Night at the Museum

Night at the Museum (2006)

1 answered question since 10 Dec '18, 07:07

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Question: Was "Dakota" really the secret word the money carrying horses trained to stop for?

Answer: In the movie, yes, it was. Historically, nobody knows as different teams of horses were most likely trained to respond to different code words. The code word "Dakota" was just an example the movie used to illustrate that code words were used for stagecoach deliveries, especially when the coaches were transporting high-value cargo.

Scott215

Answer: It's unlikely that code words were used like that in real life; horses don't understand "words", just sounds. Expecting a team of panicking runaway horses to respond to a separate code word that means stop, when their regular voice command for stop ("ho" or "whoa") is ineffective just doesn't make sense.

They weren't panicked runaway horses, as stated in the film, they were money carriers trained not to stop no matter what. Regular voice commands weren't effective because they weren't trained to obey them. The code word was the voice command. And horses can, in fact, be trained to respond to specific words, so it is entirely likely.

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Mistakes

Factual error: Sacajawea was not a "tracker." Lewis and Clark hired her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, and her as interpreters, because she spoke the Shoshone language. (She was 16 and pregnant at the time).

mdwalker

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Quotes

Larry: This is so not worth $11.50 an hour.

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Trivia

Trivia: The film was originally intended to be directed by Stephen Sommers, who is best known for directing 1999's "The Mummy." Sommers left the project following creative differences with the studio. Sommers poked fun at the film years later in a commentary track in 2018, noting that he saw a movie once where a character was constantly and annoying using a flashlight even though it was bright enough he wouldn't need one. Sommers wouldn't name the film, but slyly said "it took place at night in a museum."

TedStixon

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Questions

Question: If Cecil, Gus and Reginald knew that the tablet brought the exhibits to life, and could extend their own, then why didn't they steal it from the moment it was brought to the museum in 1952? Why wait after so many years?

Answer: The tablet did not extend life (the guys grew old there, remember), but gave more energy to those affected. As for stealing it earlier, that would not have been possible as they would have been the prime suspects. The best way to do the crime was to pin the rap on somebody new, like Larry, after they had retired.

Scott215

That's a seriously long waiting game.

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