This is an amusing and entertaining adventure comedy in C.G. animation . The donkey named Rucio, Sancho' s donkey , tells the actual tale of Don Quixote and defends the idea that he wasn't nutty , but in reality, Quixote was a very smart , prudent and sensible . We then follow Don Quixote on their adventures , his squire Sancho Panza and a real horse named Rocinante , Quixote' s faithful steed who hates leaving his stable and his chickens . All of them being deceived in dark schemes by the wealthiest man in town nicknamed 'El Bachiller' and his hoodlum named Avellaneda (who wrote another famous book , a rip-off titled ¨El Quijote de Avellaneda¨) . Meanwhile , Quixote and Sancho take on numerous dangers and adventures . Quixote and Sancho are double-crossed by a nasty duke and a hysteric duchess . After that , Sancho goes to the island of Barataria , but on the road he returns to help his friend Quixote . Later on ,they head Barcelona, there will take place a definitive tournament against El Bachiller , Avellaneda and the Knight of the Moon and if Quixote wins the duel the true identity of Dulcinea will be revealed.

The movie is an enjoyable animation film , fitting in minimum part to ¨Don Quijote De La Mancha¨ by Miguel Cervantes y Saavedra. It deals with a Donkey which wants to be a horse , the enthusiast , passionate knight Don Quixote , his fellow squire Sancho , Quixote's best friend and the feeble Rocinante . The film is quite amusing with emphasis on cartoon spectacle and influenced by ¨Shrek¨ but perhaps don't appeal little boys because there are some sexual references and is more adjusted a parents guide . There are several silly scenes and a lot of anachronisms as when they travel surrounded by recent wind mills and when they get to Barcelona, in the tent there is a spring clothespin holding up a modern mirror . Film direction by Jose Pozo is nice , Andrea Guerra's music is first-rate and very spectacular . This sensitive soundtrack is splendidly performed by London Symphony Orchestra . Production by Julio Fernandez, ruling of Filmax Productions and Fantastic Factory is fine . He has become one of the most important producers of the country . Actually, the position of his organization responds fully to the opportunities of the European and international markets in the leisure sector, emphasizing on the fantastic genre, through Fantastic Factory and animation with Filmax Animation, to the global market on home video, television and also theatrically . He has produced successful cartoon films as ¨El Raton Perez I and II¨ or "The Hairy Tooth Fairy", ¨Gisaku¨ , ¨El Cid : the legend¨ also directed by Jose Pozo and ¨Goomer¨, among others .

¨DonkeyXote¨ results to be another of uncountable versions dealing with the unforgettable novel ¨Don Quijote De La Mancha¨ by Miguel Cervantes y Saavedra . Other renditions are the following : ¨Don Quijote De La Mancha¨ by Rafael Gil with Rafael Rivelles, Juan Calvo and Sara Montiel ; ¨Orson Welles' Don Quijote¨ with Akim Tamiroff , ¨Don Quijote Cabalga De Nuevo¨ by Roberto Gabaldon with Cantinflas and Fernando Fernan Gomez ; ¨Man of Mancha¨ by Arthur Hiller with Peter O'Toole and Sofia Loren and ¨El Caballero Don Quijote¨ by Manuel Gutierrez Aragon with Juan Luis Galiardo and Carlos Iglesias . And for TV : ¨Don Quijote¨ by Peter Yates with John Lightgow and Bob Hoskins and ¨Don Quijote De Miguel De Cervantes¨ by Manuel Gutierrez Aragon with Alfredo Landa and Fernando Rey .

I've just seen the English dubbed Spanish DVD. With Pixar raising the bar and Disney and others raising their game to produce high quality animated movies with great stories it is hard to comprehend how this got made. The animation is fine but the story ... oh dear. Set some time after the well known story of Don Quixote this follows the same group as they try to find Dulcinea but the story is told from the point of view of their steeds - a brave donkey and a cowardly horse. Was this only made with Government/European Union taxpayer subsidies to help the Spanish film industry (a 'europudding')? I suspect so as the number of logos appearing in the credits is amazing. If you are a fan of Don Quixote you won't like this - If you aren't a fan you still won't like this!

I decided to watch this movie with my girlfriend as we are both animation fans, but in the end I almost fell asleep as midway in the movie my interest in it had faded to nought.

In terms of animation, Donkey Xote is not bad, but that's pretty much the only thing it's got going for it. Characters lack a certain charisma and that's painfully obvious when the collage to Shrek is more notorious, namely with Rucio. This donkey could well be, well, Donkey's twin and I wonder how many kids will get fooled and then disappointed since Rucio pales in comparison.

The story itself is weak, feels rushed with some plot devices ending in seconds, others with a purpose that doesn't seem to exist. Everything also feels dumbed down, with only a few moments where the jokes don't feel cliché and hugely predictable. The characters are thrown at you with little in the way of introduction, their rich background quite absent, and I feel you really don't get many chances to end up relating to most of them.

Sure this movie will be passable for kids, but the beauty of movies like Shrek is that the plots were deep enough with some more adult jokes thrown in to appeal to older audiences. That is something I found this movie quite lacking. Another thing is that Donkey Xote also missed a great opportunity to give children a taste of one of humanity's most brilliant literary works, replacing it with something rather flat.