Real life presidential portrait of Theodore Roosevelt
- “Some men are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them.”
- ―Theodore Roosevelt to Larry Daley
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt is a wax statue in the Museum of Natural History. He is located just to the right jkaathe information booth. He is based on the 26th President of the United States and he is sitting on a wax horse.
He is the deuteragonist of the film series, serving as the tritagonist of Night at the Museum, one of the three overarching protagonists of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (the other two being Dr. McPhee and Ahkmenrah), and the deuteragonist of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again. His bust serves as a supporting character in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Overview[]
Night at the Museum[]
Theodore Roosevelt is the one who taught Larry Daley about the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. Theodore as also shown to have a romantic interest in Sacagawea.
He is very kind to Larry and acts as a father figure to him after getting him away from the conflicting dioramas. On Larry's second night, Theodore Roosevelt breaks up a slap fight between Larry and Dexter.
When Cecil Fredericks, Gus, and Reginald steal the tablet and lock Larry and his son Nick in Ahkmenrah's exhibit, Larry calls for Theodore Roosevelt to help get them out. Theodore however thinks he can't help Larry and Nick and has Larry use his wits since he is not like the real Theodore Roosevelt (despite Larry saying he can't do it). After Larry and Nick get out with Ahkmenrah's help and rallies the exhibits, Theodore Roosevelt watches Larry from one of the balconies (it's likely Theodore regretted not helping Larry and Nick after Larry gave his speech to the exhibits). Later, Cecil splits Roosevelt in half inadvertently with the stagecoach and Sacagawea lights a fire to heat his wax half together
Battle of the Smithsonian[]
In Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Theodore Roosevelt is one of the overarching protagonists of the movie (along with Dr. McPhee and Ahkmenrah), because he briefly appears in the beginning and the end of the movie, despite appearing in all of the promotional works.
He tells Larry that he, Ahkmenrah, Rexy, and the Easter Island Head will remain at the museum after it's remodeling while the others will be sent to the archives in Washington DC. Later on, at the National Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institution, Larry came across a bust of Teddy. He was very jealous of "New York Teddy" for having a body and a horse. The Teddy bust said that he would help decipher the code on the Tablet if Larry scratched his nose for him because he doesn't have any arms He did help, but his decipher was useless and when Larry told him that, he got mad and told Larry to see if New York Teddy's horse would lick it.
Secret of the Tomb[]
To be written.
Kahmunrah Rises Again[]
To be written.
Battle of the Smithsonian (Video Game)[]
Wii/PC/Xbox 360[]
In the majority of the versions of the games, Teddy appears only in the beginning when Larry is at the Museum of Natural History. After Larry says goodbye to Jedediah and Octavius, the hologram of Theodore starts to malfunction, leaving Larry to check it out. As he does, we see Teddy kicking at the base of where he use to stand, calling the hologram a piece of junk before Larry says hi. This leads Theodore to say hi to Larry before telling him to cheer up, giving a small pep talk which Larry calls "wonderfully useless". Teddy once again tells Larry to be positive before giving him a 'keepsake' to remember them bye, which is Lewis and Clark's compass. After Larry thanks him, he decides to say goodbye on his own, having faith in Larry before walking away, with Larry saying he'll try to be more positive.
In Museums[]
Naturalist, Rough Rider, and the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt is in various museums.
Museum of Natural History[]
Theodore Roosevelt and his horse, Little Texas
There is a wax model of Theodore Roosevelt and his horse, Little Texas. The wax model, according to Robin Williams's character, was made in a mannequin factory in Poughkeepsie, New York.
The Smithsonian Castle[]
In 1904, while Roosevelt was a former presiding officer of the United States Senate, he was requested by that body to sit for a sculpted bust. He requested that the sculptor was Augustus Saint-Gaudens, but he was sick, so Roosevelt chose James Earle Fraser, his personal assistant. He wanted the bust to look like him, with his head thrown back, and his glasses on. His first impression to The Senate itself failed. The clay statue impressed the president, but The Senate didn't like it. Fraser had done the bust with Roosevelt's Rough Rider outfit on. His second impression was less impressive, but the Senate liked it. It was marble, with bronze painted on it. Made in 1920, it is now sitting in one of the halls in The Smithsonian, in Washington, D.C.
Real Life Roosevelt[]
Teddy was born on October 27, 1858, in New York, on 20th Street. His parents were wealthy, but Teddy was frail and suffered from asthma. His dad encouraged him to get healthy by indulging in sports, like boxing. His mom took him out on walks. One time they had to get away from pollution and fled into the Catskill Mountains. He got into politics in 1880, after graduation from Harvard. He became a republican. He married twice. Tragedy struck in 1884, 4 years after he graduated: on Valentine's Day, his wife died after giving birth to their first daughter, and his mother died the same day. Heartbroken, he fled New York and left his daughter behind. He fled to Medora, North Dakota, and became a cattle rancher. Having found peace, he went back to New York, and took care of his daughter, Alice. Besides, he married again, this time, one of his neighbors. With this, he took care of 6 children, Alice, Theodore Jr., Kermit, Archibald, Ethel, and Quentin. He became vice president to William McKinley in 1900. McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo, New York, in September 1901. Roosevelt was also a police commissioner, and governor of New York. He took the presidency in 1901, just after McKinley's assassination. He was a colonel, fight for the United States Veterans (USV) in the Battle of San Juan Hill in 1898. Serving two terms, he lost to William Howard Taft in 1909. On October 14, 1912 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just 13 days before his 54th birthday, Roosevelt was shot by John Schrank. His 50-page-speech was shot by the bullet. It took 90 minutes, but it was clear. Roosevelt died on January 6, 1919 from a coronary thrombosis at the age of 60.
Trivia[]
- The only time he has a big role in a film is Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, where he is one of the overarching protagonists (along with Ahkmenrah and Dr. McPhee). A lot of the advertisements show that Teddy will be coming with Larry to save the exhibits and retrieve the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. Since the sequel's release however, he briefly appears in the beginning and the end, making him stay in New York for a majority of the film, despite him being mentioned at one point. His actor is credited in the opening credits, but his bust is uncredited from the credits.
- Rather than calling Larry Daley by his common name, he instead refers to him as Lawrence.
- In the 4th movie, Teddy gifts Nick 'his old glasses case', which is weird because this is never mentioned in any other movie beforehand. Whether these were the actual Teddy Roosevelt's glasses case or the wax figure's is up to spectulation.
- Along with that, Teddy mentions that it saved him from an assassination's bullet with the bullet 'wound' on it being shown. Once again, this is strange, seeing as this could imply that these are the real Teddy's glasses case, that whoever made the wax figure made this as well, or someone tried to shoot at Teddy, the wax figure, to kill him.