So I’ve been rewatching some of the 1998 Worst Witch and thinking about the differences between that version and the reboot. While we all know that TWW far predates Harry Potter and is not a ripoff (grr) I can see why people who are coming to it for the first time would think so, because when you look at the original version, you can see how HP has influenced the reboot–not the characters or the concept, which belonged to TWW in the first place, but production design and the way the story is presented. For example:
- 1998 TWW is mostly episodic. Except for a couple of two-parters (A Mean Hallowe’en/Double Double Toil and Trouble and Unfairground/The Uninvited are the only two I can remember), each episode is self-contained and is usually about how Mildred caused trouble/nearly got expelled/saved the day that week. Agatha appears twice in the first series and then is never heard from again; the only real constants are the magical setting and Mildred’s combination of overwhelming clumsiness and accidental heroism.
- 2017 TWW also has a running theme of “Mildred is a walking disaster,” but in addition to that it has story arcs that continue throughout the series–not just the looming threat of Agatha, but Ethel’s issues with her mother and sister that parallel Agatha’s issues with her own mother and Ada, Mildred’s ongoing quest to find out if she has any witch ancestors and her feelings about that, etc. This is very similar to how HP is structured–for example, in OotP, there’s the looming threat of Voldemort, but also the arcs about Umbridge, Dumbledore’s Army, and Hagrid and the giants that last all year long.
- 1998 TWW has villains that are less scary. (Generally; the witch in The Uninvited was pretty chilling.) Agatha and her crew are wicked witches, but they’re pretty easily defeated by Mildred and Maud leading them on a chase around the school, and when Agatha pops up again, she gets her sister out of the way by tying her up in the broom cupboard. Ethel is really the main antagonist for Mildred, and while she’s a pain, she’s still a child and can only do so much.
- 2017 TWW has stepped up the villain game. Agatha seems to have every intention of leaving Ada in that painting forever, leaving Miss Bat, Hellebore and Esme transformed, and letting the three girls be eaten in cake form, not to mention killing whomever she can by collapsing the castle, because in a post-Voldemort era, kids’ expectations of villains are higher. Ethel is still an antagonist, but she’s not Mildred’s biggest problem, and she has problems of her own, as opposed to 1998 Ethel, whose problem was being a heinous beeyotch.
- 1998 TWW is entirely contained within the school, except for a few episodes when they venture out to the tea shop or go on a field trip, and you never see the girls’ parents–aside from Ethel Hallow’s father a couple of times–or their home lives.
- 2017 TWW opens with Mildred at home (and shows her “yer a wizard, Harry” moment with Maud) and her mother appears multiple times throughout the series, as well as Ethel’s mother and Maud’s and Enid’s parents. Again, this is very HP-esque because Harry starts off the books at home, and his family and Ron’s are major players.
- 1998 TWW carries over the “horrible boarding school” model from the books, where the castle is freezing and damp and full of draughts, the beds are uncomfortable, and the food is awful (there’s an entire episode devoted to how awful it is).
- 2017 TWW has a castle that is luxe by comparison, with carpets and tapestries and warm, cosy-looking rooms for the girls, much like Hogwarts, only with added electric lights and telephones. The food may not be lavish-Hogwarts-feast quality, and goodness knows this incarnation of Mrs Tapioca probably spits in it on the daily, but it’s not like the grey, veiny liver and staring whole fish from the 1998 series either.
What I mean to say by all this is not that the reboot is imitating HP (I don’t think it is), but that in the intervening 19 years, HP has changed the template for how these types of stories are told. 1998 TWW is an old-fashioned school story with added magic, where the biggest concerns are how Mildred copes with the bully and whether she’ll get expelled for good. 2017 TWW is a magic/fantasy story that takes place at a school, with a larger witching universe surrounding it, and Mildred’s personal problems are a significant part of it, but not all. (I haven’t even got into how the mystery about Mildred’s background sort of hints at the possibility that she may be a Special Witch/Chosen One.)
Anyway, that’s enough from me. What do you think?
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
