The Emperor's New Groove 2000

[8.2/10] The Emperor’s New Groove feels like a dividing line. It is, unquestionably, a great film, full of expressive animation, fantastic performances, distinctive environments, and outstanding sequences. But it bears little resemblance to the Disney Renaissance films that preceded it. There are practically no songs; no grand “I want” declaration that’s resolved or subverted at the end of the film, and no cheery animal sidekicks there to entertain the little kiddos. (It’s not a sidekick if the animal’s the main character, right?)

Instead, New Groove is a romp, a buddy film, a straight up comedy in a way that essentially no Disney films were in this era. There are still important lessons learned, scheming villains, and the goodness of humanity reaffirmed. But this movie is just as apt to be pure irreverent fun as it is to try to tug on your heartstrings.

Robin Williams once described Aladdin as a Warner Bros. film in Disney drag. Well, New Groove takes that idea a step further. And as great as those Renaissance predecessors are, this is a breath of fresh air.

The film focuses on Kuzco, the titular ruling prince of a Mesoamerican Kingdom who is spoiled, self-centered, and cannot even contemplate caring about other people. His path crosses with Pacha, a local peasant whose generational family homestead is soon to be bulldozed for the prince’s new water wonderland. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Kuzco, his advisor Yzma is plotting against him, with the “help” of her lunkheaded but oddly sweet henchman Kronk. All of these threads are woven together when Yzma transforms Kuzco into a talking llama, forcing him to seek Pacha’s help.

The smartest movie New Groove makes (aside from Kuzco’s amusing dance moves in both human and llama form), is to focus on two comic pairings -- Kuzco & Pacha on the one hand and Yzma & Kronk on the other -- both of which pay tremendous dividends.

On the good guy side, Kuzco and Pacha make the perfect foils. Not only does their pairing fit the show’s dramatic needs, with kindhearted Pacha teaching (and showing) the selfish Kuzco to think of others, but the comedic clash works just as well. Kuzco expecting the world to treat him like a king despite his new lower, furry station, matched with Pacha’s kind, helpful approach to anyone and everyone makes for a laugh-worthy combo.

Hell, even just the size differential between the two of them, with the bulbous, lumbering Pacha and the wiry, pointed little Kuzco works for the film’s physical comedy. David Spade and John Goodman breathe real life into both characters, hitting their hilarious and heartfelt moments with equal aplomb. So much of New Groove is a buddy road trip movie, and that wouldn’t work if it’s two main characters didn’t have such superb comic chemistry together.

And yet, somehow, the pair-up of Yzma and Kronk matches and in places even exceeds it. Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton are just as good as a comic duo. Yzma strikes the image of the usual (if exaggerated) plotting Disney villain, mixed with Daffy Duck, Sylvester the Cat, or any number of other Warner Bros. antagonists who watch their well-laid plans fall to ruin. On the other end of the spectrum, Kronk is nominally the dragon, but he is so guileless, friendly, and let’s face it, dumb, that it’s hard not to find the hulking lummox anything but endearing. The combination of her acid tongue and his sweet demeanor makes every moment they share the screen a delight.

The movie takes advantage of that by packing together a stellar array of humorous setpieces, with a slapstick edge that’s normally saved for smaller comic relief interludes in other Disney flicks. There’s a screwball vibe to so much that happens in New Groove, from guards turning into animals but not forsaking their mission, to a virtuoso restaurant-based farce at the film’s midpoint, to any number of fun scenes where Kuzco’s llama visage gets them into trouble. While there’s action and adventure here, the film is first and foremost a comedy, with the Looney Tunes-esque sequences to prove it.

In that same vein, it’s a remarkable postmodern movie in the kind of framing and laughs it goes for. Kuzco narrates his own movie and has conversations with himself between his llama form and his narrator form. The bad guys notice the different-colored dotted lines on the map that’s normally a hidden conceit to help the audience understand the progress of a race and chase. And when Yzma and Kronk beat Kuzco and Pacha to the palace, the villains acknowledge that by all accounts this fact makes no sense. In a Warner Bros. sort of way, the film generates yuks from acknowledging its setups and playing with the form, which gives it a light, enjoyable quality throughout.

Despite that chuckle-first policy, New Groove puts together a solid plot and arc for its protagonist, dramatized nicely within all the humorous bits. Kuzco is an oblivious jerk, made shamelessly self-involved by a lifetime of coddling (as established in the film’s amusing backstory segment). He meets Pacha, someone who is not only endlessly giving and kind, but who believes there’s good in everyone.

It’s not hard to see where this is going, as Kuzco not only learns humility from his stretch as a llama, but learns kindness and consideration from the man who exemplifies it. New Groove manages to earn this though, giving Pacha a good reason to neglect Kuzco but choosing to help him anyway, so his choices have force, and making Kuzco’s change a gradual one with plenty of (sometimes literal) backsliding. It comes down to a choice for Kuzco between saving himself or saving Pacha, and after what they’ve been through, what he’s seen from his unbidden protector, Kuzco chooses his unexpected best friend. The movie doesn't belabor the transformation, making it all the more effective.

Despite that, what makes the movie work is not solely that well-done character work. It’s the amazing actors who generate stupendous comic sparks with one another. It’s the zany irreverence that infuses the picture from scene one to the end credits. It’s the winking silliness that the movie’s writers and directors liberally ladle over the usual Disney helping of heart.

No, The Emperors New Groove doesn't really have epic musical numbers or beautiful young people falling in love or chipper animal pals (give or take a talkative squirrel). But it does have a young royal and wayward spirit finding their place in this world and becoming their best self. Only this time, it comes with a heaping dose of wacky, fourth-wall cracking comedy front and center. While it might represent the end of the Renaissance, it also represents a laugh-riotous glimpse of what Disney movies can be when they prioritize being funny over being moving -- something every bit the equal to their Bugs Bunny-fronted brethren.