WTF Happened to Napoleon Dynamite?

it'd be really funny if he was okay no totally how does a small low budget independent movie become a massive runaway Blockbuster hit and pop cultural Landmark at once while not an exact science there are surely several different roads to success for each production we've seen it in the past with My Big Fat Greek Wedding and several others but what about Jared hess's viral cult classic Napoleon Dynamite how does a first time filmmaker restricted by a four hundred thousand dollar budget and just 23 shooting days somehow managed to make a semi-autobiographical movie and still strike such a major chord among the movie-going masses how does such a scrappy DIY PG rated Indie comedy becomes such an unforgettable cinematic phenomenon well now that 20 years that's right 20 years have since the movie was made well no wonder it's all old and dried out like that man right there it's time to sit back strap in and figure out what the [ __ ] happened to this movie sweet foreign [Music] 2002 a couple of years before the film was released Napoleon Dynamite began as a student film project at Brigham Young University half the time aspiring filmmaker Jared Hess and actor John heater who plays Napoleon met and collaborated on a nine minute short film entitled palucha the black and white short laid the groundwork for the tone and tenor of the film which features a stoic deadpan and awkward sense of humor sure well heater plays a character named Seth in palucha his physical appearance resembles what we all now recognize as Napoleon's signature look the outmoded clothing the permed hair thick glasses glazed over facial expressions and pretty much all the rest so right off the bat we have a sort of dress rehearsal training round for the director and lead actor to establish their brand of quirky offbeat humor hone their sensibility and get comfortable around the camera preparing for the feature link version to come Felucia not only helped Hess and heater calibrate their collaborative creativity but it also caught the attention of important Executives at the slam dance film festival in 2003 While most of the scenes in palucha made it into Napoleon Dynamite one deleted sequence from the feature film involves Napoleon winning a 10 scratch-off Lottery that he uses to purchase a 12 suit for the dance during the screening of Fallujah at slam dance producer Jeremy [ __ ] was so enamored with the project that he encouraged Hess to drop out of BYU film school and adapt the short into a feature Hess boldly agreed and [ __ ] helped him find investors to back the project at the time Hess began sending out copies of the short along with versions of a full-length screenplay that he wrote with his wife Joe Russia Hess it was a major risk for Hester drop out of school to make his feature especially since jerusha was pregnant at the time the title of the film was changed from palucha to Napoleon Dynamite which coincidentally was a stage name used by Elvis Costello to promote his 86 album Blood and Chocolate according to [ __ ] this was complete happenstance and the filmmakers were not made aware of Costello's Alias until two days remained in principal photography Hess claims he came up with Napoleon Dynamite after meeting a man with the same name in 2000 while doing missionary work in Illinois according to Hess when he was shopping the project around almost everyone felt the film was quote too weird or just didn't like the characters and the project struggled to find support as a result Hess claims that Jake Gyllenhaal was suggested to replace heater but Hess remained steadfast in the belief that the role was meant for heater and heater alone while Hess ultimately got his way heater notoriously received a paltry payment of just one thousand dollars for his acting Services that's a slap in the face harder than Napoleon being bruised by a piece of steak fortunately for heater he had a good good sense to renegotiate a much larger fee once the film became a hit by the way heater is not wearing a wig in the film he permed his hair for the role and was forbidden from washing it during the duration by the end of filming the dude's hair became incredibly foul from swelting summer heat while John Reeves was eventually cast as Uncle Rico Jason Lee was first offered the roll meanwhile Jack Black and Brad Garrett almost played Rex the crazy Rex squando martial arts trainer but the role was ultimately given to Dietrich Bader who filmed all of his scenes in just one day Garrett went so far as to audition for the role yet despite expressing how much he liked the script he decided to bow out Jack Black eventually went on to work with Hess on his follow-up film Nacho Libre as for Pedro played indelibly by Efren Ramirez it's worth noting that he was 31 at the time portraying a high school student yeah yeah there they cast people in the late 20s early 30s to play out while a heater was 26 playing the 16 year old Napoleon at the same time the character of Napoleon's older brother kit played by Aaron rule is supposedly 16 years older than Napoleon in the movie while rule is actually only one year older than heater speaking of rule he joined the project early on as a friend and fellow BYU classmate of Hess and heater and contributed to the movie more than most realize for example the tone setting opening sequence features plates of food displayed in a manner that spells out the names of cast members this was actually performed by rule despite Fame title designer Pablo Faro taking Credit in fact that opening title sequence was created well after the movie was completed the movie was originally made without a title sequence when viewers expressed confusion over the movie's timeline the title sequence was created in the Director of Photography mon Pal's basement eight months after principal photography was completed original this new title sequence featured heater's hands revealing various items on the screen such as Napoleon's school ID believe it or not this actually became a point of contention for Fox Searchlight who felt that heater's hands were not aesthetically pleasing enough as a result one of the executives asked for the sequence to be re-shot with a hand model principal photography on Napoleon Dynamite began on July 8th and ended on August 1st 2003 lasting only 23 days in a brutal Summer Sun the film was shot on location in Preston Idaho near the Utah border and area Hess grew up in and was staunchly familiar with several locals from Preston and the surrounding towns were invited to participate as extras which helped to create a Charming sense of authenticity and now a note on the Llama it's worth noting that the adorable llama seen in the film is named Dolly and actually belonged to hess's Mom in real life indeed there is a tactile DIY approach to the film that allowed for genuine collaboration while making the movie for example Tina majorino who plays Deb Bradshaw helped heater choreograph his now iconic dance moves in that show-stopping finale according to heater he also found inspiration for his awesome dance moves from Michael Jackson John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever The Backstreet Boys and Old Soul Train reruns other examples of tight knit production includes the movie being edited in Coon's apartment with a six thousand dollar Mac computer and Final Cut Pro editing software additionally Uncle Rico's ex-girlfriend Tammy was portrayed by Aaron Rule's real life wife in between takes heater also helped to create the boondoggle keychains that Deb sells door-to-door as for Napoleon's drawings Peter did all of them himself with the exception of the farting unicorn for the post-credit wedding between Kip and LaFonda played by chandrella Avery the black guest in attendance are Avery's own family members according to Hess there aren't that many black residents in Preston if any and so he invited Avery's kid to participate additional sequences in the film lifted directly from hess's own experience growing up in Preston these include Napoleon dragging the toy wrestler behind the bus at the beginning the farmer Lyle shooting a cow in front of a school bus of children the hysterical Chapstick phone conversation between Napoleon and Kip and the ridiculous puffy sleeve gag during the high school dance even the silly time machine sequence was inspired by Rule's brother who bought a similar device online in real life apparently all it took to convince his brother to buy the phony time machine was sending him three ten dollar bills issued from different eras indeed the specific brand of humor in the film comes from lived experiences which also makes the characters uniquely relatable to film Napoleon's home two different houses were chosen one for exterior one for interior Deb's photography studio in the film was actually shot in that basement speaking of Deb actress Tina majorino had a life-threatening peanut allergy while making the movie despite being tasked with eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the cafeteria area scene major Reno is really just eating plain jelly the part where Uncle Rico drills Napoleon in the face with a piece of steak took four takes to get right grease really threw the stake himself and heater was struck so hard by the meat that he sustained a sizable bruise on his nose in fact now I'm thinking of just hitting him heater was a real trooper throughout the entire production and endured several taxing blows for instance the scene where Napoleon falls to the ground while trying to climb a fence was performed without a stunt double and he landed so hard on the ground that the wind was knocked out of him moreover in the making of Doc for the film heater is seen taking all sorts of physical punishment at the hands of schoolyard bully Randy the scene in which Napoleon slaps Kip in the living room took a total of five takes the nail while harmless enough the sequence involving Rex physically abusing Kip in the dojo was all too real Vayner hit rule quite hard for real while filming and because roll had a pounding migraine that day his pain reactions on the screen are genuine speaking of rules on-screen reactions the scene depicting Kip's Tupperware durability experiment was done using two different methods one included filling the Tupperware with cement and the other keeping it plastic the take chosen for the final film was the one where the tupperware breaks because of how much funnier Rule's reaction was despite being set during the 2004-2005 school year one of the things that makes Napoleon Dynamite feel so Timeless is the strange anachronisms and retro stylings that take place there's an over throwback sense of style fashion and music that clearly represents the 80s and 90s part of this was surely meant to depict how outdated and out of touch with contemporary reality the citizens of small town Idaho were at the time but it also helped to create a kind of retro Nostalgia for VCRs and walkmans and dial up internet between these somewhat ironic 80s soundtrack Debs killer side ponytail and Napoleon's badass Moon Boots the movie has a distinct stuck in the past aura that somehow adds to the movie's infectious appeal and of course this all culminates in arguably one of the greatest final sequences ever filmed Napoleon's iconic dance performance which actually came about due to heater's Love of Dance the critical dance finale was scheduled to be filmed toward the end of the shoot by this time their production had run out of money and film stock and was left with only one roll of film to capture this dance let's think about that for a second Hess and heater had only 10 and a half minutes to nail the final dance sequence before they ran out of film and with no more money at their disposal they wouldn't be able to reschedule for a later date the dance literally was a make or break time for the entire production one that not only paid ham and some dividends in the end but has become one of the all-time great dance sequences in movie history hater says that the dance was completely improvised on the spot with no pre-arranged choreography stating quote they were like no John just figure it out so I just winged it I danced three times and they took the best pieces from each of those it's true heater danced through three different songs on the day of filming and the final sequence in the film splices those best moves the power of editing makes it look like one seamless dance routine played to one song jamiroquai's 1999 single Canned Heat however they also danced to another Jamiroquai song little L and there too was something off of Michael Jackson's Off The Wall album but they only got the rights to Jamiroquai considering the entertainment landscape in 2023 it's hard not to think of Napoleon Dynamite as a sort of pre-tick-tock viral dance phenomenon that helped make such personal expression so popular as a shared experience for a movie about sort of being stuck in the past perhaps the greatest Legacy of Napoleon Dynamite is how it pre-saged the proliferating dance craze currently taking over the Internet the fact that Tick Tock is the official advertising sponsor of Napoleon's iconic dance sequence on YouTube which has over 8 million views by the way it's a delicious piece of irony lost on nobody many fans of the film may not realize that the post-credits scene was not originally part of the movie and was only added after its success at Sundance Fox Searchlight re-edited the film and commissioned a five minute epilogue to conclude the film crazily enough the wedding scene cost roughly two hundred thousand dollars to produce which amounts to about half of the movie's original budget now coming back full circle the real question is how does a movie made so quickly and so cheaply by a first time filmmaker becomes such a massive commercial success well not to oversimplify but the film tested through the roof during the festival circuit culminating in a torrid bidding war between Fox Searchlight and Warner independent pictures at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival at the last minute Searchlight purchased the rights to the film for a whopping 4 million dollars ten times greater than the budget perhaps more importantly the studio spent three million dollars to Market it that's simply unheard of for such a small movie made by an unproven director this studio was so sure that they had a hit on their hands that they made sure to promote it as widely as possible Fox Searchlight partnered with MTV Films and Paramount Pictures to distribute the film just 17 days before the film was released theatrically which helped it reach as many viewers as possible thanks to the marketing budget and crossover promotion on MTV Napoleon Dynamite was poised to be more successful than anyone could ever have imag imagine Napoleon Dynamite made its World premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17 2004. five months later it was released domestically even more improbable despite an extremely limited release the film caught on like wildfire from the beginning less than one year after it hit theaters it grossed a staggering 44.9 million dollars of course the cultural impact of Napoleon Dynamite doesn't stop there the film inspired a slew of merchandise they were t-shirts and Halloween costumes and refrigerator magnets and all sorts of other stuff in 2007 the film inspired a poorly received video game called Napoleon Dynamite the game in 2012 a short-lived animated TV adaptation was produced by Fox featuring all of the main cast members reprising the roles yet despite scoring decent reviews and 5.8 million viewers per episode the series was canceled after just six episodes per perhaps the most lasting Legacy Napoleon Dynamite can claim is the algorithm busting phenomenon referred to as the Napoleon Dynamite problem the phrase refers to how difficult it is for streaming platforms to predict what a viewer likes to watch or what they think they will enjoy after watching Napoleon Dynamite the movie is so quirky and offbeaten hard to codified that it could predictive suggestive algorithm formula and leaves fans of the film directionless on what to watch next following the release of the film in 2004 the town of Preston held an annual Napoleon Dynamite Festival while the festival only lasted from 2004 to 2008 such events inspired by the film included a tetherball tournament tater tot eating contest Moon boot Dance Off look-alike competition football throwing contest and much more the state of Idaho even passed a bill lauding Jared and jerusha Hess for bringing such widespread awareness to the small town of Preston the bill specifically cited how the staff of Preston High School gained Global notoriety for their appearances in the movie The Bill also praised the film for helping to popularize Idaho tater tots the state's biggest export adding to the film's Legacy a potential sequel has been discussed since at least September 2020. although heater has expressed in interest in reprising his iconic role he believes the future of Napoleon Dynamite would be much darker stating I feel like the future of Napoleon would be a lot more raw and edgy so whatever he comes up with would be fun to explore because I think whatever Jarrett comes up with wouldn't be your typical let's do a sequel where they all look the same and they all act the same According to some sources Ramirez came up with his own impromptu script for Napoleon Dynamite 2 in which his character Pedro owns a bakery and is now married to Summer with whom he shares five children meanwhile Kip realized his dream of becoming a cage fighter while Uncle Rico is up to a new get rich quick scheme as recently as January 2023 Peter assured fans that a Napoleon Dynamite sequel is all but inevitable let us know below if Napoleon Dynamite 2 is something you'd want to see so yeah that's kind of what the [ __ ] happened to Napoleon Dynamite Jared and jerusha Hess took a gamble by making a small independent movie based on their own Hometown experiences and the film paid massive dividends for all involved thanks to the memorable turn by John heater and the immense marketing resources from Fox MTV and Paramount the film was able to out grasp its own modest reach as the Little Indie that could and shattered the glass ceiling to become a bona fide Blockbuster it's rare when a movie is both a commercial and cult classic at once and so Napoleon Dynamite truly is one of a kind and then Napoleon looks back at you and goes I'll get it I'll get it hmm [Music] foreign [Music] [Music]

Channel: JoBlo Originals

Views: 221,656

Keywords: joblo videos, joblo, wtf happened to, wtf happened to this movie, wtf, awfully good movies, joblo originals, movie review, review, napoleon dynamite, jon heder, vote for pedro, napoleon dynamite movie, napoleon dynamite pedro, uncle rico, efren ramirez, jon gries, jon heder today, jared hess, napoleon dynamite trailer, napoleon dynamite review, jon heder napoleon dynamite, jon heder and efren ramirez, jon heder napoleon dance, jon heder napoleon dynamite dance

Id: VPjwMxiyak4

Length: 21min 8sec (1268 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 28 2023