Criminally Underrated

Rating: 10/10 (11 October 2003)

"The Emperor's New Groove" is, simply, one of the most underrated movies in cinema history. It is certainly the most underrated Disney 'toon, and I find that impossible to understand; it's bright, colourful, witty and, most importantly, completely hilarious!
The story is a kind of demented fairytale: spoilt young emperor is accidentally turned into a llama by his bitter advisor and teams up with a local peasant to undo this crime and return him to his human form. What that summary completely fails to convey is the sheer brilliance of this tale; not only is it blessed with simple but great animation, a cracking pace, a witty script, original jokes and quirky asides, but the whole thing seems to be a lot greater than the sum of its parts. The characters are wonderfully drawn and are some of the most memorable in Disney history; Kronk is hilariously naive and simple (Patrick Warburton does a brilliant voice-job here), David Spade is on top form as the cruelly sarcastic Kuzco (Disney's most despicable "hero") and Eartha Kitt's Yzma is a gloriously over-the-top riot - a Disney villainess who tries so hard to be bad and scary that she ends up simply looking a fool who can't even impress a squirrel (if you watch the movie, you'll know what I mean).
While the awful - and, crucially, unfunny - "Shrek" wowed the masses and got labelled one of the best comedies ever made, "The Emperor's New Groove", despite glowing reviews, only has something of a cult following, and anyone who didn't ignore it upon its release is glad of it. If you're looking for something to make you laugh out loud, join that tiny cult now and give "The Emperor's New Groove" the chance it deserves to give you an immensely entertaining night in.
RATING: ***** (out of five)