The Emperor's New Groove (December 15, 2000)

This movie is hilarious. It is filed with numerous quotable lines, delivered by amazing voice actors, and great observational humor. Its animation style is simple, but it works because it is sharp and fluid. The film performed disappointingly at the box office and had a troubled development, shifting from being a musical epic to a buddy comedy, but has since found new life on home media, becoming something of a cult hit (at least for Disney standards). It spawned a direct-to-video sequel, Kronk’s New Groove, and a Tv show, The Emperor’s New School (which I would watch on occasion when I was younger). Kronk is the best character, hands down, He steals the spotlight in whatever scene he is in; He is such a lovable imbecile with a heart of gold. He bounces off well with anyone but Yzma, Kuzco’s former advisor is the perfect foil for him. She is equally as wacky but also evil and diabolical, which leads to great interactions between the two as she plots Kuzco’s downfall after he fired her from her position after she continually tried to do Kuzco’s job. The main plot of the story, however, revolves around the aforementioned Kuzco, the emperor of the Incan empire, who is a massive air head and royal jerk. I cannot overstate how much I dislike him, and how unlikable he is throughout the majority of the film. He has plans to build a royal summer home on a hilltop, in complete disregard for the family that lives there and has lived there for generations. The father of this family, Pacha, is summoned to the palace and informed of this plan. He is incredulous at this proposal and implores Kuzco to reconsider, which Kuzco disregards. After this meeting Kuzco has a meeting with Yzma (who intends to poison him). Instead, through a comedy of errors, Kuzco is instead transformed into a Llama. He is then bagged and ends up in a Pacha’s wagon. There they end up going on an adventure together as Pacha agrees to help Kuzco in exchange for moving his summer palace elsewhere. They are an odd pair, in both personality and appearance, but it works to great comedic effect. This is arguably Disney Animation’s funniest film. It holds up even after repeated viewings over the years. That being said I am held back from giving it a higher rating because of my intensive dislike of Kuzco. Even at the end when he seemingly reforms, he is still very much the royal brat he started out as, just a tiny bit more compassionate. I wish he had undergone a more dramatic and permanent personality change- but I suppose if he had Disney could not have continued to milk the franchise. Complaint aside, The Emperor’s New Groove is one of the better movies to be produced by Disney, Post 1990s Renaissance and well worth a watch as it will leave you in stitches.

Final Rating: 8/10