Washingtonpost news updates: ‘Napoleon Dynamite,’ ‘Unsupervised’ and ‘Archer’: Cartoons that feel unanimated

Friday, January 20, 2012

‘Napoleon Dynamite,’ ‘Unsupervised’ and ‘Archer’: Cartoons that feel unanimated

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Hank StueverCritic‘Napoleon Dynamite,’ ‘Unsupervised’ and ‘Archer’: Cartoons that feel unanimated

CR: FOX/CR: FOX - ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ premieres Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on Fox.

Text SizePrintE-mailReprints By Hank Stuever,

Aside from its more obvious shortcomings (dull; unfunny), Fox’s new Sunday night cartoon “Napoleon Dynamite” makes a critical error in pop-cultural calculus: It’s been nearly eight years since the charmingly weird movie version took theatergoers by surprise with its portrait of the banal life of an oddball teenager in the rural West. “Napoleon Dynamite” became a sure but steady hit, culminating in a whole lot of “Vote for Pedro” ringer-T’s back when John Kerry was trying to unseat President George W. Bush. Kids walked around bragging, Napoleon-style, about their nunchuck skills.

But eight years is both too long to capitalize on an initial trend and yet too soon to partake in a 2004 retro movement. Nostalgia for the early-to-mid ’00s doesn’t exist yet, so what’s Napoleon Dynamite doing here in 2012? He’s not ready for a return; the timing is exactly wrong.

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Hank Stuever

Hank Stuever is The Washington Post’s TV critic and author of two books, “Tinsel” and “Off Ramp.”

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?A look at some of the most talked-about television offerings premiering this spring.

Overseen by the film’s director and with the main characters being voiced by their original actors (including Jon Heder in the title role), “Napoleon Dynamite” arrives entirely intact: Napoleon still attends high school in a year that could be 1983 or 1995 or 2000-something. Part of the quirkiness of this story is that you never quite know when it takes place, which is meant to approximate the backwater quality of life in a small Idaho town called Preston, which exudes a vaguely Mormonland vibe of permanent out-of-the-loopness.

If you’ll recall, Napoleon lives on the edge of town with his socially-stunted older brother, Kip, their surly grandmother and a rambunctious llama. At school, Napoleon’s only friends are Pedro, a Mexican immigrant, and Deb, an enterprising nerdette. Napoleon’s days are an ever-unfolding series of awkward moments, few of which he’s entirely self-aware. I always wondered if “Napoleon Dynamite” was a metaphorical exploration of the nation’s burgeoning autism spectrum.

In the first episode of the new series, Napoleon combats an outbreak of forehead pimples with a prescription for a recently outlawed topical cream called “rackutane,” the side-effects of which turn him into a hormonal rage machine. This changes the dynamic in P.E., where Napoleon is made to wear antlers for a game of “smear the deer” and accept physical abuse and taunts from classmates. (“Can Pedro be my sentinel?” Napoleon asks before the coach blows the start whistle.) Fortified with rackutane, Napoleon emerges victorious and catches the eye of a local fight club, which schedules him to do battle in a secret grain silo known as the Thundercone.

While animation liberates Napoleon and his world from the usual physical restrictions, it somehow lessens the overall appeal of the character and setting. I still like the idea of Napoleon Dynamite, but he’s best left where we found him.

Which, if you’re keeping score, means another dud for Fox’s once vaunted animation lineup on Sundays. Where “The Simpsons” and Seth MacFarlane’s “Family Guy,” etc., still reign, the network has had a lousy time finding that neat, new thing that will startle fans of edgy cartoons.

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