Review by C.J. Bunce
If you’ve heard of Casa Bonita, it probably means one of two things to you. If you’re a fan of South Park, it’s the theme park restaurant that Cartman desperately struggles to visit in a classic 2003 episode of the show. But if you’re from Colorado, you also know that Casa Bonita is a real place–a Denver area destination for family fun that mixes Showbiz Pizza or Chuck E. Cheese with the classic American tourist trap. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone grew up with the original and when it filed for bankruptcy they saw the opportunity to save a real-life Disneyland of their youth. The documentary ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor! chronicles their efforts to save the restaurant, and it’s streaming now on Paramount+.
Everyone has experienced something like Casa Bonita in their town or region. In South Dakota there’s the destination spot Wall Drug with its silver dollar bar and homemade cinnamon rolls. Des Moines, Iowa, once had rides and more at Riverview Park and it still has Adventureland with it’s old-time town. Vancouver, Washington, had Uncle Milt’s Pizza. Bigger venues like Coney Island and Disney World and Disneyland are well-known by many. We’ve celebrated time travel trips into the past here at borg looking at places like Disneyland’s House of the Future.
When it closed as another victim of the pandemic, Parker and Stone joked about saving it. To them it was their Disneyland, that fun place they could escape to as a kid. Like viewers saw in the South Park episode, Casa Bonita featured a 30-foot Acapulco-inspired waterfall complete with cliff divers. It had animatronic characters that sometimes did–and sometimes didn’t–follow its Mexican restaurant theme.
Director Arthur Bradford takes viewers for a nostalgic ride in ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor! The passion Parker and Stone have for this place is infectious. When the budget they committed to the project climbs in excess of $30 million they manage to keep a sense of humor about this business investment, which is ultimately successful, and today Coloradoans are back with an updated restaurant featuring a mix of the original destination and a few South Park twists.
When they bought the facility out of bankruptcy it was a purchase as-is and with all faults. The duo didn’t do the typical due diligence or, they admit, they likely would have backed out of the project. The cliff diving area was just waiting for someone to get electrocuted and the environmental systems were dangerous, with leaking pipes and caked-on dust and mold. All the basics of any business needed replaced, in addition to the air conditioners, carpets, floors, and kitchen.
Fun components of the documentary follow Parker as he micro-manages the project, personally directing the animated creatures to be just as he remembered before directing the staff to view the performance theater elements as the Old West from the vantage of the 1970s.
The result is 90 minutes of fun watching someone with resources fulfill a dream of their youth. And the film has a fairy tale happy ending beyond the completion of the venue revealed at the end. Fun for fans of 1970s nostalgia, South Park, real-life historical time travel trips, and anyone who loves Five Nights at Freddy’s crazy creatures, ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor! is streaming now on Paramount+.
