The Emperor's New Groove (film)

From AwardAnnals

Reviews

Amazon.com

Originally developed as an epic called Kingdom of the Sun, The Emperor’s New Groove lost scale and most of Sting’s song score (some of which can be heard on the soundtrack) on its way to the screen. The end result is the lightest Disney film in many a moon, a joyous romp akin to Aladdin in its quotient of laughs for kids and adults. The original story centers on the spoiled teenage emperor Kuzco (David Spade), who enjoys getting the best of his Aztecan subjects. When he fires Yzma (Eartha Kitt), his evil sorceress, she seeks revenge and turns Kuzco into a llama with the help of her hunk of the month, a lunk named Kronk (Patrick Warburton). Alone in the jungle, the talking llama is befriended by Pacha (John Goodman), who has just been told to vacate his pastoral home by the human Kuzco. What’s an ego to do? That’s pretty much the story and the characters—simple, direct, fun—a Disney film on a diet. For any fan of the acidic humor of Spade, this is essential viewing. As narrator of his tale, Kuzco uses a sarcastic tone to keep the story jumping with plenty of fun asides (he even “stops” the film at one point to make sure you know the story is about him). Even better is character actor Warburton (Elaine’s stuck-up boyfriend on Seinfeld), who steals every scene as the dim-witted, but oh-so-likable Kronk. There’s even a delicious Tom Jones number that starts the film off with a bang. —Doug Thomas

Barnes and Noble

If one views Disney as a sort of empire of children’s animation, then it’s not much of a stretch to assume that the emperor—in the wake of the technically awesome but relatively laugh-free Dinosaur—was in desperate need of a new groove. This feature, Disney’s loosest, hippest, and funniest animated work since Hercules, certainly delivers on that in spades. Or rather, David Spade, whose smart-alecky vocal stylings give the young and arrogant emperor Kuzco plenty of snap. John Goodman is the voice of gentle giant Pacha, a peasant whose home is slated for demolition so Kuzco can build his summer palace, Kuzcotopia. The indefatigable Eartha Kitt is the voice of the “scary beyond all reason” Yzma, the most memorable (and funniest) Disney villain since James Woods’s Hades. She schemes to kill Kuzco, but her plot backfires when her dense, scene-stealing sidekick Kronk (Patrick Warburton of The Tick) gives the unwitting Kuzco a potion that turns him into a llama instead. Kuzco gets Pacha to accompany him back to the castle to undo Yzma’s spell, and they predictably must learn to rely on each other to survive. But getting there is all the fun. The songs by Sting are a bit of a letdown, but they are the only flat notes in this rollicking little gem. Reportedly, this offbeat buddy comedy began life as something more epic and dramatic. Fortunately, funnier heads prevailed. Donald Liebenson

Related works

The Emperor's New Groove: Original Soundtrack

Sting, David Hartley, John Debney

Disney’s score-heavy soundtrack to the animated “Emperor’s New Groove” blends a scoop of splashy and sentimental contemporary tunes with a shovelful of evocative, masterfully crafted compositions. Big-name artists such as Shawn Colvin, Eartha Kitt, and Tom Jones each signed on to sing one of five Sting-penned songs, and Sting himself lends vocals to two tracks (one a duet with Colvin), so the stars are flying high. But fans of these folks may feel they’re forever flipping through the wordless orchestral numbers in search of the record’s radio-friendly fare. But…