- Liam Rudden (The Scotsman)
- (November 9, 2001: given for inventing Ron Granger)
Mr. Rudden's five-star review of the Harry Potter movie, Harry’s film debut is pure magic, contains the following gem: "Daniel Radcliffe makes a likeable, if not dynamic, Harry. But it’s Rupert Grint, as Harry’s best pal Ron Granger, who steals the acting honours amongst the child stars with a naturally comic performance. Doesn't look as if he has seen the movie, right? The name Weasley is not mentioned at all in the long review. Oh, and the books he probably hasn't read either, as some typos as "Professor McGonagle" make believe. Now... it is a must these days to publish an enthusiastic review of the movie, but letting it write by "a muggle at heart" ...
- Harrypotter.com
- (August 24, 2001: given for not knowing the Harry Potter books)
The new Character Bio of Ron Weasley reads as follows: "Ron follows in the footsteps of brothers Percy the Prefect and twins Fred and George, in becoming the sixth Weasley to attend Hogwarts. This is Ron's first year at the school, but unfortunately not that of his clothes who have been passed down from brother to brother. Ron is a Gryffindor and proud to say best friend to Harry Potter. His likes are Chess, sweets and the Chutney Chasers Quidditch team. He also has a soft spot for his rat Scabbers. " We believe that only true "Muggles at Heart" do not know the famous "Chudley Cannons." They won the league 21 times and their bright orange robes with the cannon ball logo are known throughout the wizard world!
- Claudia Puig (USA Today)
- (June 28, 2001: given for calling Neville a Quidditch star)
Dear Claudia, both your articles on the second Harry Potter trailer, "'Harry Potter' revealed" and "No early peeks at Quidditch" are indeed very fine, but you should ask someone who does at least know the books and the characters to write the captions for the movie stills you've posted. Most are at least inaccurate, but your caption for the picture of Neville on his broomstick reads as follows: "Unlike Neville, seen here, Harry Potter has never been the star of a Quidditch team, scoring points while riding a broom far above the ground. When Harry begins life at Hogwart`s, he knows no spells and has never helped catch a dragon, an important event in a wizard`s life."
- Kim Schwinn (Oskaloosa, Kansas, USA)
- (June 15, 2001: given for stopping a Harry Potter reading at the public library)
The world must be grey over there in Oskaloosa: Parents' objections to a Harry Potter presentation as part of the summer reading series for children at the Oskaloosa library forced officials to cancel the event. An advertisement appeared in the local newspaper about the proposed event. The ad said the library would host a class on "muggle studies," a phrase used in the Harry Potter series, for young "witches and wizards." People familiar with the series may have recognized the words, but Kim Schwinn did not. "It didn't say anything about Harry Potter. It just talked about these things like witchcraft being taught at our public library," Schwinn said. The Potter presentation was canceled. Schwinn said she doesn't like the Harry Potter series because she thinks that it can lead some children to confuse fantasy and reality.
- Jason Gay (The New York Observer)
- (June 4, 2001: given for his article "Baby Land")
Obviously Mr. Gay has never read the books himself. Let him know how good they are. "Everybody in New York wants to be a kid again. Ride the subway, and what do you see? Thirty-year-old bankers and 26-year-old assistant editors squinty-eyed, obsessing over Harry Potter books. "They’re really good," they protest. So what! Cotton candy’s really good, too! They’re kids’ books! Doesn’t anyone read Darkness at Noon anymore?"
- Tim Spanton (The Sun)
 (May 13, 2001: given for his misleading image description) Poor old Prof. Dumbledore. Millions of British might now believe that the wise headmaster of Hogwarts is (portrayed in the movie as) a funny-looking dwarf who gives his students "spelling lessons." For praising the Harry Potter novels in his article and presenting so-called "exclusive pics", but apparently having no idea who the characters are (read the books, Mr. Spanton?) we are glad to award the VDA to "The Sun". - Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP)
- (April 6, 2001: given for the Harry Potter merchandise Style Guide)
"WBCP handles the licensing and merchandising for all of the intellectual properties in Warner Bros.' vast film, television and publishing library." Unfortunately, they do just business-as-usual with their most valuable license - Harry Potter. The Style Guide that every Harry Potter licensee has to follow is such rigid, it leaves almost no room to move. The result is that every Harry Potter related product or merchandise looks exactly the same, the design of the packagings is not distinguishable and the used artwork has not changed since they've started to commercialize the Harry Potter license.
- Derek Caney
- (March 13, 2001: given for his Reuters news story "Media Stocks Hit, Ad Outlook Dims Further")
As a professional news journalist who covers AOL Time Warner (home of Warner Bros.), he should have heard of the Harry Potter series and author Joanne K. Rowling -- apparently he has not! "Because of the weaker advertising market, the burden of meeting earnings estimates would rest on the company's film division, which is releasing the much-anticipated Harry Potter movie -- based on the best-selling books by A.J. Dowling, in the fourth quarter."
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