[HPFGU-Movie] Re: Dobby & being picky

[Amanda Geist]

Okay. Just for grins, I ferretted descriptions out of CoS (US edition):

"The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green
eyes the size of tennis balls."
"The creature slipped off the bed and bowed so low that the end of its long,
thin nose touched the carpet."
"Harry noticed that it was wearing what looked like an old pillowcase, with
rips for arm- and leg-holes" (all p. 12)
"..where he [Dobby] sat hiccoughing, looking like a large and very ugly
doll." (p. 13)
"...said Dobby reverently, his orb-like eyes aglow."
"Dobby clapped his hands over his bat ears" (both these, p. 15)
"A single tear was running down his long, pointed nose." (p. 176)
"..nodding his head vigorously, ears flapping." (p. 176)
"He was rocking backward and forward, shaking his ugly head." (p. 176)
"The elf's ugly brown face split suddenly into a wide, toothy smile." (p.
339)
"Dobby threw his arms around Harry's middle and hugged him." (p. 339)

So we have a creature about half Harry's height, with a brown face, bat-ears
that flap when he shakes his head, big ball-eyes, and a long pointy nose.
Without having to refer to the illlustration (which I can scan and post to
the files section if you UK folk would like to see it), I'd say the
following:
The size is about right; I think maybe he's a tad large.
I think his color is wrong; the only reference to his color is above, but it
does say brown.
I think it is right to have him non-fuzzy; the descriptions of his ears as
with reference to bats and flapping makes one think of skin flapping, not
furred skin. And if his ears have no fur, I wouldn't think the rest of him
would have it, not to any large extent. And Harry would surely have noticed
it.
I don't think his nose is long enough, but I'll have to go back and see. By
contrast, Winky has a tomato-nose.
There was, by the way, a discussion I remember somewhere on how you could
wear a pillowcase like that, without a hole for the neck, too. It got rather
creative.
So I think other than color, they are staying pretty close to what Dobby's
supposed to look like. I think the intensity problem, and the fake look to
him, will be taken care of when he's moving and speaking. Like a still from
Wallace and Gromit, it just can't convey the feel of the character.

All in all, it looks like Grandpre's illustration is pretty close (unlike
another I can think of, in book 1 over the chapter The Potions Master, where
Snape is bearded *sigh*). So let me know if you'd like me to scan it in.

--Amanda, who is letting her LOONiness slip just a bit, for she didn't comb
through books 3 or 4 for descriptive tidbits