Monty Python Meets Walt Disney

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2001)

The recent spate of animated films from Disney, beginning with `The Little Mermaid', have become the modern-day versions of the Hollywood musical. These Disney films, while sweet, are more or less formulaic in nature - they feature a plucky young hero (usually a heroine), a love interest, a wacky sidekick, and a good half-dozen or so schmaltzy songs from the likes of Elton John or Phil Collins. While there's nothing wrong to this - `Beauty and the Beast' is a phenomenal film, as is `The Lion King' and `Aladdin' - it is a formula, nonetheless, and as such it leads to certain expectations when watching an animated Disney feature.
`The Emperor's New Groove' lives up to none of these expectations. As it turns out, this is a very, very good thing. Despite lacking the traditional Disney film structure, `The Emperor's New Groove' is equal parts zany, silly, funny, clever, funny, and witty. (Did I mention funny?) Apparently, while trying to channel the spirit of Walt Disney for `The Emperor's New Groove', director Mark Dindal and his animation team accidentally channeled the spirit of Tex Avery instead. The film has a wonderfully absurd sensibility to it, where instead of watering down a simple story to entertain small children, it remains razor sharp, appealing on one level to kids . . . and on a totally different level to adults. `The Emperor's New Groove', in its own way, is a homage to all those great Warner Brothers of yore created by Michael Maltese and Chuck Jones - as bizarre as it may seem, the classic `Rabbit Season! Duck Season!' cartoon would not be out of place in a film like this. (Also, there is a squirrel in this film that seems to have literally wandered in from a Droopy Dog cartoon; it certainly possesses the wicked self-awareness of a Tex Avery character).
Eschewing the idea that a hero must be likable, `The Emperor's New Groove' focuses, quite naturally, on the Emperor Kuzco (voiced by David Spade), the supreme ruler over a long-ago kingdom (presumably part of the Incan Empire, although that's never clearly stated). Kuzco, who, much like Spade himself, is sarcasm incarnate, succeeds in annoying two important characters in the first few minutes of the film. The first is the peasant Pacha (voiced by John Goodman), who is informed by Kuzco that his family's small house is to be demolished so that a pleasure palace called `Kuzcotopia' call be built in its place. The second is Kuzco's treacherous advisor/sorceress Yzma (voiced by Eartha Kitt), who is pleasantly informed by Kuzco that the kingdom is `downsizing' and that her services are no longer needed. Pacha takes his bad news with stoic, humble grace; but the evil Yzma decides that in order to save her job and become de facto ruler of the kingdom, she must kill Kuzco. This being a Disney cartoon, she fails miserably in her assassination attempt, but does manage to magically transform Kuzco into a talking llama. Kuzco the llama, still sarcastic but no longer omnipotent, finds himself cast out into the wilderness of his kingdom . . . and through a strange series of events, suddenly finds himself relying on the kindhearted, humble Pacha for help.
The story's simple, but that's okay, since it's merely an excuse to string together a veritable calvacade of jokes, ranging from broad slapstick to rapier-sharp verbal wit. The film never overtly tries to tug at the heartstrings of the audience - instead, it usually goes for the quick wisecrack or the funny sight gag, and if a few heartstrings are pulled in the process, well, that's just fine. "The Emperor's New Groove" is almost Disney with an attitude, except the attitude is hip, not smug.
The jokes - and the film - are amazingly funny, and a large part of this success should be credited to the characters, and to the talented actors who voice them. By far, the best character in the film is Yzma's dimwitted henchman Kronk (voiced by Patrick Warburton), an affable thug who simply seems too stupid to be evil. In his first few scenes, Kronk starts out as the typical Disney muscle-bound villain - thickheaded and prone to violence - but the villainy of Kronk slowly fades away as the film progresses, revealing a bizarrely hilarious character with Monty Python sensibilities. Kronk still dutifully follows the wicked Yzma's orders - to a point - but often performs such orders after setting his own priorities in order, such as baking spinach cheese balls or playing double dutch with kids. It's loopy, but it works, and Kronk really is the lynchpin to this film's humor. John Goodman is also good as Pacha - he lends the film a certain amount of dignity, which is sorely needed, since the Emperor Kuzco isn't exactly a heroic figure. He also gives the film a subtler layer of humor, as he quietly delivers some funny lines that can go unnoticed if you aren't paying strict attention to the film. Eartha Kitt is absolutely delicious as the sorceress Yzma. He plays her part as the ultimate spoiled diva; her character is a tightly wound emotional wreck, reacting to everything in such a sheer over-the-top fashion that it's pure comedy genius. Ironically, the weakest character may be the Emperor himself - as Kuzco, David Spade and his acid wit are very funny at times, but the character remains abrasive for far too long. He's almost too much to take at times, especially for kids - and face it; kids will be watching this film. Toning Spade down a notch or two might have helped to smooth out the film and to make it better overall.
Smart, hip, and daring to push the Disney envelope, `The Emperor's New Groove' is an outstanding film. Adults will love it. Kids might not get all the jokes, but they'll love it too - after all, `The Emperor's New Groove' is really just part of a zany cartoon tradition that kids have loved for a long, long time. Just think of Bugs Bunny instead of Mickey Mouse as you put the tape in your VCR, and you and your family should be just fine. It's a very well done film. Grade: A-