Kids Party Ideas: Harry Potter Birthday

In this first movie we are introduced to young Harry Potter, an ordinary boy forced to live with his negligent relatives, the Dursleys after his parents were killed. On his birthday Harry receives a visit from Hagrid to find that he is no ordinary boy - but a wizard who's been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is where we first fell in love with this young boy with the lightning-bolt shaped scar and his wizarding world.

Soon Harry learns that his parents were killed by a rogue wizard named Lord Voldermort and that somehow Harry was the only member of his family to survive. This leads us through Harry's first year at Hogwarts and his acclimation into the world of wizardry and his quest to thwart the plans of "he who must not be named."

Warner Brothers purchased the film rights to J.K. Rowling's book back in 1999. In 2000 they began production on the first film with Chris Columbus directing. Rowling insisted that the whole cast be either British or Irish in hopes of maintaining the cultural integrity of the book.

The film was mainly shot in the UK at Leavesden Film Studios as well as other historic buildings around England. The film was released in the UK on November 4th, 2001 and then in the US on November 14th, 2001. The film was a hit with critics worldwide. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone grossed in excess of $975 million dollars in box offices worldwide, received 3 Academy Award nods and is currently the 5th highest-grossing film of all time!

A great Harry Potter birthday party starts by making sure you have all the basic supplies! You may choose to buy plates, napkins and cups that match your Harry Potter theme. There are also deluxe party packs with include EVERYTHING you could possibly need!

Here are some reptuable places you can get some great discount supplies at online:

In November of 2002, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets opened at the box office. Our favorite wizards-in-training: Harry, Hermione and Ron were back at Hogwarts for another year of adventure! This year Hogwarts is plagued by attacks on students by the heir to Slytherin who everyone is concerned may be Harry Potter. Harry and his friends learn that Tom Riddle (Voldermort) is behind the attacks and Harry saves the day and thwarts yet another plan by He Who Must Not Be Named. This film introduces us to characters like Gilderoy Lockheart, a self-absorbed novelist who takes over as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. We also get to meet Moaning Myrtle, Tom Riddle's first victim who haunts the bathroom.

Production for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets began on November 19, 2001, just three days after the widespread release of the first Harry Potter film. The film was mainly shot in the UK at Leavesden Film Studios as well as other historic buildings around England. The film was released in the UK in November of 2002. The film was a hit with critics worldwide just like the first film. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets grossed in excess of $879 million dollars in box offices worldwide. The film made its way into the Guiness Book of World Records in 2003, for Most Theaters Shown in on Opening Night, with over 2,000 theaters showing it at the exact same time across the United States alone, this would be beaten the following year by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Along with buying kits you can really get creative with your Harry Potter Birthday! Using your imagination will help to make your party memorable! The more you get into the theme...the more you will get out of it. Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

Decorate the outside of the house. Put balloons on your mailbox and a sign near the front door that reads, "Howgarts".

Inside you can really get creative! Every Harry Potter movie looks much like a Halloween party. So...get out the spider webs and put up some house banners! Give each birthday guest their own wand as they come in the door. You can make these from dried willow twigs.

The bottom line is that the more creative you can get with your decorating, the better and more memorable your party will be!

Harry Potter Through the Years...

From the little boy who lived under the stairs to a grown and powerful wizard, we've had so much fun watching Harry Potter grow!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a 2004 fantasy adventure film, based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. Directed by Mexican film maker Alfonso Cuarón, it is the third film in the popular Harry Potter series and it is the first film to be released on IMAX theaters. It stars Daniel Radcliffe as the teenage wizard Harry Potter, and Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Gary Oldman and David Thewlis joined the cast as the new characters Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. In this movie, the role of Albus Dumbledore was played by Michael Gambon who took over from the late Richard Harris who died of Hodgkin's disease. Steve Kloves returned as screenwriter, while Chris Columbus (the director of the previous two films) became a producer, alongside David Heyman. The film was released on 31 May 2004 in the United Kingdom and on 4 June 2004 in North America, as the first film released into IMAX theaters.

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards - Academy Award for Original Music Score and Academy Award for Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards held in 2005.

The cake will likely be the focal-point of your Harry Potter birthday party so get your thinking caps on! Everyone has a different level of skill when it comes to baking and decorating cakes. There are some of us who are cake GURUS. You know to roll fondant and create amazing looking masterpieces! Then there are those of us who are basic decorators. No matter what your cake talent level is, you can make an amazing cake that will wow your guests and your birthday child!

There are a few ways you can go with your cake. The easiest is to buy a Harry Potter shaped cake pan. Or you may consider making cupcakes giving each one it's own unique Potter themed decoration like wizard hats or golden snitches. This is the route we went with our cupcakes. If you are one of those "experts" you may want to sculpt your cake and roll fondant. Just keep your birthday kid in mind...who is his favorite Potter character?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a 2005 fantasy adventure film, based on J. K. Rowling's novel of the same name. The film is the fourth installment in the Harry Potter film series, although 1492 Pictures decided to leave the series. The film was directed by Mike Newell and produced by David Heyman. The screenplay was penned by Steve Kloves. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The film is set during the trio's fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A highly dangerous competition, the Triwizard Tournament, is being held at Hogwarts with only one student from each of the three competing schools selected to take part, but mystery occurs when the Goblet of Fire chooses Harry Potter as a fourth competitor.

Filming began in early 2004 and the scenes of Hogwarts took place at the Leavesden Film Studios. Five days after its release, the film had grossed over US$102 million at the North American box office, the highest first-weekend tally for a Harry Potter film, and enjoyed an immensely successful run at the box office, earning over $895 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of 2005 and the 8th-highest grossing film of all time. It was the third highest grossing film in the U.S. for 2005 making $290 million. As of September 2009 it is the unadjusted 13th highest-grossing film of all time. As of September 2009 it is currently the fourth-highest grossing Harry Potter film, behind Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction, but lost to Memoirs of a Geisha. However, the film won BAFTA Award for Best Production Design making it the only Potter film to win a BAFTA award. This was also the first Harry Potter film to receive a PG-13 rating by the MPAA and a 12A by the BBFC or its international equivalents (for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images), the preceding films and the following Half-Blood Prince film adaptation having been rated PG or its international equivalents. This was the second Harry Potter film to be released in IMAX theaters.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a 2007 fantasy adventure film, based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. Directed by David Yates, produced by David Heyman's company Heyday Films, and written by Michael Goldenberg, it is the fifth film in the popular Harry Potter film series. The story follows Harry Potter in his fifth year at the magic school Hogwarts. The Ministry of Magic refuses to believe the return of Lord Voldemort and appoints bureaucrat Dolores Umbridge as a teacher at the school.

Live-action filming took place in England and Scotland for exterior locations and Leavesden Film Studios in Watford for interior locations from February to November 2006, with a one-month break in June. Post-production on the film continued for several months afterwards to add in visual effects. The film's budget was reportedly between £75 and 100 million ($150-200 million). Warner Bros., the distributor of the film, released it in the UK on 12 July 2007, and in North America on 11 July, both in conventional and IMAX theatres, and was the first Potter film to be released in IMAX 3-D.

It is the unadjusted seventh-highest grossing film of all time, and a critical and commercial success, acclaimed as "the best one yet" by Rowling, who has consistently offered praise for the film adaptations of her work. The film opened to a worldwide 5-day opening of $333 million, fourth all-time, and grossed $939 million total, the second to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for the greatest total of 2007.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2009 fantasy-adventure film based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth film in the Harry Potter film series. It is directed by David Yates, the director of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. David Heyman and David Barron produced the film, and the screenplay was written by Steve Kloves, the screenwriter of the first four films. Filming began on 24 September 2007, and the film was released in cinemas worldwide on 15 July 2009, one day short of the fourth anniversary of the corresponding novel's release. In everywhere but the United States, the sixth film was simultaneously released in regular cinemas and IMAX 3-D in all countries. In the US, the IMAX version was delayed by 2 weeks due to a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen several week commitment. The film was released instead in IMAX 3D on 29 July, two weeks after its original release, in these countries.

The film opened to critical acclaim and instant commercial success, breaking the records for biggest midnight opening gross of all time as well as biggest single-day worldwide gross of all time. In five days the film made $394 million, breaking the record for biggest five-day worldwide gross in history. It is also the highest-grossing film of 2009, grossing more than $922 million, which puts the film on the all-time list of 10 highest-grossing films worldwide.

The film is dedicated to the memory of actor Rob Knox[citation needed] who portrays Marcus Belby in the film and was killed in May 2008 in a knife attack.