First Look: Fox's Animated 'Napoleon Dynamite' Television Show
Gosh! Now it'll be super easy for Napoleon Dynamite to get extra chap stick, tame a wild stallion or go off some sweet jumps because it'll be drawn for him. Fox has picked up a six-episode animated TV version of the 2004 cult film which launched the careers of director Jared Hess and star Jon Heder. All the original cast members will be providing voices for the show which will be produced and written by Hess, his wife Jerusha Hess and Simpsons alum Mike Scully. Simultaneously, Fox also green lit another animated show called Allen Gregory which is created by Jonah Hill and Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul, who wrote Yes Man. Hit the jump for more info on both shows and the uncropped hight res version of the Dynamite art.
According to The Live Feed, the Napoleon Dynamite show will "follow the misadventures of an awkward high school teenager and his quirky friends as they struggle to navigate life in rural Idaho." Sounds just like the movie. As for Allen Gregory, it's about the world's smartest seven year old who is put into public school with normal kids. That show was only given an initial seven episode order.
With commitments to only six episodes of Dynamite and seven episodes of Gregory, that's two shows for the price of one for Fox. According to Deadline, the producers of both shows are "not particularly thrilled because animated series with such short orders are more difficult to staff and more expensive to make. Also, in success, the small pickups will lead to a pretty large production gap between the initial and the back orders."
Maybe I'm just the eternal optimist, but Napoleon Dynamite feels like it lends itself perfectly to an ongoing animated series. All the characters are pretty much animated already, no? They just need to be put on the page and given the ability to say and do the stupid stuff they do in the film. Seems like it's a no brainer to me. What do you think?
Click below for the hi-res version of the Napoleon Dynamite image. Makes a great desktop.
