The Emperor's New Groove
Review by Jason Donner
A long time ago in a country far, far
away there lived a spoiled little twerp of an emperor named Kuzco who
had his every whim catered to without question. He didn't care about
the peasants... that's why he planned on building his summer home on
top of the hill where they lived, and he didn't care for his advisor,
an evil diva named Yzma who decides to poison him and take his throne.
Well, needless to say things get a little nutty and in instead of
getting turned into a corpse, Kuzco is turned into a talking llama and
has to rely on Pancha, the leader of the very village he wanted to
bulldoze to return him back to the palace and back to his place as the
emperor... and homo sapian.
The
Emperor's New Groove isn't your typical Disney fare. There's
no singing, no cutting edge animation, no multi-million dollar CGI,
just a little two-dimensional cartoon that looks like it was put
together by the folks that are responsible for that horrible One
Saturday Morning show on ABC.
But you know, this is the best movie
Disney has put out all year. This little come-out-of-nowhere movie has
blown the socks off of Dinosaur with it's style, wit, and
charm. New Groove has got a biting wit to it and, perhaps
because it doesn't feel self-important like most other Disney
cartoons, it just cuts loose and has a good time.
David Spade voices the emperor turned llama, Kuzco and he's returning
to his skinny guy/fat man comic routines by picking on John Goodman (Pancha)
from the recently (and thankfully) canceled Normal, Ohio.
Eartha Kitt is Yzma and I don't care if she's seventy or eighty or
ninety or whatever... she's still got a sexy voice.
The plot for New Groove is paper thin, but it's not the plot
that counts. It's the sight gags, one-liners, and all of the style and
attitude that makes a good cartoon a good cartoon. You may think of
The Prince of Egypt or The Lion King as animated features,
but The Emperor's New Groove is a cartoon. Period.
Needless to say, I loved this movie. I watched it at a time when I
really needed to laugh and for about an hour and a half, I forgot all
of my troubles as I watched a llama and a fat guy try to stay one step
ahead of Catwoman. Kids will love it, adults will love it, hell...
llamas will love it. Go see this movie!
Don't let Dino-crap be the most successful cartoon of 2000! Send a message to Disney: They're still in the cartoon business, as well as the "animated feature" business! .