not your typical Disney fare

Rating: Null/10 (26 July 2004)

And that is a GOOD thing. Disney used to make good animated features when I was younger (e.g. Aladdin, Lion King, etc), movies that managed to toe the line between overly sentimental smarmy and utterly mindless fart jokes, all the while throwing in a catchy (if frequently annoying) musical number or ten; nowadays they make pretty well unmitigated garbage. From about the time they made Pocahontas on... ugh, it all got so preachy, lost the ability to make the adults suffering through the movie laugh at a few choice 'older' jokes secreted in - sorry, I'm blathering.
Anyway, Emperor's New Groove is a fantastically funny movie. Seriously, the only thing I can think of is that someone storyboarded this out as your average Disney tripe (as you can see shades of formula in it), but then the actual writers and animators busted out a bottle of JD and rewrote it before passing out on the tables.
David Spade usually just annoys me, as he usually (almost unfailingly, really) plays a total jerk with no redeeming qualities, but here he plays a self-centered young emperor who actually *gasp* learns a thing or two and grows up a bit in the course of the movie, all without soapbox lecturing or moral-spouting song-and-dance numbers. John Goodman lends a nice turn as the loyal (if gullible) yet stern peasant who helps the emperor because it's the right thing to do. Meanwhile, Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton steal the show with wonderful and ludicrous lines, situations, plots - you name it.
This movie is so full of rapid fire jokes and quick visual gags that you almost have to watch it several times to catch everything, and even then it's a great movie to relax and let loose a few laughs. I know I bought the DVD, and have watched it many times since. Trust me, this is your best bet for an animated movie out of the States, at least as far as the past few decades are concerned.
"Who's in my chair..?"
"Ooh, ooh, I know! I know! Yzma's in your chair!"