Philosopher: like Sorceror: comment

I'm from Australia and I've heard both but I think that the Philosophers stone is better because it is the original and it sounds cool.

I definitely prefer Philosopher’s Stone. The name change was a gross insult to the intelligence of American kids.

Philosophers Stone predates Harry Potter. It was a legendary alchemic stone that turned base metals to gold and granted immortality. Nicholas Flamel was a French alchemist that supposedly discovered how to create it. That's why he is mentioned in the book/film. This is the reason I don't get the name change. It's not a simple case of alternative way of saying it. It's like changing the name 'wand' to 'magic stick'.

Though I am American, I say Philosopher's Stone. It is a mythical alchemic item who's reference dates back centuries. Rowling was calling on a fictional object with real history.

For the Korean version: 돌 can be translated as "pebble" but also as "stone" (much more common) and 마법사 means "magician/wizard/sorceler" so I think the Korean title is based on the American title ("The sorceler's stone" :) I am not Korean but I've been learning for 6 years now, so I hope it can help

I think it would've made sense to keep the original name, if only because the Philosopher's Stone was a pre-existing concept.

I think you overlooked one thing, the stone is not something J. K. Rowling made up, so most languages already had a name for it that was more common.

"Harry Potter With The Wizard's Pebble" lol Philosopher's Stone is better

As a even shorter answer to the question: It's 'philosopher's stone' and it must be that way, because the philosopher's stone is a substance that can turn metal into gold and cure all diseases, even heal wounds! Whereas the sorcerer's stone is just a stone or gem of a sorcerer. Philosopher's stone (and the european languages equivalents) is a fixed term in alchemy since the late antiquity! It's not like it was invented for HP, so you can't just change it.

In Swedish the title is: Harry Potter och De Vises Sten. Which translates to Harry Potter and the Stone of the Wise, we do have a word for philosopher; Filosof. But, "filosofens sten" is verbally clunky in Swedish.

u kinda look like tom felton (draco malfoy)

In Canada we used the UK titles and book covers. I always thought the American book covers were ugly compared to the UK versions.

I’m British and when I was about 7 or 8 I got a pirate copy of the first movie and it had the Sorcerers Stone in the title, I was mega excited thinking it was a new movie!

It was felt Americans wouldn't k ow what a Philosophers stone even is.

Nicholas Flamel was real and he believed that the philosophers stone, a stone which turns objects in to solid gold, was real and was trying to make one. so J.K was just using the real Nicholas Flamel for the story (except she said he actually succeded)

Its philosphers stone. British writer, British book, original title. Its Philosphers stone. No argument. Now we have llvermory as well. Stop america

Guys it is philosopher's stone cause that was the title jk Rowling used for her book and her own and original title. There is not a single copy with the original cover which says 'Harry potter and the sorcerer's stone'. So scholastic messed up.

There are 2 times where j.k. Rowling was under the imperius curse 1: when she agreed to change the name to sorcerers stone 2: when she agreed to cursed child

Just watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Alchemy's better explained there & the 'Philosopher's' Stone is a major plot element in it.

speaking from a literary standpoint, I hate the title change. A philosopher and sorcerer are two totally different things. Someone pointed out in the comments that sorcerer makes more sense because it has to do with wizardry but that isn't the point of the book or the stone. The point of the stone is to create the elixir of life and it was developed by philosopher's such as Nicholas Flammel who was a real person. The stone is used in great works of literature, most notably in Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo (also known as Hunchback of Notre Dame). The change was made because American kids are apparently stupid and it was believed that they wouldn't know what a philosopher is. This to me is silly because it is as if the market has to manipulate kids to read...which I guess it does. And it shouldn't. Rowling has stated that she regrets the change in interviews.

Here in Canada it’s also Philosopher, eh.

Funny how the Russian translation uses the Goblet of Fire cover

You used Russian cover from the fourth book, not first (im Russian)

At the risk of looking very pedantic (which I probably am), I feel it needs pointing out that the Philosopher's Stone myth goes back centuries; alchemists were really trying to make it (although they never did, obviously). In the 80s there was a text adventure game named after it (Lapis Philosophorum). I suppose it could be argued that the search for a non-existent substance isn't a priority where historical accuracy is concerned, but it still bothers me, and I'm sure I can't be alone in this.

I’m starting my own country and calling it “Harry Potter and the Red Rock of Magic Land”

I think that the thing that bugs me about the philosopher/sorcerer situation is that a Philosopher's stone is an actual mythical object, like Excalibur and stuff. I'm from a french canadian, and I don't get why they put a different name altogether but the characters use the proper french translation of if: "La Pierre philosophale"

To my understanding, the American theatrical and original home releases were cut down as well, and the "Extended Edition" is the full British cut of the movie with the "Sorcerer's" scenes spliced in.

The Philosopher's Stone is primarily an eastern myth/legend so the American publishers thought they should change it as nobody would have heard of it in America......

There was both a post on Reddit and a Harry Potter wiki page about it. I suppose they were wrong. The romanization I got was Haeri Poteowa mabeopsaui dol. Like you said, dol means stone so they must have been wrong. Though perhaps 돌 could mean pebble too, I typed it into Google Images and images of pebbles showed up.

I remember in high school, my friend told me the reason it was different was because the author, JK, thought americana weren't smart enough to know what a philosopher was which honestly made me a bit jilted on Jo for a long time and I felt stupid every time I heard the name. Glad to know he was wrong. I would have preferred the alchemists stone, makes more sense and it sounds better than both

In Portugal is "Pedra Filosofal" or Philosopher Stone

3:56 wrong cover «Philosophskiy kamen'» is a term, which translates (according to dictionary) to: • elixir-stone • the philosophers' stone • Stone of Wisdom

Loving the Spyro 2 OST background music :D

I don't know why, but in combination with some different camera angles, the versions of the utterances used in the American version of the film seem slightly better acted by the main 3 kids than in the U.K. version, but that's just me. Just watch them. The kids seem slightly rushed in the U.K. versions, while they better pace themselves in the US versions. Maybe it's just me seeing the US versions all these years, as I am American, but then again actors do generally do differently on some takes than others. Also, the scene where Hagrid closes the door, I imagine since you can't see the main 3's mouths move, as they're obscured by the door, they simply rerecorded the line in ADR, kind of a similar thing that they did to the book Hermione got.

No offence to Korea but I don't think that it's a pebble

6:05 Yeah, I agree. And I think the scenes with them saying "Sorcerer's Stone" were filmed first. Because from watching both versions of each scene back to back, they seem to have more oomph in their voices when they say "Sorcerer's Stone". The versions with them saying "Philosopher's Stone" don't really sound as enthusiastic or they're saying it with as much feeling. Likely due to them having to just re-say the lines and having to change the word.

In Canada it is hard to tell because it is more common to find the philosophers stone but you can also get the sorcerers stone

In Iceland, the title was translated into Harry Potter og Viskusteinnin, which can be translated into Harry Potter and the Wisdom Stone

I always understood it as the American publishers thinking the American public were too thick to understand the word philosopher. because the philosopher's stone is an actual mythological object like a wand or a unicorn, whereas sorcerer's stone is dumbed down gibberish like magic stick or pointy horse.

Hi! I was watching your video and when you were saying that 해리포터 와 마법사 의 돌 meant Harry Potter and the pebble of the wizard, I laughed so hard. why? Because 돌 (or dol) means rock or stone and 돌맹이 (dol mang ie) means pebble. So, in correct terms, this translates to “Harry Potter and the Wizard’s Stone”. Did you use Google Translator? (I am not complaining, this is just because you asked for a clarification) Thanks! This helped me a lot!- Hannah

1:04 yes but the person who owned the stone (Nicholas flammel) was a philosipher

Philosopher's Stone is the original name since it was made in Great Britain. America simply uses a different title because it has a different meaning, and it would appeal more to younger audiences so J.K Rowling's books could sell better. I am British so I call it Philosopher's. If you call it Sorcerer's, I don't really care. Call it whatever, I know what you mean. It's a pointless thing to argue about.

A philosopher's stone was a real thing in alchemy

Good video! The Russian actually sounded like Russian. The thing I found more interesting about the Russian translation was how they changed the names (for whatever reason, they changed Errol's name to the word for "arrow"- I'm guessing someone misread the name) and that, in the first one, they felt the need to explain what a computer game was.

Sorry, still working on the script for Spidey 3, I'm getting a lot of writers block. I thought Spidey 3 would be easy to write for, it's just that everyone has already attacked it to death, it's difficult to say things about it that haven't already been said.

In my second language, Afrikaans from South Africa, it's Herrie Potter en die towenaar se steen, which translates to Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.

What I just don't understand about the whole philosophers/sorcerers stone thing, is apparently it was changed to make it sound more "magical" to the american audience. But the cover is of a boy riding a flying broomstick? Is that not magic enough?

It's about the legend of the philosophers stone, the title is not about whether they are magic or not. Yes they are wizards but the first film is about the stone which could bring Voldemort back to life and sorcerers stone does not translate. Rowling named it Philosopher and it should never have been changed! Let's be honest I was four when the first film came out and obviously didn't really know what it meant but I obviously looked it up when I was a bit older therefore any other country could do the same. Sorcerers stone does just not sound write 😑😑😑

Whatever the next english printing is should use the pebble of the wizard. US, UK, doesn't matter. That is just objectively awesome.

Hmm... Interesting I guess.:/ Personality IDK why the U.S version changed the title from Philosopher Stone to Sorcerer Stone really Philosopher sounds pretty cool IMO but Sorcerer Stone isn't a bad title either.:/ Really either way the book was pretty damn successful in a lot of countries regardless what title it was. Also I gotta say I didn't know that they re-shooted a couple scenes twice just to be consistent with the book's title. Now that's what I would call dedication IMO. (I also noticed that the acting for both versions of the films to be the exact same just that instead of Philosopher Stone in the U.S the main characters would say Sorcerer Stone.)

I’m impressed by your pronunciation of all language titles

THe change to Sorcerer's stone makes absolutely no sense. The philosopher's stone is something that actually exists in folk tale and legend that was rumored to belong to Nicholas Flamel, out side of harry potter. The Sorcerer's stone was made up by some dullard in marketing who thought american kids would be too stupid to know what a philosopher is. If I were american I would feel very insulted

For uk, its called Philosopher's stone, and for america, its called Sorcerer Stone, Idk why tho but maybe its just some language people understand from different countries.

This begs the question: if JK Rowling regretted ever changing the title of the book for American audiences, then does that mean Philosopher’s Stone is the correct and accurate title regardless of preference.

As an American the word philosopher is more attributed to the study of philosophy and people of the likes of Socrates, Homer, Nobelaurreates, etc. The word sorcerer is more attributed to magic and I personally think it makes more sense for the American lexicon. However some of these other translations are abhorrent and I don't even understand how the title got so butchered.

It sounds like the kind of movie that would be pretty good to review actually, if I get enough people wanting me to do it, then I don't see why not :)

Great video thanks for explaining

Hmm, I think so yeah. I was wondering why the title didn't sound like the book name. Honest mistake.

in finland Harrypotter and the philosopher stone roughly translates to Harry Potter ja viisasten kivi, kivi directly stand for stone viisasten stands for philosopher so it is a direct translation from the brittish version

That's because in America and India, the movie is Sorcerers Stone while in other countries, it is Philosophers Stone

i'm happy we have the name "piedra filosofal" that give the possibility to translate it directly from the original name

sorcerer's stone is the best.... btw thanks for it... you just cleared my confusion.

I think the major difference when it comes to the movies in question, is that Sorcerers Stone ended up being the directors cut of the movie, I still have my old dvd copy of Philosopher’s Stone and all the deleted scenes are on a separate disc, with them being removed from the movie itself. Whereas Sorcerer’s Stone always had the deleted scenes in tact whenever I caught it on TV. So while Philosopher’s Stone is a much cooler name, and much more fitting considering the artefact it’s based around, Sorcerer’s Stone is technically the “Definitive” way to watch the first movie, as the deleted scenes are quite important for character development.

Philosophers💕

To sum it up. It is philosopher's stone and America was just making a movie title unnecessarily complicated

Here in Mexico we had two versions also, Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal (Translation for the UK tittle) and Harry Potter y la Piedra del Hechicero (USA Tittle)

I understand changing the title slightly for the countries that don't have English as a main language but America do speak English?

I'm from the UK and have therefore seen The Philosopher's Stone version of the film. But I've read The Sorcerer's Stone version of the book (while my sister read The Philosopher's Stone version lol).

As an Australian who bought the movie in the US I have never seen the British cut

In Hungary, The first book's title is : Harry Potter and the stone of the wises (or sages). Besides. We can translate Philosopher as well. And they changed Severus Snape's name to Perselus Piton 😅 What a shame

In the Netherlands the title is "Harry Potter en de Steen der Wijzen" which translates to "Harry Potter and the Stone of the Wise Men" just like the German translation.

Indeed it is, one of my all time favorite video games :)

3:57 isn't that russian book the cover of Goblet of Fire?

Oh my God the Tekken background music, that takes me back.

russian title mean exactly philosopher's stone, it is known legend here word "философский" can mean "made of philosophers", "owned by philosopher" or "have philosopher's properties" depending of context

In Dubai it was known as the sorcerers stone. And tbh I always thought it was only in the USA that used the philosopher stone. Well we learn something new :)

A little late to the party, but 돌 can mean "stone", as well as "rock" and "pebble". I know this because I used to order my bibimbap in a stone pot, or 돌솥. I taught myself Hangul by mostly reading menus.

Here in Norway, the title is very identical to the German one. "Harry Potter and the Stone of the Wise" to be very literal.

I think it is the philosophers stone because it was the name in the first book/movie was a year before the name the sorcerers stone

Hey, nice reviews you had on your chanel, but a few things about this one: 1)You used a cover of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" instead of "Philisopher's Stone" in example of russian traslation. 2)"Философский камень" (Filosofskii Kamien') is just exact traslation of Philisopher's Stone. It also could be translated as "Philosophical Stone" either, still it is the name of alchemists artifact in russian, so the traslation is fully correct.

You could put also roumanian, witch is :' Harry Potter si Piatra Filozofala' witch translates into:'Harry Potter and Philosopher's Stone'

Sorry, not really a big football fan. I do watch it during Euro and the World Cup but that's about it.

In Arabic we do have the word Philosopher and it's pronounced exactly the same in English but it has a completely different meaning! So the sorcerer would be more realistic since it relates to magic and mistry.

In my country we call it de vise sten (the wise stone) or something like that

Not to blame, Harry does look very young on the cover

I believe that it should be philosophers stone, but I say and use sorcerers stone more because to me it just sounds way better and I have heard that my whole life.

It’s philosophers stone, and that’s it. They changed it in the us version so it would sell more. It came out in the uk first, the writer jk Rowling is from the uk and it’s a uk film, it doesn’t associate with America whatsoever so it is actually the philosophers stone as that is what the author called it and was only changed to suit the Americans

Surely in the book it would still stay the philosophy stone? Or do they keep replacing philosophy into sorcerer in the book as well!!??

This seems like a lot of work for something so silly. Especially filming two different versions.

Can't wait for that Spidey 3 review!

Here in canada the books called philosophers stone, but the movies sorcerers stone

Nope, it was originally Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, until the title was changed when the book was published a year later in the US.

I'm not a native English speaker(live in China), so I can't fully understand the explanation in this video, so who can tell me that the difference between Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Sorcerer's Stone is just the book title? In other words, there is no difference about the story itself between them except for the title. BTW, you speak Chinese very well , 《哈 ha 利 li 波 bo 特 te(r) 与 yu 魔 mo 法 fa 石 shi》

Dont worry man, u will think of something. U r really smart and i am sure u will produce an excellent review(like always).

thx for the explanation i was wondering why it had 2 different names :p

The swedish version is called "the stone of the wise". In plural...

At about 4:30 is that music from Spyro Year of the Dragon in the background? Just caught my ear listening

I don't speak Korean, but pebble was probably the closest translation that didn't sound silly.

Why is he flying in a different direction on the Taiwan cover? Is it significant? because it seems like a conscious change.