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Idaho unanimously passed a bill praising Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess for making the film, citing amongst their reasons that the Preston High School administration and staff, particularly the cafeteria staff, have enjoyed notoriety and worldwide attention. Tater tots figuring prominently in the film had promoted Idaho's most famous export.
Jon Heder was paid $1,000 to play Napoleon Dynamite. The movie grossed over $40 million in the United States.
The scene of the farmer shooting the cow in front of the school bus full of children is a true anecdote from director Jared Hess' childhood.
For Napoleon's dance routine, director Jared Hess had Jon Heder improvise and dance to three different songs. Hess then took the "best" moves from each song and put them in one routine, using one song.
A "Napoleon Dynamite" festival was held every year from 2004 to 2008 in Preston, Idaho, the city where the movie was filmed. The festival had contests that included a tater-tot eating contest, football-throwing, look-a-likes, and other types of competition based on scenes from the movie.