Krippendorf's Tribe is a 1998 American comedy film directed by Todd Holland and based on Frank Parkin's 1985 novel of the same name. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, Jenna Elfman, Natasha Lyonne, and Lily Tomlin. Its plot follows Professor James Krippendorf (Dreyfuss), an anthropologist who, with the help of his three children, creates a fictitious lost New Guinea tribe to cover up his misuse of grant money. Krippendorf's Tribe was produced by Touchstone Pictures and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures, the former a label of and the latter a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The film received generally negative reviews, with criticism for its racial stereotypes. Plot Respected anthropologist James Krippendorf and his wife, Jennifer, bring their three children along during their much-enjoyed search in New Guinea for a lost tribe. The search fails, despite the family's best efforts. After Jennifer's death back in the U.S., James falls into academic stagnation, having spent all his foundation grant money raising the children as a single parent. Scheduled to lecture at a college and fearful of being charged with misuse of grant funds, James concocts an imaginary tribe, the Shelmikedmu, using the names of his children as a basis. He later fakes a 16 mm "documentary" film, casting his children as tribe members and superimposing footage of a legitimate New Guinean tribe so as to enhance the illusion. Anthropologist Veronica Micelli contacts cable-TV producer Henry Spivey, forcing James to continue creating fraudulent footage as James' rival Ruth Allen becomes suspicious. Because he has described a culture unlike any other, Krippendorf's fraud becomes increasingly famous. James himself masquerades as a tribal elder, while his two sons, Mickey and Edmund, create and enact increasingly imaginative rituals. Only the eldest child, James' daughter Shelly, refuses to participate due to her disgust at the dishonesty perpetrated by her father. Taking advantage of her curiosity, James tricks Veronica into participating in his false documentary. When she discovers the truth, she is initially angry, but later helps James continue his fraud. Ruth Allen travels to New Guinea, discovering no tribe in the location specified by James. She transmits the news via fax to a colleague, who exposes James at a gala. James' imaginative son, Mickey, improvises a lie, that the Shelmikedmu hide by means of a magical ritual known only to them. Unknown to the majority of the characters, Shelly has contacted the New Guineans befriended by