The Emperor's New Clothes (1987)

again. i'm always surprised at how well Cannon MovieTales pulls this off. low budget and with little resource, but strangely lavish just the same. and a very complete musical. Cannon MovieTales achieves this by using the same sets and costumes over again for re-use, and they commission music from little recognized composer and musical arranger Stephen Lawrence. more than likely the budget for these films goes to paying the salaries of the numerous name celebrity actors they acquire for their productions.very few young people, at the time this was produced, realized the notability of having a musical at that time that featured veteran talents like Sid Ceasar and Robert Morse singing. Ceasar was a comedy legend and Morse was in 'The Loved One' and originated the Broadway role in 'Suceed in Business' that Daniel Radcliffe is now winning acclaim for currently.Stephen Lawrence's songs are not always the most memorable showtunes written or composed, but they are more ambitious than you would expect for these projects, and more than satisfactorily answer the call of duty.these films also always seem rather lavish for their modest budgets, but anyone who becomes familiar with Cannon MovieTales, knows they compensate by re-using sets and costumes. it's very effective cost cutting. and even though you can see the Date and Palm trees of Israel in the landscapes (these movies are produced there), they effectively convey the European fairy stories they are made to depict.this was a nice production and they provided Ceasar and Morse with a ample amount of song tunes to warble. it was also cute to see Jason Carter here from Jim Henson's 'Storyteller' and the 'Jackanory' children's series.i really enjoy Cannon Movietale's fairy tale tellings. despite their limitations, they create a wonderful world that is faithful to the source, creates a theatrical "movie-like" feeling, and provides a musical version of the age old stories.

I give this a 3 because kids can watch this movie without having to worry about it being offensive.While agree it is tough to stretch a five to ten minute fairy tale into a 90 minute production the Cannon/Gollan-Globus group did it.They did so by adding all too forgettable musical numbers.Like all the "Cannon Fairy Tales"(CFT) this one is showing its age from many generations of video to video tape transfer. Colors are muddled if not blurry (this was watched on a Sony 1080p HD TV)and even old black and white shows like Mr. Ed look great)it reminds me getting a copy of a video from a friend after they copied a tape of a broadcast TV show they watched.This CFT is not scary at all unlike CTF's Princess and the Frog, the frog would easily scare a young child. The hair the nobility has is a laugh.Sid Ceasar is the Emperor, and unfortunately with a bad script even he could not save this show. It was common in CFT films to have one major or well known U.S. Actor in it. Like CFT's Hansel & Grettle the major actor was Cloris Leachman as the witch. While these major actors throw themselves into the part these films lacked a good script and other people that could actually perform or act.Many of these films share sets part of Cannon/Gollan-Globus cost saving plans. Many of them are shot in Isreal or other lower cost countries outside of the US.If this is on TV and you need something to occupy younger children, you couldn't go wrong with it but they may get board with it as well.

I love the Cannon Movie Tales; and I just bought this one. And even though some people don't like it. It isn't half bad! I enjoyed watching it very much. The songs arent to catchy sadly like The Frog Prince/Snow White are but still very fun to listen too. The Plot is excellent the costumes are fantastic. The sets are beautiful! It's very good along with other movie tales!

I have been a collector of the Cannon Movie Tales for years, and this one was a disappointment. The songs were ok, but far from impressive. The actors are okay, but rather boring. And there is really little to talk about. See the other movies in this series though. The Frog Prince, Rumpelstiltskin, and Beauty and the Beast are far, far superior. Skip this one, it isn't worth the trouble.