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Don't let anything in... or out.
~ Cecil warning Larry.
Moving on.
~ Cecil's catch phrase.
Oh, yes. He's the one.
~ Cecil on Larry Daley before giving out his evil grin.

Cecil "C.J." Fredericks is the main antagonist of the 2006 family fantasy-comedy film Night at the Museum (which is based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Milan Trenc), and a minor character in the film, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.

He was portrayed by Dick Van Dyke, who also played Mr. Dawes Sr. in Disney's Mary Poppins. As a child in Secret of the Tomb, he was portrayed by Percy Hynes White.

Personality[]

Cecil is an evil, corrupt, and manipulative night guard who pretends to be friends with Larry Daley. He and his colleagues tried to frame him to get what he wanted, which led to his fate. However, in spite of his errors, he did reform in the threequel; he became a genuinely sympathetic, albeit a bit tricky and wise individual.

Appearance[]

Cecil is an old, white-haired man. He often wears a scarf around his black sweater, but he does wear a gray suit while doing his job.

Biography[]

Backstory[]

The only thing known about his early life was that in Egypt, he was a participant in an archaeological expedition where they discovered the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. Cecil discovered the tomb of Ahkmenrah's family accidentally when he plunged into a hidden pit that was later revealed to be the tomb entrance. His interest in the tablet began here.

Night at the Museum[]

By the time of the first film, Cecil is over 80 years old and had served in a library, and then the museum as a security guard.

In the first film, he is an elderly night security guard about to retire from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He hires Larry Daley, despite his unimpressive resumé. Because of recent financial troubles, the museum plans to replace Cecil and his two colleagues, Gus & Reginald, with one-night guard. They advise Larry to leave some of the lights on, and warn him not to let anything "in...or out".

Once night comes, Larry discovers that the exhibits come to life, which Cecil did not tell him since Larry won't believe him at first. After his instruction manual gets ripped apart by a monkey named Dexter, Cecil gives Larry advice to study history on the Internet of Things to prepare himself better. The next night, Larry uses what he has learned to better control the exhibits; however, things again go awry, and one of the exhibits, a Neanderthal man, goes outside when sunset comes and turns into dust. Museum curator Dr. McPhee almost fires Larry the next morning, but gives him one more night.

Larry brings his son, Nicky, to the museum to show him the exhibits come to life, but nothing happens. They investigate and catch Cecil, Gus, and Reginald in the act of stealing the Tablet and other valuable objects, as they reveal their true colors. Like the exhibits, the guards receive enhanced vitality from the artifact; wishing to retain their health and fund their retirements, the three plan to frame Larry for the real thefts, and disable the Tablet to stop the exhibits from interfering. Nicky reactivates the Tablet, but Cecil and his henchmen lock him and his father in the Egyptian room and flee with the Tablet.

Larry releases Ahkmenrah's mummy from his sarcophagus. The pharaoh speaks English for many years as an exhibit at Cambridge and helps Larry and Nick escape. The three find the other exhibits fighting all over the lobby, and Larry convinces them to work together. Although some of the exhibits capture Gus and Reginald without any difficulties, their boss, Cecil, escapes by stagecoach with Larry, Nicky, Ahkmenrah, Jedediah, Octavius, and Attila the Hun in pursuit in Central Park, where they stop him and regain the Tablet. At the end of the movie, Cecil, Gus, and Reginald are forced to become museum janitors instead of being sent to prison, though it may be an act of forced community service. It is later revealed in the third movie that Larry actually played a role in deciding their fate by talking the museum out of pressing charges (although it may have only been because Larry didn't think the guards, at their age, would have survived a prison sentence).

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian[]

Cecil, along with his colleagues, didn't return in the sequel; however, they did appear in the alternate ending included in the D.V.D. and Blu-ray releases.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb[]

Cecil and his cohorts return in the third movie, where they now reside in a retirement home. He appears to have reformed as he immediately tells Larry he is not interested in the Tablet anymore, and enjoys his time at the home. Cecil also helps Larry find answers when the Tablet's magic is disappearing. Cecil tells him to take it up with Ahkmenrah's father, Merenkahre, who, along with his wife, resides in the British Museum of Natural History. Cecil's past is revealed as he is the cause for the founding of Ahkmenrah and his parents while on an expedition with his father at a young age. Also, it is revealed that, despite his age, he is quite a skilled dancer.

Gallery[]

Navigation[]

           Night at the Museum Logo Villains

Museum of Natural History
Cecil Fredericks | Gus & Reginald

Smithsonian Institution
Kahmunrah | Al Capone | Ivan the Terrible | Napoleon Bonaparte

British Museum
Sir Lancelot | Xiangliu

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