Harry Potter Appeared in This Movie Before JK Rowling's Books: Was It a Rip-Off? 

Summary:

• The first book in the Harry Potter series was published in 1997, but before that, the movie Troll was released in 1986, where the main character was Harry Potter Jr. who encountered magic.
• The filmmakers accused Rowling of plagiarism, although the books and the movie had only the name and the magic in common, but the case did not come to court.
• Another plagiarism case involved Nancy Stouffer, author of The Legend of Rah and the Muggles, who claimed that Rowling stole the word "Muggles" and the name Larry Potter from her work. Stouffer lost the case.

Everyone knows that it was J. K. Rowling who created a magic world with Harry Potter as the main character.

But few people know that in 1986, when the plan for the Sorcerer's Stone was still maturing in the writer's head (the first book of the series was published in 1997), the dark fantasy comedy Troll was released.

There, the main character had to face magic and fairy-tale characters. And the name of the protagonist of this movie was Harry Potter... Jr (you know exactly whose voice you heard right now).

What Is Troll About?

The Potter family moves to a new apartment. Harry Potter Jr.'s sister, Wendy, meets a troll in the basement who, with the help of a magic ring, takes on the appearance of a girl. The troll then transforms the neighbors' families into fairy tale characters and their homes into magical places.

An elderly neighbor turns out to be an enchanted princess who tells Harry Potter Jr. the whole truth about the battle between good and evil wizards. Now the boy must use a magic spear to kill the monster he encounters in his own house, which has changed beyond recognition.

The Troll Creators Accused Rowling of Plagiarism

In fact, the Troll and the series of books about Harry Potter are connected only by two things – the name of the main character (as well as his father's, whose name is Harry Potter Sr.) and the presence of magic in the plot.

However, the creators of the 1986 film apparently did not think so – they accused the author of plagiarism, but the matter did not come to court.

The authors of the film also planned to release another film with the working title Troll: The Rise of Harry Potter Jr. These plans were announced in 2011, but were never realized.

It Wasn't the Only Plagiarism Accusation Case

However, this was not the only time Rowling was accused of plagiarism. In 1999, two years after the first book was published, author Nancy Stouffer first heard about Harry Potter.

She said Rowling stole the word "Muggles" from her (Stouffer's book was called The Legend of Rah and the Muggles), and that she also stole the name of one of the characters almost verbatim – Larry Potter.

However, in the lawsuit that Nancy lost, it was proven that Stouffer's Muggles were not people at all, but little magical people. And the name Larry Potter was mentioned only once in the whole book.