Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The cinematic prequel to J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," brings the magic of the Harry Potter series to the ethnocentric and finance-driven United States.

Something mysterious, "a dark wind with white eyes," wreaks havoc in the streets of 1920s New York and threatens to expose the clandestine wizarding community. This poses no shortage of fret for the New Salem Society, a rightwing group of witch hunters, with wild ideas of racial purification and a deep fear of the unknown.

Fortunately, behind the fa�ade of the Woolworth Building (that amazing gothic cathedral of commerce) hides the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), and they, if anyone, should be able to address the problem.

Meanwhile a magic zoologist, Newt Scamander (played with the daft and delightful humor by Eddie Redmayne), arrives in the city, on the last legs of his worldwide journey to research and rescue the vast and mostly unknown world of magical creatures. And when Jacob Kowalski (the ebullient Dan Fogler), a simple factory worker with a dream of starting his own bakery, runs into Newt and his puzzling piece of luggage -- a magic case full of untold wonders and one little niffler, a pilfering platypus-like creature that gets itself into all kinds of trouble in a city full of shiny objects -- the world will never be the same for either of them.

Behind this full-force fantasy of conjuring and creatures is an indictment of American conservatism and its storied history with Puritanical fears. Director David Yates and his vast team of production designers do wonders, creeping into the walls of this country and letting loose a magical menagerie of diversity where the breeding of magical creatures is forbidden and the marriage between magicians and "no-majes" unlawful.

With over an hour of special features and multipart featurettes, including deleted scenes and a detailed look at the characters, creatures and design of this film, this Blu-ray has a trove of information to explore.

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"
Blu-ray Combo Pack
$19.99
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