 frames/second or better... That's at least $50 per frame, so only about $750,000... I'm sure we can help them find a way to cut costs...

I suppose they could rebudget the casting costs of maintaining arguably the most talented ensemble of actors since Gosford Park had them all... Most movies that have such talent are films that don't also involve a great deal of special effects... Just be glad they won't cut the thestrals since they'll only have to be in half the scenes, (most of the kids will not be able to see them, so they'll probably only have five minute of actual scream time)...

I've got it!!! To cut costs, they can recast Sirius and Voldemort... Instead of Gary Oldman and Ralph Fiennes, we'll bring in Gary Coleman and Ralph Macchio... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laughing.gif)

$750,000? Hey I think they can afford that since they'll be making a ton more then that. I don't know about where you live, but the movies don't stick around my area for very long, so if they'd spend a bit of money on the *small* things their rate of return my be triple. I know some of the *ins* and outs of this and let me tell you that they are cutting budget BIG TIME. They have in all the movies. Why not go for the quality and make the fans a bit more happy plus draw a few more into the theaters.

As for Gary Coleman and Ralph Macchio..... I could accept that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laughing.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[cruticus]

The absence of Dobby was not a shock to me, because the money for that is extreme. But like Nina said, they will make their money back anways.

But its sad not to se Dobby again, although put in COS again, ands you'll be satisfied. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)