Harry Potter is the 23rd episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Gina Ippolito, Spencer Gilbert, Jason Shapiro and Andy Signore. It was narrated by Jon Bailey mimicking the narrator of the actual Harry Potter film trailers. It parodies the film adaptations of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. The video was published on April 16, 2013, based on viewer requests. It is 3 minutes and 59 seconds long. It has been viewed over 17 million times. It is significant for being Spencer Gilbert's first contribution to the Honest Trailers series.
Watch Honest Trailers - Harry Potter on YouTube
"A franchise so epic, it took ten years, eight films, four directors, and two Dumbledores to tell." ~ Honest Trailers - Harry Potter
Script[]
(many viewer requests for a Harry Potter Honest Trailer appear)
Okay, already.
From J.K. Rowling, the author of the book series that kept Borders open for another few years, comes the movie adaptation for people too lazy to read:
Harry Potter
When an evil noseless freak (Voldemort) threatens to take over the world, it's up to this boy wizard (Harry Potter), his totally useless friend (Ron Weasley), and his superior-in-every-way hot lady friend (Hermione Granger) to defeat him. Ah, and when I said "hot", I only meant in the last three movies after she'd turned eighteen, heh. Pervs.
Journey along as they travel to a magical boarding school (Hogwarts), where kids learn potions, spells, and divination, but not English, math, or science; where technology seems to be frozen in the 19th century, replacing cell phones and the Internet with quill pens and owls; and where child endangerment is totally no big deal. (shows scenes of child characters in dangerous situations) My goodness! (shows more scenes of child characters in danger) Seriously, how have they not shut this school down yet?
A franchise so epic, it took ten years, eight films, four directors, and two Dumbledores to tell, featuring the one that started it all (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), the one everyone hates (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), the one everyone loves (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), the one with "Shovel Face" (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), the one with the raging hormones (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), the one where Dumbledore dies -- oh, spoiler alert (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), the one you can skip (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1), and the one that made adults cry like little babies (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2).
Follow our heroes as they transform from adorable youngsters struggling to act, to awkward tweens, to barely legal heartthrobs, to young adults pretending to look like grown-ups. (shows chubby adult Ron at the end of Deathly Hallows Part 2) Ron really let himself go.
Witness the magic that will dazzle you with questions like, if magic is supposed to be secret, why is there a doorway in the most highly trafficked subway station in London? Why are all the bullies in one house, and why don't they just expel them? And isn't it disturbing that this rat on Ron's crotch (Scabbers) is actually a grown man? (shows Scabbers being transformed into Peter Pettigrew) Ughhh.
Relive the excitement of acclaimed British thespians yelling nonsense...
Gilderoy Lockhart ("BAFTA Award Winner Kenneth Branagh"): Alarte Ascendere!
Albus Dumbledore ("BAFTA Award Winner Michael Gambon"): Rubeus Hagrid.
Severus Snape ("Emmy Award Winner Alan Rickman"): Avada Kedavra.
Horace Slughorn ("Academy Award Winner Jim Broadbent"): Felix Felicis.
Minerva McGonagall ("Academy Award Winner Dame Maggie Smith"): Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
...battles that would've been way cooler with lightsabers, or if they'd just moved around a little more (shows Harry and Voldemort standing and firing spells at each other), and Rupert Grint's dumb face.
Starring: Luke Skypotter (Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter), Ginger Spice (Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley), Your First Erection (Emma Watson as Hermione Granger), Warwick Davis (as Gringotts Head Goblin), Professor Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman as Severus Snape), Claudio Miranda (Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy), Hairy Old Man (Gary Oldman as Sirius Black), Warwick Davis (as Filius Flitwick), Forest Whitaker (Brendan Gleeson as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody), Hodor (Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid), Michael Jackson (Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort), Lindsay Lohan (Hazel Douglas as Bathilda Bagshot), Warwick Davis (as Ministry of Magic Employee), Vladimir Putin (Toby Jones as the voice of Dobby), Larry King (Simon McBurney as the voice of Kreacher), Gandalf the Gay (Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore), and Warwick Davis (as Griphook).
Harry Potter
So Quidditch makes absolutely no sense, right? A hundred-and-fifty-point ball? That's just bullsh*t right there.
Viewer's Comments[]
Say, YOU SHOULD NOT PASS!!!!!!!!! - PAIN bow
Say, "I love lamp" - CameraRollFilms
Say: "They're eating her! And then they're going to eat me! OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" - mrthepooce
Say, "How's it goin', royal ugly dudes?" - Becca Bear
say "Allison, I love you. Will you marry me?" - Roy McConnell
Please say "What the hell is a Hufflepuff?" - DancingKarma
Trivia[]
- Screen Junkies have also produced Honest Trailers for some other Wizarding World movies including Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. In addition, they have made videos about several other fantasy films including The Lord of the Rings, How to Train Your Dragon, The Princess Bride, Labyrinth, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. See list of Honest Trailers for more.
- This is Spencer Gilbert's first credited contribution the Honest Trailers series. He became head writer and producer of the series.
- During the production of this video, Spencer Gilbert and Gina Ippolito got into a legendary argument about whether the rules of Quidditch make sense. Spencer said they did not and Gina said they did. They both appeared on the Harry Potter-themed episode of Movie Fights where they re-kindled this argument.
- An Honest Trailer Commentary for this episode was recorded and was available on the Screen Junkies Plus until the website/app was discontinued. Screen Junkies don't currently have any way of releasing the video.
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - Harry Potter has an 98.1% approval rating from YouTube viewers. The Huffington Post said the Honest Trailer was "pretty amusing." What's Trending said the Honest Trailer was a "brutally blunt and truthful take" on the Harry Potter series. Telly Visions wrote that while the Harry Potter films are "brilliant," the Honest Trailer was nonetheless "hilarious" and that its assessment of where each film ranked in the series was "spot on." In the same article, Telly Visions also appreciated the unexplained questions Screen Junkies raised, such as why Hogwarts doesn't just expel all the Slytherins. BBC America praised Screen Junkies for giving the Harry Potter films an "irreverent boot in the googlies" without " diminish[ing] the fun of the films" at all.
Production credits[]
Directed by Andy Signore
Executive Producer Mitch Rotter
Series Created by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Episode Written by Gina Ippolito, Spencer Gilbert, Jason Shapiro and Andy Signore
Edited by Dan Murrell
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
External links[]
- If The Harry Potter Movie Trailers Were Honest (VIDEO) - Huffington Post article
- “Harry Potter” Honest Trailer Picks Apart The Epic Franchise - What's Trending article
- Amazing Internet Things: Harry Potter The Honest Trailer - Telly Visions article
- ‘Harry Potter’ Gets An Honest Trailer - BBC America article