Napoleon Dynamite: Difference between revisions

* [[Fox Searchlight Pictures]] (NorthUnited AmericaStates, Canada and Italy)

* [[Paramount Pictures]]<br (under />[[MTV Films]]; (international)

The film was Hess's first full-length movie and is partially adapted from his earlier short film, ''[[Peluca]]'' (2002). ''Napoleon Dynamite'' was acquired at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] by [[Fox Searchlight Pictures]], whowhich partnered up with [[Paramount Pictures]] and [[MTV Films]] for the release. Filming was done at [[Preston High School (Idaho)|Preston High School]] and in different areas in [[Franklin County, Idaho]], in the summer of 2003. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2004. Most of the situations in the movie are loosely based on the life of Jared Hess. The film's total worldwide gross revenue was $46.1 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2004/NPDYN.php |title=Napoleon Dynamite - Box Office Data, DVD Sales, Movie News, Cast Information |work=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]] |access-date=2012-08-11}}</ref> The film has since developed a [[cult following]]<ref>{{cite news |first=Lauren |last=Duca |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/10/napoleon-dynamite-anniversary_n_5440587.html |title=How 'Napoleon Dynamite' Became A Cultural Phenomenon (And Then Reached Critical Mass) |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |date=June 10, 2014 |access-date=2016-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Scott |last=Tobias |url=http://www.avclub.com/article/inapoleon-dynamitei-33260 |title=Napoleon Dynamite |work= The New Cult Canon |publisher=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=September 24, 2009 |access-date=2016-03-13}}</ref> and was voted at number 14 on [[Bravo (U.S. TV network)|Bravo]]'s 100 funniest movies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thefilmspectrum.com/?page_id=5769 |title=BRAVO 100 Funniest Movies |first=Jason |last=Fraley |work=The Film Spectrum}}</ref>

Napoleon Dynamite is a socially awkward 16-year-old fromwho lives in [[Preston, Idaho]], who lives with his grandmother, Carlinda, and his even more awkward older brother, Kip. Napoleon's daydreamsschool hisdays wayare throughspent school,doodling reluctantlymythical creatures, dealing with various bullies, whoand playing [[tetherball]] tormentby himhimself.

When Carlinda is injured in a quad-bike accident, andshe asks theirNapoleon and Kip's Uncle Rico to look after the boys while she recovers. RicoThe flirtatious, a middle-aged andRico flirtatious former high-school athlete who livesarrives in athe [[conversion van]], treatshe Napoleonlives likein a child. Heand takes advantage of the visit to team up with Kip to sell items door-to-door in a [[get-rich-quick scheme]] by selling items door-to-door. Kip wants money to pay for his internet girlfriend, LaFawnduh, to travel from Detroit to see him while. Rico, a former high-school athlete, believes richeswealth will help him get over the recent breakup with his girlfriend and his failed dreams of [[National Football League|NFL]] stardom: Rico constantly dwells on his past as a football player and thedreams recentof breakup[[time withtravel|going hisback girlfriendin time]].

Napoleon becomes friends with two students at his high school: Deb, a shy girl who runssells variousheadshots smalland various businessesknick-knacks to raise money for college, and Pedro, a bold yet calm transfer student from [[Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua|JuarezJuárez]], Mexico. Preparations begin forWith the high school dance. approaching, Pedro asks Summer WheatleyWheatly, a popular and snobby girl, to bego hiswith dance partnerhim, but is rebuffed. He then asks Deb, who gladly accepts. Pedro encourages an upset Napoleon to find a date for himself, and he picks a popular classmate, Trisha, from the school yearbook. As a gift, he draws an unintentionally bad picture of her and delivers it to Trisha's mother, who is one of Rico's customers. Rico tells embarrassing stories about Napoleon to evoke sympathy from Trisha's mother, who buys his wares and forces Trisha to reluctantly accept Napoleon's invitation. Trisha goes to the dance with Napoleon but soon abandons him, leadingto hang out with Summer. Pedro toallows letNapoleon Debto dance with NapoleonDeb.

Pedro decides to run for class president, pitting him against Summer. The two factions put up flyers and hand out trinkets to students to attract voters. To demonstrate their "skills" and increase their respect byaround demonstratingthe "skillsschool," Napoleon and Pedro enter a [[National FFA Organization|Future Farmers of America]] competition, grading milk and cow udders. They do well and win medals, but this does little for their popularity. Incidentally, Napoleon visits a [[Charity shop|thrift store]] and buys an instructional dance videotape called ''D-Qwon's Dance Grooves''.

Napoleon visits a [[Charity shop|thrift store]] and buys an instructional dance videotape called ''D-Qwon's Dance Grooves''. Kip's girlfriend, LaFawnduh, arrives from [[Detroit]] and gives him an urban makeover, outfitting him in [[hip-hop]] regalia. SeeingUpon meeting Napoleon and seeing that he is learning to dance, LaFawnduh gives Napoleonhim a [[mixtape]].

Rico's ongoing sales scheme causes friction with Napoleon as he continues to spread embarrassing rumors about Napoleon to prospective customers. Rico tries to sell Deb a breast-enhancement product, claiming it was Napoleon's suggestion, which causes her to break off their friendship. HisAn schemeangry endsNapoleon afterconfronts hisRico salesand pitchtells him to theleave, wifebut ofRico refuses. However, his sales scheme ends after the town's self-declared martial arts instructor, Rex, goeswalks awry:in Rex assaultson Rico afterdemonstrating unexpectedlythe arrivingbreast-enhancement duringproduct on his demonstrationwife ofand theassaults breast-enhancement producthim.

On Election Day, Summer gives a speech before the student body on election day, and then presents a dance skit to "[[Larger than Life (song)|Larger than Life]]" by the [[Backstreet Boys]] with a school club. A despondent Pedro gives an unimpressive speech after discovering he is also required to perform a skit. To save Pedro's campaign, Napoleon gives the sound engineer LaFawnduh's mixtape and spontaneously performs an elaborate dance routine to "[[Canned Heat (song)|Canned Heat]]" by [[Jamiroquai]] as Pedro's skit. Proving himself to be a skilled dancer, Napoleon's routine receives a [[standing ovation]] from students, stunning Summer and her boyfriend, Don.

Pedro becomes the class president, KipGrandma andreturns LaFawnduhfrom leavethe on a bus for Michiganhospital, Rico reunites with his estranged girlfriend, GrandmaKip returnsand fromLaFawnduh theleave hospitalon a bus for Michigan, and Napoleon and Deb reconcile and play [[tetherball]] together.

* [[Jon Gries]] as Uncle Rico Dynamite

* [[Haylie Duff]] as Summer WheatleyWheatly

The film is set during the 2004–2005 school year, as shown on Napoleon's student ID card in the title sequence.<ref name="nix">{{cite web |last=Papadatos |first=Markos |date=March 19, 2024 |title=Darci Monet talks about 'The Rose' — 'Napoleon Dynamite' 20th anniversary recording |url=https://www.digitaljournal.com/entertainment/darci-monet-talks-about-the-rose-napoleon-dynamite-20th-anniversary-recording/article?fbclid=IwAR1p4ogLS9PGxAa-YMCckjAgrOzecU3RIiiR6VtqiofiL2mVJe9lS_rZnJs_aem_Ac6hBmglx2mjtELiLqUNEM4wZ_UJdVlJ_07iz1hqk24myPSx3w_f0q0VdQ5gjprrx8EZdArKUPNeZRPGRA4p7bi6 |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=DigitalJournal.com}}</ref><ref name=lyle>{{cite book |last=Lyle |first=Jason Garrett |title=Social Outcast Cinema: Generic Evolution and Identification in Early 21st Century Teen Film |date=2008 |publisher=[[Regent University]] |isbn=9780549518389 |page=71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A2iDuPE2WOIC&q=napoleon+dynamite+id+card&pg=PA71 |access-date=29 July 2015 }}</ref> The film contains several culturally retroactive elements harkening back tobetween the 1980s1970s orto 1990s. For example, Deb wears a side [[ponytail]] and Napoleon wears [[Moon Boot]]s, both popular fashion trends of the 1980s.<ref name=lyle /> One scene is set at a school dance that plays only 1980s music such as [[Alphaville (band)|Alphaville]]'s "[[Forever Young (Alphaville song)|Forever Young]]," whereas an earlier scene features students performing a [[American Sign Language|sign language]] rendition of "[[The Rose (song)|The Rose]]" (1980), originally made popular by Bette Midler (it was actually sung in the film by L.A.-based studio session vocalist Darci Monet, who was never credited or paid any residuals for her work<ref name=nix />). Much of the technology in the film is also archaic; Napoleon uses a top-loader [[VCR]] and [[Walkman]] [[compact cassette|cassette]] player, Kip connects to the Internet via a pay-per-minute [[Dial-up Internet access|dial-up]] connection and Uncle Rico drives a 1975 [[Dodge Ram Van#Original B series|Dodge Tradesman]].<ref name=lyle /><ref>{{cite news |date=October 4, 2010 |last=Ingrassia |first=Bob |title=Land of 10,000 Lakes ... and Uncle Rico's van from "Napoleon Dynamite" |url=http://www.fasthorseinc.com/blog/2010/10/land-of-10000-lakes-and-uncle-ricos-van-from-napoleon-dynamite/ |access-date=21 April 2017 |work=Fast Horse }}</ref> The song Napoleon Dynamite dances to at the end of the film—"Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai—came out in 1999.

A 20th anniversary screening of the film took place at the [[2024 Sundance Film Festival]] on January 24, 2024, to commemorate the festival's 40th20th anniversary, in the form of a new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative produced by [[Searchlight Pictures]] and its parent company [[Walt Disney Studios (division)|Walt Disney Studios]], under the supervision of Hess. On the announcement, he remarked "Returning to Sundance with ''Napoleon Dynamite'' feels like a homecoming. When it premiered at the festival 20 years ago, we never anticipated the incredible reaction it would receive ... It's always been a very personal film for Jerusha and me, so the love affair it's had with audiences all these years continues to delight us. To commemorate its 20th anniversary, we are thrilled to screen this newly restored version ... The restoration team did an amazing job bringing to life new details from the original film's negative that we'd never seen before. We can't wait to share it!"<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/sundance-2024-shorts-lineup-anniversary-programming-1234934592/ | title=Sundance Unveils Shorts and 40th Anniversary Programming | date=December 12, 2023 }}</ref>

''Napoleon Dynamite'' was released on VHS and DVD on December 21, 2004, by [[20th Century Fox Home Entertainment]] in North America and by [[Paramount Home Entertainment]] in all other territories. The DVD is a double-sided disc containing full screen and letterbox versions of the film, plus ''Peluca'' and deleted scenes—all with audio commentary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DVD Talk |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/13488/napoleon-dynamite/ |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=www.dvdtalk.com}}</ref> A 2-disc edition (dubbed "Like, the Best Special Edition, Ever!") was released in 2006 with additional deleted scenes, promotional material and a second commentary track,<ref>{{Cite web |title=DVD Talk |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/21512/napoleon-dynamite-like-the-best-special-edition-ever/ |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=www.dvdtalk.com}}</ref> but fell out of print in favor of the first edition DVD and the Blu-Ray.

Ramirez improvised a script for a sequel in which Pedro is married to Summer WheatleyWheatly, has five kids and owns a bakery. In the same hypothetical script, Kip has fulfilled his dream to become a cage fighter, while Rico has ventured into a new business that he believes will make him rich.<ref>{{cite news |date=8 September 2020 |author=NEERAJ CHAND |title='Napoleon Dynamite 2' May Still Happen, Jon Heder Expects It'll Be Raw and Edgy |url=https://movieweb.com/napoleon-dynamite-2-plans-jon-heder/ |website=Movieweb }}</ref>

In January 2023, Heder stated that he believed a sequel was "inevitable" and reiterated his interest in displaying a darker tone for the sequel.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://movieweb.com/napoleon-dynamite-2-would-be-a-dark-real-time-sequel-jon-heder-says/ | title=Napoleon Dynamite 2 Would be a Dark, Real Time Sequel, Jon Heder Says | newspaper=Movieweb | date=January 18, 2023 }}</ref> In October 2024, he stated once again that a sequel was possible, saying "that the door's not closed yet."<ref>https://movieweb.com/napoleon-dynamite-sequel-tease-efren-ramirez/?</ref>