I realize that the Harry Potter movies are known to be fairly family-friendly, but it's still a bit surprising to me today to consider that four of the eight book-to-screen film adaptations of J.K. Rowling's series received PG ratings. It seems far more common these days that PG movies are animated. Of course, there are exceptions to that -- Wicked and its sequel were rated PG, for example. There are dark moments in each Harry Potter movie, but apparently not always so dark (by 2000s standards, anyway) to earn a PG-13 rating. The film's rating was understandably a concern for director Chris Columbus when he was making the first movie.
There was one scene, in particular, that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone director Chris Columbus thought might be too much for young audiences. I was watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on iTunes recently, and had the "Magical Movie Mode" turned on. Throughout the film, Columbus pops in to share the occasional tidbit about the making of the movie. That included his concerns about the sight of Lord Voldemort's face coming out of the back of Quirrell's head at the end of the movie being too scary for kids. He thought that might be spooky enough to warrant a PG-13 rating for the film, saying:
I thought it would be so horrifying, and we wanted to make fairly horrifying for the little kiddies out there. I thought it would be so horrifying that the film would get a PG-13, which is not what we wanted on the first Potter film.
However, from what Columbus went on to say, kids weren't as scared about is as he feared.
But for some reason, kids weren't running out of the theater.They were emotionally invested in the film at this point, because I think there was an emotional quality here, when you combine Harry's parents, along with this hideous Voldemort face. I think that you sort of temper it a little bit, you soften it a little bit for the kids in the audience.
It's understandable that they'd be aiming for the more family-friendly PG rating for this movie, especially considering how popular the series was among young readers. As creepy as Voldemort's face looks coming out of the back of Quirrell's head, if we're focusing on that specific scene, I was always more freaked out by what happened to Quirrell, including the sight of Harry grabbing his Defense Against The Dark Arts professor's face and hearing it sizzle as the protective charm on Harry turned Quirrell's cursed body to ash.
I was an adult when I first saw the movie, and -- full disclosure -- some part of me is likely never going to be over some of the more horrifying imagery from the Indiana Jones movies, which I did see as a kid, and I think are on the same level as seeing a professor's hand start to crumble to ash in front of his face.
Perhaps the Voldemort thing was scarier for 2001's kids, but it was still not scary enough for a PG-13 rating (back then, anyway). As Columbus suggested, maybe the context of the scene, including the appearance of Harry's parents in the mirror, added to the kids' emotional investment, making it easier for the younger members of the audience to process.
The MPAA bestowed a PG rating on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and the same would apply for the next two Harry Potter movies (Half-Blood Prince would be the only other film of the original Harry Potter series to get a PG rating). It wasn't until Goblet of Fire that the Harry Potter series earned its first PG-13. I'm guessing that had to do with the sight of a Hogwarts student being killed on screen. We'll have to wait and see what kind of TV rating the new Harry Potter TV series gets when it starts airing this December.
