Potter Puppet Pals

Potter Puppet Pals
The sign showing the Potter Puppet Pals logo that appears at the start of most episodes.
Genre	Comedy, puppetry, variety, parody
Created by	Neil Cicierega, Emmy Cicierega, Alora Lanzillotta
Voices of	Neil Cicierega
Country of origin	USA
Original language	English
Original release
Network	Newgrounds (2003) YouTube (2006–present)
Release	Animated series: September 27 – December 15, 2003 Puppet series: September 26, 2006 – present

Potter Puppet Pals is a puppet show web series parodying the Harry Potter novel series by JK Rowling, created by Neil Cicierega.

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 as "Potions Class". Six more episodes were released by Cicierega between 2006 and 2009. Approximately one year after the seventh episode was released, a new video appeared on Neil's channel announcing an exclusive Potter Puppet Pals channel. On the same day, three more videos were released on this page. The Potter Puppet Pals make appearances at some Harry Potter parties, such as Yule Balls 2007 and 2010.

Both the original animated episodes, as well as the first seven live-action episodes, have been published to the official Potter Puppet Pals webpage.

Characters

Much of the humor derived from the series originates from Cicierega's unique interpretation of the principal Harry Potter characters. For the most part, the characters are given personalities designed to contrast completely with their attitudes in the books. Sometimes, an aspect of the books is blown out of proportion during the series. For example, in the books, Ron Weasley happens to be a bit shy. Ron is portrayed in the show as an extremely shy character. In Snape's Diary, Hermione remarks, "I know a thing or two about books and that's a book!"

Main characters

Harry Potter

Harry Potter: In contrast to the books' largely selfless and humble character, in Potter Puppet Pals, Harry is arrogant, selfish, and greedy, very much like his father was during his own Hogwarts years, having become increasingly so as the series has progressed. He is often seen dancing erratically while shouting his own name and interjecting it with rhythmic grunts. Whereas the books Harry thinks deeply about his actions to the extent of occasionally over-thinking them, the puppet Potter is impulsive and does not take the feelings or opinions of others into account. He is frequently abusive towards his friend Ron, insulting him about his freckles in "Wizard Angst" and his weight in several other episodes. Also, in "The Vortex", he becomes intensely jealous of Ron when he experiences an accelerated puberty and is transformed into "Ronaldo". Harry is the ringleader as the main trio carry out their "tomfoolery", invading Snape's privacy by reading his diary, and shouting swearwords and threats at Neville Longbottom. Though in the video "Neville's Birthday" this is the first time Harry feels most sympathetic after Neville self-destructs himself after Harry ends up hurting Neville's feelings. (Although he began to eat the chunks when he blew up, as in the show Neville is a butternut squash.). Harry has also broken the fourth wall before in his introduction to the new YouTube channel, which he acknowledges he's a puppet controlled by a "muggle" but plans to break free of his confinement and raise a puppet army to conquer the world.

Ron Weasley

Ron Weasley: Where the Ron of the books is a brave, loyal young Gryffindor with a strong sense of fun, his PPP counterpart is a simple, cheery and (somewhat) infantile boy who speaks in a ridiculously high voice. He is hurt by (but soon recovers from) Harry's regular bouts of abuse, and happily accompanies him in his acts of mischief. He is very fond of his friends, Harry in particular, and seems to like being at Hogwarts, despite showing clear signs of mental deficiencies. His childish outbursts earn him odd looks from his friends. In the secret butterfly scene in "Trouble at Hogwarts" it is shown he loves butterflies. Harry calls him overweight in "The Vortex" and "Snape's Diary", even though the Ron of the books is tall and thin. His puppet version is shown to be the same size as any other, so this might just be another example of Harry's unrelenting abusiveness. He also doesn't seem to be very intelligent, as when he's writing a letter to his parents he starts with "Dear Mr. and Mrs. My Parents"

Hermione Granger

Hermione Granger: Hermione is perhaps the most normal of the trio, but shows enough contrast in that she seems to display no real opinion on the events, acting either as a bystander passing comment, or a willing accomplice in Harry's mischief. This is a departure from the novels, where Hermione was quick to voice her opinion on whatever her friends were doing, and was often looked upon as quite bossy. Hermione's intelligence is briefly mentioned but little of what she displays in the books is seen. In the secret butterfly scene she cast a spell on Ron, Ronnikus Explodikus, at which time, Ron explodes, and his head is viewed flying offscreen. She is so far the only female speaking character in the series - probably because all of the characters are voiced by the same person. Hermione has a distinctly masculine voice.

Albus Dumbledore

Albus Dumbledore: Eccentric to the point of possible senility. His most memorable habit is what he calls "Naked Time!", where he strips himself of all of his clothing except for his hat (fortunately, being a puppet, he isn't anatomically correct). He seems happy to wander around naked whenever it pleases him, though he is more often seen dressed in his signature purple robes. Dumbledore's calm and patient character of the novels is made simpler and, like Ron, more infantile – he shows a short attention span when Snape tells him of his dream in "The Vortex", and he is prone to hysterical exclamations such as, "Alas!" and "Well that's just fantastic!" His great intelligence and wisdom in the books is completely contradicted by his exclamation of "I don't even remember five minutes ago!" in "Wizard Swears" when Snape reminds him that it was he who originally made the list of banned words. In "Ron's Disease", after Hagrid's failed attempt at beating him with a club, he reveals to the characters and the audience that he is a gay android.

Severus Snape

Severus Snape: Snape is often the first to come across Harry, Ron and Hermione participating in mischief. He usually delivers long, rambling descriptions of how the trio will be punished, giving them time to discover a means of escape. Disliked and neglected by all of the characters except Voldemort, who he is seen serving in "Mustache Buddies". This however contradicts a previous episode, "Trouble at Hogwarts," in which Snape attempted to kill Voldemort and Voldemort killed Snape (though he didn't stay dead). Snape often shows a deeply mournful and sensitive side. He keeps a diary, where he keeps account of his highly depressed and unfortunate life, mentioning for example a dream (possibly a memory) where he asked Harry's mother to dance at the Yule Ball. He writes, "I asked her to dance... she asked me to die." Also, he is seen drunk in the episode "Neville's Birthday".

Lord Voldemort

Lord Voldemort: Voldemort appears occasionally, with an echoey and deep plummy voice. He is an antagonist, but is not as evil as his book counterpart. He constantly attempts to kill the other characters, but is generally thwarted. His most successful plot, and only successful one so far, has been blowing up all of the other main characters with a pipe bomb (which was ticking, leading the characters to create a song by rhythmically singing their own names). There is really no great enmity between Voldemort and Harry as there is in the book, suggesting that the former is not completely evil. This is shown in "Ron's Disease" when Harry has used Hagrid to knock out both Hermione and Snape, yet when they pass Voldemort who greets Harry with "Ah, Harry, I've been waiting for you" in a friendly voice followed by an attempt to kill him, Harry says "No time to chat, Voldemort! Gotta go!" and runs off, much to Voldemort's disappointment. Voldemort appears in 7 episodes.

Minor characters

Neville Longbottom

Neville Longbottom: Unlike the other characters, which are made out of felt, Neville appears as a butternut squash on a stick. In the novels, he is clumsy, but brave and able to stand up to his friends; here, he is pathetic and cowardly, with a wheezy voice. He is easily bullied by Harry, Ron and Hermione. Neville also appears in "Wizard Swears" where Harry, Hermione, and Ron curse at him using "The Elder Swear", which they promised never to repeat to anyone. Neville self-destructs in 'Neville's Birthday' after discovering that Harry, Ron and Hermione all think he is lame. At the beginning of this episode he also got called Neville Lungebutton by Dumbledore.

Rubeus Hagrid

Rubeus Hagrid: Hagrid seems to like sleeping. He is probably still the gamekeeper. Harry and Ron first met him in "Ron's Disease" and, after making a deal with Harry, who promised to leave fish every day on his doorstep for a month, he beats up Hermione and Snape with a massive club (he also attempts to attack Dumbledore, but this fails upon learning Dumbledore's terrible secret: he is a gay android).

Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy: Different from all the other characters, Draco Malfoy is simplistically made out of paper and is a smaller puppet, held and voiced by the Harry puppet. In "Draco Puppet", Harry created him in order to torture him, and after the puppet "annoys" Harry, he does a series of strange things to the paper Draco and eventually burns it on a stove.

Ginny Weasley

Ginny Weasley: Ron's sister that appeared in the episode "Ginny". She has no speaking lines so far. Harry professes her physical charms, comparing her to such objects of beauty as Thomas Kinkade paintings and such objects of hotness as a spicy pepper or a stove. However, when Harry discovers that Ginny looks exactly like Ron but with a little bit longer hair and a bow, he uses Avada Kedavra on himself.

Cedric Diggory

Cedric Diggory: Cedric Diggory appears in "Neville's Birthday" as a drawing of Robert Pattinson (who played Cedric Diggory in the 4th movie) on a foot.

The Dursleys

Vernon, Petunia and Dudley Dursley are rather different from other puppets as they are mere cardboard cupboards that have very little resemblance to the actors who portray them but look more like feral beasts. They shriek at Harry in the Yule Ball 2011 when Harry reflects on his darkest, most troubling memories before facing Voldemort.

J. K. Rowling

J. K. Rowling is not a puppet but is in fact Neil Cicierega in a dress and blonde wig. She only appears in Yule Ball 2011 when Harry asks her if she's writing another adventure about him but he is appalled to find that she isn't.

Characters only mentioned

Argus Filch

Argus Filch: Filch has the same love for punishment as in the novels. He is said to be Snape's friend, even though he forgot to wish him a happy birthday and told him he smelled like broccoli. Filch is mentioned in Wizard Angst and Snape's Diary.

Dobby

Dobby: It is mentioned in Wizard Angst that Harry once had a nightmare that Dobby ate his skin 'clean off'. Dobby was also accidentally identified as a goblin in the same episode. Dobby is mentioned in "Wizard Swears" (Dobby's sock!) and "Wizard Angst".

Lucius Malfoy

Lucius Malfoy: Very little is mentioned about Lucius. All that is mentioned is that he plays golf with Snape. Lucius is mentioned in "Snape's Diary".

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall: It is briefly mentioned in the episode "Snape's Diary" that Minerva pointed out to the whole faculty that Snape had lost a button on his cloak.

Episodes

Flash animations

No.	Title	Original airdate	Story	YouTube views, as of 21 April 2012 (millions)
1	"Bothering Snape"	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."	0.8
2	"Trouble at Hogwarts"	December 15, 2003	Harry, Ron and Hermione all proclaim their love for something: Hermione loves to learn, Harry loves magic, and Ron loves Harry. 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 prodces 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, Hermione and Dumbledore hug him. Snape is confused, and Dumbledore reappears (naked), joins the group hug, and proclaims it to be "a cornucopia of love!"	0.5
2.5	"Follow the Butterflies"	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 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 potterpuppetpals.com, pause the video when Snape is killed, and watch it in freeze frame mode, a pentagram will appear in Snape's head at some point. When the pentagram is clicked on, this short episode will appear. This is most likely a reference to Ron's line in Chamber of Secrets: "Follow the spiders! Why couldn't it be follow the butterflies?"

Live-action puppetry

No.	Title	Original airdate	Story	YouTube views, as of 6 June 2012 (millions)
3	"Potions Class"	September 26, 2006	The three young Gryffindors attend Potions class. Snape commences a long-winded lecture about his potion-making abilities. Harry is disinterested and scoffs openly until Snape mentions that he could teach him how to "score with hot babes" before abruptly dismissing the class. At this point Harry implores Snape to teach him, but Snape tells him to vamoose. Dumbledore then appears, looking to borrow some expired gorilla milk ( 'It does wonders to me bowels!' ).	12.9
4	"Wizard Angst"	November 2, 2006	Harry is experiencing "angst" and insults Ron. He then decides to quit Hogwarts and magic, explaining that he has nightmares about Dobby and hates goblins. He orders Ron to fight Voldemort, but Ron is too scared and consults with Hermione. Harry then finishes his cranky mood with Dumbledore's "advice."	21.7
5	"The Mysterious Ticking Noise"	March 23, 2007	Snape hears a mysterious, rhythmic ticking noise and begins to sing, "Snape, Snape, Severus Snape" over and over again. He is then joined in song by Dumbledore, Ron, Harry and Hermione. Ron eventually finds the source of the ticking noise: a pipe bomb. It explodes, blowing everyone up. Voldemort then appears and sings his own jaunty tune.	126.8
6	"Wizard Swears"	December 1, 2007	Dumbledore issues a list of phrases that are banned from Hogwarts. "I didn't know wizards had swears," Harry says. "Of course they do, Harry," Hermione replies. "They're called wizard swears!" She encourages Harry to read some of the obscenities which include "Voldemort's nipple," "dragon bogeys," and "Expecto Patronads." Snape overhears and attempts to take 500,000 points from Gryffindor, but they run away. They then meet Neville Longbottom and force him to swear, too, before making a prank phone call to Voldemort. At that point Snape reappears with Dumbledore and implores him to expel the Gryffindors. Instead, Dumbledore teaches them a forty-five-second long string of profanities known as "the Elder Swear." Despite Dumbledore's warning never to repeat the Elder Swear, they go and use it on Neville.	30.4
7	"School Is for Losers"	April 7, 2008	A short video where Harry sings, "I'm Harry Potter, school is for losers, I'm totally awesome..." until Snape shows up and accuses Harry of missing Potions for three weeks. To Harry, it sounds gibberish (except for the word "Harry Potter" that Snape says during his rambling). Harry punches Snape and plays a saxophone and the words "Harry Potter is awesome" appear.	12.3
8	"Awakening of the Incorruptible"	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."	6.2
9	"The Vortex"	May 17, 2008	Snape is telling Dumbledore about his dream of being a milkmaid which is a "life-changing vision", until Harry kicks him down and screams that there is a magical emergency. They go to Hermione and a vortex from which Ron speaks; he is trapped in an alternate dimension and is going into puberty. Dumbledore orders Harry to fetch his "Problem Stick". He gets Ron out of the Vortex, but Ron has already gone through puberty and has become a "cool" teenager. Hermione falls in love with him after he states that his name is no longer Ron saying 'It's Ronaldo now', and Dumbledore claims that Ron is much cooler than Harry which makes Harry jealous. Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore begin dancing until Harry finishes it and casts a spell which causes Ron to rewind in puberty turning him into a normal Ron. They all start dancing and Harry sings.	13.1
10	"Ron's Disease"	April 13, 2009	Ron contracts "wizard lice." Dumbledore advises him to go to Hagrid. Harry and Ron go to his house where they find a sleeping Hagrid who then wakes up. After Harry and Ron explain the situation, Hagrid starts singing the cure saying that he needs mayonnaise, but Ron can't afford it. Hagrid cures him then by hitting on his head, crushing the lice. Harry then decides to make Hagrid his servant, and orders Hagrid to start hitting Hermione, Snape, and Dumbledore who is not affected. Dumbledore reveals that he is an android who is gay.	8.4
11	"Snape's Diary"	July 15, 2009	Harry steals Snape's personal diary and reads it 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 button. Also, the episode is accompanied with visions of Snape writing the entries in candlelight. Harry writes an entry where he claims that Harry Potter's so awesome. Ron writes three letters. Soon, Snape finds them and Harry immediately says that Ron stole the diary. Ron says that he liked the depressing button story. Snape then thinks: "so do I, orange one", and then he cries. In the credits, a vision is seen with Snape holding the diary in candlelight.	9.7
12	"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 no less" controls him. He then goes on about puppet rebellions, and states that he will be the new god. Hermione pops out and tells Harry to tell the audience about the new YouTube Channel.	1.85
13	"Harry Potter personally welcomes you. Yes, you."	July 28, 2010	This video first starts off with Harry talking about how he is the strongest wizard who lived. Then he says to check out his new YouTube channel.	2.65
14	"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. Harry says "Yes" quickly.	3.4
15	"Mustache Buddies"	July 28, 2010	Voldemort confers with Snape about his plans to grow a mustache. Because he doesn't want to stand out, he insists that Snape grow one, too. We later see Snape in Potions class, sporting a black mustache in accordance with his promise to Voldemort. Harry, Ron and Hermione are so horrified that they pelt Snape with books, pencils, and bits of rubbish, and Hermione vomits.	4.7
16	"Harry's Nightmares"	September 9, 2010	Harry tells everyone about his worst nightmares, including Snape trying to attacking him with a hammer, giving birth to Ron, Hermione becoming addicted to amphetamines, being middle-aged, Voldemort out-dancing him, and being a Muggle. After that, he says to tell about your worst nightmare in a comment or video response, and to subscribe. It ends with Hermione and Ron looking confused.	5.1
17	"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 (who plays Malfoy in the Harry Potter films). He then sings a song about what Draco likes and eventually destroys him on a stove.	6.2
18	"Ginny"	May 29, 2011	Harry wants to woo Ron's younger sister Ginny, who, for the duration of the episode, does not speak and only makes subtle movements. After he fails to woo her, he turns to Ron for advice by getting Ron to temporarily roleplay Ginny. Harry is successful at expressing his feelings for "Ginny". However, upon returning to Ginny who has cut off most of her hair, Harry notices that she now looks exactly like Ron. Harry is no longer able to tell them apart. Out of confusion and disappointment, Harry attempts to kill himself with Avada Kedavra.	3.8
19	"Neville's Birthday"	November 16, 2011	Dumbledore forces Harry, Ron, and Hermione to attend Neville Longbottom's birthday party. Guests at the party includes Snape, Hagrid, Dumbledore and Cedric Diggory (simply a drawing of Robert Pattinson, who played Cedric in the film series, in marker). Professor Dumbledore popping out of it and sings a "Happy Hogwarts Birthday" song. The trio refuse to eat a cake that Dumbledore has been in, and tell Neville that no one likes him, causing him to self-destruct; the guests feel guilty, and then eat Neville's corpse.	2.3

The Mysterious Ticking Noise

"The Mysterious Ticking Noise", released March 23, 2007, was the 22nd most-viewed video on YouTube as of February 1, 2012 with over 100,000,000 views. The video was nominated and won in the Comedy category in the 2008 YouTube Awards with 61.6% of the votes in that category. 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" by The Mudlarks. 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."|

External links

• Potter Puppet Pals Website
• Potterpuppetpals YouTube Page
• Neil Cicieraga YouTube Page