As part of 25 Days of Christmas, ABC Family had another Harry Potter weekend this past weekend and they showed some new features on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Watch and enjoy below!

Thanks EW.net!

To go along with my review of Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book: Based on the Film Phenomenon, Insight Editions sent over a couple copies of the book for a giveaway!  There are two ways to win a copy of the book, you can enter both ways but please note, you can only win once. The giveaway will be open until January 4th so the winner can enjoy an after the holiday’s gift (and to avoid the holiday shipping rush).  The contest is only open for readers 13 years or older in the United States.  For full rules please head over to this page.

Main Website Contest:

1. Leave a comment on THIS post stating why you want to win the book and what your favorite part of Deathly Hallows was or what you’re looking forward to if you haven’t seen it yet.  Make sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you win!

Twitter Contest:

1. Follow Magical-Menagerie on Twitter (MM_Official) and tweet your favorite part of Deathly Hallows (make sure to include @MM_Official in the tweet so I know you’ve entered. You can also leave a link to the tweet on this news post to make sure I get the entry (this does not mean you have two entries, it just ensures I get your twitter entry).
2. For an extra entry for the Twitter contest tweet this: “I entered @MM_Official’s Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book Giveaway.  You can too: http://magical-menagerie.com/?p=14585”
   You can only do the extra Twitter entry if you have completed the first entry. If you only do the extra entry you will not be entered)

I will contact the winners of the contest by January 8th to get shipping information so I can send out the prize. Winners will have one week to reply or a new winner will be chosen.

In addition to Bonnie Wright and Evanna Lynch, we have the interviews that Matthew Lewis, Tom Felton and Rupert Grint did with Total Film Indonesia.  You can read all the interviews at the links on their names.  You can see the scans below and some segments from the interviews.

You start as a bully and end up being one of the more complex characters.
Tom Felton: Yeah, it’s a real journey, I think, for young Draco. I think Jo [Rowling] – I mean, I don’t know this for a fact – but I think he was written purposefully quite one-dimensional for the first five years as sort of a typical bully… to get the audience hating him, to get the audience knowing exactly what he is. And then on the sixth, we sort of go behind the scenes a bit and see his family, to meet his mother, who I think is a good representation of why maybe he was a bit softer than his dad. His dad is certainly more militant… he also bullies him to a small extent so that’s half the reason I think, why Draco is how he is. It’s been fantastic for me as an actor, really, to sort of play it one way and for it to be turned on its head and to completely go the other way with it… I was actually very nervous about the lack of stages of the character because I knew it was going to get a lot more complicated and I wasn’t really that confident in my ability. But David Yates set up several meetings to boost up my confidence and he’s really happy at the end of it.

Neville’s so heroic in the end, which is wonderful, so what’s your definition of a hero and who is your hero?
Matthew Lewis: Well, the Leeds Rhinos [his favorite rugby team] were my heroes, last night! I don’t know if you caught the game; they were unbelievable. But no, my real definition of a hero is… obviously, all the people who are in the Middle East right now. You know, those guys are the heroes. I don’t personally know anybody who’s out there, but I know friends of friends that are and it’s shocking. It’s wholly shocking that in the twenty-first century, that sort of thing still goes on. Those guys are out there, doing a job, and they don’t wanna be there, but they are, and I think that’s courage and heroic.

This time they’ve given you more deep, emotional stuff. How hard was it to do Ron’s jealousy and falling out with Harry?
Rupert Grint: Yeah, it was good. It was, I suppose, a different kind of side to Ron in this film. We don’t really see Ron kind of, um, turn against his friends that often. He really does have doubts with Harry’s ability and the fact that we’re not really getting anywhere with these Horcruxes kind of fuels that. He’s a bit jealous, as well, because he sees Hermione and Harry together, and he’s just not having a great time. It kind of erupts into a this bit of an argument. Those scenes are really quite good fun, actually. Whenever me and Dan are shouting at each other… it’s always great.

Recently, Insight Editions sent over a copy of their newly released book, Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book: Based on the Film Phenomenon for me to review for the site.  The book retails for $34.95 and was released on November 16th of this year. The book was written by Lucy Kee with the engineering (since this is three dimensional) done by Bruce Foster.  Harry Potter Concept Artist Andrew Williamson did the art for the book.

Upon first opening the book, readers are brought into Dumbledore’s Office to see an envelope from the Ministry which contains 3 posters to hang on a wall.  There is also a Howler that welcomes you to the book.  Next you are on a journey to Dianon Alley to see all the shops. We also see Hogwarts, Hagrid’s Hut, the Dragons enclosure from Goblet of Fire and finally, the Graveyard! Each of the pages has a description of that part of Harry’s world.  They also have mini pop-up sections on each page with things like Hedwig in her cage, the chessboard from Sorcerer’s Stone and lots of others.

This book is definitely a fun and interactive book that any fan of the series will love.  You are brought into the world and can explore it as if you were really there.  The detail of the pop-ups is amazing, you can even look inside windows and you can see what is inside. Readers will need to be careful the first time opening each page, if you go to fast the pop-up parts may rip up.  So go slowly and you may need to help the book along with some parts of the pop-up.  But once you’ve opened it a few times it should be good to go.  The only problem I had was that it was sometimes hard to get the pull out sections to go back into their holders nicely.

They also sent over a fun video trailer for the book that you can watch along with some photos:

Head over to amazon or your local bookstore/online bookshop to purchase it! Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book: Based on the Film Phenomenon
(Amazon has it on sale for $19 now)

I’m not the only one who will be able to enjoy this book, I will be posting rules for a giveaway soon!

James and Oliver Phelps recently participated in the Santa Run through Swinley Forest in Bracknell to raise funds for Thames Hospicecare.  View an images of them at the event below:

Hospice community and events organiser Michelle Bowdidge said the pair, who play Fred and George Weasley, had pulled in the crowds and takings had doubled from £30,000 last year to an expected £60,000. She said: “The twins were a big draw as we had quite a lot of spectators as well as runners. We had a really mixed bag of entrants this year – from our loyal supporters to those who thought it would be fun to have a go.”

Each runner was supplied with a Father Christmas costume by the hospice in return for a £15 registration fee. However the organisers also had to come up with a cold weather plan because of the freezing temperatures on Sunday.

The Phelps’ twins are no strangers to Swinley Forest – scenes from the Harry Potter films have been shot there. Oliver said: “It’s great to be supporting such a worthwhile cause.”

In a new interview with Hero Complex, Evanna Lynch talks about playing Luna Lovegood and being in the Harry Potter films.  Some segments from the interview may be read below.

“I just felt that if anyone was to play her, it should be me,” Lynch said. “It was like studying for a math exam. I studied to be her. I really, really like her. I think that parts of me are like [Luna], but I am different. I had to be in the audition. I said ‘I know that you may have ideas of who Luna is, but here is how I see her.’ “

In “Deathly Hallows,” Luna’s famously positive attitude and demeanor is tested, but she remains steadfast in her optimism and detached calmness even while  imprisoned  in the dungeon-like gloom of the Malfoy Mansion basement.  ”I don’t think Luna changes. The thing about her is that she’s so relaxed about herself. She has to be a bit more serious than normal [in “Deathly Hallows”] and has to accept that times are dark. She always sees the positive and has a spirituality about herself. She doesn’t think that death is the end.”