Jim O’Heir humorously revisits the unexpected censorship involving Li’l Sebastian, the beloved miniature horse from Parks and Recreation, in his book Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation.
During the filming of the episode Harvest Festival, Li’l Sebastian’s nether regions had to be blurred due to an unplanned biological response. This prompted Aziz Ansari’s iconic line, “Wow, that is a shockingly huge mini horse erection.”
Li’l Sebastian, we love you. But yowza.
O’Heir explains how this moment of improvisation became one of the show’s most memorable.
“At one point in the episode ‘Harvest Festival,’ Li’l Sebastian’s nether regions are blurred. This was not called for in the script — what I mean is that Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) wasn’t supposed to look at Li’l Sebastian and announce, ‘Wow, that is a shockingly huge mini horse erection.'”
O’Heir explained, “That li’l guy was hard for hours while shooting; turns out this is a normal biological response and has nothing to do with being ‘turned on.’ After trying to wait out the erection, the producers decided that we had to start shooting something. Someone had the wise idea to blur it out in post-production, and a writer decided to give Tom that fantastic line.”
Though he was li’l, Sebastian had an outsize impact on Parks and Rec (who could forget Chris Pratt’s Li’l Sebastian tribute anthem, “5,000 Candles in the Wind”?) The mini horse’s enduring popularity in the Parks fandom is even more impressive considering his first appearance on the show was also his last.
The only episode after “Harvest Festival” in which Sebastian physically appears is via hologram, on the season 6 episode “Moving Up (Part 2),” because the character dies just a few episodes after he’s introduced.
Season 3 concludes with an episode named after the lovable li’l guy, and centers on a memorial service that, characteristic of the Pawnee Parks department, goes significantly awry.
As with the horse’s sudden excitement, his sudden passing was another case of art imitating life. O’Heir reveals in Welcome to Pawnee that some time after Sebastian’s one and only episode, he discovered that the miniature horse actor behind the character (real name Gideon) passed away. “Turns out that little guy was pretty old (going on twenty years) when we filmed with him,” he explained.
O’Heir recalled running into the animal trainer who worked with the Parks crew on “Harvest Festival” while guesting on a different series. “I walked up to her and asked, ‘How’s our li’l friend doing?’ She knew immediately whom I was referring to.
‘Li’l Sebastian, he’s passed,’ she said… I think she noticed that I was getting some wet eyes, so she added, ‘Don’t worry Jim. He had a good life. A good stage life, too. He was in movies and TV for over twenty years.’ Was that supposed to make me feel better? It didn’t.”
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There are only three animals who have their own stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and they’re all dogs: Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, and Strongheart. If the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce ever decides to diversify into the equine branch of the animal family tree, many would agree that Gideon is the perfect candidate.
If the sting of Li’l Sebastian’s loss ever gets out of hand, you can always watch the Parks and Rec cast perform a moving tribute to the miniature horse during their 2020 virtual reunion. Or check out the episode of The Good Place where he movingly crosses to the other side.
