Napoleon (1995 film)

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1995 Australian film

Napoleon

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Mario Andreacchio
Written by| Michael Bourchier
Mario Andreacchio
Mark Saltzman
Produced by| Michael Bourchier
Mario Andreacchio
Starring| See voice cast
Cinematography| Roger Dowling
Edited by| Edward McQueen-Mason
Music by| Bill Conti

Production
companies

Blink Films
Adelaide Motion Picture Company
Australian Film Finance Corporation
Nippon-Herald Films
Pony Canyon

Distributed by| Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International[1]

Release date

* 1995 (1995)

Running time

| 81 minutes
Country| Australia
Language| English
Budget| Approximately $4.3 million[2]

Napoleon is a 1995 Australian family adventure film directed by Mario Andreacchio, and written by Michael Bourchier, Mario Andreacchio, and Mark Saltzman about a Golden retriever puppy who runs away from his city home to be a wild dog.

## Plot

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In Sydney, Australia, a puppy named Muffin is living with a human family and his own mother. He, calling himself "Napoleon" and pretending to be tough, wishes that he could live with the wild dogs, so that he can hear howling in the distance. The family has a birthday party and one of the decorations is a basket with balloons strapped to it. Out of curiosity, "Napoleon" hops inside it, inadvertently pulling the ropes loose from its tether, causing the basket to float away.

"Napoleon" flies high above Sydney and heads out to the sea. A galah named Birdo drops down on the side of his basket and offers to help him get down. Birdo's idea of help is to pop the balloons suspending the basket, causing "Napoleon" to land unharmed on a beachhead. He thinks he can finally seek out the wild dogs and heads into a nearby forest, ignoring Birdo's suggestion to return home.

At night, "Napoleon" starts to fear being alone. A tawny frogmouth in the forest warns him of terrible things that can happen to pets in the wild, but he ignores him as well and continues on his way, briefly getting caught in the web of a spider. He discovers a large tree which is home to a psychotic cat. She spots "Napoleon" and, thinking he is a mouse, chases him. He escapes when the tawny frogmouth pushes the cat into a pond. The tawny frogmouth then warns him that she will not rest until he is dead. As he runs off, she pulls herself from the pond angrily swearing revenge.

The next morning, following an encounter with a flock of annoying rainbow lorikeets and then a rude koala, "Napoleon" once again meets with Birdo, asking him to teach him how to live in the wild, also revealing his real name is Muffin. He is then taunted for his name by both a deep-voiced green tree frog and the lorikeets from earlier, despite Birdo's attempts to stop them, and thereafter gets stranded on a floating log. Birdo agrees at last to teach "Napoleon" how to live in the wild, beginning by teaching him how to swim back to shore in a lake, pushing him off a floating log.

"Napoleon" learns about hunting by practicing on a group of rabbits, but fails to catch one and ends up eating moss instead. Birdo's next lessons about friendly and dangerous animals with a wombat and some heavily injured quokkas, having suffered a brutal attack by the cat, and then snowy weather are ignored. "Napoleon" narrowly avoids a herd of stampeding brumbies during the latter lesson, which Birdo mistakes for "blinding snow and freezing fog", which causes him to abandon Birdo in frustration. He follows the smell of what he believes to be sweets to a sugarcane field, though Birdo, fearing how dry it is, tries to stop him from going in it but to no avail. He briefly encounters a snake warning him of danger just before a bushfire breaks out, escaping with Birdo's help. The cat returns and attempts to attack Birdo, but fails. He reunites with his lost flock but she has found them too; "Napoleon" saves them with a warning of her. They come to a road where they witness a frill-necked lizard hiding on a road stripe survive a passing truck, as it angrily bullies "Napoleon" away when he tries to see if it's okay. He and Birdo then part ways as he wants to seek the wild dogs and Birdo wants to rejoin his flock.

"Napoleon" then helps an echidna find water and seeks out shade. While resting, he is heartbroken when he realises that the howling he has been hearing was just a perentie lizard wandering the desert and imitating various animals, and begins lamenting running away from home. A torrential rainstorm arrives as the area begins to flood, and "Napoleon" runs for shelter and discovers two dingo puppies named Sid and Nancy inside a damp cave, assuming they are lost like him. The water floods the cave and sweeps Nancy away. "Napoleon" dives in and rescues her. The pups' mother returns and "Napoleon" realises that he has found the wild dogs. She agrees to let him live with her for the time-being, Sid, and Nancy. While out together, she asks why he wanted to be with the wild dogs. He explains that he always wanted to feel brave by living in the wild, but confesses to being disappointed with the lifestyle. She comforts him by reminding him that it was his courage that led him out here and helped him save Sid and Nancy, which represents the true spirit of the wild dogs.

Wanting to go home, "Napoleon" takes a trip across the landscape in a kangaroo's pouch. He reaches the shore and discovers that his basket is inhabited by a feisty penguin named Pengi who calls himself "Conan", wanting to be a wild and brave creature, mirroring how "Napoleon" was when he first arrived. He learns however that "Conan"'s real name is Pengi when his raucous family arrives. That night, "Napoleon"'s plan to sail back to Sydney with the basket is interrupted by the cat's return. A fight erupts and he tries multiple times to stop her. Before she can kill him, she becomes distracted by "Conan", who taunts her. "Napoleon" then knocks her off the cliff and into the basket, which sails away. On a cliff side, "Napoleon" sees an image of a wild dog howling, symbolizing that he understands his bravery of being one inside.

Birdo reappears with a sea turtle who takes "Napoleon" back to Sydney. He returns home to his mother, who consents to calling him "Napoleon" instead of Muffin. The cat, having been carried to Sydney by the ocean currents, reappears one last time. She finally realises that "Napoleon" is not a mouse, but a dog instead. Regardless, she still vows to get him any way.

## Voice cast

[edit]

Character | Australian version | American version

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Napoleon | Jamie Croft | Adam Wylie
Birdo | Philip Quast | Bronson Pinchot
Penny | Susan Lyons | Wendy Makkena
Cat | Carole Skinner | Debra Mooney
Koala | Frank Whitten | David Ogden Stiers
Conan | Casey Siemaszko
Nancy | Mignon Kent | Olivia Hack
Sid | Michael Wilkop | Ashley Malinger
Mother Dingo | Fiona Press | Blythe Danner
Kangaroo | Barry Humphries
Spider | Anne Lambert | Carol Kane
Frog | Brenton Whittle | Reg E. Cathey
Echidna | Edward McQueen-Mason | Wallace Shawn
Mother Penguin | Joan Rivers
Father Penguin | Stuart Pankin

## Production

[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2011)

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The film was the most expensive independent production to be made in South Australia at the time of production.[2] Director Mario Andreacchio was inspired to make it after watching The Adventures of Milo and Otis with his children.[2] During the shoot, 64 different dogs played the title role.[3]

## Songs

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Original songs performed in the film include:

No.| Title| Performer(s)| Length

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1.| "How Far I'll Fly"| Jamie Croft|
2.| "Muffin"| Brenton Whittle & Chorus|
3.| "Wild Dog"| Philip Quast & Chorus|
4.| "My Hills to Climb"| Jamie Croft & Philip Quast|
5.| "Kangaroo La Roo"| Dame Edna Everage|
6.| "How Far I'll Fly (Reprise)"| Timothy B. Schmit|

## Release

[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2011)

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The film grossed 2,051,855 Australian Dollars at the box office in Australia[4] during 1995. In Japan, it opened on 87 screens during late February under the name Kulta, Finnish for "gold".[2] According to Andreacchio, the Japanese public mistook the original English title for a kind of brandy.[2]

The film was released on VHS in the United States, with a different dub, on August 11, 1998 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[5]

## Reception

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This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2011)

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In the US, the film received no advance screenings for critics.[6] It however received three stars out of four from the New York Daily News.[6]

## See also

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* Cinema of Australia
* South Australian Film Corporation

## References

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1. ^ "Napoleon (35mm)". Australian Classification Board. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
2. ^ a b c d e Lloyd, Paul (25 February 1995). "Seeing the big picture". The Advertiser. Nationwide News Pty Limited.
3. ^ Keller, Louise. "Review of Napoleon". Urban Cinefile. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
4. ^ "Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
5. ^ "New on Video: Upcoming releases". The Vindicator. 25 June 1998. p. C5. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
6. ^ a b Bernard, Jami (11 October 1997). "'Napoleon' Is a Bone Apart". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012.

## External links

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Wikiquote has quotations related to Napoleon (1995 film).

* Napoleon at IMDb
* Napoleon at Rotten Tomatoes
* Napoleon at Oz Movies
* Napoleon is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive

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