Napoleon Dynamite Trivia
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49 free Napoleon Dynamite trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
48 free Napoleon Dynamite trivia questions with answers. Napoleon Dynamite cost $400,000, paid its star $1,000, and became one of the most quoted comedies of the 2000s. This Napoleon Dynamite trivia quiz covers the film front to back: Preston, Idaho and the Hess family, the BYU short Peluca, Kip and his internet girlfriend from Detroit, Uncle Rico's van and his football, Pedro's campaign, Deb's boondoggle keychains, Rex Kwon Do, Tina the llama and the Jamiroquai dance that ate half the budget. It also covers what happened around the movie: the Sundance pickup, the Elvis Costello name coincidence, the actors who almost played Uncle Rico, the MTV Movie Awards, the six-episode Fox cartoon, the Burger King tots ad and the 20th-anniversary restoration. Roughly a third of the questions are quotes anyone who has seen it will get, a third need a rewatch, and the rest are for people who know who designed the opening credits. Every answer is checked against a cited source shown beneath the question. Gosh.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which state is Napoleon Dynamite set and filmed?
Idaho
The film is set and shot in Preston, Idaho, the director's hometown near the Utah border; locals fed and housed the crew during the 2003 shoot.
Q 02Who directed Napoleon Dynamite?
Jared Hess
Jared Hess directed it as his first feature, co-writing the script with his wife Jerusha Hess; the couple later made Nacho Libre and Gentlemen Broncos.
Q 03Napoleon Dynamite was made on roughly what budget?
$400,000
About $400,000 covered the whole shoot: the director cast his film-school friends, people in town housed and fed the crew, and the film went on to earn more than 100 times what it cost.
Q 04Which slogan is on the T-shirt Napoleon Dynamite wears for his dance at the school assembly?
Vote for Pedro
'Vote for Pedro' is on the T-shirt Napoleon wears for his surprise routine; the film earned more than 100 times its budget, and the slogan spread across T-shirts and other merchandise.
Q 05Which student short film by the same director grew into Napoleon Dynamite?
Peluca
Peluca was a nine-minute class assignment shot in black and white, with Jon Heder as a nerd named Seth; the character, his friend Pedro and several scenes were carried straight into the feature.
Q 06Jon Heder and Napoleon Dynamite's director met as film students at which university?
Brigham Young
Brigham Young University's film school brought together the director, his future wife and co-writer, and Jon Heder; he later filled the cast with classmates instead of known actors.
Q 07How much was Jon Heder originally paid for playing Napoleon?
$1,000
Jon Heder was paid $1,000 to star; once the film became a runaway hit, he went back and negotiated for more.
Q 08Which studio bought Napoleon Dynamite at its January 2004 festival premiere?
Fox Searchlight
Fox Searchlight bought the film at the festival, where it screened with no opening titles; the food-plate credits were shot afterwards, and the studio paid for the extra scene that follows the end credits.
Q 09Who plays Pedro, Napoleon's friend and candidate for class president, in Napoleon Dynamite?
Efren Ramirez
Efren Ramirez plays Pedro Sánchez, a role he reprised in voice when the film became an animated series in 2012; off screen he has an identical twin brother, Carlos.
Q 10Kip's internet girlfriend LaFawnduh travels from which city?
Detroit
LaFawnduh comes from Detroit, Michigan; she gives her boyfriend an urban makeover and Napoleon a mixtape, and the two of them leave town together on a bus.
Q 11Pedro is a transfer student from which city?
Juárez
Pedro Sánchez has just transferred from Juárez, Mexico; he runs for class president and, complaining that his head got too hot, shaves it himself.
Q 12How does Grandma Carlinda injure herself?
A quad bike accident
A quad bike accident at the sand dunes breaks her tailbone, which is why Uncle Rico turns up to look after Napoleon and his brother while she recovers.
Q 13What does Uncle Rico drive in Napoleon Dynamite?
An orange camper van
An orange camper van, a 1975 Dodge Tradesman, is Uncle Rico's home; he arrives in it to look after Napoleon and Kip while their grandmother recovers.
Q 21Who suggested Napoleon Dynamite's opening titles, with credits written on plates of food and a ChapStick tube?
Aaron Ruell
Aaron Ruell, who plays Napoleon's brother, suggested and designed the sequence; it was shot in the cinematographer's basement months after the film was finished, because test audiences could not tell when the story was set.
Q 22At MTV's 2005 film awards, Napoleon Dynamite beat Spider-Man 2 and The Incredibles to win which prize?
Best Movie
Best Movie went to the low-budget comedy over Spider-Man 2, The Incredibles, Kill Bill: Volume 2 and Ray; Jon Heder also won Breakthrough Male, and his assembly dance took the musical award.
Q 23Which playground game does Napoleon Dynamite play alone, until Deb joins him in the final scene?
Q 14Which song does Napoleon dance to at the school assembly?
'Canned Heat' by Jamiroquai
'Canned Heat' by Jamiroquai plays as Napoleon improvises his routine; the crew was down to its last roll of film, so Jon Heder danced it three times and the final cut blends the takes.
Q 15Summer Wheatly performs her election skit to which song?
'Larger than Life' by Backstreet Boys
'Larger than Life' by Backstreet Boys backs Summer's polished skit with the Happy Hands Club; Pedro never knew a skit was required and has nothing prepared, which is what pushes Napoleon on stage.
Q 16What does Napoleon draw for Trisha to ask her to the dance?
A portrait of her
A portrait of her: Napoleon tells Trisha the shading on her upper lip took him about three hours; Jon Heder drew the film's sketches himself, and says hers really took about thirty minutes.
Q 17Napoleon tastes milk samples for defects at which competition?
A Future Farmers of America contest
A Future Farmers of America contest has Napoleon tasting milk for defects, one of which 'tastes like the cow got into an onion patch'; he and Pedro win medals, which does nothing for their popularity.
Q 18What is the name of the instructional videotape Napoleon buys?
D-Qwon's Dance Grooves
D-Qwon's Dance Grooves is the tape Napoleon finds in a thrift store; LaFawnduh notices he is learning to dance and hands him the mixtape he later uses on stage.
Q 19Which musician had used the name 'Napoleon Dynamite' as a pseudonym years before the film?
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello credited himself as Napoleon Dynamite on his 1986 album Blood & Chocolate; the director says he never knew, and took the name from a man he met on the street while serving as a missionary in Illinois.
Q 20Which comedy veteran shot all his scenes as martial arts instructor Rex in a single day?
Diedrich Bader
Diedrich Bader, of The Drew Carey Show and Office Space, plays Rex; he took the one-day job against his agency's advice because the script was one of the two best he had ever read.
Tetherball
Tetherball is Napoleon's solitary school-day pastime; when Deb walks up and joins his game at the end, it shows that the two have made up.
Q 24Napoleon Dynamite's big assembly routine was written because the filmmakers knew what about Jon Heder?
He liked to dance
He liked to dance, as the director's wife had noticed, so the couple wrote the routine for him; no choreographer was hired, and he was simply told to figure it out.
Q 25What does Napoleon ride to arrive late at Kip's wedding?
A stallion
Napoleon turns up late on a wild stallion he has tamed as a wedding present, and the newlyweds ride off on it in the post-credits scene.
Q 26Who plays Deb, the shy girl who sells glamour shots door-to-door, in Napoleon Dynamite?
Tina Majorino
Tina Majorino, a former child actress from Waterworld and Corrina, Corrina, plays Deb; the role restarted her career and led to Veronica Mars and Big Love.
Q 27Who plays Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite?
Jon Gries
Jon Gries plays Uncle Rico and returned to voice him in the animated series; he had been Lazlo Hollyfeld in Real Genius and later played Roger Linus on Lost.
Q 28Napoleon describes which animal as 'pretty much my favorite animal ... bred for its skills in magic'?
A liger
A liger, 'like a lion and a tiger mixed', is what Napoleon is sketching when Deb asks; the animal is real, and the idea came from a news story about ligers that had escaped.
Q 29Which bully demands 'Give me some of your tots'?
Randy
Napoleon had stashed the tater tots in his cargo pocket; Randy kicks them.
Q 30Which three talents does Napoleon insist girls want in a boyfriend?
Nunchuck, bow-hunting and computer-hacking
Nunchuck, bow-hunting and computer-hacking skills are what Napoleon says he lacks when Pedro asks whether he has invited anyone to the dance: 'Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.'