The Emperor's Newest Clothes

I think it totally failed, as it's so unbelievable. Wasn't the premise of H.C. Andersen's original that only (supposedly) super-sophisticated people could actually see the new, super-sophisticated clothes, therefore nobody - including the emperor - wanted to admit that they couldn't see the clothing? How hard would it have been to have incorporated that into this story and to have made it believable? I don't understand how that could have been missed. I really don't. I would love to hear anyone's interpretation as to why I am wrong, because I am simply left dumbfounded after watching the movie.