Night at the Museum (Film)

Larry: So everything in the museum comes to life every night?
Theodore Roosevelt: Exactly.
Larry: And I'm supposed to do what?
Theodore Roosevelt: You're the night watchman, Lawrence.

Night at the Museum is a series of family comedy films produced by 20th Century Fox and directed by Shawn Levy, starring Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, the night guard for the New York American Museum of Natural History, who learns that the exhibits come to life at night. It is based on the 1993 children's book The Night at the Museum by Milan Trenc.

The first film was released on December 22, 2006, written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon of Comedy Central's Reno 911! and MTV's The State, and directed by Shawn Levy. A new novelization of the screenplay by Leslie Goldman was published as a film tie-in. Larry is a struggling inventor who is trying to bond with his son, so to make ends meet he takes a job as the night guard for the AMNH. He learns from the retiring guards on how to deal with the various exhibits as they come to life because of a magical golden tablet displayed with Egyptian royalty Ahkmenrah. Recognizing the responsibility he has to keep order, he also has to fend off a nefarious plot to plunder the museum of its magic and riches.

The sequel, subtitled Battle of the Smithsonian, was released in May 2009. While the New York museum is being renovated, many exhibits are placed in storage at the Smithsonian. This brings a new slew of problems, as Ahkmenrah's brother Kahmunrah is animated at the Smithsonian and seeks to use the tablet's powers to open a portal and unleash his army. To stop him and protect the other exhibits, Larry teams up with Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) to unravel the mystery of the tablet and stop Kahmunrah.

The second sequel, Secret of the Tomb, was released on December 19, 2014. The final mystery of the origin of the tablet is revealed as its magic seems to be wearing out and Larry searches for a way to revive its power. The British Museum in London holds the answers and further hijinks abound. It was one of the last film roles for Robin Williams before his death in August 2014, and for Mickey Rooney, who passed away in April of the same year; Rooney's appearance allowed him to become the first (and possibly only) actor to appear in a motion picture in 10 consecutive decades.

In 2020, an animated film with the subtitle Kahmunrah Rises Again was announced for Disney+. It follows Larry's now-grown son Nick, who has hesitantly followed in his father's footsteps as a night guard.

This film series contains examples of the following tropes:

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Series-Wide

Action Girl:
- Sacagawea, who, despite not having as much screentime or dialogue as some of the other exhibits, is helpful to Larry in all three movies (as a tracker in the first and third, as a fighter in the final battle in the second, and in helping Larry plan an important event in the beginning of the third).
- Also, Amelia Earhart in the second movie, true to the feisty nature of her real life counterpart.
Actor Allusion:
- This is not Owen Wilson's first time playing a cowboy — and in the sequel, we see his not-first-time getting buried up to his neck in sand. The inclusion of buddy-movie elements with Octavius helps.
- Steve Coogan, who played Octavius, was also in a buddy-type movie with Jackie Chan, which also featured Wilson as one of the cowboy-esque Wright Brothers.
- In the sequel, Clint Howard as a NASA ground controller.
- In the third movie Ben Kingsley's pharaoh mentions owning 40,000 Jewish slaves at one time.
- Steve Coogan's character has a love of funny YouTube videos.
Adaptation Title Change: The title is slightly changed from The Night at the Museum to just Night at the Museum.
All There in the Manual: If you don't know basic to mild world history, then you'll miss most of the jokes.
Ambiguously Gay: Octavius.
- In addition to several moments of Ho Yay with Jedediah, Octavius also comments on Lancelot's "hypnotic blue eyes" in the third movie, leaving Jedediah to silently stare at him. It helps that the real life Octavius (AKA Augustus Caesar) was known as "every woman's husband and every man's wife."
  What? They're very blue.
- As the tablet further corrodes, Octavius and Jedediah attempt to die holding hands.
Animate Inanimate Object: Everything in the museum that comes to life counts as one of these.
Animating Artifact: The Tablet of Ahkmenrah is an ancient Egyptian artifact that brings to life the various exhibits of the place where it is displayed.
Artistic License – History: Zig-zagged. They make a point of correcting some common misconceptions about history and historical figures, but also indulge in some of the same mistakes. Napoleon, for example, is not portrayed as exceptionally short, but took umbrage at a remark that could be construed as a dig at his height. Larry does mention that regardless of accuracy, "Napoleon Complex" is named after him.
Beta Couple: Teddy and Sacagawea, especially in the first movie (their relationship isn't strongly emphasized in the sequels, but they are together), with the Alpha Couples being Larry and Rebecca in the first film, Larry and Amelia/Tess in the second, and Tilly and Laaa in the third.
Big Bad: Each film has a different one.
- In the first film, it's Cecil the previous night guard.
- In Battle of the Smithsonian, it's Kahmunrah, Ahkmenrah's older brother.
- In Secret of the Tomb, it's Sir Lancelot.
Book Ends: Sacagawea's last words to Larry are said silently (mouthing, "Thank you," from across the room), just as her first words were, when she was behind glass.
Cool Versus Awesome: Given the premise of the movie, this is bound to happen:
- In the first movie, there's the Roman army against Wild West cowboys.
- The third movie has Sir Lancelot vs a giant nine-headed bronze statue of a Chinese snake demon.
Clapper Gag: The main character invented The Snapper, a gimmicky product just like The Clapper except it responds to finger-snapping. It failed to catch on because "clapping is easier than snapping".
Cloudcuckoolander: Dr. McPhee really seems like one at times.
Dance Party Ending: The first and third movies play this completely straight. The second movie has a variation: the characters aren't actually dancing, but they are taking guests around the very crowded and successful museum, there's party music and flashing lights in the background, and the mood is quite festive.
Deadpan Snarker:
- Larry gets quite a few lines of this in all the movies.
- Ahkmenrah also has one moment of this in the second film and several in the third.
  Merenkhare: The secret [of the tablet] was to be revealed to you at the proper time.
  Ahkmenrah: Well it has been four thousand years. Now seems like a good time.
Defeat Means Friendship: After Larry brings down the "bad guys" of the first movie, the three former security guards, there don't appear to be any hard feelings. When Larry goes to visit them at the retirement home in the third movie, they are quite friendly to him (save for a bit of Gus's usual snark), and Cecil actually helps Larry figure out what to do next to repair Ahkmenrah's tablet.
Defeat Means Menial Labor: The three security guards are demoted to janitors after what they did in the first movie.
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. In the third movie, Ahkmenrah's parents also speak perfect English.
- The other exhibits, who came from a colorful spectrum of era (Antiquity, Middle Ages, Old West, Colonial Period, etc.) also speak modern-day English, but in their case, it's justified, as they're wax statues, unlike the Egyptian exhibits, who are literal mummies.
Furry Reminder: Of sorts.
- When Teddy Roosevelt gets hit by a carriage driven by a fleeing Cecil, his injuries are treated by melting wax over the wounds, reminding the viewers that "Teddy Roosevelt" is actually a wax mannequin.
- Likewise Lancelot's nose melting and deforming in Secret of the Tomb after he's spent too long holding the torch too close to his face is a reminder that "Lancelot" is a wax mannequin.
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 media to notice when the exhibits started running through Central Park, especially the appearance of cave drawings at the subway station or dinosaur tracks on 81st Street. 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. An octopus swims in the reflecting pool. The Lincoln Memorial goes for a stroll. No one notices. In real life, Washington D.C. is one of the most heavily policed and security conscious areas on earth with numerous security-sensitive buildings and areas. One of the exhibits would've tripped an alarm somewhere in the city to cause a massive security scare in the city.
- In the second movie, 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 leisure. Also, the real Smithsonian facilities are virtually never empty of people, as plenty of staff work through the night on maintenance, conservation, and research.
- There's also the third film, though in this case it also includes Bystander Syndrome. When the exhibits at the British Museum wake up for the first time ever, they proceed to rampage around with no security guards in sight. And when the lion statues get woken up in the middle of Trafalgar Square, where bystanders are clearly seen walking by, no one complains. It's possible that Tilly is the only guard, and she's asleep for most of it; when she wakes up, she's immediately captivated by Laa.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: Jed and Octavius, once they stop fighting and become friends near the end of the first movie, are this for the rest of the series.
Immortality Field: The museums/places where the Tablet of Ahkmenrah is kept become this. The third movie reveals that the tablet was originally intended to bring Ahkmenrah back to life each night to keep the royal family together, but its powers turned out to have an even greater scope, including animating inanimate objects. The previous museum guards in the first movie were also revitalized from years of exposure to its power. Though it only brings a single building's displays to life, they can roam anywhere as long as it's nighttime because it's the domain of Khonsu, the Egyptian moon god who gave the tablet its powers. Of course, the Logical Weakness is that the exhibits will turn to dust if they are outside during sunrise.
Inconsistent Spelling: How is the tablet owner's name spelled? Ahkmenrah, Akhmenrah, or Akmenrah? Made more confusing as the ending credits of the first movie spell it as "Akhmenrah", but the third movie beginning and credits spell it "Ahkmenrah".
Incorrect Animal Noise: Dexter is sometimes heard making chimpanzee noises, despite instead being a capuchin monkey.
In-Series Nickname: Several of the characters with long names have theirs shortened (at least occasionally) by Larry. He almost always uses "Jed" for Jedediah and "Teddy" for Theodore Roosevelt (in real life, TR hated that nickname and only let close relatives use it, so it's unlikely Larry would get a pass. Then again, he's supposed to be the wax statue of Roosevelt, not Roosevelt himself, so it's possible this Teddy didn't mind it so much.), and also sometimes uses "Dex" for Dexter, "Sac" for Sacagawea and "Ahk" for Ahkmenrah.
- Larry also gets several from various museum exhibits:
  - Jed calls him "Gigantor" exclusively in the first and second movies. Larry protests this at first but seemingly accepts it later. Jed does refer to him as "Larry" a couple of times in the third movie, though.
  - Ahkmenrah calls him "Guardian of Brooklyn". This came from Ahkmenrah introducing himself to Larry as a Pharoah of Egypt, to which Larry replied "I'm Larry...I'm from Brooklyn."
  - He continues to call him this even after he moves out of Brooklyn, because Guardian of Manhattan just "doesn't sound as cool."
  - Inverted by Teddy, who calls him by his full name, Lawrence.
- Nick is referred to and addressed as both Nick and Nicky in all of the movies.
Informed Judaism: Larry and his son. The third film has a mention of bar mitzvah as a throwaway joke, and the whole thing about Ancient Egypt enslaving Jews is used as a Historical In-Joke when Larry meets with Ahkmenrah's parents. Justified, as Larry's family are New Yorkers.
Ironic Echo: Teddy Roosevelt asked Larry "What are you made of?" in the first movie; in the second movie Larry says this to Amelia.
The Lancer: Teddy Roosevelt, in the first and third movies.
Menacing Museum: Zig-zagged. The exhibits of the museum come to life at night thanks to the power of a mystical tablet. When Larry is initially hired at the museum as a security guard, he isn't told of this beyond a few vague instructions and barely survives his first night working there. Eventually he gains the trust of the exhibits, turning it from terrifying to a fun place to work.
Mischief-Making Monkey: Dexter may look like just an ordinary capuchin, but he's actually very smart and mischievous, often slapping and pulling pranks on Larry even after he befriends him. In the second movie, Dexter is joined by Able, the first monkey to be sent into space.
Mundane Made Awesome:
- Octavius and Jedediah: "You're going to live!" (breaks hourglass with helmet). Almost everything they do, including piercing a tire, running through grass, facing a squirrel and writing a comment on a YouTube video.
- Also, when Ahkmenrah introduces himself to Larry as the "Fourth King of the Fourth Kings" of Egypt in the first movie, Larry replies, "I'm Larry...I'm from Brooklyn," which leads to Ahkmenrah calling him the "Guardian of Brooklyn" for the rest of the series. Lampshaded in the third movie when Larry notes that he's moved to Manhattan now, but Ahk replies that "Guardian of Brooklyn" just "sounds cooler."
Museum of the Strange and Unusual: Thanks to that magic tablet, the museums come to life at night:
- The American Museum of Natural History in all three movies.
- The entire Smithsonian Museum in BOTS.
- The British Museum in SOTT.
The Napoleon:
- The portrayal of Napoleon himself is like this.
- Jedediah, more so in the first movie.
Nice Guy: Ahkmenrah, who is, throughout the whole series, unfailingly polite and nice to everyone.
"Not So Different" Remark: Larry gives this talk twice in the series — to Jedediah and Octavius in the first film and to Dexter and Able in Battle of the Smithsonian — to get them to cooperate.
Official Couple: The museum exhibit versions of Teddy Roosevelt and Sacagawea. It's a plot point in the first movie that Teddy admires Sacagawea from afar because he's too shy to admit his feelings to her. Once he saves her from being run down near the end of the movie, the two begin a relationship that lasts for the rest of the series.
Once per Episode: Each film shows Jed and Octavius getting into a tense or dramatic situation... from their diminished perspective, and then cutting to how a normal human would be perceiving the same situation, which is significantly less so.
- In the first movie, they battle the raging gale... of a decompressing tire. And then the camera keeps cutting back to a wider view of the area, where the only indication of this "battle" is the very soft, almost-inaudible hiss of air leaving the tire.
- In BOTS, Octavius gives a speech about how he's going to storm the White House to get help for Jedediah and runs toward the building on foot. Cue the camera cutting to a position where we can't even see or hear him. Eventually he gets tired, admits he misjudged the distance, and gets attacked by a squirrel.
- In SOTT, Jed and Octavius fall into an air vent and are sucked toward the vent's filters... and the camera pans out to show them stuck against the grate, with a very soft, mild breeze moving through the vents.
One Crazy Night: All the movies feature a security guard trying to keep control of a museum where all the exhibits come alive at night.
Only Sane Man: Larry to an extent, but over the course of all three movies, Sacagawea is honestly the most normal of the cast.
Reality Is Unrealistic: Some accused the filmmakers of whitewashing Egyptians with the casting of Rami Malek as Pharaoh Ahkmenrah. While Malek was born and raised in America, he is actually of Egyptian descent as his parents emigrated from that very country.
Secret-Keeper: Any non-museum-exhibit people who know about the Museum coming to life:
- Larry and Nick in all three films.
- The previous night guards (Cecil, Reginald, and Gus) as well, although they don't appear in the second movie.
- Rebecca, who only appears in the first movie.
- Tilly, Larry's British Museum counterpart, becomes one in the third movie.
- At the end of the third movie, McPhee finds out as well.
Sealed Good in a Can: Ahkmenrah
Shout-Out:
- Octavius and Jedediah alone reference many movies and works:
  - The scene at the end of the first movie, to Independence Day. They do it again at the final battle of Smithsonian, this time to 300.
  - 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.
  - 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 Archie Bunker's "throne" as his own. He's also seen trying on Muhammad Ali's robe at one point, as well as passing on wearing Dorothy Gale's ruby slippers.
- When Custer is knocked off the motorcycle early on, he tells Larry to keep going with, "Fly, you fool!"
- During the finale of the third film, Tilly and Laaa recreate one of the more famous Dirty Dancing scenes, specifically the lift. Rexy and Trixy, the dinosaur skeletons are also shown doing this.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Between the Egyptian pharaoh brothers, Ahkmenrah and Kahmunrah, in both personality and their appearances in the films:
- Ahkmenrah doesn't appear in person until the climax of the first film, but he very quickly establishes himself as one of the good guys, playing a vital role in helping Larry and Nick stop the bad guys and restoring order to the Museum. By contrast, Kahmunrah arrives pretty early on in the second movie; he quickly shows himself to be evil, and becomes the Big Bad for the rest of the movie.
- This applies personality-wise, too: Ahkmenrah is a polite, composed, regal Pharaoh and serious-but-friendly Nice Guy who helps Larry throughout the series, while Kahmunrah is a hammy, power-hungry, cheerful-but-ruthless Pharaoh and Laughably Evil bad guy who is the source of the main conflict in the second movie.
Sidekick Ex Machina: Ahkmenrah owns the tablet which makes the exhibits come alive, but he doesn't get 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 mummies.
Took a Level in Badass: Larry between the first and second films. And from a mental standpoint as well—if not between the first and second films, then definitely between the second and third. He comes up with several brilliant deductions and ideas in the third movie.
- The first film explained that the older janitors became badass because of dealing with the museum exhibits (and the magic of the tablet). Between films, Larry gained those same skills in a younger body.
Zoomed-Out Reframing Gag: This is something of a Running Gag with the animated miniatures Jedediah and Octavius: they tend to put all their warrior spirit into performing some intense, grueling deed for their friends, such as bearing the mighty winds of a tire puncture they're inflicting on the normal-sized villains' car, or stabbing evil Mooks in their giant-seeming feet. Naturally, the camera cuts away to a normal-sized person's view of what the duo are doing, and it looks far less epic (if it's even visible at all).

Night at the Museum (Original)

All Animals Are Dogs: Rexy, the tyrannosaurus skeleton.
Angrish: When angry, the owner of the museum starts metaphors and can never finish them.
Ax-Crazy: Attila the Hun, quite literally.
Battle-Interrupting Shout: The Moai yells so that Larry could speak to the exhibits. After this, Larry responds with a "Thank You."
Beast in the Building: When the museum exhibits come to life at night, Larry is forced to deal with the multiple taxidermied animals, particularly the mischievous monkey Dexter, and the living skeleton of a T-Rex. Ironically, it's his job to keep the animals from leaving the museum, since if they are caught outside after sunrise they will turn to dust.
Beta Baddie: Cecil, Reginald and Gus. They only wanted the tablet because it gave them renewed youth.
Big "SHUT UP!": The Moai does this so Larry could speak to the fighting exhibits.
Call-Back: In the beginning of the film, Larry mentions his "Snapper" invention that was put out of business by the "Clapper". In the end of the film, he turns off his flashlight with a "snap", indicating he put that technology into his flashlight.
Calling Your Attacks: Gus does this.
Gus: Sweet dreams, cupcake! PILEDRIVER!
Chained to a Railway: Played with when Larry gets tied to a toy train set by Jedediah and Octavius.
Cool Old Guy: Night guard Cecil is a badass. Justified in that the tablet also reinvigorated him.
Epic Fail: Jedediah tries to run Larry over with a toy train. It doesn't even scratch him (for reference, his head is bigger than the train).
Frame-Up: It's revealed that the real reason the former night watchmen hired Larry was so he could be a patsy; they made a copy of his house key, and planted several artifacts in his apartment.
Freudian Trio: Cecil (Ego), Reginald (Superego), and Gus (Id).
Ham-to-Ham Combat: The scene where Attila and Larry are yelling at each other.
Hero's Evil Predecessor: The Bad Guys are the three previous night guards of the museum.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Cecil did this unintentionally when giving advice to Larry. Cecil advises Larry to research stuff on the museum exhibits to help him out which is used against him when Larry shouts the secret code to stop the horse-drawn cart Cecil used to escape.
Hot-Blooded: Gus, one of the villainous night guards.
Ignorant About Fire: The protagonist Larry introduces fire to some cavemen, but it gets out of control because they've never heard of it, so he sprays it with the fire extinguisher, which they eat.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: ~~Mr.~~ Doctor McPhee really comes across as 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.
Living Statue: One of the exhibits in the original museum is a Moai, who is very fond of bubble gum.
Major Injury Underreaction: After Teddy gets hit by the horse-drawn carriage, he gets cut cleanly in two down the middle, but just sort of comments "Oh, dear" in a "Well, that kind of sucks" way. Thankfully, Sacagawea fixes him. This is somewhat justified considering that he is made of wax an cannot feel pain, nor will he die of the injury.
Mistaken for Granite: The giant statues of Anubis that guard the pharaoh.
The Nicknamer:
- Gus. Oddly, most his nicknames seem to revolve around food.
- Jedidiah is a subversion. He calls Larry "Gigantor," but less as a nickname than a label/insult, until Larry gets him to cut it out.
Reality Is Unrealistic: Ahkmenrah's actor, Rami Malek, actually is ethnically Egyptian. As he is quite light-skinned, people have occasionally accused the filmmakers of whitewashing Egyptians.
Really 700 Years Old: Ahkmenrah (one of the only exhibits in the museum who is a reanimated being besides Rexy), once the tablet activates.
Romantic False Lead: Larry and Rebecca appear to take a liking to each other, but nothing else happens between them. Rebecca does not appear in the sequel.
A Storm Is Coming: Larry says this while vowing to Dexter that he will get even for the monkey's antics. He then repeats it after revealing how he's tricked the monkey with a set of toy keys.
Taking the Bullet: Or rather, Taking the Carriage. When Cecil and his horse-drawn carriage are about to run Sacagawea down, Teddy (who has feelings for her) pushes her out of the way.
The Voiceless: Larry mistakes Sacagawea for this since she was behind Plexiglas and couldn't be heard.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Rebecca is not seen or mentioned in the second or third films, and her absence is not explained.
You No Take Candle: Easter Island Head talk this way. Dum dum want lot of gum-gum.

Battle of The Smithsonian

Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: The Smithsonian guard Brandon (as spelled on his nameplate) argues to Larry that his name is "Brundon" "BUR-RUN-DON".
Adaptation Species Change: Real Able the monkey was a rhesus monkey. Here, she's a capuchin monkey, since she and Dexter were both played by Crystal the monkey.
Adrenaline Time: Invoked when Octavius and Jedediah storm through Napoleon's soldiers and Capone's mob
Agony of the Feet: Jedediah and Octavius weaponize this towards the enemy soldiers. Given the large number of them that we see hopping and holding their feet, it's quite effective.
Artistic License – Physics:
- 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.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Abraham Lincoln's statue.
Badass Fingersnap: Larry is really fond of snapping his fingers, up to the point that he even invented the Snapper, an electric switch which is similar to the Clapper, but responds to the sound of finger-snapping.
Better to Die than Be Killed: At the end of the film, 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.
Big Bad: Kahmunrah is the leader of the villains and the one that forces our heroes to try and unlock the secrets of the tablet.
Big Damn Heroes: It doesn't get much bigger than the Lincoln from the Lincoln Memorial saving you.
Brainless Beauty: Ironically, Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker can’t come up with a coherent thought without showing off his muscles to a beautiful lady.
Brick Joke:
- Daley's Devices seems to be built on Larry's experiences in the museum; in particular, the "unloseable keychain" stems from the kleptomaniac capuchin monkey.
- Larry loses his smartphone when he and Amelia Earhart are chased into the VJ Day In Times Square portrait, 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? Joey Motorola.
Chekhov's Skill:
- Larry's moves with his flashlight. First just a cool move, by the end of the movie, a life-saver.
- The capuchin kept stealing Larry's keys, somehow teaching Larry enough to steal Brundon's keycard.
Creator Cameo: Series director Shawn Levy plays the dad in the opening infomercial sequence.
Cultural Translation: The Italian rendition of the movie is literally riddled with them:
- While in the original 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 sons who never knew their ancestry. This is actually used for political satire (given the then currently Italian 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, who "is really important in his country", and "once used to be a cruise ship crooner".
- Brundon gets turned into a stereotypical Neapolitan 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.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: The Wright Brothers find the idea of a lady pilot "preposterous".
Demoted to Extra: The exhibits who have to stay at the Museum of Natural History during the movie (except for Teddy Roosevelt, who was also a metal bust at the Smithsonian).
Deus Exit Machina: The 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.
Doppelgänger Replacement Love Interest: Tess for Amelia.
Dramatic Drop: Al Capone, rather tellingly, drops the Einstein bobblehead when Kahmunrah opens the portal to the netherworld.
Embarrassingly Dresslike Outfit: Kahmunrah repeatedly insists that his outfit is not a dress, it's a tunic.
Kahmunrah: It was the height of fashion 3000 years ago, I assure you.
Enemy Civil War: Larry starts one by first implying that Kahmunrah is the "master" of Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon, and Al Capone, who don't take it very well.
Fanservice: This being a family movie, there's something for everyone — Amelia Earhart's really, really tight pants for people who prefer ladies, to the extent that she's the page image for Painted-On Pants; Ahkmenrah's midriff-exposing costume for those who prefer men.
Faux Action Girl: Amelia Earhart continually insists she is able to take care of herself, but isn't seen doing anything particularly awesome except for flying a plane for a few seconds before handing it to Larry (who has never even flown a plane before).
Faux Affably Evil: Kahmunrah. Despite his lisp and over the top antics, he tries to kill Larry/have him killed numerous times, and has no qualms about threatening or killing Larry's friends. An earlier draft of the script also had him revealing that he killed Ahkmenrah for the throne.
Foo Fu: Larry's skill with a flashlight in Battle for the Smithsonian, also used as a Chekhov's Skill.
Fly-at-the-Camera Ending: With an old-fashioned biplane.
Funny Background Event: Plenty of these in the art gallery and aerospace museum scenes.
Genius Ditz: The Einstein bobbleheads. Admittedly, according to some accounts, the real Einstein was quite goofy.
Genki Girl: Amelia Earhart
The Greatest Story Never Told: Larry's the only one who knows about the Battle for the Smithsonian.
- The Smithsonian therefore has both the worst security and best maintenance staff of all time.
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. Where's the DOD when you need them? It stands out because the extensive security and omnipresent video surveillance is central to the plot up until the supernatural elements kick in, at which point it disappears entirely.
Hands Go Down: Kahmunrah after being asked about his tunic thinking it's a dress by Al Capone and Ivan the Terrible.
Kahmunrah: Are there any other questions?
[Napoleon's hand goes up]
Kahmunrah: Any questions not about the dress... tunic.
[Napoleon's hand goes down]
Hidden in Plain Sight: The movie ends with Larry selling his company and donating the money to the AMNH, under the guise of funding more "high-end" upgrades to the exhibits, allowing the exhibits to come alive at night without any fear of breaking the Masquerade.
Historical In-Joke: The WW2 sailor who nabs Larry's cellphone is named Joey Motorola. Although this is Artistic License – History to its finest (Motorola was founded by Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and in fact supplied radios to the Allies).
Historical Beauty Update: Amy Adams plays Amelia Earhart. 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.
Hollywood History: Subverted somewhat with Ivan the Terrible, who points out that a more accurate translation of his nickname would be "the Awesome", and that he was in fact a fairly good ruler.
Homage:
- Larry scouting out the Smithsonian is accompanied by background music from National Treasure. Note that both movies involve breaking into a national museum.
- Jedediah and Octavius use combat moves lifted intact from 300 when they're attacking the mooks' feet.
Hypocritical Humor: Al Capone makes fun of Kahmunrah's tunic, calling it a "dress". Ivan the Terrible also makes fun of Kahmunrah's "dress", even though he himself is wearing a fairly long robe that itself might be easily mistaken for a dress.
- In a somewhat darker example, we have this line: "You'll never get lost following Amelia Earhart."
Identical Grandson: Subverted with the girl at the end who looks like Amelia Earhart. Apparently they're not related. As far as she knows.
Idiot Ball: It was established in the previous film that simply turning the middle piece of the tablet cancels the spell. Whenever Larry manages to get the tablet, and is subsequently attacked or chased by Kamunrah's supporters, it never occurs to him to just turn the tablet's panels to render them lifeless again.
- When Larry returns to the villains and is given the hourglass with his trapped friend, why doesn't he immediately free Jed, by opening the glass as quickly as Kahmunrah 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 Jed). Later on, the hourglass once again falls on the floor upright, putting the cowboy in mortal danger again.
I Have Your Wife: When Kahmunrah discovers that the tablet's combination has changed, he traps Jedediah (whom his men captured earlier) in an hourglass (in the side that's filling up with sand) to force Larry to figure out the new combination for him.
I Lied: Kahmunrah says this word-for-word to Jed as he's trapping him in the hourglass:
Kahmunrah: [holding a squirming, shouting Jedediah] Don't squirm, don't squirm, you'll only make it worse. Come now, I shan't hurt you. [drops Jed into the hourglass and shuts it] Oops, I lied. [flips hourglass over]
Improbable Weapon User: Larry and his flashlight.
Insistent Terminology: Brandon/Brundon... oh, and Kahmunrah's dress sense:
Kahmunrah: This is not a dress, it is a tunic!
Large Ham: Kahmunrah. Hank Azaria must have had a lot of fun....
I have come back to LIFE!!!
Last Kiss: Amelia and Larry share one after she flies him home.
Leeroy Jenkins: Custer.
Legion of Doom: Kahmunrah forms one to rule the Smithsonian. Darth Vader and Oscar the Grouch try to join up, but are turned away for apparently not being evil or scary enough. Vader's having been a Tragic Villain who redeems himself before his death is a big strike against him (plus his Force powers don't work in the real world), and Oscar's just... well, a grouch.
Lzherusskie: Ivan the Terrible is played by Brit Christopher Guest.
Mayfly–December Romance: Amelia Earhart and Larry. There's obvious sexual tension between them, but Larry deliberately chooses to spur her advances knowing how, upon taking the Tablet away, Amelia will return to her lifeless, mannequin status, dooming their romance to live and die in a single night, and vowing to spare the horrible truth to Amelia. Amelia has different ideas though: she already knows, she just doesn't care that much.
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Amelia Earhart. Subverted in that Larry doesn't undergo any real changes after spending time with her, she's just there to act as a foil to his more reserved personality.
Mysterious Cube of Rubik: Larry exploits and then subverts this trope when he tricks Kahmunrah by telling him he's missing "the Cube of Rubik". Kahmunrah demands to be given this "artifact", allowing Larry to lure him not to a Rubik's Cube, but instead to a box holding a giant octopus.
No Clear Leader: Larry invokes this trope when he tells Al Capone, Ivan the Terrible, and Napolean Bonaparte that he'd give the magic tablet to whichever one of them is in charge. They end up arguing over it while denying that Kahmunrah is their leader. Larry had a feeling this would happen, and uses the distraction to try and get the tablet out of there.
No Endor Holocaust: The destruction or disappearance of some of the most valuable artifacts in human history and a large break-in into a government facility. All signs clearly point to Larry being the one responsible. Are you telling me no-one's investigating this? When you realize his sole alibi is that he was protecting the world from an undead army and allied with waxworks brought to life by magic. Yeah... Larry's likely going to be in prison for a long time.
Oh, Crap!: That's the exact translation of the Bird-Warriors' screeches when Abraham Lincoln's statue enters the battle.
Overly Long Gag: Often the plot stops dead to allow for various characters to have a back-and-forth argument, seemingly just made up of snappy lines the writers came up with. The most blatant examples are Larry's encounter with Brundun the security guard, which drags on for way too long; and his hostage negotiation with Kahmunrah, in which each side insists on the other carrying out their end of the bargain first, resulting in a lengthy, tedious stalemate.
Painted-On Pants: Amelia Earhart's pants are quite form-fitting. In fact, she's the page picture.
Parental Favoritism: Kahmunrah said that his "mother and father" gave Egypt to the more thoughtful Ahkmenrah.
The Password Is Always "Swordfish": The tablet opens a portal to the underworld after punching in... the value of Pi to the first eight decimal places.
Politically Correct History: While the series makes it clear that the revived mannequins are not the same as the historical figures, it's still bizarre seeing General George Custer of all people interacting with Sacagawea in a mostly courteous and respectful fashion.
Portal Picture: Larry and Amelia escape into The V-J Day Kiss in Times Square photo. Due to Larry accidentally leaving his cell phone there, it falls into the hands of a kid named Joey Motorola.
Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
- "I! Have come back! To life!"
- "Don't! Cross! This! Line! With your hand!"
Putto: Larry and Amelia encounter a trio of stone cherubs (voiced by The Jonas Brothers) brought to life by the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. They do nothing but sing love songs in their direction, their role as love gods trying to encourage their budding relationship. Larry is unable to appreciate the music on account of the fact that at the time, they are trying to hide from a group of French soldiers out to get them. They later reappear after their First Kiss, continuing to serenade "My Heart Will Go On" to them much to Larry's annoyance.
Reality Is Unrealistic: In-universe example: some kids complain about how Rexy's "animatronics" suck. Rexy, who's genuinely mobile and only acting like he's animatronic, roars to scare the pants off the doubters.
Retired Badass: Larry passes as this on his interaction with Brandon... I mean, Brundun.
Sadistic Choice: Kahmunrah forces Larry to choose between finding the new tablet combination (which will allow Kahmunrah to unleash an underworld army to kill him and wreak havoc) or letting his friend Jed die via drowning in sand in an hourglass.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: The short stay of the Bird-Warriors.
Sealed Army in a Can: Kahmunrah's Bird-Warriors are this. Unsealing them for world domination is his master plan.
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.
"Shut Up" Kiss: Amelia says to Larry "You talk too much" and then forcefully kisses him.
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Spoofed when Amelia literally does this to Larry.
Small Name, Big Ego: Custer at first.
Stock Parody: Of 300.
Take That!: At one point Kahmunrah refuses to accept Oscar the Grouch and Darth Vader as accomplices.
Villain Team-Up: Kahmunrah, Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon, and Al Capone.
Weaponized Landmark: The Lincoln Memorial.
Wilhelm Scream: In the Air and Space Museum.
What Happened to the Mouse?:
- Amelia flies off at the end. We never find out if she made it back to Washington safely before sunrise. May be lampshading the real Amelia Earhart's fate where she disappeared while flying over the Pacific in 1937.
- How is Larry going to explain the destruction or disappearance of some of the most valuable artifacts in human history?
Writers Cannot Do Math: Played with. Some bobblehead Albert Einsteins tell Larry that the value of π (pi) is 3.14159265 "to be exact", however, they were specifically providing the exact code for the tablet, rather than saying that this is definitely where Pi stops.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once Kahmunrah opens the gate to the underworld, he no longer needs Larry (whom he had had previously allowed to live so Larry could find the tablet's combination for him). Thus, his first command to the Bird-Warriors is for them to kill Larry. Luckily, the arrival of Octavius and Abraham Lincoln distracts him.
You Said You Would Let Them Go: Played with. It's clear in the Overly Long Gag between Larry and Kahmunrah with the hourglass, tablet, and combination that Larry is trying to avoid this situation. He knows that Kahmunrah probably won't release his friends and return Jed even if Larry does give him what he wants (and, in fact, the back-and-forth banter between the two implies that this is indeed the case), so he demands that Kahmunrah fulfill his end of the bargain before Larry holds up his. However, once Kahmunrah's henchmen show up with the combination, Kahmunrah snatches the tablet from Larry before carelessly tossing Jed's hourglass over his shoulder (which Larry then catches). He does not, however, say anything about releasing Larry's other friends, and it's implied that Kahmunrah doesn't care if Larry gets Jed back at that point because they'll both be killed by his Underworld Army anyway.

Secret of the Tomb

Adam Westing: Hugh Jackman (Arthur) and Alice Eve (Guinevere), when Lancelot gatecrashes their Camelot play. Doubles as Actor Allusion when Hugh Jackman tries threatening Lancelot as Wolverine. Understandably, Lance doesn't get it. Funnier retroactively because in addition to Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Dan Stevens would go on to play Legion, and Alice Eve as Typhoid Mary.
All-Natural Fire Extinguisher: When Octavius and Jedediah are trapped in a miniature model of Pompeii, Dexter saves them from the fire by peeing on it.
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Ahkmenrah's parents have a moment of this when they first meet Larry and the rest of the group, as they proclaim that their Egyptian gods are the "true gods". When Larry patiently explains that several members of their group practice other religions, he concludes by saying that he is half-Jewish, at which point Ahk's parents happily proclaim, "We have thousands of Jews! Such nice people!" Poor Ahk actually hangs/ducks his head in embarrassment. To be fair, his parents were simply being Innocently Insensitive (since those views were perfectly reasonable during their time), and didn't have any malicious intent. Larry seems to realize this, as he doesn't take offense to it and is perfectly polite throughout the conversation.
And You Thought It Was Real: Lancelot interrupts a play about Camelot because he thinks it’s the actual Kingdom of Camelot.
Artistic License – Geology: There were no lava flows at Pompeii. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius was a Plinian eruption (in fact the reason they are called Plinian eruptions are because Pliny the Younger described this very eruption). This eruption is known for columns of gas and volcanic ash and pyroclastic flows.
Artistic License – History:
- Larry is barely able to lift Lancelot's sword, mirroring a common belief that knightly swords were so heavy and unwieldy that only a strong, trained user could even lift them. In reality, the average one-handed sword rarely weighed more than two pounds.
- Unlike the Museum of Natural History in New York, the British Museum in London is solely confined to human history — mostly ancient cultures like the Romans and Egyptians — and has no reason to feature any dinosaur skeletons, even as part of a special exhibit; pre-human history is covered by the Natural History Museum, which is in another part of London altogether. The British Museum also doesn't have a medieval hallway, or a model of Sir Lancelot — who, it must be repeated, is fictional. The British Museum actually released a statement pointing out all the things that the film made up.
Bait-and-Switch: Laa is a replica caveman made in Larry's likeness for shits and giggles (due to also being played by Ben Stiller). When he meets Larry for the first time, it looks as if he thinks he's Larry's ancestor considering he's the ancient caveman... instead he thinks he's Larry's son.
Bittersweet Ending: At the end of the movie, Ahkmenrah and the tablet have been saved and although they remain at the British Museum, they temporarily return to New York as part of a special exhibit, along with a couple of the British exhibits (Lancelot and Trixie). McPhee finally realizes that the exhibits really do come to life, Tilly is reunited with her Neanderthal love Laa, and the movie concludes with a Dance Party Ending. The sad part about it comes from Larry not being there; though we see him outside the museum, noticing the dance party with a smile; we never get to see if he ever goes into the museum and/or sees his friends again. What's more, a line from McPhee plus some Fridge Logic seems to imply that he can't go back there to be a night guard again, since he allowed himself to get fired in order for McPhee to keep his job (see Taking the Heat).
Boisterous Bruiser: Given Lancelot is basically a medieval novel come to life, he's full of himself — and the flowery English makes him even hammier.
Book Ends: During Larry's first night in the first movie, Teddy pranks Larry just before turning to wax at sunrise. During Larry's final night in the third movie, Teddy does it again.
The Cameo: Aside from the abovementioned Adam Westing, Cecil, Gus and Reginald from the first movie are now in a nursing home. Cecil is relevant to the plot in the first act of the film.
Chekhov's Gun:
- The YouTube video of cats chasing a laser light that Jed and Octavius watch at the beginning of the film gives Larry an idea about how to distract the giant lion statues in London later.
- The defibrillators. The first time, Laaa is messing around with them. The second time? Larry uses them to fry the bronze Xiangliu statue.
Contrived Coincidence: The tablet, after briefly acting up right when the exhibits woke up at the British Museum, is then perfectly fine for the next 30+ minutes of the movie...until the group is trying to sneak through a room with a sleeping Chinese statue of a nine-headed dragon. Of course this is when the tablet acts up again and makes the group start acting weird, which wakes up the dragon so Larry, Nick, and Lancelot can have an awesome battle with it.
Cool Versus Awesome: Lancelot the wax figure knight fights with a Triceratops skeleton and later on a statue of the nine-headed Xiangliu.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: Ahkmenrah's parents proudly boast of owning thousands of Jews, much to the embarrassment of their son. Larry politely explains that the Jews were not in fact okay with it and kinda walked off one day.
Diabolus ex Machina: An interesting twist in that the exhibits do this to themselves near the end. They decide that Ahkmenrah—and thus his tablet as well—should remain in the British Museum with his family, which means that they would not be able to come to life anymore, despite spending most of the movie trying to restore the tablet so they could still live. This disregards the fact that Ahkmenrah actually belongs to the American Museum, and his absence would be noticed.
- Also, the other exhibits are all Ahkmenrah's friends that he's known for years, and he knows what will happen to them if he and the tablet stay in Britain. The fact that he would be cool with it seems rather out-of-character.
- The novelization does state that there were other mummies in the exhibits, who were also his friends and whom he hadn't seen for years.
Died in Your Arms Tonight: Dexter becomes a statue again while resting in Larry's arms. The experience of seeing it disturbs Larry so much that he later admits his affection for him.
Disney Death: The New York exhibits turn back into statues (or, in the case of Ahkmenrah, rot back into a corpse), when the magic of the tablet goes away. Dexter in particular has this the most, complete with slowly dying in Larry's arms. It's undone when Lancelot gives in and allows the moonlight to restore the magic again.
Easily Forgiven: It's revealed that Larry not only forgave the three villains of the first film, he helped ensure their early release.
Expy: The American archaeologist at the beginning is one of Indiana Jones, except with a fancy waistcoat.
- Rebel Wilson's character, at least during her initial scene, is nearly identical in personality and attitude, not to mention in terms of being a barrier to Larry, to Jonah Hill's security guard character in the second film.
Failed Attempt at Drama: Lancelot is threatened by Hugh Jackman doing his Wolverine pose. Lancelot of course doesn't get it, and Jackman's co-star admits it would probably have worked better if he were shirtless and had the claws.
Grand Finale: For the film series and Larry's story.
Heel–Face Return: Cecil and cohorts.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: Lancelot starts off being on the heroes' side, helping them defeat Trixie the triceratops and then the Xiangliu statue, but then pulls a Face–Heel Turn once he believes that the tablet is the Holy Grail he seeks, stealing it and trying to flee to Camelot. However, once he discovers that he is a made-up character and Camelot isn't real, and after witnessing the exhibits starting to die, he pulls a Heel–Face Turn and gives Larry the tablet back, ultimately returning to being (and remaining) one of the good guys.
Heel Realization: When Larry desperately tries to keep Dexter alive as the tablet is about to lose its power completely, Lancelot realizes that Larry's quest was never about the tablet, but about saving his friends, and returns it on the spot.
Held Gaze: Tilly and Laaa at the end after they find each other again when Tilly is taking the British Museum exhibits to an exhibition.
Heroic BSoD / Villainous BSoD: Lancelot could be both or either, depending on your perspective. After stealing the tablet from Larry, when Lance realizes that he is not a real character and Camelot/Guinevere aren't real, he has one of these. Seeing the New York exhibits dying snaps him out of it and convinces him to pull a Heel–Face Turn.
Hot-Blooded: Lancelot, who's always eager for a fight.
[The group sees the sleeping Xiangliu]
Lancelot: All right, let's kill it.
Larry: No, we're not gonna kill it! It's asleep.
Lancelot: You're right, it wouldn't be sporting to kill it while it sleeps. ... All right, let's wake it up, then kill it.
[Later, once the dragon wakes up]
Lancelot: Ah, good. Now we can kill it.
Hydra Problem: Averted. The Xiangliu is a Chinese Hydra, but since the statue is made of metal, the electric shock of a defibrillator takes all of the nine heads down.
The Internet Is for Cats: The Roman legion miniatures watch a YouTube video of a cat being distracted by a laser pointer. It ends up being a Chekhov's Gun. Later in the movie, a pack of lion statues come to life because of the tablet and Larry successfully distracts them with his flashlight.
Knotty Tentacles: Larry unwittingly does this to one of the Xiangliu's heads while trying to escape from it.
Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Jed and Octavius agree never to speak of their trip to Pompeii, from which they were saved by Dexter and his urine.
Literal-Minded: Inverted. When Larry and Laaa are locked in the break room by Tilly, Larry is trying to get the door open while also chatting with Laaa about his son Nick. Laaa points at the door and then at his head, and Larry interprets this as Laaa saying that he should be more open-minded to Nick's point of view. Turns out, Laa was the one who was being literal-minded; he was actually signaling that he wanted to ram his head into the glass window on the door so they could break the glass and open it (which he then does).
Lunacy: Turns out that exposure to moonlight will recharge the tablet and undo the corrosion that was destroying it.
Master Swordsman: Lancelot has incredible sword skills.
Mayfly–December Romance: Tilly and Laa.
Meeting-the-Parents Sequel: Larry, Ahkmenrah, and company go to the British Museum to meet Ahkmenrah's parents so they can give him the solution of the rusting magic tablet.
Orochi: The Xiangliu, a nine-headed bronze serpent, is a Chinese variant.
Palate Propping: Larry props open one of the Xiangliu's mouths with his trusty flashlight.
Passing the Torch: Larry to Tilly, now that Ahkmenrah's tablet will stay in the British Museum.
Larry: I know you hate this job and everything, but tomorrow night ... best job ever.
Race Against the Clock: Larry has to get the tablet to the British Museum to recharge it before it fully corrodes and loses its magic forever.
Ridiculously Cute Critter: Dexter.
"Shaggy Dog" Story / Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The whole movie starts to feel like this near the end (for most of the characters, anyway). The entire reason for everybody going to the British Museum was to fix the tablet so all of the museum exhibits could keep coming to life. This is after the whole point of the second movie was to establish that Larry needs his museum friends in his life. Yet, after they succeed in doing so, the other exhibits decide that Ahkmenrah and his tablet should stay at the British Museum with his family, meaning that everybody else, who will go back to New York, will stop coming to life anyway. Needless to say, poor Larry is heartbroken about this. Thankfully, this is averted at the very end when the tablet does come back to the museum, albeit three years later.
Scenery Porn: The Tomb of Ahkmenrah, discovered in 1938 at the beginning, as well as the scenes in Ancient Egypt. Oh, and the bit where the team walks into the white room with all the assorted exhibits lumbering around.
Sequel Goes Foreign: The gang heads to London this time.
Taking the Heat: Larry does this for McPhee near the end. As a result of a Hayden disaster at the beginning of the movie (caused by the tablet starting to rust and malfunction), McPhee is being forced to resign (essentially, being fired) as the Museum Curator. However, at the end of the film, once it's determined that the museum exhibits will no longer come to life, it's implied that Larry no longer wants to work at the museum (which is understandable, since it would likely be too painful for him), and as a result, he takes the blame for the incident and resigns in McPhee's stead, allowing McPhee to keep his job.
Time Skip: At the very end of the movie, the plot jumps ahead three years for the last scene.
Toilet Humor: Dexter pees on Larry. He does it again on Jed and Octavius, saving them from the Pompeii lava. Then once again just because he thought it was funny.
Tomato in the Mirror: Lancelot spends most of the film ignorant of what he really is, until he stumbles upon a stage play of Camelot. The revelation hits him so hard he'd rather let the tablet degrade completely than live a lie.
Tragic Villain: Lancelot. Though he does cause problems for the group... it's only because he sincerely doesn't know any better as a 'newborn' and the world he sincerely believed was true is just a legend.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Kahmunrah is never mentioned in this film, even by his parents.
What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: The scene near the end where all the exhibits are dying has Larry cradle a dying Dex. The focus seems understandable as the others are not technically alive; just wax sculptures of people brought to life that are reverting back to statues... except for Ahkmenrah. Ahkmenrah was a mummy on display, and therefore once a living human being. He is the only one besides Dex who is actually dying, reverting back to a mummified corpse. However, the movie glosses over his death to have the moment between Larry and Dex and Larry doesn't even spare Ahkmenrah a glance. While this makes sense considering the movie's intended audience (kids love fluffy animals), it does seem rather heartless within the world of the film.

Night at the Museum

This film series contains examples of the following tropes:

Video Example(s):

Attila the Hun

Alternative Title(s): Night At The Museum Battle Of The Smithsonian, Night At The Museum Secret Of The Tomb

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Attila the Hun