Did you catch those Colorado references in "Napoleon Dynamite?"

QUESTION: My friend says Manitou Springs was in the movie “Napoleon Dynamite." True or not?
- Pedro

ANSWER: You betcha, Pedro! It got a mention. When smarmy Uncle Rico is eyeing Starla and trying to sell her his Bust Must Plus, he says, “Now if you look right here, we have Sally Johnson from Manitou, Colorado. Would you like to read her testimonial right here?”

And there was another Colorado reference. Uncle Rico says, “Grandma took a little spill at the sand dunes today. Broke her coccyx.” Napoleon asks, “What the flip was Grandma doing at the sand dunes?”

Was any filming done at Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes or anywhere in Colorado? Nope. It was all in Idaho where writer/director Jared Hess was born and Utah, where he went to college and now lives.

Kevin Shand, executive director of the Colorado Film Commission, heard that one of the guys involved with the production is from Colorado and said that’s probably how the references were added. “Sometimes they just like the name of something, the way it sounds.” Although “Napoleon Dynamite” wasn’t filmed in Colorado, many other movies and TV shows were and are. Just for fun go to www.coloradofilm.org/filmography.html for a list of films that go back to the 1890s.

By the way, the state’s sites get regular mentions on the animated show “South Park.” Later this week, moviemakers will be on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus working on “The City of Your Final Destination.” (It stars Anthony Hopkins, but unfortunately he won’t be shooting any scenes at the campus.) And Rob Reiner will be at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area for a movie shoot in late February or early March.