The year was 2007 and I felt out-of-the-loop for watching a smash hit movie three years after it hit theaters. However, after watching such a marvel of low-budget cinematic genius, I was hooked. I incessantly wore my “Vote for Pedro” shirt and I may or may not have danced to Jamiroquai’s “Canned Heat” at a family reunion or two. Still, even I can’t approve of this mediocrity. It’s safe to say that Napoleon Dynamite provided a plethora of laughs, but rather than bad one-liners like the ones in this new, rehashed animated series, the humor came from Jon Heder’s (who played Napoleon and now voices him) sulking body language, which is nigh-impossible to translate to animation, and ridiculous diction.This was never what Napoleon Dynamite was meant to be. A Seth MacFarlane-esque animated series always gets its humor from the vulgarity of its jokes, but here, Fox has tried to release a family-friendly animated series based upon a cult classic film that was adored for the subtleness in the actor’s performances. But while hiding behind the veil of animation, the show accomplishes nothing that the film did.
While there are a few good laughs to be had here and there, they are mostly provided by bits of nostalgic dialogue from Heder’s character, whether it be him reasoning why he would want to fight a bear more than a moose, since “The moose has more woodland allies” or “You can’t kill a ghost, Kip! Not without charmed weaponry!”
Ultimately, this attempt at humor should go the way of other, short lived animated series, and be officially declared non-canonical by true Dynamite fans everywhere.
Rebecca Yun • Feb 16, 2012 at 10:33 AM
Personally, I think the show is funny. Not like, “gripping your sides because you’re laughing extremely hard” but more like, “Ha, that’s stupid, but it’s mildly hilarious…”
My nine-year-old sister watches this OnDemand every Friday after school. She is at that point in life where some things make sense and others are still a mystery. When she saw the “Thundercone” episode, she was rolling on the floor, laughing hysterically at the part where the hooded people say, “He has no face… he has no face!” while gesturing to their own (shadowed) faces. Seeing my sister react like that really put a smile on my face.
Napoleon Dynamite is a good show to watch if you want mind-numbing comedy. It’s not exactly the most enlightening show out there, but it’s good for a few chuckles.
Great review, Nate.