'Napoleon Dynamite' Returns With Reinvented Characters From Film

By Vincent Funaro, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, January 17, 2012

"Napoleon Dynamite," the cult classic film from 2004 will make its official transition into an animated series and premier on the FOX network this upcoming Sunday.

The series created by Jared and Jerusha Hess decided on turning the film into a cartoon shortly after it was clear that they were not pursuing the creation of a sequel, according to Deadline.

“For me the movie was kind of a live-action cartoon anyway,” said Jerusha Hess to the publication. “The transition made a lot of sense to us.”

The Hesses recruited Mike Scully, longtime executive producer of “The Simpsons” for assistance.

They also explained their plans for creating the series to CNN. “We’d always felt if we ever continued the adventures of Napoleon that we would do it in animated form just because it seemed like the film would translate will into animation,” said Jared Hess. “It was a way that we could get inside Napoleon’s head as well but we’ve just had a lot of fun re-exploring his world.”

The original film’s cast will return to do the voices for all of the characters including Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite.

Pastemagazine also recently reviewed the pilot episode of the new series and explained how the creators have gone in a different direction in terms of the characters. “Now you may be saying “what about those characters I loved from the movie? Surely they are still there? Well yes and no,” wrote the site. “The names remain the same, but the animated characters focus on one aspect of the film’s characters’ personalities and dial them up to 11.”

It explains how Kip is now a thirty-something man-child who is desperate to gain his grandmother’s approval and Pedro is deeply based in Spanish mysticism.