Harry Potter and The Stone (2024): This was surprising
Lately, I haven’t bothered to go to the cinema due to a lack of funds, but recently, I came across a freebie on YouTube: Harry Potter and the Stone (2024) on Doggie House’s channel.
The film is a fan-made shot-for-shot recreation of 2001’s Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, though the script is not word-for-word. There are also several changes to the plot, setting, characters and character relationships. Plus, an ending that ultimately criticises the logic of the original film.
This is a low-budget project, and that shows, but the inventiveness and mixed media are genuinely inspiring. Also, it contributes about 50% of the comedy. This is transformatively a comedy film, by the way.
On YouTube, indie animation is booming, but live-action narrative projects, as far as I’ve ever found, are far fewer, and the only one that comes to my mind is the Brandonverse (aka Stuff and Sam, Blame the Hero, etc). Don’t get me wrong; I’m excited about indie animation right now. I just also want more people to do their own version of what Brandon Rogers and now Doggie House are doing.
I can’t really avoid at least mentioning that the author of the Harry Potter books is transphobic, and because of those views, I personally don’t want to have anything to do with the franchise directly. However, I am more than happy to engage with fanworks that interest me. And this film, to me, really…
