Decades after the movie’s release, fans still come to see its filming location.
“ fore to your sensei ! ” my partner outcry at the four strangers fromNorth Carolina , lowering his voice a few decibels to voice more heavy . He was fag out billowing ruby-red , white , and drear pants , a contraband polo shirt , calcium hydrate green shades , and a star - spangled bandanna . There are only two localisation I can recall of where a get - up like this would n’t count out of stead . One is anywhere across the US on July 4th . The second is a diminished town called Preston , Idaho — film emplacement ofNapoleon Dynamite , the source of my collaborator ’s Rex Kwon Do costume — on any Clarence Day of the year .
Oh , and the four strangers from North Carolina ? They were inNapoleon Dynamitecostumes , too .
Filmmaker Jared Hess calibrate from Preston High School in 1997 and returned to his hometown a few long time afterward to shootNapoleon Dynamite . fete its 20th anniversary this twelvemonth , the 2004 movie focuses on the titulary character ( run by Jon Heder ) , an ungainly , atypical in high spirits schooler with typical troubles . He has a kinky family , a romantic interest in part - clip glamour lensman Deb , and a novel bestie with proud dreams of becoming class president . Oh , and he ’s in bearing of feeding Tina , an fleshy llama living in his backyard .
Photo by Rebecca Sharp
Napoleon Dynamiteshouldn’t have been a strike . Hess filmed the moving picture in 22 daytime on a $ 400,000 budget , the equivalent of tiffin money in Hollywood . It was an eccentric , deadpan comedy , and “ heck ” was the dirty Bible write in the script . Fortune does n’t favor the unearthly , right ? A worldwide boxful office gross of $ 46 million says otherwise .
Quotable dialog and heartily hopeless characters rocketedNapoleon Dynamiteto winner and cult status amongst movie fans . It ’s the reason why , 20 years after its release , I was able to win over my now - fiancé to visit its filming locations in Preston the very first fourth dimension I confabulate him in the US . I justhadto see where this movie that define my teenage years was made .
I flew in from England with nothing but hand luggage , and therefore no costume for our mission . My partner , on the other paw , had craft an incredibly accurate Rex Kwon Do outfit . When I see how much effort he ’d put into dressing up asNapoleon Dynamite ’s dojo proprietor , I consecrate to get hitched with this wonk one Clarence Day — then hop onto Depop and expedite a musty second - script “ Vote for Pedro ” T - shirt .
We drive two hours north from my partner ’s home in the Salt Lake Valley and across the Utah - Idaho border . To the eastern United States , the Wasatch Mountains leveled out and transform into a hodgepodge of lush green potato fields . One by one , billboards slipped behind us and we arrived in Preston . Population : 5,994 .
I had rewatched the moving picture a few calendar week before our trip and mention down any must - gossip film locations . From what I could narrate on Google Street View , odoriferous and sleepy Preston had n’t changed much in 20 year . We park on State Street to explore the first ball of locations and my misgiving were corroborate .
Preston High School ’s locker are still painted in the same vibrant colors from the film . Napoleon ’s beloved yellow tetherball pole still digest in the Pioneer Elementary School resort area , sans the tether and chunk . Deseret Industries thrift store , where Napoleon finds his prom suit , is capable for business . And the character ’s groovy burn up russet suit probablydidcome from Deseret Industries , as many of the characters ’ costumes did .
CBS Photo Archive/CBS/Getty Images
Next door isOlive + Jo , a natural endowment boutique that owner and Preston local Kimberly Cannon relocated to its current destination three years ago . While she mostly sells cunning accessories and homeware items , she also stocksNapoleon Dynamite - theme deoxythymidine monophosphate - shirts , pins , and magnets .
“ I decided to hang a ‘ Vote For Pedro ’ T - shirt in my shop window , ” Cannon explained . And the fans came . “ That was the moment I realized I was on to something . I do n’t retrieve anyone local to Preston really sleep together how many citizenry tug up for the solitary aim of visiting the Napoleon Dynamite movie sites . ”
Even today , the fans have continued to shoot the breeze , said Cannon . “ I put a US mapping up in my store and expect visitors to pin where they are from . In 2024 alone for the 20 - year anniversary , I have 47 states immobilize and seven outside countries include Iceland , New Zealand , and South Korea . ”
Photo by Rebecca Sharp
Olive + Jo is n’t the only business that has keep theNapoleon Dynamitespirit alive for two ten . Alton Barnhart , a author at Salt Lake City’sSLUG Magazine , distinguish me , “ Gas stations are stockpiled with “ Vote For Pedro ” shirts and DVD copies of the movie . Even some of the locating like restaurants and stores will have sign that say something like , ‘ As seen in Napoleon Dynamite . ’ Even though I think some of the locals hate that reputation of the picture being their only claim to fame , I think it ’s frightful ! ”
Cannon had also heard there were “ miscellaneous feelings ” among Preston aborigine when the picture show was ab initio exhaust , but say that it seems like the locals have get along to embrace it over the years . As for her own take , the ego - described “ huge fan ” ofNapoleon Dynamitesaid , “ I do believe it is representative of rural belittled town Preston , but only in the most positive of elbow room . ”
It ’s meet , then , that Cannon ’s computer memory recently became the military headquarters forNapoleon Fest , a town - wide event that took place on July 26th - 27th 2024 to celebrate the film ’s 20th day of remembrance . The festival ’s many fun activity included dancing workshop , a tater yearling eating competition , and a visit from an actual llama foretell Tater Tot . In Napoleon Fest ’s first looping back in 2005 , as many as 3,000 people go to — let in Barnhart .
Photo by Rebecca Sharp
“ Back then , it felt like the whole townspeople of Preston was getting involved , ” said Barnhart . Comparing the initial event to this class ’s Napoleon Fest , he suppose it was clear that interest group in celebrating the film had waned over the past few decades . But it certainly had n’t gone aside completely .
In my own experience , Preston ’s house physician demonstrated a fondness for the film and the eccentric that had to some stage become part of their everyday lives . One lady gleefully come on my partner and me as we search the business district locations in costume . “ I bonk you , ” she allege to him , like she was relegate into an old friend . “ Imagine that , Rex Kwon Do in Preston . ”
And my partner and I were n’t the only out - of - towners still hanging onto a lovemaking for the film . After walking around the town , we drove north to Napoleon Dynamite ’s menage , arguably the movie ’s most iconic setting . While we snapped photos , an SUV vagabond up the otherwise deserted lane and parked behind us . Out stepped mamma Deb , dad Uncle Rico , son Napoleon , and sidekick Kip — a group of motion-picture show lover who had made the trip from North Carolina . We laughed , made depression in character , took mathematical group picture , and chatted about the serendipity of our confluence . But it was n’t serendipity , not really . It was Preston ’s eternal lure forNapoleon Dynamitefans , who are very much awake and kicking .
Photo by Kimberly Cannon
We drove back through Preston on our yield to Utah , top Olive + Jo with its “ balloting for Pedro ” T - shirt hanging in the window . In any other city in any other state , those shirt would be crumpled in a cardboard boxful alongsideBreaking Bad ’s “ Los Pollos Hermanos ” shirt and other pop culture references from the 2000s . But in Preston , 20 years on , Napoleon Dynamiteis still relevant and a sweet source of community of interests pride .
Photo courtesy of Preston Area Chamber of Commerce
Photo courtesy of Preston Area Chamber of Commerce
Photo by Rebecca Sharp
