January 15, 2012 represents a bold new step forward for movie and TV comedy. On that date came the transition of one of the most influential and offbeat movie comedies of all time to the small screen…in animated form. The animated version of “Napoleon Dynamite” has looked like a big winner from the tasty little short morsels of preview provided by the producers and Fox TV. Considering that Fox’s Animation Domination has had to deal with the return of the unfunniest cartoon in animated history, “Family Guy” along with several more offerings from the distinctly untalented Seth MacFarlane, one can only hope that “Napoleon Dynamite” spurs a renaissance in the Fox animated lineup not seen since “King of the Hill” and “Futurama” joined “The Simpsons” to provide genuine laughs, satire, parody and intelligence.
“Napoleon Dynamite” proved that literate screenwriting trumps the means toward comedy that assumes that every member of the audience is so unfettered by intelligence that jokes can be constructed purely on the basis of utilizing profanity as all purpose thesaurus. The placement of “Napoleon Dynamite” into the Fox Animation Domination schedule is kind of like introducing “Nacho Libre” into a nighttime lineup of comedies written by Danny McBride. McBride and MacFarlane: one senses that when it comes to comedy, nobody with an Irish or Scottish prefix to their name quite possesses the talent to create jokes that are based on actual humor rather than appealing to the current misalignment of stupidity with comedy.
What a wonderful world it would be if “Nacho Libre” stimulated more copycat screenplays than “Your Highness” and if a time machine could be invented to go back and prevent Mr. and Mrs. MacFarlane from doing the dirty deed that produces the beast with two backs. For the first time in several years, I am personally looking forward to Fox Animation Domination aside from the entry of “The Simpsons.” Even if “Napoleon Dynamite” is only half as funny as the movie upon which it is based, one single half hour will produce more laughs in my household than are produced by an entire season of all the Seth MacFarlane vain attempts at animated comedy combined.
Should “Napoleon Dynamite” prove successful enough for the morons at Fox to keep it on the schedule just a tenth as long as they seem prepared to keep “Family Guy” on the schedule in hopes that one day it will actually create something approaching humor, then you can rest assured that tertiary income potential for comedy movies will become as much an element in the screenplay development process as action figures. T-shirts and paper party plates. Times used to be that if a funny guy sat down to write a screenplay for a comedy, his main concern was creating a funny script. Today, of course, that just won’t do. Right from the moment that the idea permeates the gray matter upstairs, a screenwriter crafting a comedy today must draft that story with not just the movie in mind, but a sequel, a live action TV show, a video game, toys, board games, Scene-It games, clothing and I don’t know what.
Depending upon what takes place in households across America on the night of January 15, 2012, you may need to start thinking in terms of animated TV series adaptation if you ever get the idea for a comedy movie screenplay.
For more from Timothy Sexton’s article domination, check out:
“Nacho Libre”” Wrestling with Adorno
What Other Movies Could Follow the Leap of “Napoleon Dynamite” to Small Screen Animation
Movie Review: “Gentlemen Broncos”