Elena of Avalor: Realm of the Jaquins is an intense animated action film that kids will more than likely adore. It has all the wonderful elements of a good movie, as well as additional episodes to keep the Jaquin theme of the release going.
I have to have more faith in Disney and their quality. I’m not sure where my trust dropped off with their decision-making, but it did, and I’m never on point with my initial opinions when it comes to their shows. Once I sit down, review them, I always find they are far better than expected. This latest Disney review falls on Elena of Avalor: Realm of the Jaquins, and that continuation of good quality animated features is on point.
If you’re not familiar with Elena of Avalor, it’s a young person’s show about a princess that is learning to rule over the city of Avalor. She goes on a lot of adventures to discover and learn about parts of her country and residents inside of it, as well as learning things that will help her rule over Avalor one day — in a nice way. The tales are endless, as they should be for a kid’s cartoon, but surprisingly the adventures are well thought out and entertaining, as is the case here.
In this particular DVD release of the show, it features an 89-minute movie revolving around mystical creatures called the Jaquins, basically large cats with wings, that protect Avalor and Elena’s kingdom. There are a few more related episodes to the Jaquins’ release, but for the most part the brunt of the release revolves around the 89-minute movie. And they get every minute out of that storyline.
The movie goes like this. Elena is out supporting a few Jaquins that are training to be protectors of Avalor’s kingdom. The cats are going to compete to see if they can pass certain trials, obtain hidden statues, and bring them back in 10-minutes before a magical timer is up. The first act of the movie is this competition, which gets sabotaged by evil residents, Carla and Victor Delgado, who are looking to break into the Jaquins’ kingdom, a magical land, and disrupt/destroy the residents of Avalor with a powerful sprite trapped by the cats. By sabotaging the competition, one of the Jaquins is disqualified, which sets Elena off to the Jaquins kingdom to plead with their king to forgive the disqualified beast, and let them become a protect. It’s a fairly simple setup, but one with depth that isn’t usually seen in a cartoon like this. The story lets everything develop and bake long enough to understand all the details. It’s in no particular rush, which is uncommon, and it all makes sense within the scheme of the story.
Anyway, Elena and the Jaquins open a portal to their land, while Carla and Victor slip in undetected, and Elena and company find the king of the Jaquins less than hospitable to their presence, specially Elena’s. The king of the Jaquins tells Elena that she isn’t welcomed, also explains how the last time a human set foot in their land that it unlocked a mad spirit that was set on destroying Avalor. Of course, right on time, Victor and Carla help to release that same spirit, named Marimonda, a rhyming plant lover that is hellbent on destroying structures and replacing them with giant plants, and the act tumbles into chaos.
Surprisingly, the setup and execution of the second act is quite good. The reasoning that the Jaquin give Elena with regard to her hostile presence is valid, as well as the stakes of releasing Marimonda to the world. The motivation of Victor and Carla is kind of muddled, though, as they want to rule over Avalor, but logically speaking there will be no Avalor to rule over if Marimonda gets ahold of it. The episode doesn’t really get into that train of thought much, it’s a cartoon for young kids, so that’s understandable, but it needed to be addressed. Regardless of plot holes, to add some intensity to the whole situation of potential destruction from an evil sprite, Marimonda is brilliantly played boy Noel Wells, who delivers a dastardly evil performance wrapped up in song to make the whole situation feel as if there is a legitimate threat to Avalor. It’s a beautiful performance for a kid’s show, and it distracts from the obvious holes in the plot.
In true DC fashion, we won’t discuss how everything is resolved, though, I’m sure you can guess on your own. I will say that the third act does a good job of getting wrapped up, as well as leaving the door open for a new villain to take shape. The latter of that sentence will continue with the third show included with this DVD set, so you won’t have to wait long to see the story’s continuation.
Overall, Elena of Avalor: Realm of the Jaquins is an intense animated action film that kids will more than likely adore. It has all the wonderful elements of a good movie, as well as additional episodes to keep the Jaquin theme of the release going. My youngest adores this DVD, so I’m sure Elena of Avalor: Realm of the Jaquins will be worn out before I know it.
