Finally! Disney embraces the concept of fun

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2007)

I'm in that minority that doesn't really enjoy Disney films. I personally think Disney is a dying studio. Its time has long since passed, and now it should make room for other companies. What does it say about Disney when they paid a massive cash settlement to Pixar, a studio renowned for their excellent work, just to get them to stay with them? Disney knows its days are numbered, and are forced to persuade Pixar, their only real source of income, to remain even though Pixar has the creative strength to flex its muscles and stand on its own two feet.
Also I think Disney films have grown too sombre and lifeless, and must resort to false sentimentality to provide easy answers. So it was refreshing to come across a film like The Emperor's New Groove. A film that is sufficiently knowing, bouncy, and overall, just plain fun. Its no classic. Disney have produced some good films in the past like Snow White and Beauty and the Beast. And TENG is not on their level. But it is tremendously entertaining. Not to mention imaginative. As well as the fact its got the snappiest music since The Jungle Book.
The Emperor's New Groove's storyline is basic, but surprisingly gets a lot of mileage out of its central conceit. Emperor Kuzco (David Spade) is an extremely shallow leader. He even has his own theme song! He thinks nothing of firing his advisers at the drop of a hat. Or bulldozing other people's properties to make way for swimming pools.
His chief adviser Yzma (voiced superbly by Eartha Kitt) is one of these plotting opportunists who want to grab power for themselves (they crop up frequently in Disney films!). When Kuzco gets rid of her because she's too old for his tastes, she hatches a plan with her lackey Kronk to poison him. But a mix up in potions leads to Kuzco being turned into a llama. Forced to fend for himself in the jungle, and with the aid of a gentle llama herder Pacha (John Goodman), Kuzco must return to the castle and find the potion that will turn him back into a human, while avoiding Yzma's attempts to finish him off once and for all.
TENG is certainly not an ambitious film. There are no world domination schemes or enchanted princesses and heart wrenching love stories. Everything about the film is simply played for knockabout laughs. And what's wrong with that? David Spade plays Kuzco likably. Throwing out dry insults and wry observations, he even injects some sympathy for his situation as well. The animation is not on the par of Aladdin or The Lion King. In fact there is something almost deliberately 2D to the way the film looks. Almost like a throwback to classic animation. But not earlier Disney efforts. More like the animated shorts of Warner Bros/Looney Tunes cartoons.
That may be the reason why I like the film so much. I'm a huge fan of Chuck Jones cartoons. Their eye-popping visual lunacy made for great fun rides. And the same type of energy suffuses The Emperor's New Groove. There are set-pieces that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Road Runner cartoon. There's an hilarious scene when Kuzco and Pacha are wedged back to back between a cliff, and climb up with their feet while being menaced by crocodiles, scorpions and bats all at the same time.
A great deal of imagination has gone into the comedy. There's a wonderful slapstick lunacy to it all at times. Even screwball comedy. I love the scene when Kuzco and Yzma are both in an Aztec diner. They both enter and exit the kitchen almost instantaneously, missing each other by seconds. It reminded me of a classic episode of Frasier, called The Innkeepers which had a similar situation in a restaurant.
There are even moments of meta-fiction, and breaking down the fourth wall. Kuzco sometimes stops the film when he becomes concerned the action is shifting from him. Or when Kronk deconstructs a chase sequence with diagrams, concerning how Yzma caught up to Kuzco somehow. Even though it makes no logical sense. Deliriously screwball humour, like Kuzco the narrator arguing with Kuzco the character. And a manic number of transformations as Kuzco tries out different potions to get back to normal.
The cast really is excellent and gives the film a lot of life. As well as Spade, John Goodman invests a great deal of likability into Pacha's character. Eartha Kitt is superb. A nice change that the villain of the piece is not unspeakably evil. Just vain and witty instead. She plays the part of the bitch well. And her comeuppance is wonderful! Patrick Wharbuton's a scene stealer as Kronk. I love his crises of conscience, where his good and bad sides argue with each other. The only complaint with his character was he should have ended up as a chef now that Yzma's out of the picture. Instead he becomes a boy scout leader. A chef would have been more in character.
But overall, The Emperor's New Groove is great fun. I really laughed out loud several times throughout. And that's what animation is all about. It even manages to be thoughtful at times without hammering its message home like most Disney films. Highly recommended!