‘The Harry Potter Adaptation Should Have Been an Animated Show’: Harry Potter Fans Discuss the Best Way to Adapt the Beloved Books to Screen

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Nov 9, 2026 10:30 AM EST

The new Harry Potter series is coming to HBO next month, and fans are still not sure whether they should be excited or scared, while most are feeling a mixture of both. This series has a chance to bring magical moments to the screen that we never got to see before, but it also has a chance to ruin a decades-long legacy.

The upcoming release mostly means that a lot of fans are deep in discussions about their expectations and whether or not they think the show will live up to them. The discussion below brings up an idea of what could have been, and the reactions, just like anything else in this fandom, are mixed.

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  • "Hot Take: The Harry Potter adaptation should have been an animated show from the beginning"

  • Harry Potter book sitting on top of another open book.
    via Jessica Fadel

    Harry Potter book sitting on top of another open book.

    Image for illustrative purposes.

  • Magic, especially the kind portrayed in the books, is just so much easier to bring to life in animated form. Especially considering that it's a story about the characters growing up, animation would make it easy to
    via u/josue136868
  • age the characters naturally instead of having to wait for the actors to actually grow older. They could also make the characters as accurate as possible to their descriptions in the books.and I could go on and on.
    via u/josue136868

  • There are plenty of different adaptations out there, some more successful than others. The thing I learned about them is that no matter how they are executed, people will always have criticism and something to say. If the adaptation is very different from the source, fans will complain about it, but if the adaptation is word-for-word accurate, fans will also complain about it. There is no winning here, really.

    When it comes to the Harry Potter past adaptation, AKA the movies, it's safe to say the general reaction was very positive, but as a fan of the book, there were many plotlines and elements missing that a longer TV show could easily fix. Does that mean a live-action series is really necessary when it hasn't even been 20 years since the first film was released? Time can only tell. 

    The idea of an animated show is definitely interesting, as it eliminates many risks in putting out a live-action TV series, most importantly the subject of time. When working with young actors, the schedule must be very tight, and that could definitely affect some important details in the series. When you use animation, well, you don't have to worry about your main character growing a mustache.

  • Cheezburger Image 10675668992
    via u/josue136868
  • Irauch95 1000% agree! Most books with magic or fantasy elements would be better animated rather than liveaction
    via u/Irauch95
  • Adriene-Complex-8770 I never even thought about this but now that you say it I 1000% agree
    via u/Adriene-Complex-8770
  • Soxley02 I think it would be a dream scenario an animated adaptation but with Japanese style saturation...400 episodes for all 7 books? Yes please!
    via u/Soxley02
  • NoAlien for the show definitely. Now they have to keep the schedule tight and possibly sacrifice quality to finish each season before the kids grow too much (i'm not a fan of children in acting a generally)
    via u/NoAlien
  • Annoying_pirate unless it's really good/or a classic I don't usually bother watching live action film/tv shows
    via u/Annoying_pirate
  • aniztar I wouldn't say no to both.
    via u/aniztar
  • A woman reading a Harry Potter book.
    via Caroline Veronez

    A woman reading a Harry Potter book.

    Stock photo unrelated.

  • Embarrassed_Bake1073 I'm a longtime fan. Since the 90's. But I don't watch Anime and if this series had been animated, I wouldn't watch it. That just does not interest me. HI, I didn't watch Marvel's What If for that exact reason.
    via u/Embarrassed_Bake1073
  • lukelawlz I agree as a book fan that wanted a close book accurate adaptation. But the live action has a special place in my heart and memories. It was a huge part
    via u/lukelawlz
  • of my childhood. I honestly can't imagine Harry Potter without it. An animated series would be so well done to explore the books. The tv series coming out should've been animated imho.
    via u/lukelawlz
  • Former Visual_3940 I've had the same thought many times, and about the movies too. When I read the books, I always pictured it in animation. Maybe that's because of the cover illustrations. The Harry we see on the covers - that's just Harry.
    via u/Former_Visual_3940
  • ta_202 I think after the series is done they should do this for the next 7 years. Then in my 50s I will have something to look forward to
    via u/ta_202
  • Feisty_System_4751 That would have been better, yes. But as a business decision I understand the show will attract more people.
    via u/Feisty_System_4751

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geek Harry Potter discussion TV Movies and TV entertaining magical books potterhead Hogwarts
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