Good fun, a throwback to Roadrunner and Wylie Coyote type of animated physical comedy.

Rating: Null/10 (14 October 2001)

The most irritating thing about watching "The Emperor's New Groove" on CBS is that they showed a 78-minute film in 2 hours, which means for every 8 to 10 minutes of movie, they interrupted with 5 minutes of commercials, so I could not get into the rhythm, or "the groove", of this movie.

Spoiled, self-centered brat of a King (David Spade) is turned into a Llama as his assistant (Eartha Kitt) tries to kill him. He is accidentally found by a peasant (John Goodman) who helps him get back to his castle, avoiding cliffs, waterfalls, scorpions, bats, leopards, canyons, but they never get even a scratch, just like Roadrunner and Wylie Coyote. During his journey back, he develops a sensitivity he didn't have before, and after he finds the potion to become a man again, he is destined to become a good king, with a "New Groove".
The scenes are very inventive, the dialog very witty, and I found myself laughing spontaneously often. Spade and Goodman were especially a good comic team. But my favorite character was Kronk, the not-too-smart giant of a bad guy who acted like a little kid every chance he got. Tom Jones, the singer, provides some of the background music.
However, this is not really a movie for small children. Several times the characters say they "want to kill" and at least once use the word "hate" to express an ill feeling. Small children do not need unnecessary exposure to that. Overall I rate it "7" of 10 for good entertainment fluff. Maybe a "6" would be better. Not as good as recent animated movies like "Tarzan", "A Bug's Life", "Prince of Egypt", and the two "Toy Story" films.