Rare is the true cult hit movie. Unknown actors, an original story, an independent feature with a low budget. How often does a movie like that truly break through? When it happens, it feels special, even if you don’t like the movie. Napoleon Dynamite is definitely a cult hit. It’s also definitely polarizing. Vote for Pedro, and then read these 20 facts you might not know about the movie.
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It started as a short film
Fox Searchlight
When Jared Hess, director and co-writer of Napoleon Dynamite, was in college at BYU, he and future Napoleon star Jon Heder were both film students. They collaborated on a short film called “Peluca,” where Heder played a character named Seth that was a proto-Napoleon. This was the beginning of the journey to cult fandom.
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A film festival set Hess on his path
Sipa USA
Hess screened “Peluca” at Slamdance, a Utah film festival that is sort of a more-indie version of Sundance. There, it was seen by producer Jeremy Coon. Coon saw potential in “Peluca.” He recommended Hess drop out of school to turn it into a feature-length film. Hess agreed, and Coon went out looking for investors.
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Hess was dedicated to his star
Fox Searchlight
Finding funding and production help for Napoleon Dynamite was tricky at first. Advice was doled out, though. A casting director recommended Hess try and get Jake Gyllenhaal to star in his film. However, Hess decided to stick to Heder, an unknown, after working with him on “Peluca.”
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A couple known names passed on the film
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Jason Lee was offered a chance to play Uncle Rico, but he did not take the role. It went to Jon Gries. Brad Garrett, meanwhile, got the offer to play Rex, a one-day shoot. While he liked the script, he ultimately declined the role.
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The actor who played Rex loved the movie
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How do we know Rex’s scenes were shot in only one day? Because of the actor who ended up playing it, Diedrich Bader. Bader has spoken of his love for the script to Napoleon Dynamite over the years. He calls it one of the two best scripts he ever read. The other? Fellow cult comedy Office Space.
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The writers borrowed from their own childhoods
Fox Searchlight
Jared and Jerusha Hess (the two are married) leaned on their own experiences in writing the movie. Jared said Napoleon is “a hybrid of all the most nerdy and awkward parts of me and my brothers growing up” in a 2014 oral history by Rolling Stone. Meanwhile, the two relied on Jerusha a lot for Deb. That includes a dance where she had a puffy-sleeved dress that led a guy to say a line to her that ended up in the film: “I like your sleeves. They're real big.”
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Hess shot in his hometown
Fox Searchlight
Another autobiographical part of the film? The location. Napoleon Dynamite is set in Preston, Idaho, near the Utah border. They shot the movie there, which also happens to be the town that Jared grew up in.
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It was a localized production
Fox Searchlight
Napoleon Dynamite was made on a shoestring budget, so Hess did what he could to save money. A lot of people in the film are friends of his. The people of Preston also provided housing and food to members of the crew.
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Heder was a steal
Fox Searchlight
Part of what helped keep the budget low? Heder, the film’s star, was paid $1,000 for being in the film. Don’t worry. After Napoleon Dynamite became a hit, he was given further compensation.
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They shot fast
Fox Searchlight
Hess completed filming the entirety of his film in only 23 days. Part of that was because of the budget, so the director didn’t have a chance to shoot more than a couple takes of every scene. It was also apparently “very, very hot,” according to Hess, which probably provoked people to want to work quickly as well.
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The movie is full of anachronisms
Fox Searchlight
As per Napoleon’s ID, the film takes place during the 2004-05 school year. And yet, the movie is brimming with elements of the ‘80s and ‘90s. That speaks to Kip’s dial-up modem, the Moon Boots, Deb’s side ponytail, Napoleon’s Walkman, and more. By dint of coming out in 1999, Napoleon dancing to “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai feels practically modern.
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The opening titles were added after the movie
Fox Searchlight
Test audiences were thrown right into the action of Napoleon Dynamite, which apparently was leaving them confused. That led to the opening title sequence being added. They shot in the basem*nt of the cinematographer, but then had to reshoot. Why? Because the studio wanted a hand model instead of Heder’s hands. In the end, the opening credits features the hands of Heder, a hand model, and a producer.
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The big dance was done under the gun
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Jared and Jerusha knew that Heder liked to dance, so they decided to let him do just that in the movie. However, they also were shooting that at the end of the film at a time when they only had one roll of film left. With a tight budget, avoiding using more film was important. Heder said he felt a “lot of pressure” as a result, but he still managed to pull off a dance that he mostly improvised.
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The name had been used before
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Napoleon Dynamite is a distinct name, and Hess has claimed he got it from a guy he met in Illinois while doing missionary work. There’s a bit of an issue with that, though. Elvis Costello had used the name Napoleon Dynamite multiple times in the 1980s. Hess claims he was completely unaware of that and called it a “pretty embarrassing coincidence.” Costello, for his part, expressed skepticism about that.
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It was a Sundance success story
Fox Searchlight
“Peluca” had only made it into Slamdance, but Napoleon Dynamite got a chance to screen at Sundance. There, Fox Searchlight was intrigued and teamed up with MTV Films and Paramount to give the movie a wide release.
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The movie had incredible box office success as well
Fox Searchlight
Napoleon Dynamite cost roughly $400,000 to make. This is the original stated budget, though some reports indicate that once Fox Searchlight picked up the rights, they paid for a bit of post-production work. Unless that work cost tens of millions of dollar, the movie was still hugely profitable. The movie made $46.1 million at the box office. Bad for a blockbuster, but incredible for a movie made for less than a million dollars by some first-time filmmakers in Idaho.
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Young people liked it
Fox Searchlight
In addition to spawning a slew of “Vote for Pedro” shirt sales, Napoleon Dynamite racked up some awards. The film won three MTV Movie Awards, including Best Movie, and it also won four Teen Choice Awards, including for Best Comedy.
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Fox paid homage to its success for the studio
Fox Searchlight
There are a couple of statues on the 20th Century Fox lot. One of those is a bust of Homer Simpson, for obvious reasons. Also in the mix? A full-body statue of none other than Napoleon Dynamite. Yes, Fox has a bronze statue of Napoleon on the lot, and he also has a tetherball.
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There was a failed animated version
FOX
In 2010, Fox announced a cartoon adaptation of Napoleon Dynamite was coming, with the cast of the film reprising their roles. In addition to the Hesses being around, former Simpsons showrunner Mike Scully worked on the show, too. Even so, it was cancelled in 2012 after only airing six episodes.
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There might be a sequel
Fox Searchlight
It took a lot of years, but there has been talk of a Napoleon Dynamite sequel. What’s odd is that the talk didn’t begin until 2020. Heder liked the idea, but he wants to do a darker movie than the first one. For his part, Efren Ramirez (Pedro) riffed out a script for a sequel where Pedro is married to Summer and owns a bakery, Kip is a cage fighter, and Uncle Rico has started a new business.
Chris Morgan is a Detroit-based culture writer who has somehow managed to justify getting his BA in Film Studies. He has written about sports and entertainment across various internet platforms for years and is also the author of three books about '90s television.
