Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite is an American independent film written and directed by Jared Hess. The movie is based on the short film he directed at Brigham Young University with Jon Heder, Peluca, which was discovered at the Slamdance Film Festival. Napoleon debuted in 2004, earning $116,666 in its opening weekend, and over $44.5 million as of February 6, 2005. The film cost only $400,000 to make. The DVD was released on December 21, 2004. Since its release, it has gained somewhat of a cult film status among Generation Y'ers and young people, who seem to identify with the film to some degree. In 2005, it won 3 MTV Movie Awards, for Breakthrough Male Performance, Best Musical Performance, and Best Movie. It was filmed in Preston, Idaho, USA.

Trivia

• The dishes shown in the opening credits are all eaten at some point in the movie, and in the case of cast members, eaten by their respective characters.
• Jon Gries is a vegetarian, and spat out every bite of red meat he chewed during filming.
• During some scenes of the movie, Napoleon is seen wearing a Ricks College T-shirt. Ricks was a junior college in Idaho that became Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2001.
• 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 drew inspiration from *NSYNC 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 wore a wig for the role of Uncle Rico. The wig attracted flies throughout filming, as seen in the film.
• Several scenes in the movie are the results of improvisation, such as Kip's reaction to backing over the Tupperware bowl.
• Jon Heder has his hair permed for the "Napoleon" look.
• The boy sitting with Napoleon in the back of the bus was a local who came in for audition.
• The music used in the scene where Napoleon showcases his dancing skills is "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai.
• The music used in the campaign poster montage is the A-Team theme song.
• The lady on the bicycle who approaches Rico near the end of the film is his ex, who is mentioned earlier in the movie. She was played by Aaron Ruell's wife, Julia.
• All 181 student extras in the film are individually listed in the closing credits.
• Napoleon enjoys dancing, and belongs to the "Happy Hands" club, which practices sign singing. He joined this club because "all of the other sweet clubs were filled" (this is revealed in the deleted scene "Second Locker Room" on the Napoleon Dynamite DVD).
• Napoleon's "moon boots" by the end of the movie were falling apart and were being held together by duct tape. Heder also said that they started to smell.
• Preston High School, Napoleon's high school, has started an actual "Happy Hands Club" since the release of the film.
• "Napoleon Dynamite" was a pseudonym used by Elvis Costello in the credits of his 1986 album Blood and Chocolate. Executive producer Jeremy Coon has stated that the similarity is a coincidence and that the producers were unaware of Costello's usage of the name until the film was in production.
• There is an extra scene on the DVD after the credits that shows Kip and LaFawnduh's marriage ceremony two months later. The scene was filmed after the unexpected commercial success of the movie, and was added to later releases of the film and placed after the credits. It reportedly cost more to film the single extra scene than it did to film the rest of the movie.
• Napoleon's favorite animal, the liger, is actually a real animal, and exists in zoos as a result of mating a male lion with a female tiger. They are not, however, bred for their skills in magic.
• In the 2005 National Spelling Bee, after asking for the definition of a word, one student recited the line "Do the chickens have large talons?", then proceeded to spell the word.
• Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez reprised their roles in the Adult Swim show Robot Chicken, which would involve Napoleon in the role his namesake was in.
• Heder and Ramirez also reprised their roles in a series of commercials advertising the 2005 Utah State Fair.
• Tina was also Deb's real name coinciding with the fact that Napoleon said "Tina you fat lard, come get some dinner!" (referring to the llama shortly after Deb left).