40 – The Emperor's New Groove
Originally titled Kingdom of the
Sun, 2000's The
Emperor's New Groove went
through a very troubled development process. It ended up being very
different than any of the other Disney Classics I've reviewed so far.
The story is about a very self centered and spoiled Emperor named
Kuzco who wants to destroy a village to build a big summer home. He
is then turned into a Llama by his, recently fired, advisor Yzma.
Yzma's partner, Kronk, fails to dispose of Kuzco properly and ends up
being found by Pacha, the leader of the village Kuzco wants to build
his summer home on. With Pacha's reluctant help, Kuzco has to return
to the kingdom and let everyone know he is still alive and turn back
into a human.
Kuzco
gets turned into a llama early on in the story but we get a really
good idea of who he is before that. We see that he is incredibly self
centered and spoiled. He has a pretty big mean side too as he
punishes an old man by throwing him out the palace window because the
old man ruined his “groove.” On top of that, he has absolutely no
problem destroying a whole village just for his summer home. He calls
Pacha in just to ask him what angle the hilltop village gets the best
light in. As a llama, he really needs Pacha's help to get back to the
palace. He does anything he can to try to get Pacha to help him and
resists changing his self centered ways. Despite that, he bonds a lot
with Pacha during the story and does, in fact, change but I'll talk
more about that later.
Pacha
is very kind and the direct opposite of Kuzco. They use a really
clever storytelling device to show that by having him help the old
man that Kuzco throws out the palace window. He is quite poor but
very satisfied with his life. As he is leaving the palace, Kuzco ends
up on his cart when Kronk loses him. When he finds him at the
village, Kuzco asks for his help. Pacha sees the opportunity to make
a deal with Kuzco so he doesn't destroy his village. Even though
Kuzco refuses, Pacha can't help how kind he is and goes to save Kuzco
from a bunch of panthers. He really believes everyone has good in
them and tries to see that in Kuzco, though Kuzco makes it very
difficult for him at times. He bonds with Kuzco on the journey and
teaches Kuzco a lot about being a good person.
Yzma
and Kronk are just a fantastic duo who chase Kuzco and Pacha trying to kill Kuzco before he reveals that he is still alive. Yzma is shown to be quite power
hungry in the beginning, getting caught by Kuzco sitting in his chair
doing his job. She gets fired for this and swears vengeance. With
Kronk, she invites Kuzco to dinner and tries to poison him. Kronk
accidentally slips him a potion that doesn't kill Kuzco but turns him
into a llama. The two characters are really funny together. Yzma is
very silly and plays up her evil scientist role and it's great. Kronk
is a total idiot but he's super lovable and has some of the funniest
scenes in the movie. He isn't really a villain and keeps getting
stopped by his conscience which literally appear as an angel and
demon on his shoulder. Despite being constantly berated by Yzma, he
stands by her and does her bidding, even though he can't quite bring
himself to kill the defenseless Kuzco when he has the chance. Kronk
is a real stand out character with some really funny moments and an
array of ridiculous hobbies (like cooking, bird watching and talking
to squirrels) that really elevate him to be more interesting than
most of the comic relief characters of the past.
Pacha's
family also plays a part in the movie. Chicha is Pacha's kind and
strong wife. She is a really great character and has no problem
handling Yzma when Pacha needs help. She is a great mother to Chaca
and Tipo, her daughter and son, who are very cute and inquisitive.
They have some really great scenes when they play with Kronk while
Yzma is pretending to be a distant relative of Pacha's. These
characters really serve to show how nice Pacha's life is and how it
would suck if Kuzco took that away from them. It also helps you like
Pacha more, not that that was very necessary since they do such a
good job setting up his character. I really like that they took the
effort to make these characters great, even though they only appear
for such a little amount of time.
This
movie is definitely the funniest Disney movie I've seen so far. It's
very fast paced and the jokes never let up. Despite that, it still
has some legitimately emotional moments. The movie definitely has
heart. You care about Pacha and the trouble he's facing with Kuzco
and you even come to care about Kuzco when he starts getting his act
together. Even the villains are fun. I definitely never felt bored
watching this one. The animation isn't quite as ambitious as past
movies but it's still really great and the characters move really
well. The music fits the mood of this movie perfectly too.
A
really interesting thing about this movie is that it doesn't really
feel very much like a Disney movie. It actively rejects a lot of
Disney tropes and movie tropes in general. There isn't a shoehorned
romance, it's just a story about two guys who grow to become great
friends. They make fun of some things like map scenes leaving dotted
lines and when the heroes go down a massive waterfall and live. The
biggest theme in this movie is definitely the idea of friendship.
Kuzco is super self centered at first but changes gradually as he
starts to care more about Pacha. Pacha doesn't give up on Kuzco and
his friendship really changes Kuzco. The way they bond throughout the
movie is really fantastic too when they are forced to work together
and triumph together. The end is really great when they call back to
those moments.
This
movie really benefits from the small cast. It feels so much more
focused and dense than a lot of other Disney movies. There's a lot
going on. It's funny from beginning to end and the style is just
great. With all the style, it still remembers to give you characters
you can care about and still has a ton of heart. I love myself a
traditionally animated Disney Classic but I'm so glad this movie
ended up so different than the standard Disney movie. It's a great
change of pace and it worked so well.
40
down. 13 to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment