A cute little fiesta of a Netflix movie transitioned from a Nickelodeon show.
The age process for the demigoddess Punguari (voiced by Paulina Chávez) is conflicting for me. She’s 12,000 years old, which is the equivalent to a human preteen age of 12. I can assume the aging process for gods are slow or one human year equals 1,000 god years. She’s so ambitious to be a full god that she’s always arguing her mother-the god Sisiki (voiced by Kate Del Castillo) and steals her father’s (voiced by Cristo Fernández) wand to open a portal, puts on a magical mask, and becomes a full god. Only for her mother to turn her into a mountain when danger strikes.
That’s the opening scene in ancient Mexico in “The Casagrandes Movie,” a cute made-for-Netflix movie based on the “Loud House” spin-off series on Nickelodeon. And the main heroine of the show and movie, Ronnie Anne (voiced by Izabella Alvarez), is also having mommy issues, except she’s 11,988 years younger than Punguari, and she wants to go skateboarding all summer for her 12 birthday. But, instead, she’s roped into going to Mexico with her family, as part of her Mexican heritage. Even her mother Maria (voiced by Sumalee Montano) makes an extensive activity list.
She sneaks off to go skateboarding on the sacred mountain, and wears a necklace that frees Punguari from her imprisonment. The demigod disguises herself as a human girl named Shara, although being that this is a cartoon, nobody is suspicious when she says “my human name is……Shar….rraa.” Now this is too predictable, even for fans over the age of 9, but unlike the kraken and mermaid friendship in “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken” and like the Spengler granddaughter and her ghost friend in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” it actually has its heart in the right place, and makes you relate to Ronnie Anne and Punguari.
I was kind of mixed about “The Loud House Movie” three years ago, but I liked “The Casagrandes Movie” even more. It has an antagonist with more meaning than the last one. It uses a rainbow of colors, which helps bring out the movie’s taste in exuberance and Mexican culture. And I appreciate its own messages of family and maturity, not on a “Coco” level, but more on a “Book of Life” level.
The screenplay isn’t perfect, but it is appealing in its own preteen spirited way, and I still can’t understand this whole 1,000 year age difference between gods and humans. Maybe that’s also what makes it appealing.
And as a cartoon, it chooses to be a cartoon, one where the humans and parrots can understand each other, one when the Casagrandes family can fight against the demons of the underworld, and one that chooses to be goofy without desperation. In fact, I found its “Rocko’s Modern Life” throwback more than the “SpongeBob SqaurePants” one, because of how early it was on the kids network. It wouldn’t hurt for us to travel back in time a bit.
Streaming on Netflix