December 17, 2006 (New York City)
December 22, 2006 (United States)
Night at the Museum is a 2006 fantasy comedy filmdirected by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garantand Thomas Lennon. It is based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. The film had an ensemble cast of Ben Stiller in the lead role, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, and Robin Williams. It tells the story of a divorced father who 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 Egyptianartifact, the tablet of Akhmenrah, come to life at night. 20th Century Fox released the film on December 22, 2006, and it grossed $574.5 million worldwide, becoming the 5th highest-grossing film of 2006, but received mixed reviews from critics.
Two sequels were released: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian in 2009, and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb in 2014. An animated sequel, Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again, was released on December 9, 2022 for the streaming service Disney+.
Storyline[]
In Brooklyn, Larry Daley is an aspiring inventor bouncing between jobs and apartments. His ex-wife Erica is sympathetic, but considers him a bad example to their ten-year-old son Nick, and Larry worries that Nick admires Erica's fiancé Don instead. Larry is hired as the night security guard at the Museum of Natural History, replacing retiring guard Cecil Fredericks and his colleagues Gus and Reginald. Cecil gives Larry an instruction manual, warning him not to "let anything in... or out".
On his first night, Larry discovers that the museum's exhibits come to life after sunset, including: "Rexy", a playful Tyrannosaurus skeleton; Dexter, a mischievous stuffedcapuchin monkey who destroys Larry's manual, and other taxidermied animals; rival miniature civilizations depicting the Old West, Ancient Rome, and Ancient Maya; a chewing gum-loving Easter Island Moai; wax models of Attila the Hun, American Civil War soldiers, and pyromaniacal Neanderthals, as well as Sacagawea, who is encased in glass. A mounted Teddy Roosevelt rescues Larry from feuding miniature leaders Jedediah and Octavius, and explains that ever since an ancient Egyptian artifact – the Golden Tablet of Pharaoh Ahkmenrah – arrived in 1952, the exhibits come to life each night, but turn to dust if outside the museum at sunrise. As Teddy helps restore order, Larry learns that Teddy loves Sacagawea but is too shy to speak to her.
Cecil, Reginald, and Gus check on Larry, who has decided to quit, but Nick and Don stop by to congratulate him on his new job. Larry decides to stay for his son's sake, and Cecil advises reading up on history. Larry is better able to control the exhibits, but is forced to extinguish a fire in the Neanderthals' display, while Dexter steals Larry's keys and unlocks a window, allowing a Neanderthal to escape onto the street. Frustrated, Larry again decides to quit, and is unable to save the escaped Neanderthal from disintegrating in the rising sun. Nick witnesses museum director Dr. McPhee fire Larry over the damaged Neanderthal exhibit, though Larry convinces him to reconsider. Rebecca Hutman, a museum guide and historian writing her dissertation on Sacagawea, believes Larry is mocking her when he tells her the museum's nighttime secret.
Larry brings Nick to the museum but nothing comes to life, and they discover Cecil, Gus, and Reginald stealing the deactivated tablet. Like the exhibits, the elderly guards receive enhanced vitality from the tablet, and have plotted to steal it with other valuable artifacts and frame Larry. Nick reactivates the tablet, bringing the museum back to life, but Cecil takes it and locks Nick and Larry in the Egyptian room. Larry releases Ahkmenrah's mummy from his sarcophagus, and the pharaoh helps Larry and Nick escape. They find the other exhibits fighting amongst themselves, and Larry convinces them to unite to catch the guards and recover the tablet.
Gus and Reginald are captured, while Cecil escapes in a Pony Express stagecoach, and Teddy pushes Sacagawea out of Cecil's path and is sliced in half. Larry pursues Cecil into Central Park, stopping him and regaining the tablet, and Teddy finally bonds with Sacagawea as she repairs him. Rebecca sees the exhibits returning to the museum and realizes the truth, and Larry introduces her to Sacagawea. The next day, McPhee fires Larry after news reports about the night's strange events – such as the Neanderthals leaving cave paintings in the museum's subway station, and Rexy's dinosaur tracks in Central Park – but the publicity boosts museum attendance. Larry is rehired, and celebrates that night with Nick and the exhibits.
During the end credits, Cecil, Gus and Reginald are forced to work as museum janitors as punishment for their crimes.
Also See[]
- Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)
- Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)
Movie Trailer[]
Sound Effects Used[]
- Anime Kotsuzumi Sound
- Hollywoodedge, Bird Hawk Single Scre PE020801/Hollywoodedge, Hawk Screech Single AT082901
- Hollywoodedge, Chimpanzee Screams AT050301/Sound Ideas, CHIMPANZEE - EXCITED CALL, ANIMAL, MONKEY, APE 02 (Used for Dexter.)
- Hollywoodedge, Chimpanzee Screams AT050401/Sound Ideas, CHIMPANZEE - EXCITED CALL, ANIMAL, MONKEY, APE 03 (Used for Dexter.)
- Hollywoodedge, Chimpanzee Screeche PE026201 (Used for Dexter.)
- Hollywoodedge, Elephant Single Clas AT043701
- Hollywoodedge, Elephant Single Clas AT043901 (Heard twice. Once in a very low pitch and once in a normal pitch.)
- Hollywoodedge, Elevator Bell DingsL PE192801/Hollywoodedge, Elevator Door Ding Th PE185701
- Hollywoodedge, High Pitched Desk Bel PE191901 (Heard once when Larry rings the desk bell before Cecil opens the door.)
- Hollywoodedge, Horses 1 High Pitched TE016301/Hollywoodedge, Horses Several Whinn PE025201 (5th whinny)
- Hollywoodedge, Horses High Pitched W TE016303 (Heard over the Moai's line "QUIET!".)
- Hollywoodedge, Medium Crowd AdultsY PE142901
- Hollywoodedge, Moose Calls Raspy Hon PE026301 (1st and 2nd honks)
- Hollywoodedge, Single High Pit Beeps PE190201
- Hollywoodedge, Slap 1 PE104201 (Heard multiple times.)
- Hollywoodedge, Wood Door OCKnob Ratt PE180201
- Jumanji Lion Roar
- Jurassic Park, T-Rex - Attack Roar
- Jurassic Park, T-Rex - Exclamation Roar
- SKYWALKER, METAL - TRAIN MECHANICS SCRAPING
- SKYWALKER, WHOOSH - INDY'S WHIP CRACKS
- SoundDogs, Sci-Fi Space FX, FX & Robots Waverly - Cy Beeps And Screen Whooshes Many Glenns Dat
- Sound Ideas, ANIMAL, CREATURE - DINOSAUR: SQUEAL, HORROR, MONSTER, 2 TAKES, DINOSAURS, CREATURES BELLOWS, CALLS & CRIES (Used once for Rexy when he roars at Larry before he screams and runs away.)
- Sound Ideas, CHIMPANZEE - EXCITED CALL, ANIMAL, MONKEY, APE 01 (Used for Dexter.)
- Sound Ideas, HORSE - INTERIOR: WHINNY, ANIMAL 01
- Sound Ideas, HORSE - INTERIOR: WHINNY, ANIMAL 02
- The Three Stooges Face Slap Sound (?)