Picture this: It’s 20 years ago, and you’ve just seenHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. You’re full of wonderment at the fantastical world and all of its wizards, witches, and creatures. You have no thoughts of what’s going on with political leaders or the horrors of day-to-day life becauseHarry Potterprovides you with the catharsis you need from a world that induces the desire for a massage. Maybe you wish you could beas smart as Hermione Granger(Emma Watson) or as heroic as Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) — you know being a witch or wizard would solve a lot of your problems. However, if you’re one particularly famous Russian leader, you’re furious at Warner Bros for making a mockery of you in this film. In 2003,Vladimir Putinhimself tried to sue Warner Bros because he didn’t like how similar he was to one particular character. Any guesses?
If you were to take a stab at what character he could possibly have inspired, you might guessa character of the villainous varietylike Voldemort (Christian Coulson) or Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), right? Well, you’d be wrong! In 2003, Russian lawyers attempted to sue Warner Bros because Putin felt there were too many similarities between him and the adorably awkward house elf, Dobby (voiced byToby Jones). Yes, the CGI-created, sock-loving, floppy-eared house elf felt too similar to Putin for him to just let this one go.
Over Half of Voters Felt Like Putin and Dobby Share a Striking Resemblance
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secretsintroduced Dobby to all the Potterheads. The fan favorite is a house elf that belongs to the Malfoy family and, against their orders, tries to warn Harry about their plot to open the Chamber of Secrets. Dobby is a bumbling, awkward creature who is meant to serve the family he belongs to for life. That is until he is given a sock.Once a sock is given to Dobby, he can be a free elf and roam wherever his gaunt body will take him. With all of this information about Dobby, you might be asking yourself how Putin feels they are similar — and you certainly wouldn’t be the only confused one.According to The Guardian, the news first started circulating on BBC that there was a physical resemblance between the two. In fact, you may see on aCBBC pollthat 63% of voters felt that Putin and Dobby could have been separated at birth.
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Putin and Dobby Couldn’t Be More Different
According toa study done by two studentsat St. John’s University, Putin is described as an expansionist hostile enforcer. Some characteristics of that include: dominant, ambitious, conscientious, introverted, and dauntless. He is approximately 5'6," 152 pounds, with blue eyes, and salt and pepper hair. He’s a Libra for all the zodiac fans out there. Dobby, on the other hand, is described as loyal, brave, quirky, and selfless, according tofans of The Wizarding World. He is approximately 3'6" tall, has tennis-ball-sized green eyes, and wears a pillowcase as a dress. If you do love astrology, it will come as no surprise that Dobby is a Cancer. According to these descriptors, Putin and Dobby are more of the yin to the other’s yang instead of identical twins. Again, we are all scratching our heads at the declaration that Dobby was intended to poke fun at the Russian President.
In the End, No Legal Action Was Taken Against ‘Harry Potter’ and Warner Bros.
The Russian lawyers representing Putin wanted to sueHarry Potterproducers and Warner Bros over the supposed resemblance between Putin and the house elf. Even though a representative from the Russian lawyer’s guild said it was unlikely that the case stood a chance, they were still willing to risk it all in this somewhat humiliating draw of attention. Luckily for producers and Warner Bros, there doesn’t seem to be any legal action that took place. The same article from The Guardian reported that there was talk of legal action in a Russian newspaper, the Novaya Gazeta, but no actual suit was filed.Another article surfaced in The New York Timesin 2003 that the lawsuit had never been filed, and no lawyers could be reached for comment. We can assume that either these were rumors, or that Putin decided to end the laugh campaign that became this whole stunt. It is also a possibility that the whole article was written as satire, but any news of the Russian article has been removed. Either way, I can guarantee you will never look at Dobby the same. It’s safe to say thatthe upcomingHarry Potterrebootwill be keeping any potential designs inspired by Russian leaders on the shelf.
