The Napoleon Dynamite animated series we first reported on in May has received an official six-episode series order from Fox, with most of the cast members from the film on board to reprise their roles in voiceover form. Similarly, writing-directing team Jared and Jerusha Hess will executive produce, while Mike Scully—namesake of the infamous “Mike Scully Years,” which fans of The Simpsons speak of with a tone generally reserved for plagues and ethnic cleansings—will take over as head writer and showrunner. Once again, Napoleon Dynamite will focus on the adventures of its eponymous teenager growing up in rural Idaho, where technology and fashion ceased advancing after about 1991 and remained hilariously frozen in time—not unlike the Hesses' creative momentum, or the fortunate few who are still able to derive genuine pleasure from Napoleon Dynamite after its years of cultural saturation.
The acquisition of Napoleon is all part of Fox’s plan to rescue its animated lineup from the tyrannical grip of Seth MacFarlane, a strategy that also includes its other newly acquired series Allen Gregory, starring the voice of Jonah Hill. Andrew Mogel and Jarred Paul (Hot Tub Time Machine) will co-write and co-produce the show with Hill, who stars as an internationally known seven-year-old genius who’s forced to attend elementary school with regular, non-genius kids for some reason, probably a comical one. We’re a little more optimistic for this, if only because it features characters we haven’t seen before—which may be why Fox has ordered seven episodes of Allen to Napoleon’s six. Both are intended to premiere in the 2011-2012 season.