Harry Potter fans: question about the movies...

What evidence do we have that the movies are contemporary? In the books, Dudley Dursley has a Playstation, which puts the series in the 1990's, but in the movies, all I can think of is:

- the Dursley's house (which looks like it hasn't changed since the 1940's or 1950's)
- the Ford Anglia that the Weasleys drive (which to my untrained eye looks like a 1960's-era car)
- the clothes that Ron/Hermione/Harry wear in Prisoner of Azkaban (which I didn't think belonged in the movie in the first place! But this might be the only clear sign, see below)
- the train station, and the London street leading to the Leaky Cauldron (nothing particularly modern about either--it's not like there was a prominent shot of someone walking by wearing an iPod)

Anything I'm forgetting?

Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party is the clincher in the books, but IIRC it's not in the movies, or at least not the "500 years" line.

I love looking in the background of the movies to catch mise en scene details. Interesting question.

I like looking or Rowling in the movies.

Fans developed a timeline based on NHN's Deathday party. JKR agreed, and put James and Lily Potter's born/died dates in book 7. Thus the books are from 1991-1998.

But the movies are a bit more vague. Without the teen-clothes-that-annoyed-me, they could be any time after 1950 or so. Unless there's some other reference I've forgotten.

maybe it's my Brit bias.... I tend to think of them as less trendy than the US, but I could be wrong....

there's also the student/Oxford/public school thing going on, plus confusion among the wizards about what Muggles wear.

(obviously I've spent too much time thinking about this!) :hide:

And since Harry celebrated his first b-day before his parents died, according to the letter he found in Sirius' room, that meant he was born in 1980. So Harry Potter is a year older than I am. And yet I'm reading about him as a teenager. Weird. :)

Since Harry was known to be 12 at that time. But as you say, JKR confirmed it in book 7.

And here's way more timeline detail than you probably wanted... :P
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dates_in_Harry_Potter

Wanted to buy the hardcovers to match the copy of book 5 that I had, but never had the cash whenever I remembered that I wanted to get them.

:hi:

Whe Harry and his friends are flying on broomsticks to the Ministry through London, you can see the "Gherkin" (Swiss Re Building at 30 St Mary Axe.) in the background. I noticed it while seeing the movie in the theatre. The Gherkin was completed in 2004. The Order of the Phoenix takes place long before the building was started.

That anachronism belongs on imdb!

While those shots were dramatic and exciting (and looked great in the trailer), they made zero sense. In the books, they immediately zoomed upwards to fly in the clouds, so as not to be seen by Muggles. I had a wtf moment when I saw that in the theater.

Makes sense that the movies wouldn't take pains to take place in the 1990's.

I must admit I don't remember the flat-panel TV though. Just the dowdy 1950's look of their cottage.