Fun, fun, fun!

Rating: 10/10 (7 March 2004)

Well, I've just watched my brand new DVD of "The emperor's new groove" and, as all the other thousand times I watched it, I loved it. I've always thought (as many other people) that a great children movie is a movie for everybody, and this is the case. This film has every quality to be considered not just a cartoon, but an excellent comedy.
This is my favorite Disney movie, mainly because it is so atypical for Disney. First of all, there aren't only stereotypical bad guys and good guys, you can see all degrees of good and bad. Also, you can see that people (or llamas :) ) are able to change. Secondly, there's irony, a characteristic not very common to be depicted in a children movie. There's even a very subtle sexual undertone in some scenes (Yzma changing assistants for younger ones; Yzma lifting her skirt), subtle enough not to disturb children but to amuse grown-ups. Thirdly, there are plenty of details and gags! In this sense, it reminds of old classical movies and series, always with a twist. But the most important thing is absurd: I saw this film lots of times and I keep finding out-of-place, out-of-time elements that make the setting unique and funny in itself (that reminded me a lot of "Top secret!"). You can laugh for hours just by noting these little things.

The characters are round and quite complex, as I said before. It is also refreshing to see a movie about friendship, not romantic as many other previous ones. And I love that tough, clumsy, very guy-ish kind of friendship, without many words or gestures of affection. The plot is simple but rich, with a nice message for kids and a good depiction of the process of change.
I'd like to add, for English-speaking readers, that I've watched the movie in Spanish too and it's exactly as enjoyable as the original. The Spanish script and voices were very carefully created, and I always appreciated this feature in those Disney movies I saw in both languages.
Basically, and mainly, it's a happy movie, and that's why I love seeing it so often: because it makes me happy every time.