Weekend Edition - Saturday, June 18, 2005 · When the high school comedy Napoleon Dynamite hit theaters last year and achieved cult-hit status, several unknowns took on much higher profiles: actors including Jon Heder, who plays the misfit title character; first-time director Jared Hess, who wrote the script with his wife Jerusha -- and the tiny mountain town of Preston, Idaho.
An Idaho state legislature resolution commending filmmakers Jared and Jerusha Hess captures some of the impact, reading in part:
WHEREAS, filmmaker Jared Hess is a native Idahoan who was educated in the Idaho public school system; and
WHEREAS, the Preston High School administration and staff, particularly the cafeteria staff, have enjoyed notoriety and worldwide attention; and
WHEREAS, tater tots figure prominently in this film thus promoting Idaho's most famous export;
... and so on.
Preston seems to be taking the attention in stride and is planning to hold its first Napoleon Dynamite Festival on June 24 and 25. Contests, tours and appearances from bit players in the film are on the docket.
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Posted on Sun, Jun. 05, 2005
'Napoleon' is more than a movie
It's a lifestyle
BY CHRIS HEWITT
Pioneer Press
"Napoleon Dynamite" has become a phenomenon. As Napoleon would say, "Sweet!"
After an inauspicious debut at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, "Dynamite" went on to become the most lucrative movie released last year. Budgeted at $400,000, the comedy about high school misfits earned 110 times that amount in movie theaters and even more on home video. Total sales figures aren't available, but "Dynamite" sold 1.25 million copies its first day of release, becoming the biggest-selling title the week of Christmas 2004. It has been in the top 20 ever since, logging twice as much time there as any other film on the list.
"Napoleon Dynamite" is a cult hit — the official Web site claims 150,000 members — but some think the cult should be deprogrammed.
"I'm a social worker," says Patti Reagles of New Ulm. "I feel sorry for the guy, and I think he needs counseling."
Reagles is intimately familiar with Napoleon's unique appeal, since her son, David, 16, has been mistaken for him. He and some friends decided to wear suits to the girls' state basketball tournament in March, so David pulled a 25-year-old three-piece out of his dad's closet. Coupled with his naturally curly locks, the look practically screamed, "Can you bring me my Chapstick?"
"People I didn't even know asked me to pose for pictures," says David Reagles, who says he's not a big fan of the movie, and he's tired of classmates at Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School quoting lines from it.
Meghan McCall has done her share of quoting. A junior at St. Paul Academy, the 16-year-old dressed up for Halloween as Napoleon's would-be girlfriend, Deb. "I thought she was a really funny character," says Meghan, who has seen "Dynamite" eight times and who lined up to buy her DVD copy the first day the movie went on sale. "People use the language, like saying 'freakin' ' a lot."
Part of Napoleon's appeal is that he's so freakin' easy to imitate, as demonstrated earlier this year when St. Paul Academy student Matthew Rottenberg performed the jerky Napoleon dance in front of the entire student body. "People quote it all the time. It's one of those cult movies, I guess," says classmate Matias Arganaraz, 18, who dressed up as Napoleon's friend, Pedro, last Halloween.
What makes Napoleon so quotable? Arganaraz thinks it's a combination of the familiar situations in "Dynamite" and the offbeat comedy that comes out of them. "It has this quirky humor, and everything is kind of like a high school movie, yet it's completely different from any high school I've ever known. All the kids are strange," says Arganaraz, who has seen the movie three times and thinks it would be sweet to own a copy.
Although "Dynamite" makes fun of its characters, Arganaraz thinks it does it with affection. And those who dress up as the characters clearly like them. "It's definitely affectionate. Otherwise, why bother?" asks Arganaraz.
Like many other Napoleonophiles, Arganaraz recognizes there's a little Napoleon Dynamite inside all of us. And, like the people in the accompanying photos, Arganaraz decided he was willing to advertise it on the outside.
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