Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jared Hess
Written by	Jared Hess Jerusha Hess
Produced by	Jeremy Coon Sean Covel Chris Wyatt
Starring	Jon Heder Efren Ramirez Tina Majorino Aaron Ruell Jon Gries Emily Tyndall
Music by	John Swihart
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures (USA, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, Brazil) Paramount Pictures (all other areas, through United International Pictures)
Release dates	June 11, 2004
Running time	92 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$400,000

Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 independent film co-written and directed by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess. The film was Jared Hess's first full-length feature and is partially adapted from his earlier short film, Peluca.

Napoleon Dynamite was filmed in and near Preston, Idaho in the summer of 2003. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2004. In June 2004 it was given a limited release. Its wide release followed in August. The film's total domestic gross was $44.5 million. Considering its budget of $400,000, Napoleon Dynamite was a huge success.

The film is rated PG by the MPAA and TV-14 by the television content rating system in the United States.

Plot

The film centers around a teenager named Napoleon, his brother Kip, his Uncle Rico, and his friends Deb and Pedro. Napoleon is an underachiever in school who prefers doodling such things as ligers (a lion/tiger mix "bred mainly for its skills and magic") and unicorns to paying attention in class. Napoleon does not have much support in his efforts to improve because he finds it hard to make friends and he often says "What do you think?" as if everything was obvious.

Napoleon soon meets Pedro, a new student at his school who wants to run for the school president. Meanwhile, Napoleon himself tries to get a date with Trishia, a girl he knows. The date fails, and he ends up with Pedro's date, Deb, who is willing to help him. However, Napoleon knows Deb as "That girl who left all that crap on my porch" because she abandoned her keychains she was selling for college money on his doorstep.

Meanwhile, Kip begins dating a woman he met on the Internet. They constantly wink at each other and become friends. Uncle Rico introduces a program for breast enlargement, which alienates Deb when Uncle Rico hands her a flier and says that it's from Napoleon. Napoleon thus takes to trashing Rico's van with grapefruits, and succeeds.

Around this time, Uncle Rico becomes convinced that it is his destiny to have a better fortune, being a professional football player. Rico thus buys a time machine online, but before he could use it, Kip tricks Napoleon into using it, and Napoleon discoveres that it is nothing more than a "piece of crap".

When the time comes for all of the school presidential candidates to present their speeches, Pedro and Napoleon are taken by surprise when they discover that along with the speech, each candidate has to perform a skit. Thinking quickly, Napoleon takes the dance tape out from his tape player and hands it to the man playing the music. When it is time for Pedro to perform his skit he doesn't know about Napoleon giving his tape to the DJ. He was going to drop out of the race until Napoleon walks on stage and dances his practiced routine. Pedro is very touched by Napoleon because he was a good friend and helped him win the election. Napoleon's dancing in turn led to Pedro's winning of the election. The film ends with Napoleon and Deb playing tetherball.

Characters

• Napoleon (Jon Heder) the film's protagonist, is a teenager who enjoys mundane diversions such as drawing, drinking milk, eating Tater Tots, and playing tetherball. As the film progresses, Napoleon develops an interest in hip-hop dancing, which proves valuable. He wears vintage t-shirts, tucked into jeans that are worn high and without a belt; black moon boots (though there is an obvious lack of snow) and steel-rimmed glasses that accentuate his nerdy appearance and gap-mouthed underbite. His awkward appearance and behavior are the source of much of the film's comedy. He is active in the FFA and his school's sign language club (the "Happy Hands Club"). His best (and only) friends are Pedro and Deb.
• Pedro (Efren Ramirez) is a new student to Preston High, originally from Juarez, Mexico. He is occasionally the target of mild antagonism from the school principal. His campaign for class president is one of the main plot-points in the film. His cousins (credited as Cholo #1 and Cholo #2) assist Pedro in earning the students' loyalty by protecting a boy from a bully. About halfway through the film, Pedro shaves his head, and henceforth wears a woman's wig. Pedro can be described at first as having no personality or emotions whatsoever (he wears a blank stare and speaks in monotone throughout the entire film), but is eventually cheerful when he wins the election.
• Deb (Tina Majorino) is a shy and awkward schoolmate and friend of Napoleon's. She goes door-to-door selling "Deb's Glamor Shots" and homemade keychains, "a must-have for this season's fashion". Deb seems to be the most articulate character in the film.
• Kip Dynamite (Aaron Ruell) is Napoleon's wimpy older brother (according to Napoleon, he is "like 32 years old") who enjoys chatting with women in chat rooms. He and Napoleon live with their grandmother. In one chat room he meets a woman named LaFawnduh , and in a post-credits scene, they wed. His full name is revealed at the wedding.
• Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) is the self-absorbed uncle of Napoleon and Kip. When first seen, Rico is living in a large orange van in the middle of a field. He played football in high school ("back in the 1982"), and is constantly living in the past. He is often seen filming himself passing footballs for no apparent reason. He longs to go back in time and change his fortune, certain he had the potential to join the National Football League, if only his coach had played him. He cares for Kip and Napoleon while their grandmother is in the hospital with a broken coccyx.

Background information

Preston, Idaho is a real town located near the Utah border. Since the release of Napoleon Dynamite, it has become a tourist attraction of sorts, with Preston High School being a main feature. In April 2005, the Idaho state legislature approved a resolution commending the filmmakers for producing Napoleon Dynamite, specifically enumerating the benefits the movie has brought to Idaho, as well as for showcasing various aspects of Idaho's culture and economy. On June 24–25, 2005, Preston held a Napoleon Dynamite Festival celebrating the film. An estimated 6,000 people attended the two-day event. About one year later on July 8, 2006, Preston held another festival, but it was not as successful as the previous year. The film displays some quirky references to Mormon popular culture, such as Napoleon wearing a yellow Ricks College T-shirt (now known as BYU Idaho), and Napoleon's use of euphemisms and Minced oaths in place of profanity (which is characteristic of, though not exclusive to, Latter-day Saint circles).

In the DVD extras, there is an interview with Jon Heder in which he jokes that perhaps Napoleon and Deb may be "sealed for time and all eternity" — a reference to the Latter-day Saint belief in "eternal marriage" or "sealing" performed in the Church’s temples. The principal's reference to "Juarez" (mispronouncing the word as "Warrez") — where he assumes Pedro is from — may be a reference to Ciudad Juárez, a city on the United States–Mexico border. Napoleon buys his suit at Deseret Industries, a thrift store operated by the LDS Church. At the same time, the director seems to have taken care not to project an overt presence of Mormon culture. Crosses (which are not used by Mormons) and imagery pertaining to other Christian churches are placed prominently in some scenes, particularly at Pedro's house, which is full of Roman Catholic iconography.

While the film is set in the present day, it contains many parachronisms. For example, the music playing at the school dance is from the 1980s, featuring "Forever Young" by Alphaville and Cyndi Lauper's "Time after Time". Other vestiges of earlier decades include fashion trends that reflect those of the 70s and 80s, such as Napoleon's moon boots and Deb's side ponytail. The top-loading VCR in the Dynamite residence resembles those from the early 1980s. Throwbacks to the 1990s include music by Backstreet Boys, the Summer's Happy Hands Club performing to Max Martin and Jay Orpin's "Larger than Life", and music by Jamiroquai used in the choreography of Pedro's skits (their song "Canned Heat" is used for the scene in which Napoleon dances). Also, the TV resembles a 1990s model, and some of the shows resemble 1999 pop culture, especially the exercise commercials. The type of imitation Tupperware Uncle Rico is seen selling door-to-door has not been available for purchase for many years. The grandmother's house phone, a slim-line wall-mounted telephone with 25 foot extension cord was first available in the early 1970s. Kip does use the Internet for dating and Rico uses it to purchase a "time machine". However, the style of computer is arguably from the mid- to late- 1990s, and he uses a dial up internet service that charges users by the minute, a practice uncommon in the U.S. since the late 1990s. Kip also goes out with LaFawnduh Lucas wearing baggy clothes, a chain and a du-rag, which didn't come into fashion until the 1990s. The music playing in the Pontiac is the 80's funk song "So Ruff, So Tuff" by Zapp & Roger. Finally, Napoleon's school ID card, as shown in the opening credits, clearly reads "2004/2005", unambiguously setting the movie in the present day, despite the film's abundance of elements suggesting otherwise. (When asked when it takes place, the director simply stated, "Idaho.")

Cultural effects and criticism

Critics were somewhat divided in their opinions of Napoleon Dynamite. Some praised the movie for its unconventional humor, while others decried the film for much the same reason. It garnered a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, but prominent film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a scathing 1 1/2 stars, whilst his site users gave the movie 3 stars.

Michael Atkinson of The Village Voice praised the film as "an epic, magisterially observed pastiche on all-American geekhood, flooring the competition with a petulant shove." Keith Phipps of The Onion A.V. Club criticized

a seemingly ill-considered run for class president that provides Napoleon Dynamite's only semblance of a plot. It also allows the film to score some unearned points by taking a stand against the inevitable, dull tyranny of the popular teens. If this didn't seem so much like a film made to make those same kids bust a gut laughing at nerds, the plot might even have worked.

Nevertheless, the cultural impact on American youth was extensive. T-shirts patterned after some of the odd clothing in the movie (such as the "Vote For Pedro" shirt) and other clothing with quotes and lines from the movie are numerous. The film has inspired a bevy of offbeat quotes and somewhat of a cult following.

References in other works

• Jon Heder reprized his role as Napoleon Dynamite for a special spoof video made exclusively for Microsoft, featuring Bill Gates. The video, titled "Bill Gates Goes To College" was shown at Microsoft's Professional Developer's Conference in 2005. It was also shown when Bill Gates visited the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada on October 13, 2005. Heder also reprized his role on Late Show with David Letterman to read the Top Ten list of "Signs You're Not the Most Popular Guy in Your High School" the day of the DVD release.
• In 2005, ice cream makers Ben & Jerry's unveiled a new flavor entitled "Neapolitan Dynamite", a pun on the film's title.
• The New York Mets used the phrase "Vote for Pedro" to encourage fans to fill out All-Star ballots in 2005 for Mets players such as pitcher Pedro Martinez. It should be noted that fans only vote for position players; pitchers are selected by the All-Star managers. The San Francisco Giants also staged a similar campaign for utility infielder-outfielder Pedro Feliz, who was not eligible for the ballot because he did not regularly play any one position.
• Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez reprised their roles in a Robot Chicken sketch entitled Napoleon Bonamite, in which Napoleon acts in a similar manner to the dictator who shares his first name, Napoleon Bonaparte.
• In The Burning Crusade, the official expansion to World of Warcraft, male Blood Elves do the same dance as Napoleon did in the movie when the player types "/dance".
• In the MMO Guild Wars: Factions, male ritualists perform the Napoleon Dynamite dance as their dance emote.
• In the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet", Stan tells Tom Cruise that he isn't as good as that guy who played Napoleon Dynamite.
• An episode of That's So Raven, entitled "The Way They Were", features a ticket salesman who acts and behaves like Napoleon, yet his appearance resembles Kip Dynamite.
• Sobe Green Tea quotes, "Do Lizards Have Large Talons?" under its screw-on cap. This is a reference to the scene at the chicken farm when Napoleon asks, "Do the chickens have large talons?"
• Dominic Ranz Ebarle Errazo stated "do the chickens have large talons" to inspire him to spell the word "chinook" correctly during the National Spelling Bee Competition.
• Brie Larson parodies Napoleon Dynamite in her video for the song "She Said". He is seen saying "God!" although Napoleon uses the word "Gosh!" many times in the movie.
• Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez reprised their roles in a series of commercials for the 150th Utah State Fair in 2005.
• Angry Alien Productions parody the film in their 30 second "bunnified" sketch.
• Several musicians have songs named after the movie, including KJ-52, The Hussy's, and Mos Def.
• This movie was spoofed in Date Movie.

Awards

• Best Feature Film at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival the same year. The film's budget was only $400,000. When the film rights were sold to a major distributor, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox supplied additional funds for the post-credits scene.
• In 2005, it won three MTV Movie Awards, for Breakthrough Male Performance, Best Musical Performance, and Best Movie. This film is number 14 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

Emily Braun is a loser

Trivia

• The name "Napoleon Dynamite" is a pseudonym used by Elvis Costello on the back of the album Blood and Chocolate (released 1986). Jared Hess has denied that this was his source for the name, once claiming that rather, the name came from an old Italian man he met in Chicago, and that the Elvis Costello connection is a coincidence.
• British film director Alex Cox has stated that Napoleon is a tribute to a scarily similar character, Kevin in his 1984 cult classic Repo Man. The film also has a character by the name of Napoleon.
• The character of Kip (played by Aaron Ruell) was based on impersonations and ideas of Ruell's younger brother. The scene involving the time machine was a real story that occurred with Ruell's brothers and himself. Ruell was the one that plugged in his little brother and shocked him.
• According to members of the band Patrick Street, their recording of "Music for a Found Harmonium" was used in the movie without credit to or permission from them for the performance. As of 2006, the band says, lawyers are sorting out the ramifications. This song, originally written by Penguin Cafe Orchestra, does not appear on the soundtrack album. The version in the movie, which is a guitar arrangement, appears to be from the album The Celts Rise Again
• Jon Heder lied to the cast and crew and said he got his hair permed for Napoleon Dynamite at the same place he got it done for the short film Peluca. When he arrived for the first day of shooting his hair "looked like Shirley Temple's hair", said director Jared Hess.
• Jon Heder freestyled most of his dance routine with the help of Tina Majorino (Deb), who is a hip-hop instructor. Some of the moves included were inspired by The Backstreet Boys and Michael Jackson. Heder mentioned in a post-production interview that he figured "almost half" of the dance moves came from watching John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
• Jon Gries and Efren Ramirez wore wigs for the role of Uncle Rico and Pedro. The wigs attracted flies throughout filming, as seen in the film. The sound designer put in many fly buzzing sounds throughout the film as the flies are shown.
• The P.E. shirts seen in the movie were heavily influenced by the Manhattan High School P.E. shirts. Jared Hess attended Manhattan High for 2 years before moving to Idaho.
• The "Happy Hands" Club was inspired by a real club at Preston High School called the "Good Hands" Club. They have started an actual "Happy Hands Club" since.
• Jon Gries, who portrays Uncle Rico, is rumored to be a vegetarian. In the movie, he is seen eating steak quite frequently; for this he did not swallow the meat but spat it back out. He can be seen doing this in one scene. However in a radio interview on WRIF 101.1 in Detroit, Michigan, Gries explains that he spat the steak out because it tasted awful.
• Every dish shown during the opening credits is eaten by a character later in the movie. The dishes presented in the opening credits were the work of the three people who present them.
• Jon Heder was only offered $1000 for the role of Napoleon. The movie made over $44 million.

Goofs

• In the scene where Napoleon is talking to Kip from the school phone Kip is seen with a plate of nachos on the counter. The first two times Kip and the nachos are seen, the nachos have a small amount of cheese on top. Then, the third time they are seen, they have a significantly larger amount of cheese without Kip doing anything. This may have been done to create a comedic effect, since Kip looks at it confusedly.

• In one scene with Napoleon standing at the school bus stop, a reflection of the camera crew on the door of the bus can be seen as it drives by.

• Also in another scene Deb is talking on the phone to Napoleon and the camera crews legs can be seen in the reflection of the metal on the phone booth.

• At roughly 1hr 6 minutes, when Napoleon throws an grapefruit at the van, it explodes upon contact with the windscreen but leaves nothing more than a little juice on the glass. Though when the shot changes, there is what would appear to be a large clump of pulped grapefruit flesh on the glass.

Soundtrack

Main article: Napoleon Dynamite original soundtrack

An asterisk(*) denotes a song that is not in the soundtrack album.

• "We're Going to Be Friends" by The White Stripes*
• "A-Team Theme"
• "Forever Young" by Alphaville
• "Larger than Life" by Backstreet Boys
• "Design" by Fiction Company
• "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai
• "So Ruff, So Tuff" by Zapp and Roger*
• "Time after Time" by Cyndi Lauper* (covered by Sparklemotion on soundtrack)
• "The Rose" by Bette Midler*
• "Light In Your Eyes" by Sheryl Crow*
• "Music for a Found Harmonium" by Patrick Street*
• "The Promise" by When In Rome

See also

• Peluca
• Napoleon Dynamite Festival

External links

• Fox Searchlight: Napoleon Dynamite
• Napoleon Dynamite at IMDb
• Napoleon Dynamite at Rotten Tomatoes