Week 52: Jon Heder aka Napoleon Dynomite

by // // No Comments
Jon Heder in his first iconic role of Napolean Dynomite

In January 2004 the movie Napolean Dynomite premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and purchased by Fox Studios who released it in June 2004. Jon Heder’s life would never be the same. I resisted watching it at first but caved in and we ended up buying the VHS movie. I had to hide it when I got tired of all the lines constantly thrown back and forth by my kids. I love the quirky nerd humor and that the movie was cast in Preston, Idaho where one of my best friends from college grew up ( not to be confused with my current very good friend Kathy Anderson- same name but different Kathy).

Jon was born in Colorado but grew up in Salem, Oregon. He was on the south side of town while our family lived on the east side of town. Kind of strange to realize we could’ve attended stake conference together which is a meeting of several local Latter Day Saint wards- twice yearly. He’s ten years older than my oldest kid so we didn’t ever meet. It’s a small world. Jon is an Eagle Scout and a twin. Side note: Pedro, Napolean’s good friend in the movie is also a twin.

Jon attended BYU ( Brigham Young University) in Provo, Utah. That’s where he met his wife (Kirsten Bales), and Jared Hess who wrote the script and directed Napolean Dynomite, the movie. Jared dropped out of school to write the script, got financial backers and made the film for $400,000. Jon got $1,000 which was later amended and he now receives a share of the profits since the film grossed over $4 million!

Jon has gone on to appear in many other movies acting or doing voice work. In 2014 the tenth-anniversary edition of Napolean Dynomite was released and a bronze statue of Jon aka Napolean playing tetherball was installed in the 20th Century Fox studio lot.

As promised here is the final installment of the promised 52 dolls for 2019. It’s a bittersweet finale as I just wasn’t sure who would be a fitting final piece of this puzzle. I really liked it when you folks gave me input on who you would like to see as a quiet doll but also I struggled with making sure the chosen characters were appropriate to talk about with kids and for the most part were praiseworthy individuals. I’m giving myself a bit more flexibility in 2020. I won’t be tied to a doll every week. This way I can do couples and groups and who knows what all we’ll come up with together and I can include fictional characters as well. Thank you for visiting, for giving input, for sharing and for being a part of my journey to share My Quiet Dolls.

always, Vickie

Leave a Reply