Another weekend, another theme night! These have been so fun during isolation. We look forward to having these every weekend. This week’s theme was Napoleon Dynamite!
Napoleon Dynamite is an American classic! This was a low-budget independent film that was picked up by Fox and became a cult classic. My sister, dad and I know every word. My dad and I went on a mission trip in 2005 and our center was themed after Napoleon Dynamite. After that trip, this movie became a staple in our house.
In today’s post, I’m sharing how we did a Napoleon Dynamite theme night at our house, and how you can host your own!
First, as always, plan the menu.
Napoleon Dynamite makes it really easy to plan the food for a theme night. The opening credits are literally scenes of food. There are also lots of references to food throughout the movie.
Now, the food in this movie doesn’t really go together. So I wouldn’t recommend planning a full dinner when hosting this event. Think more appetizers and party food. For our theme night, we had tots (duh), quesadillas, nachos, peanut butter and jelly tea sandwiches (aka regular sized sandwiches cut into triangles), and buffalo chicken bites. Buffalo chicken bites weren’t actually in the movie, but there is the whole chicken coop scene, so we let it slide.
Other ideas for food from this movie are corn dogs, burgers, ham, steak, any kind of casserole, boiled eggs, and 1% milk.
If you want to do an actual dinner, you could do burgers and tots. No matter where you go with the menu, you have to have tots.
Next, plan your decor.
My sister and my dad, yet again, nailed this decor. They recreated “Vote for Summer” and “Vote for Pedro” flyers to hang on the wall; found an old video camera on a tripod for Uncle Rico’s football tapes; framed Napoleon’s drawings of Trisha and the Liger; framed a family photo of Uncle Rico, Kip and Napoleon; framed pictures of Tina and Uncle Rico; and recreated the “time machine” Uncle Rico bought on the internet.
They blew it out of the park. Attention to detail plays a huge part in a themed party. So the more specific you can make your decor, the better!
Pick a costume!
There are so many colorful characters in Napoleon Dynamite! If you are hosting a large party, you can just tell everyone to dress as their favorite. If you are hosting a smaller gathering, make sure everyone picks a different character.
There are five of us so we each had a different character. Charlotte was Napoleon, my dad was Uncle Rico, Mom was Deb, Stephen was Rex, and I was summer. You can see how we dressed for each of the characters below.
Plan an activity.
For our theme night, we did a screening of the movie. This is perfect for a more low-key evening with fewer people. If you are hosting a large party, think of different things you can do from the movie.
You could have a piñata like they do during the election, make some home-woven handicrafts like Deb, have a dance-off, play Pictionary in honor of Napoleon’s drawings, or do some karate videos and pretend it’s Rex Kwan Do. Biking and roller blading are always a good option as well.
We had a blast during Napoleon Dynamite night! These theme nights have been so fun, and so good for our mental health during isolation.
Check out our previous theme nights here:
Hibachi Night
Clue and Fondue
Do you like Napoleon Dynamite? Who is your favorite character?
