A faithful friend is the medicine of life.
- Ecclesiaticus 6:16
I just cannot help it folks. I am a cartoon fiend. There are certain animated films and shows that I just can not get enough of. Some may call this childish but I just call it holding on to a part of me that makes me happy. Sit me in front of Scooby Doo, Bugs Bunny, or even some Rugrats once in awhile and I am a very happy man. Another thing I look forward to is Disney’s yearly crop of animated features. But even they have disappointed in recent years. Apart from their computer animated films some of the others have not been great since the studio’s return to excellence in the early 90’s. We have had to endure the insufferable, Pocahontas and Hercules, to the good but not great, Mulan and Tarzan. The early word on the new animated Disney film, The Emperor’s New Groove, was not good at all! It started years back when it was titled Kingdom Of The Sun. Word then was that the story stunk and the studio rejected it. The whole plot was changed around and the film was given a new title. Still, word of mouth did not seem too good. Well never fear ladies and gentlemen. This movie is no slouch. It is not good either. It is GREAT! Call me crazy, and most who know me do, but this could very well be the best traditionally animated film since 1992’s Aladdin.
Disney’s idea is simply to make fables that appeal to both the young and young at heart They succeed big with New Groove. I cannot imagine a better story that would work better for them. It works on so many levels but mostly as an adventure comedy. It even takes funny stabs at other action classics as we see our hero’s traveling to the palace with a map tracing their journey ala Indiana Jones. Adults crack up because they get this joke. Kids crack up because it is done in such a cartoonish manner.
The story follows Emperor Kuzco (voiced by David Spade) as he is going through his daily routine in his palace. He’s not the best emperor because he’s not the best leader. He throws a servant out the window for bumping into him while he is dancing around. “YOU THREW OFF MY GROOVE!” yells the spoiled emperor. The poor servant is then seen being thrown out the window yelling, “SORRY!” on the way down.
When Kuzco fires his assistant Yzma (Eartha Kitt) and her henchman Kronk (Patrick Warburton aka Puddy from Seinfeld), he has gone too far. Yzma is too evil to accept this firing and Kronk is dumb enough to follow her. Kronk comes across as so stupid he makes mister stupid himself Gomer Pyle look like Plato.
Yzma’s plot to kill Kuzco goes horribly wrong when he is slipped the wrong potion and instead turns into a llama. The llama thing works well for him. Some of his funnier moments in the film are genius.
Kuzco ends up miles from his home and is scared enough to face the fact that he is a llama, let alone scared to find his way through the forest. This is where kind hearted Pacha (John Goodman) enters. Pacha promises to help Kuzco as long as the emperor cancels a plan to ruin his village so he can build an elaborate summer home. Kuzco, being the jerk that he is, laughs at this request. Pacha still helps our hero because he is a rare breed. A kind person who realizes that some kindness lies within almost everyone.
So there you have it. That’s the plot here. I know it is not involving but I hate it when people fault Disney movies because of their simple plots. Ummm.. Reality check time people. These films have to be entertaining to small children and they are not going to be interested in something with a very complex plot. It they were then they would have made Disney’s Zen & The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance with Jim Carrey as the voice of Phaederus. This movie does a great job at making the audience love the characters through great humor and a cute premise. If you cannot enjoy that you have lost your ability to enjoy yourself.
You may notice that there is no love interest for our hero. This is a good thing. No more animated puppy love. The main relationship here is the male bonding and teamwork between Pacha and Kuzco. This is similar to the relationship between Woody and Buzz in the Toy Story films. The only real problem here is that Goodman is not given a chance to be funny. His character is the films Dean Martin while Spade’s is the Jerry Lewis.
Spade really surprised me here. His humor is fast, frenzied, and very witty. Kind of reminded me of Robin Williams in Aladdin. Of course Williams is the master but for Spade to get even a hundred yards from the master really surprised me.
Patrick Warburton is also genius as Kronk. He has played the dumb and dull character before but here he really puts an emphasis on hilarity. You never quite know what he is going to say or do. This is unlike his Puddy character where you could pretty much predict what he was going to do after awhile.
The animation here is good but not the revolutionary type that we saw in other Disney films like Dinosaur. This only makes the film more special because it does not rely on great images to wow us. It wows us with it’s cleverness.
Now, about that music, it has some pretty high points. Tom Jones plays Kuzco’s personal singer and is quite funny and the music is very snappy. Sting also arrives with his singing voice during the film also. I wish there were more musical tunes in the film. I would have liked to see Spade and Goodman do a song together. Maybe Disney is scared of letting animated characters sing after the disastrous Rosie O’Donnell episode in Tarzan. I still have nightmares of that scene where they were banging on the pots and pans.
So in conclusion, if you have been turned off by Disney films in the past, give this gem a chance. It will make you laugh and you know you need that. There is a lack of that in this world these days.
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