Potter Puppet Pals
Potter Puppet Pals is a puppet show web series parodying the Harry Potter novel series by J. K. Rowling, created by Neil Cicierega.[1]
| Potter Puppet Pals | |
|---|---|
 The sign showing the Potter Puppet Pals logo that appears at the start of most episodes. | |
| Also known as | PPP |
| Genre | Comedy, puppetry, variety, parody |
| Created by | Neil Cicierega, Emmy Cicierega, Alora Lanzillotta |
| Voices of | Neil Cicierega |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Release | |
| Original network | Newgrounds (2003) YouTube (2006–present) |
| Original release |
|
The first two episodes were animated, both released in 2003 on Newgrounds. On September 26, 2006, the series was re-launched on YouTube under Cicierega's page[2] as "Potions Class". Six more episodes were released by Cicierega between 2006 and 2009.[3] Approximately one year after the seventh episode was released, a new video appeared on Neil's channel announcing an exclusive Potter Puppet Pals channel.[4] On the same day, three more videos were released on this page. The Potter Puppet Pals have made appearances at many Harry Potter parties and conventions, such as the Yule Ball and LeakyCon.[5][6][7]
Both the original animated episodes, as well as the first seven live-action episodes, have been published to the official Potter Puppet Pals webpage.[8]
Characters
Much of the humor derived from the series originates from Cicierega's unique interpretation of the principal Harry Potter characters. Some characters are given personalities designed to contrast completely with their attitudes in the Harry Potter books. Cicierega's Harry is portrayed as an extremely brash, arrogant and vain teenager who is "rife with boyish attitude", while Dumbledore is a nudist. Other times, an aspect of the original stories is blown out of proportion for comedic effect, such as Hermione Granger's love of reading and matter-of-fact approach to problems. In the episode Snape's Diary, Hermione remarks, "I know a thing or two about books, and that's a book!" Later in the same episode, she excitedly shouts, "Here's one of the quills I carry with me at all times!"
Throughout the course of the series, multiple characters are seemingly killed off, such as Neville in "Neville's Birthday" and Voldemort in "Harryween"; neither have made appearances since.
List of characters
| Character Name | First appearance | Latest appearance |
|---|---|---|
| Harry Potter | "Bothering Snape" | "The Mysterious Ticking Noise 10-Year Anniversary" |
| Ron Weasley | ||
| Hermione Granger | "Trouble at Hogwarts" | |
| Professor Dumbledore | "Bothering Snape" | |
| Professor Snape | ||
| Lord Voldemort | "Trouble at Hogwarts" | "Harryween" |
| Neville Longbottom | "Wizard Swears" | "Neville's Birthday" |
| Rubeus Hagrid | "Ron's Disease" | |
| Draco Malfoy | "Draco Puppet" | |
| Ginny Weasley | "Ginny" | |
| Cedric Diggory | "Neville's Birthday" | |
Unseen characters
| Character Name | First mentioned | Last mentioned |
|---|---|---|
| Professor McGonagall | "Snape's Diary" | |
| Argus Filch | "Wizard Angst" | "Snape's Diary" |
| Lucius Malfoy | "Snape's Diary" | |
| Madam Pomfrey | "Snape's Diary" (extended version) | |
| Dudley Dursley | "Harryween" | |
| Dobby | "Wizard Angst" | "The Apparate! Suite" |
| Augusta Longbottom | "Wizard Swears" | "Neville's Birthday" |
| Hedwig | "The Apparate! Suite" | |
Episodes
Flash animations
| No. | Title | Original airdate | Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Bothering Snape"[9] | September 27, 2003 | Harry and Ron amuse themselves by bothering Snape, who retaliates by murdering them with Avada Kedavra. Dumbledore arrives and finds Harry and Ron "taking an afternoon nap". Snape sneaks away while Dumbledore is busy picking the boys' pockets. Upon realizing that he is alone, Dumbledore strips and concludes the video by indulging in "naked time". |
| 2 | "Trouble at Hogwarts"[10] | December 15, 2003 | Harry, Ron and Hermione all proclaim their love for something: Hermione loves to learn, Harry loves magic, and Ron loves Harry. Suddenly, Dumbledore comes with a warning that Voldemort is attacking Hogwarts. Snape attempts to kill Voldemort with an Avada Kedavra curse, but the spell fails and his wand produces a cloud of smoke. Voldemort then kills Snape with the same curse. Meanwhile, Ron then forms a plan to defeat Voldemort: after playing hide-and-seek with him, the Gryffindors produce submachine guns and shoot him. Snape reappears and Harry, Ron, and Hermione hug him. Snape is confused, and Dumbledore appears (naked), proclaims the group hug to be "a cornucopia of love!" and then joins Harry, Ron and Hermione in hugging Snape. |
| 2.5 | "Follow the Butterflies"[11] | December 15, 2003 | An episode hidden in "Trouble at Hogwarts". Ron is seen playing with butterflies, singing, "Follow the butterflies, follow the butterflies, whee! Lalalalala." Hermione casts a "Ronicus Explodicus" spell to make his head pop out off his shoulders and onto the ground. This episode may be found when Voldemort murders Snape in "Trouble at Hogwarts". If you go on the official website, pause the video when Snape is killed, and watch it in freeze frame mode, a star will appear on Snape's face at some point. When the star is clicked on, this short episode will appear. This is most likely a reference to Ron's line in Chamber of Secrets: "Why spiders? Why couldn't it be follow the butterflies?" |
Live-action puppetry
| No. | Title | Original airdate | Story | Running Time | YouTube views, as of 13 March 2021 (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Potions Class" | September 26, 2006 | Harry, Ron, and Hermione enter Potions class with Snape, where he tells a long-winded epitome of the art of potions. Harry then inquires about how potions "can get you girls"; they all leave disappointed at his response. Dumbledore then enters and asks for expired gorilla milk. | 2:13 | 14.9 |
| 2 | "Wizard Angst" | November 2, 2006 | Harry is experiencing angst, and decides to quit school after having nightmares, leaving Ron in his stead. Ron, attempting to comfort Harry, gets into a fight; Snape punishes them, but once causing him to soil himself, Ron and Harry appreciate magic once more. | 3:23 | 25.5 |
| 3 | "The Mysterious Ticking Noise"[12] | March 23, 2007 | Upon hearing a ticking noise, Snape decides to sing to it; other characters join in until the source of the ticking is found to be a pipe bomb, which subsequently explodes. This episode went on to become the Potter Puppet Pals' most popular video by far, accumulating nearly 200 million views (as of January 2021). | 2:07 | 195.4 |
| 4 | "Wizard Swears" | December 1, 2007 | Dumbledore issues a list of phrases banned in the school. Harry, Hermione and Ron use these "swears" in front of Snape and Neville, who both respond negatively to their "boyish behavior". Dumbledore, unaware of posting the banned swear words, teaches the children the "Elder Swear", which they repeat to Neville later. | 5:37 | 42.5 |
| 5 | "School Is for Losers" | April 7, 2008 | Harry is accused of missing Potions of three weeks as he strolls around. Harry punches Snape, and then plays a saxophone, the words "Harry Potter is awesome" behind him. | 0:33 | 14.8 |
| 6 | "The Vortex" | May 17, 2008 | Harry and Hermione find Ron trapped in a vortex that leads to another dimension. Dumbledore removes him, but finds that Ron has gone through puberty and is much more "cool". Harry, jealous of Ron's attention, then decides to return him to normal, receiving all of his former awareness. | 3:15 | 16.6 |
| 7 | "Ron's Disease" | April 13, 2009 | Ron contracts "wizard lice"; Dumbledore tells him and Harry to go to Hagrid, who after attempting a song as a cure, then proceeds to hit him on his head and place him upside down. Harry, seeing the benefits of having Hagrid as a servant, has him beat Snape, Hermione and Dumbledore, who is unaffected; in doing so, Dumbledore reveals he is a "gay android." | 5:10 | 13.5 |
| 8 | "Snape's Diary" | July 15, 2009 | Harry steals Snape's personal diary, which he reads to Ron and Hermione. Snape's diary is full of depressing entries like his depressing dreams, Harry's, Ron's, and Filch's bullying, and a lost button. The episode is accompanied with visions of Snape writing the entries in candlelight. Harry and Ron then write their own entries before Snape discovers them; Ron expresses his support for Snape. | 5:34 / 6:20 (extended) | 17.4 |
| 9 | "Ron's Parents" | July 28, 2010 | Ron is writing a letter to his parents when Harry comes in. Harry becomes angry because his parents are dead, and tries to make himself feel better by flaunting his wealth. Ron asks if Harry wants to go to his house for Christmas, to which Harry quickly says "Yes". | 1:13 | 6.2 |
| 10 | "Mustache Buddies" | July 28, 2010 | Voldemort decides to grow a mustache, and forces Snape to do so too. Snape agrees, and is later pelted with trash by Hermione, Harry and Ron upon seeing it. | 1:13 | 8.3 |
| 11 | "Harry's Nightmares" | September 9, 2010 | Harry tells everyone about his worst nightmares, including Snape trying to attack him with a hammer, Voldemort out-dancing him, giving birth to Ron, Hermione becoming addicted to amphetamines, being middle-aged, and learning he is actually a mental patient whose mind had constructed this fantasy world of magic all in order to escape the guilt of having to watch "his wife" die. | 2:43 | 8.9 |
| 12 | "Draco Puppet" | September 13, 2010 | Harry responds to repeated requests for a Draco Malfoy puppet. Rather than create a full-size puppet like the others, Harry fashions a Draco puppet out of paper and a photograph of actor Tom Felton. He then sings a song about what Draco likes, slowly destroying it; eventually, he is burnt on a stove. | 1:42 | 14 |
| 13 | "Ginny" | May 29, 2011 | Harry decides to date Ginny, Ron's sister, the only physical difference being long hair and a bow tie. Harry tries to seduce her, and then practices with Ron, who temporarily plays as Ginny. The real Ginny, who had received a haircut based on Harry's recommendation, has Harry confused: Ron and Ginny look identical. Harry then proceeds to kill himself. | 2:44 | 8.9 |
| 14 | "Neville's Birthday" | November 16, 2011 | Dumbledore forces Harry, Ron, and Hermione to attend Neville Longbottom's birthday party under threat of expulsion. Guests at the party include an increasingly drunk Snape, Hagrid, Dumbledore, and Cedric Diggory (portrayed as a marker drawing of Robert Pattinson on someone's foot). When the cake arrives, a naked Dumbledore pops out and sings a "Happy Hogwarts Birthday" song. Harry refuses to eat a cake that Dumbledore has been in and tells Neville that no one likes him, causing Neville to self-destruct. Harry and his friends feel guilty, and then Harry, Hermione, Ron, Snape and Dumbledore eat Neville's corpse. Neville's ghost appears on screen and tells the audience that "It's what's on the inside that counts." | 6:24 | 11.3 |
| 15 | "Apparate!" | June 17, 2013 | Harry tells Hermione he has learned how to Apparate. He demonstrates by Apparating all around the room, followed by a musical number about it. Ron walks in during Harry's song, and Harry accidentally Apparates on top of him. The two then Apparate at the same time to try and separate from each other, but both end up Apparating underneath Snape. Dumbledore comes in asking about the "ruckus", and Snape, Harry, and Ron fall on top of him. | 3:06 | 4.5 |
| Shorts | Title | Original airdate | Story | Running Time | YouTube views as of 1 April 2019 (Millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Magic Can Solve Any Problem" | October 22, 2013 | Harry uses magic to solve problems he has with Ron, Hermione, and Snape, by turning them all into himself. He then points his wand at the camera and turns the viewer into himself as well, though the viewer indicates (much to Harry's disgust) that they would rather be turned into Ron. | 0:54 | 1.2 |
| 2 | "Dapper Ron" | October 22, 2013 | Ron comes in dressed in a tuxedo and top hat and greets Hermione politely. Hermione hits him on the head and restores him to his normal self. As Ron explains that he was under a curse, Hermione headbutts him, knocking him out of sight. | 0:12 | 0.9 |
| 3 | "Martial Arts" | October 22, 2013 | Snape gives a Defense Against the Dark Arts class. However, Harry thinks the class is on "defensive martial arts" and kicks Snape to the ground. | 0:17 | 1.6 |
| Original airdate | Story | Running Time | YouTube views, as of 1 April 2019 (millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Movie | "Harryween" | October 29, 2015 | Snape tells a Halloween story about Voldemort trying to capture a unicorn to drink its blood. However, he mistakenly abducts Ron instead, who dressed up as a unicorn for Halloween. Meanwhile, Harry attempts to choose a disguise to both ease past memories and save Ron. | 13:00 | 1.8 |
Special episodes
| Title | Original airdate | Story | Running Time | YouTube views, as of 1 June 2023 (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Awakening of the Incorruptible"/"Albus Dumbledore Lists Your Good Qualities" | May 16, 2008 | A very short video in which Dumbledore appears, then disappears. This episode has had its name changed several times. Initially it was called "Awakening of the Incorruptible"; its later names were "HOLY CRAP, THIS VIDEO HAS OVER 2 MILLION VIEWS, WTF", "HOLY CRAP, THIS VIDEO HAS OVER 3 MILLION VIEWS, WTF", "The Squeakuel" (in reference to Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel), "Potter Puppet Pals: 2012" (in reference to the film 2012), "Brodyquest II" (named after one of Cicierega's videos) and "Albus Dumbledore Lists Your Good Qualities". | 0:12 | 7.1 |
| "INSANELY important Potter Puppet Pals news!" | July 28, 2010 | Harry finds out from Hermione that he is a puppet, and "a guy in his twenties who plays with puppets" controls him. Harry then announces a new channel. | 1:53 | 2.8 |
| "Harry Potter personally welcomes you. Yes, you." | July 28, 2010 | A short video promoting the new Potter Puppet Pals channel. | 0:36 | 4.5 |
| "(good morning, Snape)" | November 16, 2011 | A secret video directly following the events of "Neville's Birthday", in which the aftermath of Snape's condition is described. | 0:10 | 0.004 |
| "The Mysterious Ticking Noise 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY" | March 23, 2017 | A 4K remake of the original Mysterious Ticking Noise video in honor of its 10th anniversary. The ending differs in that the source of the ticking turns out to be "a 10-year-old YouTube video" (the original Ticking Noise video). Harry realizes after all this time they shouldn't still be in school and they leave promptly, with just Snape and Dumbledore remaining as the video ends. | 2:01 | 4.3 |
| "Harry and the Potters - Where's Ron? (featuring Kimya Dawson)" | June 12, 2019 | "Where's Ron" is from Harry and the Potters' new album Lumos, available everywhere 6/21/19.[13] | 4:06 | 0.46 |
The Mysterious Ticking Noise
"The Mysterious Ticking Noise", released March 23, 2007, was the 22nd most-viewed video on YouTube as of January 1, 2013, with over 137.5 million views.[1][14] The video was nominated and won[15] in the Comedy category in the 2008 YouTube Awards with 61.6% of the votes in that category.[16]
In the video, Severus Snape hears a strange ticking and, noticing it has a catchy rhythm, begins singing to it, followed by Dumbledore, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter. Towards the end, Ron discovers that the source of the ticking is a pipe bomb that explodes as they celebrate, letting Lord Voldemort sing his name by himself to the tune of "Lollipop".[14] At the New York premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Alan Rickman was interviewed by MTV and quoted as saying "[Potter Puppet Pals] is very beautifully done, that little piece of work. Can you get rich from that? I hope they did."[17] Daniel Radcliffe also mentioned in an interview by MTV that the cast of the Harry Potter film series should do a live-action version of "The Mysterious Ticking Noise" for a charity.[18]
On 23 March 2017, a 4K remake of the original video was posted to the Potter Puppet Pals channel to mark the 10th anniversary of the original.[19]
References
- Oloffson, Kristi (March 29, 2010). "The YouTube 50: Potter Puppet Pals". Time. Archived from the original on April 1, 2010. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
- "Канал користувача NeilCicierega". YouTube. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- "Neil Ciciereg's YouTube". Youtube. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- "Potterpuppetpals Page". Youtube. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- Archived April 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- "We Are Harry and the Potters » Blog Archive » the Yule Ball: 2010 edition!". Harryandthepotters.com. September 13, 2010. Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- "Potter Puppet Pals' Comedic Magic Comes to LeakyCon Boston!". The-Leaky-Cauldron.org. September 11, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- Cicierega, Jerry. "Potter Puppet Pals - Apparate". www.potterpuppetpals.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- "Harry Potter Puppet Pals- Bothering Snape". YouTube. August 10, 2007. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- theonebg98 (June 16, 2006). "trouble at hogwarts". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- "Potter Puppet Pals Easter Egg: Hidden Scene". YouTube. August 10, 2006. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- Neil Cicierega (March 23, 2007). "Potter Puppet Pals: The Mysterious Ticking Noise" – via YouTube.
- Busch, Caitlin (June 12, 2019). "Harry and the Potters team up with Potter Puppet Pals for a brand new music video". SYFY WIRE. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
- "The Mysterious Ticking Noise on YouTube". Youtube. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- Carlson, Erin (March 20, 2008). "Will the Obama Girl win a YouTube award?". Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 23, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
- Gina, Keating (March 21, 2008). ""Harry Potter", "Chocolate Rain" win YouTube awards". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- "Music – Music News, New Songs, Videos, Music Shows and Playlists from MTV". www.mtv.com.
- Cicierega, Jerry. "Potter Puppet Pals - Radcliffe Interview". potterpuppetpals.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
- potterpuppetpals (March 23, 2017). "The Mysterious Ticking Noise 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY in 4K". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.
External links
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