Advance Review: When Napoleon Dynamite hit theaters, it took audiences by total surprise. The oddball story of a strange young teen growing up in rural Idaho, in some kind of time capsule where modern technology was married with '80s clothing, and a '90s spirit, was just what we needed. But that was 2004, eight years ago. (Fun fact: The Napoleon Dynamite animated series debuts almost eight years to the day the original film premiered at Sundance.)
Today, Napoleon Dynamite is vintage itself – a film that earned cult acclaim, but faded from popularity in only a few short years. But, despite a lack of relevancy, Napoleon Dynamite returns as an animated series, with the entire cast intact – including Jon Heder as Napoleon himself – not to mention the original creators of the film, Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess. As an added bonus, Simpsons producer/Parks and Rec consulting producer Mike Scully joins in on the fun as executive producer. And all your favorite characters are here too, from Grandma, to Kip, Deb, Uncle Rico – even Rex (Diedrich Bader) is here!
Seemingly, every necessary ingredient for a funny show, and revitalization of the franchise, seems in place. Alas, Napoleon Dynamite is not the series fans had probably hoped for. Rather, it's a show that's trying way too hard to be like Family Guy, The Simpsons or even Beavis and Butt-head. It takes the basic template of those franchises, and crams the Napoleon Dynamite characters to fit the mold. While the episode does cough up a few decent laughs here and there, it's mostly a dull experience that doesn't really flow well with the original film's creative, offbeat humor. Instead, the series plays like everything else during Fox's "Animation Domination" Sunday slots.
The story certainly does little to impress. After getting a nasty (and seriously gross) outbreak of zits on his forehead, Butt-hea--eer, Napoleon Dynamite gets some kind of steroid cream which gives him near superhuman rage. After beating up some high school kids, Napoleon's gym teacher offers him a chance to compete in a secret fight club. But after Kip's new girlfriend (voiced by Amy Poehler) takes a liking to Napoleon, Kip joins the club and the two must duke it out in the "thundercone," a subplot that feels borrowed from both Family Guy and The Simpsons.
That said, while the pilot for Napoleon Dynamite is a bit shaky, I hope the show can grow into something interesting and funny. I know many critics thought the film was a one-note joke stretched too thin, even back in 2004. But I always felt the concept could fit into the TV realm, where it would continue to develop and grow. I just wished it would have launched in 2004 or 2005, when the potential series wouldn't have felt the pressure to fit a model or template that works for the network, not the show.
Napoleon Dynamite may turn out to be a great series. Parks and Rec started out shaky, but found footing after a few rough episodes, transforming into one of NBC's funniest shows. But, from the looks of this often misguided pilot (the first of two episodes airing Sunday night), Dynamite has a long way to go, and it may see cancellation before it gets anywhere good. As a fan of the character, here's hoping that's not the case, and the show is just suffering from the usual first episode jitters. As always, we'll see.
Napoleon Dynamite premieres Sunday, January 15th on FOX at 8:30pm. R.L. Shaffer is a writer for IGN TV and IGN Blu-ray. You can follow him on Twitter @rlshafferIGN.
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Napoleon Dynamite is back, this time as an animated series. ...
Connections for Napoleon Dynamite
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