Night at the Museum

Question: What does Columbus say in another language throughout the film? I know when they're taking down the night guards he says "You are finished", but what else does he say?

Answer: Columbus is speaking Italian. The first night, when Larry asks him about the lions, he says "Go find the lion somewhere else" and then "tourist!" The second night, when they're chased by the animals, he says "Young man, do your job well, take care of the beasts" and when he sees that the window's open, "Kid, what do you say, shall we close the windows?" The last night, when Columbus is guiding the Neanderthals, he says "Fellow Neanderthals, with me!" and to the night guard "It's over!"

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.

Question: Rebecca mentions that Sacajawea led the Lewis and Clark expedition "with a baby strapped to her back." Where is the baby?

Answer: It's nowhere. The museum chose to portray Sacajawea without a baby in their exhibit.

raywest

Question: How did Larry find out that "Dakota" was the word for making the horses stop the carriage?

Answer: He looked the information up at some point during the montage that showed him doing all the historical research.

Phixius

Is it actually shown on the website he looks at on screen or just implied?

Question: When the woman at the employment agency tells Larry about the job, she says that everyone who has been sent to the museum has been turned down for the position. If the old night guards just wanted to steal things from the museum, couldn't they have just given anyone the job and the instruction book?

Answer: They were looking for someone who would be willing to KEEP the job after finding out that everything comes to life at night. All the other applicants freaked out and quit after the first night, just as Larry would have if not for his son.

Question: After Larry says to Nicky "wanna slice it up?" it cuts to a shot in the park. In the background there is a sign that we only see the bottom half of. The part of the sign that we can see says "house". What does the top half say? I know it doesn't show it in the movie but I have a feeling this is a NY landmark and it's been eating at me for days.

Answer: It is the "Essex House"

Dedderbot

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.

Chosen answer: According to IMDB, Wilson's role was originally just a cameo (thus no need for a credit), but his character tested well with audiences, so his role was enlarged.

Cubs Fan

Question: How are Cecil and the other guys able to "come to life", in other words be able to do the stuff they were doing? Last time I checked, they aren't museum exhibits.

Answer: Even though they are human, they are able to enhance their abilities through the artifact they are stealing. It affects them the same way it does the museum exhibits.

raywest

Ahkmarah was not wax, he was actually a mummy who was given back his life and all his organs and strength as was his parents in last movie. So it would make sense that they would benefit from the magic to make them stronger when they were near the tablet.

Question: When Reginald says to Cecil "You really think he (Larry) is the one?" and then Cecil replies "Oh yes, he's the one", are we already suppose to know that Cecil, Reginald and Gus are the villains?

Answer: Not necessarily know it, but it's a clue that foreshadows their culpability.

raywest

Plot hole: Why does Larry wait until the Mayans come alive to lock them up? I know he's allowed to be stupid but he had a lot of time to sit and do nothing and I can see no reason to wait.

More mistakes in Night at the Museum

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

More quotes from Night at the Museum

Trivia: At the unemployment office, when Larry Daley (played by Ben Stiller) speaks to Debbie he says that he felt a connection with her when he first walked into her office and with a deadpan face she quips back that she did not. Debbie is played by Ben Stiller's real-life mom, actress and comedian, Anne Meara.

Super Grover

More trivia for Night at the Museum

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