Last May it was announced that 20th Century Fox was developing an animated television series based on the 2004 Fox Searchlight film Napoleon Dynamite. A year later, Fox has released the first trailer for the upcoming series, Napoleon Dynamite: The Animated Series. The one minute promo is only a teaser, as the series won’t air until Midseason 2012. Looks pretty much like you would expect, the question is: Is it still funny or are they capitalizing on the popularity of the 2004 indie a little too late? Watch the promo trailer now embedded after the jump. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Trailer:

Creators/Executive Producers

Jared Hess

Jerusha Hess

Mike Scully

Voice Cast

Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite

Aaron Ruell as Kip

Efren Ramirez as Pedro

Tina Majorino as Deb

Sandy Martin as Grandma

Jon Gries as Uncle Rico

Diedrich Bader as Rex

Official Plot Info:

Based on the hit film, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is an animated series that follows the continuing adventures of America’s most awesome awkward teenager and his quirky family and friends as they struggle to navigate small-town life in rural Idaho.

The original cast from the film – Jon Heder, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Tina Majorino, Sandy Martin, Jon Gries and Diedrich Bader – will voice their characters in the series, and many new characters will be added along the way.

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Heder) is a 16-year-old boy convinced – for no apparent reason – that he is destined for greatness and blessed with unlimited “sweet abilities.” He spends his days practicing ninja moves, drawing ligers, soul dancing and bragging about his “girlfriend in Oklahoma” whom nobody has ever seen. Napoleon’s brother, KIP (Ruell), is an unemployed 32-year-old who lives at home and believes he would be an amazing catch for any girl who would respond to his online come-ons. The Dynamite brothers live with GRANDMA (Martin), a crusty woman who can often be found four-wheeling with her lady friends at the local sand dunes.

Napoleon’s allies include PEDRO (Ramirez), his unflappable best friend who has recently been elected class president; and DEB (Majorino), an incredibly sweet girl who sees the good in Napoleon and dreams of someday being his wife. Napoleon’s UNCLE RICO (Gries) lives out of an orange custom van, where he obsesses over his botched high school football career and dreams up ways to become rich and famous. Then there’s REX KWON DO (Bader), a self-proclaimed martial-arts master who runs the local dojo.

Guest voices in the debut season include Jennifer Coolidge (“American Pie,” “Legally Blonde”), Sam Rockwell (“Choke”) and Jemaine Clement (“Flight of the Conchords”).

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is a 20th Century Fox Television production. The series is created and executive-produced by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite,” “Nacho Libre”), along with Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Mike Scully (THE SIMPSONS, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Parks & Recreation”). The animation house is Rough Draft Studios (“Futurama,” “The Simpsons Movie”).