Chris Pierdomenico
If you grew up watching TV in the 80s or 90s, you may remember that (almost every) major Hollywood hit that made some money inevitably had a cartoon spin-off dumped in the Saturday morning lineup. A few of these animated adaptations became instant classics that sometimes rivaled the popularity of their source material, such as The Real Ghostbusters or Beetlejuice. Others, like The Mask, Robocop, Ace Ventura, Jumanji, or Godzilla (yes, someone decided that terrible 1998 film starring Matthew Broderick needed an animated incarnation) were significantly lower in quality.
Two particular animated series, released 12 years apart, caught my eye over the years: not only because they were adapted from two of my favorite movies of all time, but also because they were remarkably similar to each other as well as strikingly different from other animated shows based on movies.
Just for fun, I decided to re-watch the entirety of Clerks: The Animated Series and Napoleon Dynamite: The Animated Series and found that, surprisingly, they had a lot in common with one distinct difference. Let’s take a look back and see what worked, and what didn’t.
Return of the Original Cast
Most cartoons adaptations don’t even bother to enlist the original cast for voice work. There have been exceptions, and most were supporting roles (Thomas F. Wilson and Mary Steenburgen returned to voice their characters in Back to the Future: The Animated Series in1991).
Clerks TAS was the rare instance in which most of the original lead actors were brought back to provide the voices: Brian O’Halloran as Dante Hicks, Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves, Jason Mewes as Jay and Kevin Smith himself as Silent Bob (with minimal voice duties, of course). Even the late Lisa Spoonhauer reprised her role as Caitlin Bree (albeit off screen) for the finale.
Similarly, Napoleon Dynamite TAS brought back its leads in Jon Heder as Napoleon, Aaron Ruell as Kip, Efren Ramirez as Pedro and Tina Majorino as Deb. But they went a step further and brought back everyone…and when I say everyone…I mean EVERYONE: Jon Gries as Uncle Rico, Sandy Martin as Grandma (better known as Mac’s mom in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Heck, even seemingly inconsequential and one-joke characters like Rex (Diedrich Bader) and Summer (Haylie Duff) return.
Getting the band back together was not common for animated series based on movies, but Clerks and Napoleon Dynamite did it excellently.
I found this to be an unusual choice; it would be akin to bringing back some of the wacky customers in the original Clerks movie for the cartoon and giving them an arc.
In both cases, many fans were eager to see their beloved characters again in a sequel. When they realized that probably wasn’t going to happen, hearing their voices and knowing the roles were being reprised was a really added bonus for both shows (Clerks would eventually get its theatrical sequel in 2006).
Plus, using the original actors as the voice cast gave an authenticity to both shows. Perhaps it was possible because both shows were based on movies that DIDN’T star A-list actors (as was the case in other adaptations), but I also sincerely think that the actors genuinely believed in the idea of doing an animated series and being involved was their stamp of approval. This added credibility and was really cool to see.
Maybe I’m biased because they’re my friends, but I would have loved to have seen the return of Marilyn Ghigliotti’s Veronica or Scott Schiaffo’s Chewlie’s Gum Guy, having one final showdown.
Time gap after original movie
While most cartoons based on movies were cranked out as quickly as possible, the Clerks and Napoleon Dynamite cartoons were unique in the fact that were both released significantly later than their original films. Clerks TAS debuted in 2000 (six years after the movie) and Napoleon TAS was released in 2012 (eight years after the movie).
The time gap affected both series quite differently. Though Clerks was one of the most famous independent films of all time, it never really infested the mainstream culture as much as Napoleon Dynamite did. Outside of the fans, people weren’t really quoting Clerks too much. However, Kevin Smith was still building his View Asknewniverse featuring Clerks characters Jay and Silent Bob, so fans were still getting their fill. Releasing the Clerks cartoon after four movies featuring Jay and Silent Bob (and one year before Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back tied the universe all together) made a lot of sense. Releasing the series any sooner probably would not have made much of a difference (as we can see from the terrible 1995 live-action Clerks pilot that NO one was involved with, including Kevin Smith).
Bow to your sensei!
Napoleon Dynamite was a different story. In the mid-2000s, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing quotes about tots, “your mom goes to college”, or “you’re just jealous that I’ve been chatting online with babes…all day” plastered on every notebook, sticker, or refrigerator magnet (remember, this was before memes). The film literally exploded into popular, mainstream culture over night, and perhaps as a result, burned out too quickly. Therefore, the eight years following the movie absolutely impacted the reception of the show, and especially for this reason…
Each Show’s Reliance on Its Source Material
Aside from the voice casts being the same, one distinct difference between Clerks TAS and Napoleon Dynamite TAS is how much each show relied on the independent film that preceded it.
Napoleon Dynamite TAS relied heavily on jokes from the original movie, especially in dialogue and character. Kip sings a version of his wedding technology song in two episodes. Napoleon does literally the same exact dance to a reluctant audience (again) while wearing a shirt that says “Forgive Pedro” (admittedly, one of the funniest lines of the series comes after the crowd turns on him, when he tells Pedro “honestly I’m surprised that worked the first time). Deb still has a crush on Napoleon (though at least they give her a little more depth in the series as a high school journalist). Pedro is class president. Uncle Rico is still pining over his high school football days. Grandma is still competing in extreme sports games.
In a sense, the cartoon is almost too true to the movie. While on one hand that’s great, it’s also extremely difficult to pull off, and it shows. While the dialogue and one-liners of the Napoleon Dynamite movie are some of its funniest qualities, equally important is the painfully long, awkward silences and dead stares of the characters that glued it all together. This was simply impossible to replicate in a 22-minute weekly cartoon.
Clerks TAS went a different route. They took the basic characterization of Dante and Randal (one is responsible, the other is not) and premise (two guys working in a convenience store) but from there, went totally left-field, putting them in bizarre, surreal and outrageous adventures. The dialogue was hilarious, but for a completely different reason than it was in the movie. In fact, the show rarely referenced the movie (the first episode sums up the first movie in 2 minutes, and the sixth and final episode goes completely surreal and destroys the fourth wall), and this is what made it work. Clerks TAS existed as its own entity and didn’t need its source material to define it, whereas Napoleon Dynamite TAS felt chained to its movie and lacked the glue that held it together: the awkward silence and facial expressions from the cast.
Clerks TAS made no sense at times, with little connection to the movie. But it gave us gems like “WHO IS DRIVING? OMG BEAR IS DRIVING HOW CAN THAT BE?!”
Broadcast life that was cut too short
Oddly enough, both shows had exactly six episodes, though Clerks TAS really got more of the raw end of the deal (at least initially). ABC infamously only aired two Clerks TAS episodes in May/June of 2000 (though Comedy Central and Adult Swim eventually broadcast all unaired episodes). Napoleon Dynamite TAS at least aired in its entirety on FOX in 2012.
Clerks TAS would go on to achieve a cult status that, while not equal to that of the original 1994 film, maintained its popularity to a point that fans have been begging Kevin for another season or an animated movie for well over a decade. Napoleon Dynamite TAS, while relatively more recent, hasn’t achieved that cult status yet, and I suspect it is because of the reasons I’ve already mentioned.
Despite its flaws, Napoleon Dynamite TAS was enjoyable and unlike any other show on TV at the time. It would have been great to see where they went with it.
However, no TV show gets everything completely right in the first six episodes, especially a cartoon series. Can you imagine basing your opinion of The Simpsons only on the first six episodes? Both series absolutely deserved more of a chance to develop their worlds, and it’s a shame that this was not able to happen. I do believe that Clerks TAS was closer to understanding its identity, but Napoleon Dynamite TAS absolutely had potential given the incredibly talented cast and crew involved. I would have loved to have seen where it could have gone.
But who knows: in the age of remakes, reboots and sequels, its anyone’s guess what old property will magically reappear on one of our five screens tomorrow.
Chris Pierdomenico is a filmmaker, a teacher of television, video production & journalism as well as the founder of DorkDaily.com.
