History Film / NightAtTheMuseum

* {{Homage}}: Larry scouting out the Smithsonian is accompanied by background music from NationalTreasure. Note that both movies involve breaking into a national museum.

** The flight of the Wright Flyer (flying from a dead stop, and making maneuvers that would have been impossible for the flyer).

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: [[strike:Mr.]] [[InsistentTerminology Doctor]] [=McPhee=] really is just a {{Jerkass}}, but you can't help but feel for him in the second - and he does seem to be warming up to Larry by the end.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Ahkmenrah (one of the only exhibits in the museum who biologically exists besides Rexy), once the tablet activates.

** The first film explained that the older janitors became {{Badass Grandpa}}s because of dealing with the museum exhibits. Between films Larry gained those same skills in a younger body.

* {{Angrish}}: When angry, the owner of the museum starts metaphors and can never finish him.

* [[MyNameIsNotDurwood My Name is Not Brandon]], it's '''Brundon'''.

Released on December 22, 2006, by 20th Century Fox, the film was written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon of Comedy Central's ''[[RenoNineOneOne Reno 911!]]'' and MTV's ''TheState'', and directed by Shawn Levy. [[AllStarCast The cast includes]] Creator/BenStiller, RobinWilliams, DickVanDyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Paul Rudd, Ricky Gervais, CarlaGugino, Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson. A new novelization of the screenplay by Leslie Goldman was published as a film tie-in.

*** This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], as the camera keeps cutting back to a wider view of the area...and the only indication of this "battle" is the ''very'' soft hiss of air leaving the tire.
*** Done again in the sequel, when Octavius gives a speech about how he's going to storm the White House to get help for Jedediah and begins to epically race towards the building. Cue the camera cutting back so the audience can't even see or hear him.

* IdiotBall: When Larry returns and is given the hourglass with his trapped friend, why doesn't he immediately free the cowboy, by opening the glass as quickly as Kamunrah closed it? Or at the very least turn it upside down to let the sand flow away from him? Instead, he stands there for a huge part of the dialogue just holding it (at least having the sense to hold it horizontally so no more sand pours on the cowboy). Later on, the hourglass once again falls on the floor upright, putting the cowboy in mortal danger again.

* MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual

Released on December 22, 2006, by 20th Century Fox, the film was written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon of Comedy Central's ''[[RenoNineOneOne Reno 911!]]'' and MTV's ''TheState'', and directed by Shawn Levy. [[AllStarCast The cast includes]] BenStiller, RobinWilliams, DickVanDyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Paul Rudd, Ricky Gervais, CarlaGugino, Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson. A new novelization of the screenplay by Leslie Goldman was published as a film tie-in.

* [[ItIsPronouncedTropay It Is Pronounced "Brundon"]], despite being spelled the same as "Brandon".

* RetiredBadass: Larry passes as this on his interaction with Brandon... I mean, [[ItIsPronouncedTropay Brundun]].

* BrickJoke: Larry loses his smartphone in the "V-E Day" scene of the film he uses with Amelia Erhart, which is picked-up by a seaman from Brooklyn. A post-credits scene has this sailor tinkering with the device in his home. His name? Motorola.

* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: 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!''

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Sacajawea's name many times. There's also a deleted scene where Sacajawea's name is pronounced "Saka-gah-way-a", while Ahkmenrah's name is pronounced "Akh-men-rah".

* AStormIsComing: Larry says this while vowing to Dexter that he will get even for the monkey's antics.

* HiddenInPlainSight: [[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 [[BrokenMasquerade breaking the Masquerade]].]]

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: [[spoiler:The tablet opens a portal to the underworld after punching in... the value of Pi, to about eight decimal places.]]

* TakeThat: At one point Kahmunrah mocks [[Series/SesameStreet Oscar the Grouch]] and [[StarWars Darth Vader]].
** 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.

* ActingForTwo: In the sequel, RobinWilliams returns to his role as Teddy Roosevelt. [[ItMakesSenseInContext He also plays]] a [[SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs Teddy Roosevelt]] statue and [[{{Hologram}} Teddy Roosevelt]] hologram. HankAzaria plays the BigBad (Kahmunrah), the Thinker, and AbrahamLincoln.

* BrickJoke: Daley's Devices seems to be built on Larry's experiences in the museum; in particular, the "unlosable keychain" stems from the kleptomaniac capuchin monkey.

* WritersCannotDoMath: A bobblehead AlbertEinstein, [[EpicFail of all people]], tells Larry that the "exact" value of π is 3.1495265.
* YouFailHistoryForever: You know, for a film that's supposed to encourage kids to learn history, they do love re-enforcing old (untrue) stereotypes -- like Napoleon's shortness.
** To be fair, it makes sense that the exhibits would all be {{Flanderization}}s of the actual figures as that's largely what is taught with basic history. Even in the movie, even though Napoleon is shorter than most of the rest of the cast, he's not played by a midget or anyone extraordinarily short, and they closest they come to actually calling him short is Larry commenting that he makes a lot of analogies involving him being bigger than other people.
* YouFailPhysicsForever:
** The flight of the Wright Flyer (flying from a dead stop, and making maneuvers that would have been impossible for the flyer).
** Likewise, even on the winter solstice (when you'd get the biggest advantage from latitude) it is impossible to take off from Washington, DC an hour before sunrise and make it to New York City in a single engine propeller plane and land in New York City before dawn. The plane simply isn't fast enough.

* AStormIsComing: Larry says this while vowing to Dexter that he will get even for the monkey's antics.

* FreudianTrio: Cecil (Ego), Reginald (Superego), and Gus (Id).

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: [[spoiler:The tablet opens a portal to the underworld after punching in... the value of Pi, to about eight decimal places.]]

* {{Lzherusskie}}: Ivan the Terrible is played by Brit Creator/CristopherGuest.

* {{Lzherusskie}}: Ivan the Terrible is played by Brit Cristopher Guest.

* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: 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!''

* ActingForTwo: In the sequel, RobinWilliams returns to his role as Teddy Roosevelt. [[ItMakesSenseInContext He also plays]] [[SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs Teddy Roosevelt]] and [[{{Hologram}} Teddy Roosevelt]]. HankAzaria plays the BigBad, the Thinker, and AbrahamLincoln.

** [[strike:Brandon]] Brundon gets turned on the stereotypical Neapolitan fellow, braggart, slang-spewing and with a deep-set veneration for Maradona.

* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: 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.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Amelia Earheart.

* PortalPicture: Larry and Amelia escape into [[TheVJDayKiss the famous kiss at Times Square photo]]. Due to Larry accidentally leaving his cell phone there, it falls into the hands of [[HistoricalInJoke Joey Motorola]].

* PortalPicture: Larry and Amelia escape into [[TheVJDayKiss the famous kiss at Times Square photo]].

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: Octavius' squirrel mount.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Amelia flies off into the sunset at the end. Unless the plane turned to dust with her, there's going to be [[FridgeHorror one hell of a crash]] in the morning.

* YouFailPhysicsForever: The flight of the Wright Flyer (flying from a dead stop, and making maneuvers that would have been impossible for the flyer).

* InsistentTerminology: Brandon/Brundon ... oh, and Kahmunrah's dress sense:

** While in the original dub Napoleon, upon meeting Amelia and Larry just gives them an AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther 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 GettingCrapPastTheRadar (given the then currently Italy political situation) when Napoleon describes one of his latest descendants in detail: the potential descendant of an Italian lover, a jolly, funny fellow, short of stature but always overtly cheesy and cheery, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Berlusconi who "is really important in his Country", and "once used to be a cruise ship crooner"]].

* DemotedToExtra: The exhibits who has to stay at the Museum of Natural History during the movie (except for Teddy Roosevelt, who was also a metal bust at the Smithsonian).