Napoleon (1995 film)

In Sydney, Australia, a puppy named Muffin is living with a human family and his own mother. Muffin, calling himself Napoleon and pretending to be tough, wishes that he could live with the wild dogs 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, but the basket, untied from its tether, begins to float away.

Napoleon flies high above the city 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. Napoleon 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 Napoleon of terrible things that can happen to pets in the wild, but Napoleon ignores him as well and continues on his way. He discovers a large tree used by a psychotic cat as a home. The cat spots Napoleon and, thinking he is a mouse, chases him. Napoleon escapes when the tawny frogmouth pushes the cat into a pond. The tawny frogmouth then warns Napoleon that the cat will not rest until he is dead. As Napoleon runs off, the cat 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. Napoleon 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.

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 quokkas 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 candy to a sugarcane field, though Birdo, fearing how dry the sugarcane is, tries to stop him from going in it to no avail. Napoleon briefly encounters a snake just before a bushfire breaks out, escaping with Birdo's help. The cat returns and attempts to attack Birdo, but fails. Birdo reunites with his lost flock but the cat has found them too; Napoleon saves them with a warning of the cat. 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. Napoleon and Birdo then part ways as Napoleon wants to seek the wild dogs and Birdo wants to rejoin his flock.

Napoleon then helps an echidna find water and seeks out shade in the outback. While resting, Napoleon is heartbroken when he realizes 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 inside a damp cave, assuming they are lost like him. The water floods in and sweeps away Nancy, one of the pups. Napoleon dives into the water and rescues her. The pups' mother returns and Napoleon realizes that he has found the wild dogs. The mother agrees to let Napoleon live with her and her pups. While out together, the mother asks why Napoleon 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. The mother comforts him by reminding him it was his courage that led him out here and helped him save her puppies, 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. Napoleon reaches the shore and discovers that his basket is inhabited by a feisty penguin who refers to himself as Conan, wanting to be a wild and brave creature, mirroring how Napoleon was when he first arrived. Napoleon learns however that the Conan's real name is Pengy when his raucous family arrives. That night, Napoleon's plan to sail back to the city with the basket is interrupted by the cat's return. A battle ensues and Napoleon tries multiple times to stop the cat. Before she can kill Napoleon, the cat becomes distracted by Pengy, who taunts her. Napoleon then knocks the cat off the cliff and into the basket, which sails away in the water. On a cliff side, Napoleon sees an image of a wild dog howling, symbolizing that he understands his bravery of being a wild dog inside.

Birdo reappears with a sea turtle who takes Napoleon back to the city. Napoleon 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 realizes that Napoleon is not a mouse but a dog, but still vows to get him in the end.

• Jamie Croft as Napoleon, a Golden Retriever pup.
• Philip Quast as Birdo, a Rose-breasted Cockatoo.
• Carole Skinner as the Cat
• Mignon Kent as Nancy
• Michael Wilkop as Sid

Napoleon was the most expensive independent production to be made in South Australia at the time of production.[1] Director Mario Andreacchio was inspired to make the film after watching The Adventures of Milo and Otis with his children.[1] During the shoot, 64 different dogs played the title role.[2]

Napoleon grossed $2,051,855 at the box office in Australia[3] during 1995. In Japan, the film opened on 87 screens during late February under the name Kulta, Finnish for "gold".[1] According to Andreacchio, the Japanese public mistook the original English title for a kind of brandy.[1]

It was released on VHS in the United States, with a different dub, on August 11, 1998 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[4]

In the US, the film received no advance screenings for critics.[5] It however received three stars out of four from the New York Daily News.[5] Despite being a financial disappointment, the film has received a cult following.

• Cinema of Australia
• South Australian Film Corporation

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Napoleon (1995 film)

• Napoleon at IMDb
• Napoleon at Rotten Tomatoes
• Napoleon at Oz Movies