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The success of ]'s '']'' series of books and ] has engendered a number of ]s and ], both legal and illegal.
#REDIRECT ]

==Barry Trotter==
]

'''Barry Trotter''' is a series of ] written by ] and published in the ] in a small ] format uniform to the new edition of '']''.

===Series===
# ''Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody'' (ISBN 0-575-07454-X) (''Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody'' in U.S. )
# ''Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel'' (ISBN 0-575-07558-9)
# ''Barry Trotter and the Dead Horse'' (ISBN 0-575-07630-5)
There is also a boxed set (ISBN 0-575-07658-5) of all three.

===Plot===
The narrative features the adventures of "Barry Trotter", "Lon Measly", and "Ermine Cringer" who attend the "Hogwash School for Wizardry and Witchcrap". It features strong ] ], as the book concerns their attempts to prevent the making of a movie, but the entire story is revealed to have been a movie itself, before it is shown that this itself is a novel being written by Barry Trotter.

Some concern has been expressed that the books may mistakenly be aimed at younger readers by bookshops who are unaware of the books' adult content.

The book's narrative and many footnotes and asides by the author (often written aimed at the reader, breaking the ]) add to its irreverent tone, and Gerber incessantly puns on Rowling's creations. There are many not-so-subtle subversions, and the reader can infer Gerber's detailed knowledge of the original '']'' series. ''Barry Trotter'' is a genuine if cynical tribute and parody. Among the story elements Gerber parodies are the excessive value of catching the Golden Snitch in ], the use of anagrams, and bizarre modes of transport: Gerber has the ]s travelling in ]s hidden in countryside hedges. The characters' older ages in comparison to those of the ''Harry Potter'' characters are a direct jab at the ''Harry Potter'' movies' risk of the child actors growing out of their roles.

The parody begins with a list of books supposedly written by ], such as ''The Big Cheese'' and ''] Gets Punched, Hard''. These books don't exist and parody the names of other famous books. This continues onto the verso with humorous messages from the Publisher, ]; The Universal Council of Churches; and your little brother.

===Characters===
====Alpo Bumblemore====
A parody of ]. The "]-ravaged" headmaster of Hogwash kindly informs Barry that if he does not stop the film, he will have to get a job. Bumblemore is also often portrayed as a ] in the books, and is well known for his hatred towards Muddles (a parody of ]s). He expelled Ferd and Jorge Measly after a practical joke resulted in him growing a second (but non-functioning) penis. He also has rumours circulating around him that he has a vinyl sex dungeon in which Minolta McGoogle is imprisoned.

====Barry Trotter====
A parody of ]. Trotter is perhaps the most accurate parody of his counterpart, and is portrayed as an arrogant, sadistic opportunist. He has stayed at Hogwash School for many extra years, much to the headmaster's annoyance. Barry was made famous in the series by a series of books written by J.G. Rollins (a parody of ]). He also suffers from a disease called "]" which makes him grow younger (like '']''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Merlyn).

====Lon Measley====
A parody of ]. Measley, a former ], is written as a somewhat unusual individual who had a "Quiddit" (a parody of ]) accident in which a Brainer (a parody of Bludger) made a hole straight through his head and as a result caused ]. His brain has been replaced by that of a ] - while his memory remains, he now suffers many mental problems.

====Ermine Cringer====
A parody of ]. She is the same age as Trotter and Measley, and has graduated and has become a teacher at a small magic school for the "marginally magical". She is also represented as having an "ever-questing ]", and falls for J.G. Rollins's "boyfriend" Trevor.

====Terry Valumart====
A parody of ]. A former eco-terrorist, "Lord" Valumart is often to be found trying to kill Barry Trotter (in order to cash in on his death ]) or running his multi-million business, Valumart Enterprises, "''The Annoyance Company''". He is also referred to as "The Dork Lord" and "He Who Smells". He is portrayed as a ] and, according to Barry Trotter, smells like bad Chinese food.

===Minor characters===
* '''Hafwid''' - Parody of ]. Hafwid is the school's gamekeeper. He is renowned for having the only television set in the school, and has an incredibly foul mouth. His dog is called Fing, which is a reference to Hagrid's dog ].
* '''Dorco Malfeasance''' - Parody of ]. Dorco is seldom mentioned in the books aside from his short stint as Hogwash Headmister, until he falls while riding a spell and is killed.
* '''Ferd''' and '''Jorge Measley''' - Parody of ], and brother(s) to Lon. Ferd and Jorge are seldom seen not pranking or otherwise inconveniencing other characters. Both are prominent law-breakers, and take pride in being so.
* '''Nigel''' and '''Fiona Trotter''' - Barry Trotter and Ermine's children. Introduced to us in ''Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel'', Nigel is due to start Hogwash - much to his dismay. Fiona is a three year old infant who enjoys torturing her brother with her profound magical skills.
*'''The Hogwash Ghosts: Flatulent Fanny, Almost-Brainless Bill, the Fat Frier, the Wailing Widow and the Bloody Imbecile''' - Parodies of ], ], the ], the ] and the ], respectively. Fanny haunts a bathroom much like Myrtle does, but "the air is rank with the fruits of her ghostly intestine". She supposedly died when she was pranked into eating a fatal amount of cheese. The Fat Frier is hated by the caretaker Angus Filth (counterpart ]) due to his leaving a greasy trail everywhere he walked. The Bloody Imbecile is so-called because he died when he tried to cut down a tree with a chainsaw, but he cut his own leg and died of blood loss. Other characters say to him "You should have let Hafwid cut down that tree!".
* '''Serious''' - Parody of ]. Serious is Barry's sponging godfather. IN barry trotter and the unauthorized parody, the trio have to outwit Serious.

===Other Harry Potter counterparts===
*'''Severe Snipe''' (])
*'''The Buggering Birch''' (])
*'''Earwig, Herpes and Ahole''' (], Hermes and ] respectively)
*'''Genital "Genny" Measley''' (])
*'''Angus Filth''' (])
*'''Madame Ponce''' (])
*'''The Hogwash Houses: Grittyfloor, Pufnstuf, Radishgnaw and Silverfish''' (], ], ] and ] respectively).

===Conglomerate representation===
One notable idea in the books is the portrayal of the counterpoints to ] and '']'''s American publishers, ], "Wagner Brothers" and "Fantastic Books" respectively. Both are portrayed as militaristic and heartless, at one point holding "J.G. Rollins" captive and electrocuting her in an underground chamber in an attempt to get more books from her, and in another blowing up Hogwash.

==Porri Gatter==

'''Порри Гаттер''' (Porri Gatter) is a series of ] written by Belarusian authors Andreyi Zhvalevskiyi (Андрей Жвалевский) and Igor' Miyt'ko (Игорь Мытько; lives in ]) in ]. The series is based on an inversion of the Potter mythos: Porri is a ] user in a world of magicians.<ref>, Kevin O'Flynn, ''The St. Petersburg Times'', Issue #824 (89), Friday, November 29, 2002</ref> He rides a ] instead of a broom, wields a grenade launcher instead of a ], and attends a technology school called Perverts (Первертс) instead of ].

In Russian "Harry" is transliterated as "Garri", so Porri Gatter is simply a ] of the Russian spelling of ]. Compare ''Parry Hotter''.

# ''Порри Гаттер и Каменный Философ'' (Porri Gatter and the Stone Philosopher)
# ''Личное дело Мергионы'' (Mergiona's Personal File)
# ''9 подвигов Сена Аесли'' (Nine Feats of Sen Aesli)

The name of the second book uses an ambiguity peculiar to ], where "Личное делo" can be interpreted as either ''personal file'' or ''personal cause'' / ''personal affair''.
The third part of the series actually came out as two separate books (feats 1-4 and 5-9).

==Tanya Grotter==

'''Tanya Grotter''' ('''Таня Гроттер''') is the female protagonist of a ]n ] ] series by ] (Дмитрий Емец). Tanya (short for Tatiana) Grotter is an orphan with intentional resemblances to ]'s ]: an unusual mole on her nose, magical powers, an upbringing by "Lopukhoidov" (equivalent to ]) relatives after her parents were killed by an evil sorceress, and studying at the Tibidox (Тибидохс) School for Difficult-to-Raise Magicians. Yemets describes the books as "a cultural reply" to the Potter series, and they feature allusion to Russian culture and ] such as ], ], ]es on ] and the works of ]. After the first book, the plots diverge from those of the Harry Potter series.

===Legal history===
While the series is legally published in Russia, it is not available in translation due to ] on behalf of JK Rowling and ].<ref>, BBC News online, 3 April, 2003</ref> In ], courts in the ] prevented the distribution of a ] translation of the first in the series, ''Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass'', after Rowling and Time Warner's laywers issued a ] order, arguing that the Grotter books violated ] law. Yemets and his ]-based publishers, ], argued unsuccessfully that the book constituted a ], permitted under copyright.

Later that year, as the Dutch translation ''Tanja Grotter en de magische contrabas'' was still legal in Belgium, the ] publishers Roularta Books decided to print 1,000 copies (and no more) in order to let people decide whether it was ], hoping that under those circumstances Rowling and her publishers would not sue.<ref>, ''Nieuws.nl'', October 23, 2003</ref> Rowling did not sue, but as there was a lot of interest in the book (Dutch people could buy the book by postal order from another Flemish publisher, Boekhandel VanIn) it was soon sold out.

===Titles===
#''Таня Гроттер и магический контрабас'' (Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass)
#''Таня Гроттер и Исчезающий Этаж'' (Tanya Grotter and the Disappearing Floor)
#''Таня Гроттер и Золотая Пиявка'' (Tanya Grotter and the Golden Leech)
#''Таня Гроттер и трон Древнира'' (Tanya Grotter and the Throne of Drevnir)
#''Таня Гроттер и посох волхвов'' (Tanya Grotter and the Pikestaff of the Magi)
#''Таня Гроттер и молот Перуна'' (Tanya Grotter and the Hammer of ])
#''Таня Гроттер и пенсне Ноя'' (Tanya Grotter and the Pince-nez of ])
#''Таня Гроттер и ботинки кентавра'' (Tanya Grotter and the Boots of the Centaur)
#''Таня Гроттер и колодец Посейдона'' (Tanya Grotter and the Well of ])
#''Таня Гроттер и локон Афродиты'' (Tanya Grotter and the Curl of ])
#''Таня Гроттер и перстень с жемчужиной'' (Tanya Grotter and the Pearl Ring)
#''Таня Гроттер и проклятье некромага'' (Tanya Grotter and the Curse of the Necromage)

Spinoff titles

#''Таня Гроттер и полный Тибидохс!'' Фразочки, цитатки и афоризмы (''Tanya Grotter and the complete Tibidox!'' Phrases, quotations and aphorisms)
#''Миры Тани Гроттер'' (''Worlds of Tanya Grotter'') - a compilation of fan-written graphic novels

There are several other ]s from the Tanya Grotter series featuring other Tibidox students, '']'' (Мефодий Буслаев) and '']'' (Хулиганское фэнтези).

#''Мефодий Буслаев: Маг Полуночи'' (Methodius Buslaev: Magician of Midnight)
#''Мефодий Буслаев: Свиток желаний'' (Methodius Buslaev: Roll of Desire)
#''Мефодий Буслаев: Третий всадник мрака'' (Methodius Buslaev: Third Rider of the Gloom)
#''Мефодий Буслаев: Билет на Лысую Гору'' (Methodius Buslaev: Ticket to the Bald Mountain)
#''Мефодий Буслаев: Месть валькирий'' (Methodius Buslaev: Vengeance of the Valkyries)
#''Мефодий Буслаев: Тайная магия Депресcняка'' {Methodius Buslaev: Depressnyak's Secret Magic)
#''Мефодий Буслаев: Лед и пламя Тартара'' (Methodius Buslaev: Tartar's Ice and Flame)
#''Хулиганское фэнтези: Великое Нечто'' (Hooligan fantasy: Great Something)

=== Similarities ===
* In ''Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass'', Tanya Grotter is an eleven year old orphan girl. In ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', Harry Potter is an eleven year old orphan boy.
* Tanya Grotter was left orphaned when the darkest magician, the Queen of the Undead, kills her parents. Harry Potter was left orphaned when the dark wizard ] kills his parents.
* After the murder, Tanya Grotter was sent to live with distant cousins Ninel and Germain Durnev, and their daughter, Penelopa "Pipa" Durnev. Tanya is abused by her adoptive family until she finds out that she is a magician. Harry Potter is sent to live with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley Dursley, all three of whom abuse him until he learns that he is a wizard.
* The name of the evil magician who killed Tanya Grotter's parents is Chuma-Del-Tort. The name of the dark wizard who killed Harry Potter's parents is, in official Russian translation, Lord Volan-de-Mort.
* The sorceress is called She-Who-Is-Not by the general population who are afraid to speak her name, as doing so could attract spells made by her (e.g. when academician Sardanapal Chernomorov mentions her name he is attacked by a flat iron that has appeared from nowhere). Lord Voldemort is called He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named by the general populace, who are too afraid to say his name.
* Harry Potter plays ] where players fly on magic brooms and score points by shooting/catching balls. Tanya Grotter plays "drakonbol" where players fly on practically anything, such as musical instruments (in Tanya's case, her ]), vacuum cleaners, magic lamps, couches, cuckoo clocks, and tennis rackets. The object of drakonbol is to feed all your balls to the opponent's dragon first. The game ends when that happens or when all the teammates are eaten by the dragon, which ever comes first.
*In Harry Potter, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, the bearded wizard Dumbledore, is accompanied by the Headmistress McGonagall. In Tanya Grotter, the Academician Sardanapal, a man with a disappearing-and-reappearing beard and yellow and green colored mustachio, is accompanied by the Docent Meduziya Gorgonova, who was known to the ancient Greeks as Medusa. She turned people into stone because she was embarrassed by all her pimples.
*In "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", Hagrid causes Dudley, Harry's cousin, to grow a pig's tail. In the first Tanya Grotter novel, her magical double bass causes her uncle to believe he's a rabbit.

==Wizard People, Dear Reader==

'''''Wizard People, Dear Readers''''', released in 2004, is an unauthorized ] ] to '']'' by ], a ] ] ] from ].

''Wizard People, Dear Readers'' is a narrative reworking the lives of the characters of ''The Sorcerer's Stone'' and the world in which they live, in the form of an ]. Mr. Neely's unique use of appropriated plot, characters and themes interlaced with his own brand of subversive humor has been called a "new art form" by ], whose web site, Illegal-art.org, promoted it. It could be described as the infusion of dissident subtext into a pop-culture phenomenon, creating a suspension of art and reality, and is in line with such works as ] and ].

===Humor===

Neely's writing includes humor on many levels. It ranges from simple childish mockery of the characters, to criticism of the acting and set design of the movie, to awkward metaphors in the prose of the "book", to over-dramatic philosophical speeches.

] himself is portrayed in a way perhaps best described as epic. He is repeatedly referred to as a god, and references are made to the "stockpiles of nuclear-level energy" that are his powers, and so on. This is an attitude shared by Harry himself; at one point, he calls himself a "beautiful animal" and a "]". He also repeatedly affirms that he is "Harry fucking Potter." ] is repeatedly described as incredibly ugly, and other insults are used from time to time. ] is referred to as a hideous woman. At one point, Neely simply remarks that "] loves ]."

Many characters often supposedly cast spells with humorous or ironic names. ] casts the "stand without effort" spell (in reference to his advanced age), while later on Harry casts what is called the "Winter be gone" spell (at a scene transition between winter and spring).

The narrator often breaks down into incoherent outbursts to signify the not-so-apparent rage of the characters, yelling words like "FFFFUCK!" followed closely by "Willikers!" (the ] match is a good example). He makes many references to people ]-ing themselves in surprise.

Neely also manages to have wild 'fantasy' sequences that have nothing to do with what is actually going on in the film. One such scene is where ]/] is explaining Norbert's egg. Instead of regaling Hagrid's encounter with a strange man in a bar, Hagar tells of how Val-Mart (Neely's version of ]) impregnated him with the egg and then how, because of his pregnancy, he survived a shark attack. Another such scene is where the trio of young wizards encounter ] for the second time and are about to jump down the trap door. Somehow Harmony manages to get killed and resurrected without any of those events occurring onscreen. Many characters are also described as taking out flasks and taking long draughts while no flasks make an appearance onscreen. Harry is mentioned as performing many "Wine out of nowhere" spells and being "drunk every day before noon". When Harry and Ron first meet on the Hogwarts train, Ron tells Harry that he is a " pot of coffee by day, bottle of wine by night kind of guy." Harry replies, "Triple that and you have me." And perhaps the oddest of Neely's wild fantasy sequences is while Neville ("the boy known as Upfish") loses control of his broom, Harry is daydreaming about his parent's giant rotten wedding cake that he can only reach by climbing up Dumbledore's body ("using his old ribcage, mouth sockets and such for footholds").

There are also many references to other works throughout the film. Some examples are Harry's invisibility cloak which is called "a cloak with a ]", referring to '']''. Professor ] is referred to as "Professor Ugnaught" in reference to his similar appearance to the ]s of ] in '']''. At one point he puts on the invisibility cloak and Neely exclaims "Invisibility ON!", referring to the catch phrase of ] of the ]. Neely even refers to future films in the series when he claims that the children are on their way to ]. In addition, Hagar the Horrible is the title of a comic strip involving a large, hulking barbarian.

A major running joke is the changing of character and place names:
{| class="wikitable"
! Original !! "Wizard People" Name
|-
|]||Dumbledore the Half-dead / Near-Dead Dumbledore
|-
|]||] / Softcastle McCormick
|-
|]||]
|-
|]||H.P., ], and others
|-
|]||(]) Roast-Beefy O'Weefy
|-
|]||various names with a pig theme (e.g. Porkstar, Baconface, Gigglesnort etc.)
|-
|]||Professor Queerman
|-
|]||Ed Vanders
|-
|]||Val-Mart the Scar Maker / Scar Artist / ]
|-
|]||Ronnie the Bear / Ronnie the Weasel
|-
|]||The Wretched Harmony
|-
|]||Upfish
|-
|]||Joey Lumbermouth / Woodpile
|-
|]||Mouthoil / Mal]
|-
|]||] (Man-servant to Bloody-eyed Cat)
|-
|]||The Bloody-eyed Cat/Head of Security
|-
|]||Snake, Hideous Woman
|-
|]||Catface Meowmers
|-
|]||]
|-
|]||Professor ] (The Happy Pizza)
|-
|]||Nick ]
|-
|]||blood ball
|-
|]||]
|-
|]||] Alley
|-
|]||Wobblecolumns
|-
|]||]
|-
|]||]
|-
|]||]
|}

===The CDs===
This soundtrack is composed of two audio ]s, which were made available for free download in MP3 format. To experience Mr. Neely's work one needs to play a copy of the movie, preferably the ]n ], muted or at low volume, while playing the audio CDs at the same time.

Two versions of the CD set have been released, the first in summer 2004 and the second in early-mid 2005. As of February 2007, only the second version is available on the Illegal Art website. The two revisions are very similar: differences include "fixing" the weaker lines from the first revision, and a more "polished" and thoroughly-rehearsed performance by Brad.

The first revision's CDs can be played completely continuously, and there is no need to alter the discs' timing or volume. In order to play the second revision continuously, a delay of approximately three seconds must be inserted between the CDs, and the tracks' volume must be normalized, as the first disc is significantly quieter than the second.

Since the CDs are designed to synchronize with the North American release of the film, played at 24 frames per second, the ] video transfers of the film (used in most of the rest of the world) suffer from a ], meaning that they run at 25 frames per second, so the MP3 files must be sped up by 4.2% (or the movie slowed down) in order to retain synchronization. The Canadian release of the film also uses alternate takes to refer to the titular stone as the Philosopher's Stone (the original name) rather than the Americanized "Sorcerer's Stone" (even though the Canadian case does say Sorcerer's Stone), and as such, the audio may get slightly out of sync as the film progresses on the Canadian DVD.{{Fact|date=April 2007}}

A DVD featuring the Wizard People soundtrack combined with the background music and sound effects of the original movie was made by an anonymous ] resident. The disc includes a menu with background music by ] after a sarcastic piracy warning.

==External links==
*
*
* ('''')
*
* , Should Tanya Grotter and the Magic Double Bass be banned?, Tim Wu, ''Slate.com'', June 27, 2003
* , Shohdy Naguib,, ''Al-Ahram Weekly'', 14 - 20 November 2002
*
*
*
* from National Public Radio Weekend Edition
* on YouTube
*

==References==
{{reflist}}

]
]
]
]
]
]
]

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]

Revision as of 13:50, 30 August 2007

The success of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of books and films has engendered a number of spinoffs and parodies, both legal and illegal.

Barry Trotter

File:Barry trotter.jpg
The Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody dustjacket.

Barry Trotter is a series of Harry Potter parodies written by Michael Gerber and published in the UK in a small hardback format uniform to the new edition of Bored of the Rings.

Series

  1. Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody (ISBN 0-575-07454-X) (Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody in U.S. )
  2. Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel (ISBN 0-575-07558-9)
  3. Barry Trotter and the Dead Horse (ISBN 0-575-07630-5)

There is also a boxed set (ISBN 0-575-07658-5) of all three.

Plot

The narrative features the adventures of "Barry Trotter", "Lon Measly", and "Ermine Cringer" who attend the "Hogwash School for Wizardry and Witchcrap". It features strong postmodern metanarrative, as the book concerns their attempts to prevent the making of a movie, but the entire story is revealed to have been a movie itself, before it is shown that this itself is a novel being written by Barry Trotter.

Some concern has been expressed that the books may mistakenly be aimed at younger readers by bookshops who are unaware of the books' adult content.

The book's narrative and many footnotes and asides by the author (often written aimed at the reader, breaking the fourth wall) add to its irreverent tone, and Gerber incessantly puns on Rowling's creations. There are many not-so-subtle subversions, and the reader can infer Gerber's detailed knowledge of the original Harry Potter series. Barry Trotter is a genuine if cynical tribute and parody. Among the story elements Gerber parodies are the excessive value of catching the Golden Snitch in Quidditch, the use of anagrams, and bizarre modes of transport: Gerber has the protagonists travelling in toboggans hidden in countryside hedges. The characters' older ages in comparison to those of the Harry Potter characters are a direct jab at the Harry Potter movies' risk of the child actors growing out of their roles.

The parody begins with a list of books supposedly written by Michael Gerber, such as The Big Cheese and Encyclopedia Brown Gets Punched, Hard. These books don't exist and parody the names of other famous books. This continues onto the verso with humorous messages from the Publisher, Satan; The Universal Council of Churches; and your little brother.

Characters

Alpo Bumblemore

A parody of Albus Dumbledore. The "eczema-ravaged" headmaster of Hogwash kindly informs Barry that if he does not stop the film, he will have to get a job. Bumblemore is also often portrayed as a paedophile in the books, and is well known for his hatred towards Muddles (a parody of Muggles). He expelled Ferd and Jorge Measly after a practical joke resulted in him growing a second (but non-functioning) penis. He also has rumours circulating around him that he has a vinyl sex dungeon in which Minolta McGoogle is imprisoned.

Barry Trotter

A parody of Harry Potter. Trotter is perhaps the most accurate parody of his counterpart, and is portrayed as an arrogant, sadistic opportunist. He has stayed at Hogwash School for many extra years, much to the headmaster's annoyance. Barry was made famous in the series by a series of books written by J.G. Rollins (a parody of J.K. Rowling). He also suffers from a disease called "Youthanasia" which makes him grow younger (like The Once and Future King's Merlyn).

Lon Measley

A parody of Ron Weasley. Measley, a former Communist, is written as a somewhat unusual individual who had a "Quiddit" (a parody of Quidditch) accident in which a Brainer (a parody of Bludger) made a hole straight through his head and as a result caused brain damage. His brain has been replaced by that of a Labrador Retriever - while his memory remains, he now suffers many mental problems.

Ermine Cringer

A parody of Hermione Granger. She is the same age as Trotter and Measley, and has graduated and has become a teacher at a small magic school for the "marginally magical". She is also represented as having an "ever-questing libido", and falls for J.G. Rollins's "boyfriend" Trevor.

Terry Valumart

A parody of Lord Voldemort. A former eco-terrorist, "Lord" Valumart is often to be found trying to kill Barry Trotter (in order to cash in on his death memorabilia) or running his multi-million business, Valumart Enterprises, "The Annoyance Company". He is also referred to as "The Dork Lord" and "He Who Smells". He is portrayed as a Nazi and, according to Barry Trotter, smells like bad Chinese food.

Minor characters

  • Hafwid - Parody of Hagrid. Hafwid is the school's gamekeeper. He is renowned for having the only television set in the school, and has an incredibly foul mouth. His dog is called Fing, which is a reference to Hagrid's dog Fang.
  • Dorco Malfeasance - Parody of Draco Malfoy. Dorco is seldom mentioned in the books aside from his short stint as Hogwash Headmister, until he falls while riding a spell and is killed.
  • Ferd and Jorge Measley - Parody of Fred and George Weasley, and brother(s) to Lon. Ferd and Jorge are seldom seen not pranking or otherwise inconveniencing other characters. Both are prominent law-breakers, and take pride in being so.
  • Nigel and Fiona Trotter - Barry Trotter and Ermine's children. Introduced to us in Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel, Nigel is due to start Hogwash - much to his dismay. Fiona is a three year old infant who enjoys torturing her brother with her profound magical skills.
  • The Hogwash Ghosts: Flatulent Fanny, Almost-Brainless Bill, the Fat Frier, the Wailing Widow and the Bloody Imbecile - Parodies of Moaning Myrtle, Nearly Headless Nick, the Fat Friar, the Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron, respectively. Fanny haunts a bathroom much like Myrtle does, but "the air is rank with the fruits of her ghostly intestine". She supposedly died when she was pranked into eating a fatal amount of cheese. The Fat Frier is hated by the caretaker Angus Filth (counterpart Argus Filch) due to his leaving a greasy trail everywhere he walked. The Bloody Imbecile is so-called because he died when he tried to cut down a tree with a chainsaw, but he cut his own leg and died of blood loss. Other characters say to him "You should have let Hafwid cut down that tree!".
  • Serious - Parody of Siruis. Serious is Barry's sponging godfather. IN barry trotter and the unauthorized parody, the trio have to outwit Serious.

Other Harry Potter counterparts

Conglomerate representation

One notable idea in the books is the portrayal of the counterpoints to Warner Brothers and Harry Potter's American publishers, Scholastic, "Wagner Brothers" and "Fantastic Books" respectively. Both are portrayed as militaristic and heartless, at one point holding "J.G. Rollins" captive and electrocuting her in an underground chamber in an attempt to get more books from her, and in another blowing up Hogwash.

Porri Gatter

Порри Гаттер (Porri Gatter) is a series of Harry Potter parodies written by Belarusian authors Andreyi Zhvalevskiyi (Андрей Жвалевский) and Igor' Miyt'ko (Игорь Мытько; lives in Moscow, Russia) in Russian. The series is based on an inversion of the Potter mythos: Porri is a technology user in a world of magicians. He rides a motorcycle instead of a broom, wields a grenade launcher instead of a wand, and attends a technology school called Perverts (Первертс) instead of Hogwarts.

In Russian "Harry" is transliterated as "Garri", so Porri Gatter is simply a spoonerism of the Russian spelling of Harry Potter. Compare Parry Hotter.

  1. Порри Гаттер и Каменный Философ (Porri Gatter and the Stone Philosopher)
  2. Личное дело Мергионы (Mergiona's Personal File)
  3. 9 подвигов Сена Аесли (Nine Feats of Sen Aesli)

The name of the second book uses an ambiguity peculiar to Russian language, where "Личное делo" can be interpreted as either personal file or personal cause / personal affair.

The third part of the series actually came out as two separate books (feats 1-4 and 5-9).

Tanya Grotter

Tanya Grotter (Таня Гроттер) is the female protagonist of a Russian fantasy novel series by Dmitri Yemets (Дмитрий Емец). Tanya (short for Tatiana) Grotter is an orphan with intentional resemblances to J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter: an unusual mole on her nose, magical powers, an upbringing by "Lopukhoidov" (equivalent to Muggle) relatives after her parents were killed by an evil sorceress, and studying at the Tibidox (Тибидохс) School for Difficult-to-Raise Magicians. Yemets describes the books as "a cultural reply" to the Potter series, and they feature allusion to Russian culture and folklore such as Baba Yaga, rusalki, witches on Bald Mountain and the works of Pushkin. After the first book, the plots diverge from those of the Harry Potter series.

Legal history

While the series is legally published in Russia, it is not available in translation due to litigation on behalf of JK Rowling and Time Warner. In 2003, courts in the Netherlands prevented the distribution of a Dutch translation of the first in the series, Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass, after Rowling and Time Warner's laywers issued a cease and desist order, arguing that the Grotter books violated copyright law. Yemets and his Moscow-based publishers, Eksmo, argued unsuccessfully that the book constituted a parody, permitted under copyright.

Later that year, as the Dutch translation Tanja Grotter en de magische contrabas was still legal in Belgium, the Flemish publishers Roularta Books decided to print 1,000 copies (and no more) in order to let people decide whether it was plagiarism, hoping that under those circumstances Rowling and her publishers would not sue. Rowling did not sue, but as there was a lot of interest in the book (Dutch people could buy the book by postal order from another Flemish publisher, Boekhandel VanIn) it was soon sold out.

Titles

  1. Таня Гроттер и магический контрабас (Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass)
  2. Таня Гроттер и Исчезающий Этаж (Tanya Grotter and the Disappearing Floor)
  3. Таня Гроттер и Золотая Пиявка (Tanya Grotter and the Golden Leech)
  4. Таня Гроттер и трон Древнира (Tanya Grotter and the Throne of Drevnir)
  5. Таня Гроттер и посох волхвов (Tanya Grotter and the Pikestaff of the Magi)
  6. Таня Гроттер и молот Перуна (Tanya Grotter and the Hammer of Perun)
  7. Таня Гроттер и пенсне Ноя (Tanya Grotter and the Pince-nez of Noah)
  8. Таня Гроттер и ботинки кентавра (Tanya Grotter and the Boots of the Centaur)
  9. Таня Гроттер и колодец Посейдона (Tanya Grotter and the Well of Poseidon)
  10. Таня Гроттер и локон Афродиты (Tanya Grotter and the Curl of Aphrodite)
  11. Таня Гроттер и перстень с жемчужиной (Tanya Grotter and the Pearl Ring)
  12. Таня Гроттер и проклятье некромага (Tanya Grotter and the Curse of the Necromage)

Spinoff titles

  1. Таня Гроттер и полный Тибидохс! Фразочки, цитатки и афоризмы (Tanya Grotter and the complete Tibidox! Phrases, quotations and aphorisms)
  2. Миры Тани Гроттер (Worlds of Tanya Grotter) - a compilation of fan-written graphic novels

There are several other spin-offs from the Tanya Grotter series featuring other Tibidox students, Methodius Buslaev (Мефодий Буслаев) and Hooligan fantasy (Хулиганское фэнтези).

  1. Мефодий Буслаев: Маг Полуночи (Methodius Buslaev: Magician of Midnight)
  2. Мефодий Буслаев: Свиток желаний (Methodius Buslaev: Roll of Desire)
  3. Мефодий Буслаев: Третий всадник мрака (Methodius Buslaev: Third Rider of the Gloom)
  4. Мефодий Буслаев: Билет на Лысую Гору (Methodius Buslaev: Ticket to the Bald Mountain)
  5. Мефодий Буслаев: Месть валькирий (Methodius Buslaev: Vengeance of the Valkyries)
  6. Мефодий Буслаев: Тайная магия Депресcняка {Methodius Buslaev: Depressnyak's Secret Magic)
  7. Мефодий Буслаев: Лед и пламя Тартара (Methodius Buslaev: Tartar's Ice and Flame)
  8. Хулиганское фэнтези: Великое Нечто (Hooligan fantasy: Great Something)

Similarities

  • In Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass, Tanya Grotter is an eleven year old orphan girl. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter is an eleven year old orphan boy.
  • Tanya Grotter was left orphaned when the darkest magician, the Queen of the Undead, kills her parents. Harry Potter was left orphaned when the dark wizard Voldemort kills his parents.
  • After the murder, Tanya Grotter was sent to live with distant cousins Ninel and Germain Durnev, and their daughter, Penelopa "Pipa" Durnev. Tanya is abused by her adoptive family until she finds out that she is a magician. Harry Potter is sent to live with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley Dursley, all three of whom abuse him until he learns that he is a wizard.
  • The name of the evil magician who killed Tanya Grotter's parents is Chuma-Del-Tort. The name of the dark wizard who killed Harry Potter's parents is, in official Russian translation, Lord Volan-de-Mort.
  • The sorceress is called She-Who-Is-Not by the general population who are afraid to speak her name, as doing so could attract spells made by her (e.g. when academician Sardanapal Chernomorov mentions her name he is attacked by a flat iron that has appeared from nowhere). Lord Voldemort is called He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named by the general populace, who are too afraid to say his name.
  • Harry Potter plays quidditch where players fly on magic brooms and score points by shooting/catching balls. Tanya Grotter plays "drakonbol" where players fly on practically anything, such as musical instruments (in Tanya's case, her double bass), vacuum cleaners, magic lamps, couches, cuckoo clocks, and tennis rackets. The object of drakonbol is to feed all your balls to the opponent's dragon first. The game ends when that happens or when all the teammates are eaten by the dragon, which ever comes first.
  • In Harry Potter, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, the bearded wizard Dumbledore, is accompanied by the Headmistress McGonagall. In Tanya Grotter, the Academician Sardanapal, a man with a disappearing-and-reappearing beard and yellow and green colored mustachio, is accompanied by the Docent Meduziya Gorgonova, who was known to the ancient Greeks as Medusa. She turned people into stone because she was embarrassed by all her pimples.
  • In "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", Hagrid causes Dudley, Harry's cousin, to grow a pig's tail. In the first Tanya Grotter novel, her magical double bass causes her uncle to believe he's a rabbit.

Wizard People, Dear Reader

Wizard People, Dear Readers, released in 2004, is an unauthorized spoof soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Brad Neely, a comic book artist from Austin, Texas.

Wizard People, Dear Readers is a narrative reworking the lives of the characters of The Sorcerer's Stone and the world in which they live, in the form of an audio book. Mr. Neely's unique use of appropriated plot, characters and themes interlaced with his own brand of subversive humor has been called a "new art form" by Carrie McLaren, whose web site, Illegal-art.org, promoted it. It could be described as the infusion of dissident subtext into a pop-culture phenomenon, creating a suspension of art and reality, and is in line with such works as The Dark Side of Oz and Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Humor

Neely's writing includes humor on many levels. It ranges from simple childish mockery of the characters, to criticism of the acting and set design of the movie, to awkward metaphors in the prose of the "book", to over-dramatic philosophical speeches.

Harry himself is portrayed in a way perhaps best described as epic. He is repeatedly referred to as a god, and references are made to the "stockpiles of nuclear-level energy" that are his powers, and so on. This is an attitude shared by Harry himself; at one point, he calls himself a "beautiful animal" and a "destroyer of worlds". He also repeatedly affirms that he is "Harry fucking Potter." Hermione is repeatedly described as incredibly ugly, and other insults are used from time to time. Snape is referred to as a hideous woman. At one point, Neely simply remarks that "Ron loves Twizzlers."

Many characters often supposedly cast spells with humorous or ironic names. Dumbledore casts the "stand without effort" spell (in reference to his advanced age), while later on Harry casts what is called the "Winter be gone" spell (at a scene transition between winter and spring).

The narrator often breaks down into incoherent outbursts to signify the not-so-apparent rage of the characters, yelling words like "FFFFUCK!" followed closely by "Willikers!" (the cribbage match is a good example). He makes many references to people "dooky"-ing themselves in surprise.

Neely also manages to have wild 'fantasy' sequences that have nothing to do with what is actually going on in the film. One such scene is where Hagrid/Hagar is explaining Norbert's egg. Instead of regaling Hagrid's encounter with a strange man in a bar, Hagar tells of how Val-Mart (Neely's version of Lord Voldemort) impregnated him with the egg and then how, because of his pregnancy, he survived a shark attack. Another such scene is where the trio of young wizards encounter Fluffy for the second time and are about to jump down the trap door. Somehow Harmony manages to get killed and resurrected without any of those events occurring onscreen. Many characters are also described as taking out flasks and taking long draughts while no flasks make an appearance onscreen. Harry is mentioned as performing many "Wine out of nowhere" spells and being "drunk every day before noon". When Harry and Ron first meet on the Hogwarts train, Ron tells Harry that he is a " pot of coffee by day, bottle of wine by night kind of guy." Harry replies, "Triple that and you have me." And perhaps the oddest of Neely's wild fantasy sequences is while Neville ("the boy known as Upfish") loses control of his broom, Harry is daydreaming about his parent's giant rotten wedding cake that he can only reach by climbing up Dumbledore's body ("using his old ribcage, mouth sockets and such for footholds").

There are also many references to other works throughout the film. Some examples are Harry's invisibility cloak which is called "a cloak with a cloaking device", referring to Star Trek. Professor Flitwick is referred to as "Professor Ugnaught" in reference to his similar appearance to the Ugnaughts of Bespin in The Empire Strikes Back. At one point he puts on the invisibility cloak and Neely exclaims "Invisibility ON!", referring to the catch phrase of The Human Torch of the Fantastic 4. Neely even refers to future films in the series when he claims that the children are on their way to The Chamber of Secrets. In addition, Hagar the Horrible is the title of a comic strip involving a large, hulking barbarian.

A major running joke is the changing of character and place names:

Original "Wizard People" Name
Albus Dumbledore Dumbledore the Half-dead / Near-Dead Dumbledore
Minerva McGonagall Hardcastle McCormick / Softcastle McCormick
Rubeus Hagrid Hagar the Horrible
Harry Potter H.P., Master P, and others
Dudley Dursley (Ragtime) Roast-Beefy O'Weefy
Vernon Dursley various names with a pig theme (e.g. Porkstar, Baconface, Gigglesnort etc.)
Professor Quirrell Professor Queerman
Mr Ollivander Ed Vanders
Voldemort Val-Mart the Scar Maker / Scar Artist / Dracula
Ron Weasley Ronnie the Bear / Ronnie the Weasel
Hermione Granger The Wretched Harmony
Neville Longbottom Upfish
Marcus Flint Joey Lumbermouth / Woodpile
Draco Malfoy Mouthoil / Malfoil
Argus Filch Dazzler (Man-servant to Bloody-eyed Cat)
Mrs. Norris The Bloody-eyed Cat/Head of Security
Severus Snape Snake, Hideous Woman
Madam Hooch Catface Meowmers
Oliver Wood Major Wood
Professor Flitwick Professor Ugnaught (The Happy Pizza)
Nicolas Flamel Nick Flannel
Remembrall blood ball
Quidditch Cribbage
Diagon Alley Calgon Alley
Gringotts Bank Wobblecolumns
Hufflepuff Hufferpuffer
Ravenclaw Viacom
House Cup Stanley Cup

The CDs

This soundtrack is composed of two audio CDs, which were made available for free download in MP3 format. To experience Mr. Neely's work one needs to play a copy of the movie, preferably the North American DVD, muted or at low volume, while playing the audio CDs at the same time.

Two versions of the CD set have been released, the first in summer 2004 and the second in early-mid 2005. As of February 2007, only the second version is available on the Illegal Art website. The two revisions are very similar: differences include "fixing" the weaker lines from the first revision, and a more "polished" and thoroughly-rehearsed performance by Brad.

The first revision's CDs can be played completely continuously, and there is no need to alter the discs' timing or volume. In order to play the second revision continuously, a delay of approximately three seconds must be inserted between the CDs, and the tracks' volume must be normalized, as the first disc is significantly quieter than the second.

Since the CDs are designed to synchronize with the North American release of the film, played at 24 frames per second, the PAL video transfers of the film (used in most of the rest of the world) suffer from a technical incompatibility, meaning that they run at 25 frames per second, so the MP3 files must be sped up by 4.2% (or the movie slowed down) in order to retain synchronization. The Canadian release of the film also uses alternate takes to refer to the titular stone as the Philosopher's Stone (the original name) rather than the Americanized "Sorcerer's Stone" (even though the Canadian case does say Sorcerer's Stone), and as such, the audio may get slightly out of sync as the film progresses on the Canadian DVD.

A DVD featuring the Wizard People soundtrack combined with the background music and sound effects of the original movie was made by an anonymous Denton, Texas resident. The disc includes a menu with background music by Harry and the Potters after a sarcastic piracy warning.

External links

References

  1. Potter spawns parody part II, Kevin O'Flynn, The St. Petersburg Times, Issue #824 (89), Friday, November 29, 2002
  2. Rowling blocks Grotter release, BBC News online, 3 April, 2003
  3. 'Tanja Grotter' wel in België te lezen, Nieuws.nl, October 23, 2003
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