The Greatest Showman is the 240th episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr and Dan Murrell and narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies the 2017 American musical drama film The Greatest Showman, the film inspired by the story of P. T. Barnum's creation of the Barnum & Bailey Circus and the lives of its star attractions. The video takes the format of a musical episode and includes several musical numbers with parody lyrics that offer a humorous, but more historically accurate account of the life of P.T. Barnum.
The Greatest Showman Honest Trailer was first published on April 10, 2018 to coincide with the release of the film on home video and Blu-ray. It is 5 min 36 seconds long and has been viewed over 3 million times.
Watch Honest Trailers - The Greatest Showman on YouTube
"So march to the beat of your own drum with this upbeat, inspiring musical, about a really shady, cruel historical figure." ~ Honest Trailers - The Greatest Showman
Script[]
In an age where average comic book movies make tons of money (shows the total box office gross for Avengers: Age of Ultron as $1.405 billion), and average sequels take in the dough (shows the total box office gross for Jurassic World as $1.672 billion)... theater nerds finally get something average to blow their wads on, too!
The Greatest Showman
From the musical geniuses behind La La Land and Dear Evan Hansen (Benj Pasek and Justin Paul), comes a film full of pretty visuals, and catchy hits just begging for an overly sincere YouTube cover video (plays multiple such cover videos at once), as you sing along to nine teen-friendly jams, wrapped in a story that will make you wonder, "When does the next song start?"
Charity: (to Barnum) The bank... they're evicting us.
I'm so not here for the talky bits. (fast-forwards through the film until reaching the next song)
Group ("From Now On"): (singing) And we will come back home...
Ahh, that's better.
Meet P. T. Barnum, the boy who grew from wishing he owned his own top hat, to the man who owned all the top hats, played by noted top hat enthusiast Hugh Jackman. M'Logan. (shows Jean Valjean tipping his hat in Les Misérables) Follow along on P. T.'s lifelong dream to open a weird murder museum (shows Barnum laughing as he demonstrates a guillotine to a mother and her daughters, then cutting to one of the daughters looking at the other in concern), but when that doesn't pan out, he'll roll with his backup plan: a scam freak show, paid for by fraud, that he abandons his wife and kids for, and ditches the second he has a chance to join high society.
Barnum: Okay? Have a great show.
Lettie: Wait-- (has the door closed on her by Barnum)
But after a series of showstopping musical numbers, this social-climbing con man will be met with... lifelong success and happiness...?
Lettie: Maybe you are a fraud. Maybe it was just about making a buck.
Uh-oh; they're onto you! Quick, do a hat trick! (shows Barnum's troupe laughing while he plays with his hat)
Witness this real-life Willy Wonka, but instead of selling kids candy, he's selling kids tickets to laugh at the Oompa-Loompas, where the tragedy of these people's exploitation is brushed aside...
Barnum: (to Charles Stratton) Well, they're laughing anyway, kid, so... might as well get paid.
...to spend more time with two perfect physical specimens; feast your eyes on a forbidden romance subplot, where Zac Efron is rich and white, but Zendaya is poor and usually a body double. And while the circus performers have to live with being literally beaten in the streets...
Angry Man: (to Barnum's troupe) --you freaks!
...Efron and P. T. will get way more sympathy for having... <GASP!> snobby parents (!)...
Mr. Carlyle: (to Phillip) Have you no shame?
Mr. Hallett: (to Young Barnum) --thank you... for your honesty. (slaps Young Barnum)
...and... <GASP!> even snobbier critics!
Bennett: I never liked your show.
Barnum: ... ... ...
So march to the beat of your own drum with this upbeat, inspiring musical, about a really shady, cruel historical figure. But since too much honesty doesn't sell, we've got you covered, with a more accurate P. T. Barnum musical, with songs like... the "He Wasn't a Good Guy" song (to the tune of "The Greatest Show")...
(No, no, no, no, nooooo)
Ladies and gents, I'm not a guy that's worth cheering for
(This ain't historical!)
I owned a slave
I killed six whales
(Gave a monkey a fish tail)
The whole movie's untrue
Plus, I don't look like Hugh
(No! He was an average Joe!)
...the "Made-Up Affair" song (to the tune of "Never Enough")...
Happy endings are just too little
Affairs can add some spice,
So they will
Say we were in love
But we never were in loooooove
Never in loooooove
Never in loooooove
Never in loooooove
Not me
Not me
Not me
...the "These Two People Didn't Even Exist" song (to the tune of "Rewrite the Stars")...
Writers just made up our parts
To make these actors sign
They needed scenes with more stars
'Cause Zac is a hunk
And we're both super fine
That's why they wrote these two parts
So all of your cash
Would be ours
...and the "Rampant Cruelty" song. (to the tune of "This Is Me")
He said that elephants could not feel pain
(That's not true)
(That's not true)
Used deformities for financial gain
(Ay-ay-hole)
They got hurt
They got used
By now you should start to see
That's P. T.
Look out 'cause he's not done
(Oh dear god what is next)
'Cause his freaks got whipped, beat, and caged for fun
(Google it, that's all true)
He was not
Wolverine
Or the guy in this movie
Not P. T.!
Starring: Hugh Jazzhands (Hugh Jackman as P. T. Barnum); Young Man Logan (Ellis Rubin and Ziv Zaifman as Young Barnum); A Disapproving Wife Character (Michelle Williams as Charity Hallett-Barnum); A Disapproving Critic Character (Paul Sparks as James Gordon Bennett Sr.); Old School Musical (Zac Efron as Phillip Carlyle); Can She Swing from a Thread? Take a Look Overhead! (Zendaya as Anne Wheeler); Lipsync Impossible (Rebecca Ferguson and Loren Allred as Jenny Lind); and Hairy Elsa (Keala Settle as Lettie Lutz).
Jerk du Soleil
Honest title for The Greatest Showman - Jerk du Soleil. Titles designed by Robert Holtby.
Laugh while you can, Barnum; an elephant never forgets. (shows Barnum training an elephant, then close-up, fade to red, sinister sting)
Trivia[]
Honest Trailers Commentary - The Greatest Showman
- The singing chorus was made up entirely of Defy Media personnel from both Screen Junkies and Smosh Games, including Joe Starr whose voice is weirdly prominent. Stand a bit further back from the microphone next time, dude! Apparently, Roth Cornet was rather annoyed when she was cajoled into singing. Dan Murrell, conveniently, had just undergone dental work so managed to avoid the entire situation.
- Screen Junkies have produced Honest Trailers for several other musicals including A Star is Born, Mary Poppins, Frozen,The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, La La Land, Les Misérables, and many, many more. They also included parody songs in the Honest Trailers for The LEGO Movie, Fifty Shades of Grey, Toy Story and Honest Retro TV Themes! See the musical episodes page for more.
Watch the full commentary on YouTube
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - The Greatest Showman has a 96.2% approval rating from YouTube viewers. Slash Film praised the Honest Trailer for reminding viewers that The Greatest Showman is a "fabricated celebration of a man who was a total prick who owned a slave, abused animals, and exploited people for his own financial gain." Slashfilm appreciated Screen Junkies parody musical numbers, saying the songs were "not only funny," but also "accurate." On the other hand, CinemaBlena argued The Greatest Showman "was never meant to be a true biopic of P.T. Barnum." However, CinemaBlend did agree with the Honest Trailer's point that "you almost get to a point in The Greatest Showman where you want characters played by Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams to STOP talking so that we can get to the next winning musical number." Nerd Reactor described this Honest Trailer as "another true to form specimen of hilarity." Nerd Reactor said Screen Junkies had crafted a "poignant yet comical take" on the movie.
Production credits[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - The Greatest Showman
Original Music By Matt Citron
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
Title design by Robert Holtby
Producers - Dan Murrell, Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, and Max Dionne
Written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Dan Murrell
Edited by Kevin Williamsen and TJ Nordaker
Supervising Producer: Warren Tessler
Production Coordinator: Tina Choi
Edited by Kevin Williamsen and TJ Nordaker
Post-Production Supervisor: Gracie Hartmann
Post-Production Coordinator: Carolyn Croce
Assistant Editor: Emin Bassavand
External links[]
- ‘The Greatest Showman’ Honest Trailer: P.T. Barnum Was Actually a Huge Jerk - SlashFilm article
- The Greatest Showman Honest Trailer Reminds You How Great The Songs Are, How Lame The Story Is - CinemaBlend article
- An Honest Trailer for The Greatest Showman - Neatorama article
- The Greatest Showman gets an Honest Trailer - Nerd Reactor article