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[[File:night_at_the_museum.jpg|
'''''Night at the Museum''''' is a 2006 American adventure comedy film. It is based on a 1993 children's book by Milan Trenc. It follows a divorced father trying to settle down, impress his son, and find his destiny. He applies for a job as a night watchman at New York City's American Museum of Natural History and subsequently discovers that the exhibits, animated by a magical Egyptian artifact, come to life at night.
Released on December 22, 2006, by 20th Century Fox, the film was written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon of Comedy Central's ''[[
The sequel, subtitled ''[[Battle of the Smithsonian]]'', was released in May 2009. Here, as the New York museum is being renovated many exhibits are stored in the Smithsonian. This brings with them a whole other genre of problems as well as some other features of the Egyptian artifact.
----
{{tropelist}}
* [[Actor Allusion]]: This is not Owen Wilson's first time [[Shanghai Noon|playing a cowboy]] - and in the sequel, we see his not-second-time getting buried up to his neck in sand. Bonus points for the inclusion of buddy-movie elements with Octavius. Bonus BONUS points for Steve Coogan, who played Octavius, also having been in a [[Around the World
* [[All-Star Cast]]: Much like ''[[National Treasure]]'', it's quite surprising to see all the big name stars.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: If you don't know basic to mild World History, then you'll miss most of the jokes.
* [[Animate Inanimate Object]]: Everything in the museum that comes to life counts as one of these.
* [[Army of the Ages]]
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: [[Your Mileage May Vary]], but Dr. McPhee really seems like one at times.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: A brief walk through the actual Museum of ''Natural'' History in New York would have revealed to the writers that only subjects from the ''natural'' world are covered, not historical events like the Lewis & Clark expedition or Christopher Columbus. Anything more advanced than, say, the Aztecs is right out.
* [[Eternal English]]: In the first movie, Ahkmenrah speaks perfect English right out of the gate, which he explains as being from his time as an exhibit at Cambridge. In the second film, Kahmunrah first tries Egyptian, then French when he meets Larry before settling on English.
** This implies that Kamunrah was paraded around in France for a while before ending up in the Smithsonian (or the British Museum). Small inside joke, but like a lot of the movie, definitely [[Genius Bonus|History Bonus]] for those who get it.
* [[Everything's Better
* [[First Father Wins]]
* [[The Guards Must Be Crazy]]: This trope was averted in the first film: Larry was the only guard and it didn't take long for the news to notice when the exhibits started running through Central Park. The second film has no such excuse. The ''entire National Mall'' is brought to life by the tablet. They fly the Wright Brothers plane outside. They let an octopus swim in the reflecting pool. ''The Lincoln Memorial goes for a stroll!'' '''No one notices.''' For heaven's sake, there's ''a hole in one of the buildings and arguably millions in property damage!''
** Also, Larry and his son spend time at the beginning of the movie studying the vast security measures of the museums, and yet are somehow able to stroll through them and leave and enter at his leisure. Huh?
* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Jed and Octavius.
* [[Hoist
* [[It Is Pronounced "Tro
** The Smithsonian guard Brandon (as spelled on his nameplate) in the sequel argues to Larry that his name is "Brundon" "BUR-RUN-DON".
* [[Ironic Echo]]: Teddy Roosevelt asked Larry "[[Armor-Piercing Question|What are you made of?]]" in the first movie; in the second movie Larry says this to Amelia.
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* [[Shout-Out]]:
** Octavius and Jedediah at the end of the first movie, to ''[[Independence Day]]''.
*** They do it again at the final battle of ''Smithsonian'', this time to ''[[
** Early on in the movie Octavius orders a [[Rain of Arrows]] to be thrown at Larry his order is ''Unleash Hell!'' in reference to ''[[Gladiator (
** When Octavius sees the squirrel, he makes the "dinosaur vision" speech from ''[[Jurassic Park]]''.
** As pointed out above, they have one to ''[[Brokeback Mountain]]'' in the first movie. It helps that Jedediah's an actual cowboy.
** In BOTS, Kahmunrah gets into the pop-culture wing and claims [[All in The Family|Archie Bunker's]] [[The Couch|"throne"]] as his own. He's also seen trying on Muhammad Ali's robe at one point, as well as passing on wearing [[The Wizard of Oz (
** When Custer is knocked off the motorcycle early on, he tells Larry to keep going with, [[The Lord of the Rings (
* [[Sidekick Ex Machina]]: Ahkmenrah owns the tablet which made the whole exhibits alive, but he doesn't gain a lot of screen-time, ''especially'' in the second movie.
* [[Sliding Scale of Living Toys]]: The exhibits are either Level 4 or 5. Well, except the [[Back
* [[Took a Level
** To the point where the last fight with Kahmunrah is not only his Greatest [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Crowning Moment]], but it's actually much more epic than what it actually should be. Just ''watch it'', and you'll know what I'm talking about.
** The first film explained that the older janitors became [[Badass Grandpa|Badass Grandpas]] because of dealing with the museum exhibits. Between films Larry gained those same skills in a younger body.
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* [[Big "Shut Up!"]]: The Moai.
* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: Gus does this.
{{quote|
* [[Eenie Meenie Miny Moai]]: One of the exhibits in the original museum is a Moai, who is very fond of bubble gum.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]:
{{quote|
** [[Shanghai Noon|His salmon don't swim upstream...]]
* [[Hot-Blooded]]: Gus, one of the villainous night guards in the first movie.
* [[Jerk
* [[Museum of the Strange
* [[Mistaken for Granite]]: The giant statues of Anubis that guard the pharaoh.
* [[The Obi-Wan]]: [[Theodore Roosevelt|Teddy Roosevelt]] to Larry.
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* [[Freudian Trio]]: Cecil (Ego), Reginald (Superego), and Gus (Id).
* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]: Ahkmenrah (one of the only exhibits in the museum who biologically exists besides Rexy), once the tablet activates.
* [[Spell My Name
* [[The Voiceless]]: Larry mistook Sacagawea for this since she was behind Plexiglas and couldn't be heard.
* [[What Happened to
=== '''The sequel ''Battle of The Smithsonian'' provides examples of:''' ===
* [[Acting for Two]]: In the sequel, [[Robin Williams]] returns to his role as Teddy Roosevelt. [[It Makes Sense in Context|He also plays]] [[Sorry, Billy, But You Just Don't Have Legs|Teddy Roosevelt]] and [[Hologram|Teddy Roosevelt]]. [[Hank Azaria]] plays the [[Big Bad]], the Thinker, and [[Abraham Lincoln]]. {{spoiler|Amy Adams also portrays a museum visitor named Tess who bears a suspicious resemblance to Amelia.}}
* [[Action Girl]]: [[Amy Adams]] as [[Amelia Earhart]].
* [[Actor Allusion]]: Cliff Howard as a [[Apollo 13|NASA ground controller.]]
* [[Affably Evil]]: Kahmunrah. Between his lisp and over the top antics he becomes rather likable.
* [[Androcles' Lion]]: The [[Everything's Squishier
* [[Ascended Extra]]: [[Those Two Guys|Jedediah and Octavius]], after having supporting roles in the first movie, have major roles in this movie.
* [[Attack of the 50
* [[Battle Royale With Cheese]]
* [[Better to Die Than Be Killed]]: At the end of the film, {{spoiler|Amelia decides to take a plane and fly off into the wild blue yonder, and certain death, since she'll turn to dust once the sun rises. However, she wants to die doing what she loves, rather than spend the rest of her existence as an inanimate statue.}}
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** In a similar vein, the capuchin kept stealing Larry's keys, somehow teaching Larry enough to steal Brundon's keycard.
* [[Cultural Translation]]: The Italian rendition of the movie is literally riddled with them, often bordering on the [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]:
** While in the original dub Napoleon, upon meeting Amelia and Larry just gives them an [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]] speech, in the Italian rendition Napoleon compares their sexual tension to the many romances he had in life, quipping that he may have sired lots of son who never knew their ancestry. This apparently innocent exchange turns into blatant [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]] (given the then
** <s>Brandon</s> Brundon gets turned on the stereotypical Neapolitan fellow, braggart, slang-spewing and with a deep-set veneration for Maradona.
* [[Deliberately Monochrome]]: Al Capone and his men, and also the artistic photograph of 1945 in ''Smithsonian''.
* [[Demoted to Extra]]: The
** According to the promo pictures and trailers, Theodore Roosevelt is going to be one of the exhibits to be transported to Washington. But he only appears in a few cameo roles at the beginning and the end of the movie. Teddy becomes a metal bust at the Smithsonian.
** Nicky, Ahkmenrah, Rexy, the Easter Island Head, and McPhee have brief roles at the beginning and end of the movie.
** Sacagawea has a few speaking lines in the movie, despite being one of the exhibits to be in Washington.
** Attila has a few background appearances in the movie. His only spotlight scene in the movie is being a storyteller at the end of the movie.
** Dexter has a few brief cameo appearances in the movie. It was him who stole the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. Able the Space Monkey takes his place near the climax of the movie. Dexter's only big scene in the movie is during the [[Big Badass Battle Sequence]] when he sees Abel, argues with him and they both slap Larry.
* [[Deus Exit Machina]]: The {{spoiler|statue of Abraham Lincoln walks off after dispatching Kahmunrah's underworld army, since it would have been a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] had he stayed for the climax}}.
* [[Distracted From Death]]: A non-lethal variant. Teddy Roosevelt is about to go back to being wax, and wants to give him one last bit of advice before he does so. However, unfortunately, just as he is about to give said advice, Larry has to take a phone call, and looks up to find that Teddy has already turned to wax by the time he finishes talking.
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* [[The Guards Must Be Crazy]]: We only see one security guard for the Smithsonian, and it seems to be the slowest night ever in Washington, DC - no one notices a thing amiss.
* [[Hands Go Down]]: Kahmunrah after being asked about his tunic thinking it's a dress by Al Capone and Ivan the Terrible.
{{quote|
''(Napoleon's hand goes up)''
'''Kahmunrah''': Any questions not about the dress... tunic.
''(Napeleon's hand goes down)'' }}
* [[Hidden in Plain Sight]]: {{spoiler|The movie ends with Larry selling his company and donating the money to the Natural History Museum, under the guise of funding more "high-end" upgrades to the exhibits, allowing the exhibits to come alive at night without any fear of [[Broken Masquerade|breaking the Masquerade]].}}
* [[Historical In-Joke]]: The [[WW 2]] sailor who nabs Larry's cellphone is named Joey Motorola. Wait, does this mean the [[Timey-Wimey Ball]] could be in effect?
** If so, its a [[Critical Research Failure]]: Motorola already existed in 1945, and it wasn't named after the founder.
* [[Historical Beauty Update]]: [[Amy Adams]] plays [[wikipedia:Amelia Earhart|Amelia Earhart]]. [[Beat]]. Umm... [[She Cleans Up Nicely]], but in those pics she could stand to gain a few pounds. The real Earhart also had a prominent tooth gap (which her husband and publicist George Putnam instructed her to hide in promotional portraits), something Adams lacked in her portrayal of the aviatrix.
* [[Historical Villain Upgrade]]: Ivan the terr... er, the Awesome complains about this in the second movie, just before acting the part for the rest of it.
** Though this is more a case of [[You Fail History Forever]] he was competent early on but after his wife died he basically fell into a state of paranoid schizophrenia killing everyone who he felt vaguely disliked him.
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* [[Improbable Weapon User]]: Larry and his flashlight.
* [[Insistent Terminology]]: Brandon/Brundon ... oh, and Kahmunrah's dress sense:
{{quote|
* [[Large Ham]]: Kahmunrah.
{{quote|
* [[Leeroy Jenkins]]: Custer.
* [[Lzherusskie]]: Ivan the Terrible is played by Brit Cristopher Guest.
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* [[Parental Favoritism]]: Kahmunrah said that his "[[God in Human Form|mother]] and father" gave Egypt to the more thoughtful Ahkmenrah.
* [[Portal Picture]]: Larry and Amelia escape into [[The VJ Day Kiss|the famous kiss at Times Square photo]].
* [[Punctuated!
** "I! Have come back! To life!"
** "Don't! Cross! This! Line! With your hand!"
* [[Retired Badass]]: Larry passes as this on his interaction with Brandon... I mean, [[It Is Pronounced "Tro
* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]: The short stay of the Bird-Warriors.
* [[Sequel Non Entity]]: Rebecca doesn't appear or get mentioned in the sequel, despite starting a relationship with Larry at the end of the first film.
* [[Slap Slap Kiss]]: Spoofed.
* [[Small Name, Big Ego]]: Custer at first.
* [[Stock Parody]]: Of ''[[
* [[Take That]]: At one point Kahmunrah mocks [[Sesame Street
** Well, it is Vader with no powers or Lightsaber who won't even talk. If you didn't know who he was you wouldn't be impressed either. Oscar is just vaguely... Grouchy.
* [[The Password Is Always Swordfish]]: {{spoiler|The tablet opens a portal to the underworld after punching in... the value of Pi, to about eight decimal places.}}
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* [[Wilhelm Scream]]: In the Air and Space Museum.
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: Octavius' squirrel mount.
* [[What Happened to
** How is Larry going to explain the destruction or disappearance of some of the most valuable artefacts in human history?
* [[Writers Cannot Do Math]]: A bobblehead [[Albert Einstein]], [[Epic Fail|of all people]], tells Larry that the "exact" value of π is 3.1495265.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Films of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Night At The Museum]]▼
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Multiple Works Need Separate Pages]]
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