The Emperor's New Groove
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 "Hah! Boom baby!"
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The Emperor's New Groove is a 2000 American buddy comedy animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures through Buena Vista Pictures Distribution on December 15, 2000. The 40th animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon, the film is a comedy including adult and child humor, and stars the voice cast of David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, Patrick Warburton, and Wendie Malick. Produced by Randy Fullmer and directed by Mark Dindal over a six-year production timeline, The Emperor's New Groove was altered significantly from its original concept as a more traditional Disney musical entitled Kingdom of the Sun, to have been directed by Dindal and Roger Allers (co-director of The Lion King). A direct-to-video sequel, Kronk's New Groove, was released in 2005, and an animated spin-off, The Emperor's New School, aired on the Disney Channel from 2006 to 2008.
Plot
In Incan empire, arrogant young Emperor Kuzco is transformed into a llama by his power-hungry advisor -- the devious diva Yzma, and her dim-witted henchmen, Kronk. Stranded in the jungle, Kuzco's only chance to get back home and reclaim the high life rests with a good-hearted peasant named Pacha. Together, they must return Kuzco to the throne palace and change back into a human, before Yzma tracks them down and finishes him off.
Why It's All About Kuzco (And To Lesser Extents, Pacha, Kronk and Yzma)
- Unlike most Disney animated films, it has no musical numbers.
- It could be considered the Disney version of the Looney Tunes because of how hilariously zany it is.
- Memorable characters like Kuzco, Pacha, and Kronk.
- Great voice acting especially from David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton.
- Proper character development: Kuzco starts off as a pampered, selfish jerk who cares about being emperor, until he learns that there's more to life than being the emperor, making him a likable and sympathetic protagonist.
- This movie has respectful depiction of Incan culture.
- Great animation, as for the previous Disney animated films.
- Yzma is a hilarious and excellent main antagonist who seeks Kuzco's throne for herself and Eartha Kitt did a good job voicing her.
- Many hilarious and hysterical moments and running gags throughout movie, like Yzma tells Kronk to pull the lever for the secret lab, but turns out he did pull the wrong lever, making Yzma falls down into water, in which also become a meme.
- Great and catchy songs, like "Perfect World" by Tom Jones, "Walk the Llama Llama" by Rascal Flatts and especially "My Funny Friend and Me" by Sting, the latter ends up being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001.
- There are some pretty cool and funny chase scenes, like how Kuzco and Pacha starts runs away to get the temple, with Yzma and Kronk sees the line and start the chases.
- It is a parody of most Disney films, which is what makes it special and original.
- The way with the brick pacing works very well, despite having very short runtime.
- Despite most of the film being funny, it does make room for some heartwarming and touching moments.
- The film uses the misunderstanding plot to take up the advantage, and does a good job at it.
- The ending was nice, where Kuzco joins Pacha's family.
- These memorable quotes:
- "Oh, right. The poison. The poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco's poison. That poison? Yes, that poison!"
- "Beware of the Groove! The Groove!!'"
- "Pull the lever, Kronk. *hits wrong lever* Wrong lever! Huh? Why do we even have that lever?"
- "Uh oh. Don't tell me, we are about to go over a huge waterfall. Yep. Sharp rocks at the bottom? Most likely. Bring it on. *the log falls off the waterfall* AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
- "Oh yeah, it's all coming together."
- "By all accounts, it doesn't make sense."
- "Yay! I'm a llama again! Wait. (Kuzco figuring out he's still a llama)"
- "Hate you hair. Not likely. Yikes. Yikes. Yikes. And, let me guess, you have a "great" personality."
Bad Qualities
- While likable, Kuzco can be a too jerk at times, especially at the beginning. He also fired Yzma for no other reason (though it was somewhat justified since Yzma keeps trying to take Kuzco's job).
- While it was funny, it can be a little bit weird and predictable.
Reception
The Emperor's New Groove received positive feedback from critics and audiences, who praised it as one of the best films released during Disney's post-Renaissance era and the most comedic as well as John Debney's score. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 86% approval rating based on 132 reviews and an average of 7.08/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Emperor's New Groove isn't the most ambitious animated film, but its brisk pace, fresh characters, and big laughs make for a great time for the whole family.". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 70 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Roger Ebert, writing his review for Chicago Sun-Times, awarded the film 3 (out of 4) stars distinguishing the film as "a goofy slapstick cartoon, with the attention span of Donald Duck that is separate from what's known as animated features". Ebert would later add that "it doesn't have the technical polish of a film like Tarzan, but is a reminder that the classic cartoon look is a beloved style of its own."
Box office
Despite positive reviews and making back to its budget, The Emperor's New Groove performed disappointingly at the box office compared to Disney films released in the 1990s, grossing $89.3 million in the United States and an additional $80 million worldwide for a total of $169.6 million on a $100-million budget, the lowest box office earnings for an animated Disney feature since the 1980s. However, the film found larger success when it was released for home media, and became the best-selling DVD of 2001. In January 2021, the movie was re-released in theaters, and earned an additional $334,000.
Awards
The Emperor's New Groove was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "My Funny Friend and Me", performed by Sting; that award went to "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan from Wonder Boys.
Video
Trivia
- Despite the phrasing of the title, the film was not related to Hans Christian Andersen's classic Danish fairy tale "The Emperor's New Clothes" (although both stories involve an emperor being tricked). However, according to Mark V. Moorhead of the Houston Press, the film's plot does bear some resemblance to that of The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius, wherein a man is turned into a donkey.
- Eisner worried that the new story was too close in tone to Hercules, which had performed decently yet below expectations at the American box office. Dindal and Fullmer assured him that The Emperor's New Groove, as the film was now called, would have a much smaller cast, making it easier to attract audiences. Towards end of production, the film's ending originally had Kuzco building his Kuzcotopia amusement park on another hill by destroying a rainforest near Pacha's home and inviting the former and his family to visit. Horrified at the ending, Sting commented that "I wrote them a letter and said, 'You do this, I'm resigning because this is exactly the opposite of what I stand for. I've spent 20 years trying to defend the rights of indigenous people and you're just marching over them to build a theme park. I will not be party to this.'" As a result, the ending was rewritten in which Kuzco instead constructs a shack similar to Pacha's and spends his vacation among the villagers.
- A documentary, The Sweatbox, details the production troubles that The Emperor's New Groove endured during its six years' development.
- This movie spawned many memes.