History Film / North

** Also, Creator/JasonAlexander and and Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus acting together. [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Sounds familiar ?]]

%%* WorldOfPun: A literal example.

* FrenchJerk: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with North's French parents, who are portrayed as loud and obnoxious, but not actually mean.

* SmallNameBigEgo

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmIwlK-SQUU Quick, loosen his pants.]]

[[caption-width-right:296:[[OverlyNarrowSuperlative The classic boy-travels-world-to-find-less-neglectful-parents film]].]]

An 11-year-old boy named North (Creator/ElijahWood) tires of his parents (Creator/JasonAlexander and [[Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus Julia Louis-Dreyfus]]), [[ParentalNeglect who never pay any attention to him]] even though he's a model student, athlete, and even actor. He [[EmancipatedChild legally emancipates himself from them]], and [[WalkingTheEarth wanders around the world seeking a new family]] with a deadline of Labor Day; if he doesn't find a new family by then, he will be placed in an orphanage. Along the way, he encounters parents that are Texan, Alaskan, Hawaiian, Amish, etc, and tries to blend in with each group of parents (well, not the Amish). He finally decides that his own parents are the best with the help of a guardian angel (Creator/BruceWillis) who uses [[PaperThinDisguise several guises throughout the film]]. However a conniving kid friend of his, Winchell, used the publicity North's escapades garnered to rally kids everywhere to make their parents more subservient to them. Knowing that North reconciling with his parents would undermine this, he plots to have him killed.

This is the film that famously caused Creator/RogerEbert to write, "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it." (This rant later inspired the title of his first bad-reviews collection. And [[https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/roger-and-me Alan Zweibel just had to discuss said review as an eulogy for Ebert.]])

''North'' is a 1994 film directed by Creator/RobReiner in what he stated was his attempt to make his own ''[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Wizard of Oz]]''. The story is based on the novel ''North: The Tale of a 9-Year-Old Boy Who Becomes a Free Agent and Travels the World in Search of the Perfect Parents'' by Alan Zweibel, who also wrote the screenplay and has a minor role in the film.

** HulaAndLuaus: Needs tourists, and is willing to sink to any advertisement depths to get them.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

''[cut to next shot where North's parents reading the article and faint. [[DontExplainTheJoke Get it?]]]''

* CringeComedy: The film attempts this a lot, mostly unsuccessfully:
** Mr. Ho stating that his wife is barren to children is supposed to be funny, but instead it just comes off as SickAndWrong. Making cracks about your wife being barren to children ''while she's standing right next to you'' is in poor taste.
*** Don't forget that her name is Mrs. ''Ho''. Isn't the irony hilarious?
*** Kind of lampshaded by the dirty look she gives him afterward.
** We get a joke from North's first foster parents about the death of their son. It's supposed to be funny, but it just seems ridiculous for them to be joking about their own son's death. Saying the horrific death of your overweight son was a "mighty ''big'' loss."
*** And to top that off, we then immediately get a happy-go-lucky, over the top musical number with the lyrics "We had a son who was trampled by a ton of longhorns!" What. The. Hell?

** ImperialChina(!): He [[WebVideo/NostalgiaCritic "drops by China where everyone hails him as some sort of emperor."]] which is especially baffling considering it had been about 83 years since the end of China's imperial period when this film was released (1994).

* FanDisservice: When North visits the Ho family in Hawaii, their bid to increase tourism to the island involves plastering every highway with a billboard of his likeness and an octopus pulling down his underwear, reminiscent of the early "Coppertone Girl" ads from the '50s and '60s. North freaks out when he finds out about this.

** ImperialChina(!): He [[WebVideo/NostalgiaCritic "drops by China where everyone hails him as some sort of emperor."]] which is especially baffling considering it had been about 83 years since the end of China's imperial period when this film was released (1994), and comes off as a rather weak attempt [[ShoutOut to homage]] Film/TheLastEmperor that even this film's [[spoiler: AllJustADream reveal]] [[TooBleakStoppedCaring can't save...]]

* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:The only facet that makes it back to reality is Bruce Willis' character and the good luck charm. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane Though this might just be a coincidence.]][[note]]It does not happen in the book, where instead of North's life being threatened, it's his parents, who he has to save from a lynch mob[[/note]]

* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:The only facet that makes it back to reality is Bruce Willis' character and the good luck charm. And even then that's just coincidence.]][[note]]It does not happen in the book, where instead of North's life being threatened, it's his parents, who he has to save from a lynch mob[[/note]]

* FantasyKeepsake: North finds the quarter in his pocket, complete with bullet hole, that he got in his Texas Family Fantasy [[OrWasItADream after waking up.]]

An 11-year-old boy named North (Creator/ElijahWood) tires of his parents (Creator/JasonAlexander and [[Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus Julia Louis-Dreyfus]]), [[ParentalNeglect who never pay any attention to him]] even though he's a model student, athlete, and even actor. He [[EmancipatedChild legally emancipates himself from them]], and [[WalkingTheEarth wanders around the world seeking a new family]] with a deadline of Labor Day; if he doesn't find a new family by then, he will be placed in an orphanage. Along the way, he encounters parents that are [[EthnicScrappy Texan, Alaskan, Hawaiian, Amish, etc]], and tries to blend in with each group of parents (well, not the Amish). He finally decides that his own parents are the best with the help of a guardian angel (Creator/BruceWillis) who uses [[PaperThinDisguise several guises throughout the film]]. However a conniving kid friend of his, Winchell, used the publicity North's escapades garnered to rally kids everywhere to make their parents more subservient to them. Knowing that North reconciling with his parents would undermine this, he plots to have him killed.

''North'' is a 1994 film directed by Creator/RobReiner in what he stated was his attempt to make his own ''[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Wizard of Oz]]''. [[note]] Seemingly forgetting that he was also the same guy who made ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', a film which has a [[MagnumOpusDissonance much better chance]] of being called his "own Wizard of Oz" than ''North'' ever will. [[/note]] The story is based on the novel ''North: The Tale of a 9-Year-Old Boy Who Becomes a Free Agent and Travels the World in Search of the Perfect Parents'' by Alan Zweibel, who also wrote the screenplay and has a minor role in the film.

Not related to the film ''Film/ElNorte'', or ''WesternAnimation/NormOfTheNorth'' (a film of [[DamnedByFaintPraise slightly superior quality]]). This film was also Creator/ScarlettJohansson's film debut. [[SarcasmMode Such humble beginnings]]. Additionally, Creator/JussieSmollett plays a small role in the film.

** ImperialChina(!): He [[WebVideo/NostalgiaCritic "drops by China where everyone hails him as some sort of emperor."]] which is especially baffling considering it had been about 83 years since the end of China's imperial period when this film was released (1994), and comes off as a rather weak attempt [[ShoutOut to homage]] Film/TheLastEmperor that even this film's [[spoiler: AllJustADream reveal]] [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy can't save...]]

''North'' is a 1994 film directed by Creator/RobReiner in what he stated was [[MagnumOpusDissonance his attempt to make his own]] ''[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Wizard of Oz]]''. [[note]] Seemingly forgetting that he was also the same guy who made ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', a film which has a much better chance of being called his "own Wizard of Oz" than ''North'' ever will. [[/note]] The story is based on the novel ''North: The Tale of a 9-Year-Old Boy Who Becomes a Free Agent and Travels the World in Search of the Perfect Parents'' by Alan Zweibel, who also wrote the screenplay and has a minor role in the film.

''North'' is a 1994 film directed by Creator/RobReiner in what he stated was [[MagnumOpusDissonance his attempt to make his own]] ''[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Wizard of Oz]]''. [[note]] Seemingly forgetting that he was also the same guy who made ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', a film which has a much better chance of being called his "own Wizard of Oz" than ''North'' ever will. [[/note]] The story is based on the novel ''North'' by Alan Zweibel, who also wrote the screenplay and has a minor role in the film.

Not related to the film ''Film/ElNorte'', or ''WesternAnimation/NormOfTheNorth'' (a film of [[DamnedByFaintPraise slightly superior quality]]). This film was also Creator/ScarlettJohansson's film debut. [[SarcasmMode Such humble beginnings]]. Not to mention that Creator/JussieSmollett plays a small role in the film.

* AdaptationalTitleChange: Downplayed. The film keeps the original novel's title but omits the overly long subtitle "The Tale of a 9-Year-Old Boy Who Becomes a Free Agent and Travels the World in Search of the Perfect Parents".

Not related to the film ''Film/ElNorte'', or ''WesternAnimation/NormOfTheNorth'' (a film of [[DamnedByFaintPraise slightly superior quality]]). This film was also Creator/ScarlettJohansson's film debut. [[SarcasmMode Such humble beginnings]].

An 11-year-old boy named North (Creator/ElijahWood) tires of his parents (Creator/JasonAlexander and [[Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus Julia Louis Dreyfus]]), [[ParentalNeglect who never pay any attention to him]] even though he's a model student, athlete, and even actor. He [[EmancipatedChild legally emancipates himself from them]], and [[WalkingTheEarth wanders around the world seeking a new family]] with a deadline of Labor Day; if he doesn't find a new family by then, he will be placed in an orphanage. Along the way, he encounters parents that are [[CaptainEthnic Texan, Alaskan, Hawaiian, Amish, etc]], and tries to blend in with each group of parents (well, not the Amish). He finally decides that his own parents are the best with the help of a guardian angel (Creator/BruceWillis) who uses [[PaperThinDisguise several guises throughout the film]]. However a conniving kid friend of his, Winchell, used the publicity North's escapades garnered to rally kids everywhere to make their parents more subservient to them. Knowing that North reconciling with his parents would undermine this, he plots to have him killed.