Napoleon Dynamite

This article is about the movie. Napoleon Dynamite is also an alias of Elvis Costello.

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 Austyn Goldring
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	US$400,000
Box office	US$158,600,956

'Napoleon Dynamite' is a 2004 independent film co-written and directed by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess and stars Jon Heder as the main character, Napoleon Dynamite. 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 was US $44.5 million. Considering its budget of US $400,000, Napoleon Dynamite was a huge success, grossing over one hundred times its production cost.

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

Plot

The film centers around a teenager named Napoleon, his 32-year old brother Kip, his Uncle Rico, and his friends Deb and Pedro. Napoleon is an underachiever in school who prefers doodling fantastical creatures such as ligers to paying attention in class.

Napoleon soon meets Pedro, a new student at his school. Later on, Pedro decides to run for school president, and Napoleon becomes Pedro's "campaign manager." Meanwhile, Napoleon himself tries to get a date with Trisha, a "popular" girl he barely knows. Napoleon tries to win Trisha's affections by drawing a picture of her from the yearbook. The drawing is hysterically bad, but Napoleon is very proud of it, as he is of all his "artwork"; he seems to be blissfully unaware of how horrible his drawing skills really are. Trisha is forced to go to the dance with Napoleon because Trisha's mother feels bad for him, mostly due to comments from Napoleon's Uncle Rico. When Trisha leaves Napoleon at the dance to hang out with her popular friends, which include Summer (who also runs for president), Napoleon ends up with Pedro's date, Deb, who is willing to help him.

Meanwhile, Napoleon and Kip's Uncle Rico comes to stay with them while their grandmother is in the hospital with a broken coccyx. Kip and Rico soon try to make money by selling Tupperware, and Rico goes on to humiliate Napoleon and estrange Deb by trying to sell her herbal enhancers, telling her that Napoleon said she could use them. Kip begins dating a woman named LaFawnduh, whom he met in an internet chatroom. Kip and LaFawnduh get married at the end of the film (after the credits). LaFawnduh has a mix tape of dance music that she lets Napoleon borrow.

When the time comes for all of the class 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. Just before Pedro decides to drop out of the election race due to not having a skit, Napoleon enters the stage with his practiced dance routine for Pedro, which unexpectedly generates enormous acclaim from the student audience and wins Pedro the election. The film ends showing Napoleon playing tetherball alone, as always, until Deb comes and joins in with him.

Characters

• Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) the film's protagonist, is a rather clumsy 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 under-bite and tight, curly, almost permed hair . 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. Napoleon frequently lies about his abilities to impress his peers. For example, he claims that he spent his summer vacation with his "uncle in Alaska" hunting wolverines with a 12-gauge shotgun. He also claims to have nunchuck and bostaff skills, and to know all the "illegal ninja moves from the government."
• Pedro Sanchez (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.
• Deborah "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 boondoggle keychains, "a must-have for this season's fashion". Deb seems to be the most articulate character among the three friends in the film. Throughout the film it seems Deb likes Napoleon very much.
• Kipland Ronald "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 Lucas (Shondrella Avery) , 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 1975 Dodge "Santana" 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 to nobody for no apparent reason. Rico 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 ostensibly cares for Kip and Napoleon while their grandmother is in the hospital with a broken coccyx, but it is apparent that he is just freeloading on Napoleon's family, as Napoleon appears to be about 17 years old and Kip is full-grown and could be as old as 32. Rico is frequently eating steak throughout the film (though Gries himself is a vegetarian). At one point during his stay, he and Kip make several money-making schemes, which Kip quits after LaFawnduh comes into his life. The schemes end badly, when Rico tries to sell herbal enhancers to a Tae-kwon-do teacher's wife.

Setting

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. Also with its premier in 2004, Preston has held a Napoleon Dynamite Festival every summer to celebrate the filming of Napoleon Dynamite in Preston and nearby towns. 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.

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" — 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, Roman Catholic iconography is used for scenes where Pedro's house can be seen due to the strong religious influence in Mexican culture.

While the film is set in the present day, it contains many parachronisms, all of which highlight the town's awkward, behind-the-times quality. 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 1970s and 1980s, such as Napoleon's moon boots and Deb's side ponytail. Another example of 1980s fashion includes the bolo ties that Pedro and Lyle wear. The top-loading VCR in the Dynamite residence resembles those from the early 1980s. Throwbacks to the 1990s include music by Backstreet Boys (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 skit (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 United States since the late 1990s. The music playing in the Pontiac is the 1980s 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.")

Reaction

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 to other works

Napoleon and Kip attend a kickboxing class that they see advertised on television, and while there the instructor refers to Napoleon as Peter Pan, an odd reference that has resonance in the film. Napoleon and Kip have failed to grow up for the first part of the film, to the extent that they may require Uncle Rico to watch them in their grandmothers' absence. Uncle Rico who "lives in the past" has also failed to grow up. None of the three are able to sustain adult relationships or seem motivated to change. As the film unfolds each of them grows into the ability to sustain relationships and mature into adults.

References in other works

• Jon Heder reprised 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 reprised 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 Martínez. 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 Napoleon I of France.
• 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.
• On the Canadian animated show Total Drama Island, one of the contestants, Harold, seems to be designed after Napoleon Dynamite, even going so far as to use his catchphrase "Gosh!".
• As noted elsewhere, the origin of the title of the film is uncertain, and had been regarded as questionable. The pseudonymous reference in 1986 as "Napoleon Dynamite" on Elvis Costello's album Blood And Chocolate (Costello's name being a pseudonym itself) is echoed in a 10/86 California concert of Costello's, which exists in an audience audio recording. During the final encore, while naming the musicians (which included guest Huey Lewis, whose band Clover played on the first Costello LP), the singer thanks "Mr. Napoleon Dynamite". Unless another, earlier reference to the singular name surfaces, the alleged separate origin of the name (as claimed by Jared Hess) remains highly specious and unproven, with no supportive example to prove his assertion.

• In the KidsWB cartoon Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue!, two scientists for the villan "Phidious Phives" strongly resemble Napoleon and Kip in appearance, voice, and nerdy style.
• In the Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends' episode Cheese A Go-Go, a scientist at the end of the episode talks much like Napoleon with the same voice, and looks a lot like Napoleon.

• Efren Ramirez reprises his character in an episode of George Lopez (TV series). George's daughter Carmen runs for student body president of her high school, and ultimately defeats Efren's character (who was nameless). In the episode, Efren's shirt read "Don't Vote For Carmen", rather than "Vote for Pedro".

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".
• It won the 2005 Golden Trailer Awards for Best Comedy.
• It won the 2005 Golden Satellite Award for Best Original Score (John Swihart).
• Four awards at the Teen Choice Awards. Best Movie Breakout Performance - Female for Haylie Duff, Best Movie Dance Scene, Best Movie Hissy Fit for Jon Heder, and Best Comedy.
• The 2004 Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Feature.

Trivia

• The name "Napoleon Dynamite" is a pseudonym used by Elvis Costello on the back of the album Blood and Chocolate (released 1986). On the cover of the album is a painting by "Eamonn Singer", another pseudonym of Elvis Costello. The painting, titled "Napoleon Dynamite" shows an abstract of the general with what appears to be a stick of dynamite. The words "Napoleon Dynamite" appear in part. Jared Hess has denied that this was his source for the name, once claiming that 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 movie was edited using Apple's Final Cut Pro.
• 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 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 roles 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 the scene where he throws a steak at bicycle-riding Napoleon. 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.
• Jon Heder was only offered $1000 for the role of Napoleon. The movie made over $46 million.
• The film is almost entirely shot in stationary camera shots with less than 10 moving shots appearing throughout.
• The film is quoted in the movie Paranoid Park.
• In Japan, the film was titled Basu Otoko (バス男, basu otoko) ("Bus Man"), in an attempt to capitalize on the success of Densha Otoko (電車男, densha otoko) ("Train Man"), a story about a Japanese internet nerd who rises to win the love of a beautiful girl.

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 Sparkle motion 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
• Napoleon Dynamite: The Game

External links

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