It’s been 18 years since J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel, The Philosopher’s Stone, was released in the UK. Since then, the world has been the beneficiaries of seven novels, eight films, several spin-off books, museum tours, and theme park attractions. And that deluge of content doesn’t account for the upcoming movie based on one of those spin-offs, or plans for a stage play. In any given home, you’re likely to find a Rowling novel on the bookshelf, and one of the films somewhere on the cable box. All of this means that while a lot of us love Harry Potter, part of us is sick of The Boy Who Lived.
That duality seems to be the vibe behind the following parody, which uses an animated shorthand to aggressively propel Potter through his first adventure, peppering him with expletives and bathing him in graphic violence. It simultaneously pays homage the way only parody can while upping the levels of belligerence that seem to demand an end to our cultural oversaturation by wizarding tropes.
Some of the jokes don’t land, like Ron’s casual swearing and the broad, obvious riff on Dumbledore’s homosexuality; while others (Hermione’s knowledge of Hogwarts’ secret history of segregation, the slaughter inherent in an actual game of Quidditch, and Harry’s revenge fetish) poke decent fun at what fans enjoy at face value in Harry Potter’s world of wizardry.
