Emil and the Detectives

In life and in movies Kids should be Kids.   It’s fun to be a part of the joy of a band of kids searching for buried treasure or a dead body, putting on a talent show, or just playing baseball.  As a youth I rode around on my bikes, played games and did other things befitting a boy of a young age. The activities that were either dangerous or unlikely to happen to me in real life, I sought out in the world of Cinema and books. ‘Emil and the Detectives I would have watched and loved had I seen it back in the day.  It’s still rather amusing at 40, reminding me that yes, they did once make decent smart films with and about kids.

 Taking place in the great country of Germany,  as Emil  is sitting on a train on his way to visit his grandmother and cousin in Berlin, He is robbed by a petty crook named Grundeis who is on his way to a big bank heist with a mysterious villain, thought to be dead,  known as ‘The Barron’. The bright and unmatched colors (which resembles some of my wardrobe choices) and peculiar way of walking make Grundeis stand out from the crowd.  He is one of a trio of crooks known as ‘The Skrinks’.   Emil discovers that this Skrink has stolen his grandmother’s money and follows him off the train in hopes of getting his money back. 

As follows the Skrink to a restaurant he is meet by a local boy named Gustav. Gustav offers his services as a tour guide around the city.  Seeing that Emil is not interested in touring the city, he offers the services of his Detective agency to get back his stolen money.   Emil accepts and Gustav rounds up his gang of wacky detectives as they try and track down the Skrink who has stolen his money.  Eventually the bigger badder bank job comes into the picture, increasing the excitement and danger to the kids.

Emil is a fun picture that comes from the children’s classic 1929 novel.  Despite being filmed several times it is rare to find any such version easily available on DVD and takes a little detective work to find.  Again thanks to Amazon on Demand this rare Disney film is once again presented to the viewing public. (AOD is the only place to watch this picture unless you can find a VHS version somewhere).    

One of the interesting things about this picture is that the kids realize the reality that it is important to include adults in their adventurous endeavors.  As they spy on the Skrinks, they don’t do anything in violation of the law accept   lying here and there to achieve their detective ends.  It is a good reminder in spite of this to remind young (and older viewers alike) that it never justifiable to do un-virtuous actions (lying) to achieve good ends (bringing crooks to justice and finding stolen money.) 

Back when this book was written the world was a different place.  The film has been updated from a 1920’s world to the fabulous 60’s with all its wonderful modern conveniences like television. Watching this picture makes me curious as to what the original book was like in its original setting and form and how exactly how much has changed in the story.  Any movie that might make you want to go back to the original source material and read has to be at least considered for family viewing.

Rent the movie, get the book, talk about the differences and go back to the innocent world of kid creativity and imagination.