The Emperor's New Groove

Most film historians will agree that when the new millennium arrived, the Disney Renaissance came to an end. I would argue though that it tappered off over the next few years. When I first went to see this film, I did not know what to expect. I just wanted to see the next Disney film and I ended up laughing my head off. On DVD, the movie just kept getting better and better. It has become one of those films that everyone likes to quote. “The Emperor’s New Groove” is one of my top 20 favorite animated films and my favorite animated film from the year 2000. You have a fun story around which to add humor and there are great characters. Some films are only funny the first time but what makes “The Emperor’s New Groove” special is that it is hilarious every time. It is so full of sidesplitting humor that it is hard to point out all the examples. This animated movie is a great example of a neo-postmodern film; a new film theory that I feel has been created in our society.

When I was in university, I wrote about this new film theory that I feel is emerging in today’s entertainment. Postmodernism is more serious filmmaking where as neo-postmodernism is more entertaining to the common man. The narrative of a postmodern film is not as important as the director’s message that he wishes to convey to the audience. The audience during a postmodern film is always trying to interpret the director's or author’s theme. Postmodernism includes such characteristics as breaking the fourth wall (where the audience becomes aware that they are watching a movie) and references to other movies or stories. These characteristics have become so common in today’s media that filmmakers are able to use these postmodern characteristics but still keep the focus of their film on the story if they wish. In postmodernism when a character suddenly talks to the audience, there is a somewhat serious purpose behind it. Shakespeare even did this with asides. In neo-postmodernism when a character addresses the audience, it creates humor. A postmodern film always wants the audience to keep in mind that they are watching a movie. A neo-postmodern film takes advantage of the characteristics of postmodernism but the audience is meant to lose themselves in the story and the characters of the film. The filmmaker (or narrator in other words) in a postmodern film wants to be seen and recognized in the telling of a narrative where as in neo-postmodernism, the “narrator” is also seen but he or she is secondary to the story being told. The “narrator” in “The Emperor’s New Groove” is obviously Kuzco but he is not fully omniscient. He is only aware of the events of the movie up to 2/3rds of the way through. This proves that the focus of the film is not the filmmakers’ vision or message but it is rather the story and characters.

One important quality about this film is that the humor is random. The chimp and the bug moment is the ultimate example of the randomness in “The Emperor’s New Groove”. Even though the movie is silly in nature, the filmmakers are smart in their use of humor. As mentioned, the film uses postmodern motifs to entertain the audience. Thanks to lines such as “Can we get back to me?” and “Oh well, back to business”, our attention is brought back to the narrative of the film. The fourth wall is broken a few times in the movie such as when the film stops and Kuzco uses a marker to remind the audience that he is in the back of Pacha’s cart. I first saw this movie in a theater built in the 1910’s and so for a moment, I though the film projector had actually stopped. Another postmodern filmmaking characteristic is when the film openly references another movie, story or culture. The diner in the middle of the movie feels a lot like a truck stop even though its design also reflects the South American culture of Kuzco’s empire. The postmodern director, to highlight the film’s theme, uses these kinds of references but in this neo-postmodern animated comedy, the diner has potential for humor. A few funny moments in this film are quite original but the filmmakers do not get carried away with their creativity. Some comedy films take one unique joke or gag and reprise it so much that the film is ruined. One example is the cat from "Puss in Boots" that says "Ohhhhhhhh". That particular gag was in the trailer so by the time you see it in the actual movie, it has lost its value and therefore its purpose. If a joke or gag in “The Emperor’s New Groove" is reprised, it is well handled. The film does include a lot of cliché humor but steps are taken to achieve originality. The waterfall gag is a good example of this. The film itself points out through Kuzco the obvious fact that a huge waterfall is coming. Originality comes in the form of Kuzco’s line “Bring it on.” For the best proof of how well executed the comedy is in this film, look at Kronk’s angel and devil. This gag is very cliché but it is twisted to appear original. The decision to make the angel and devil argue with each other provides potential for originality. I believe the gag works mostly because the angel and devil end up confusing Kronk rather than help him. When they disappear, he is nowhere closer to making a decision. Even though this cliché gag is reprised during the climax, it still works. The film has established a growing resentment of Ezma towards Kronk and the angel & devil’s reappearance is the final straw for her. When she hurts Kronk’s feelings, the angel and devil humorously convince Kronk to help the good guys. The angel and devil’s return contributes to the story. In an early version of the finale, the angel and devil were going to have the last laugh in the film. Moderation was exercised and instead we see Kronk as a Junior Chipmunk leader. This shows that the filmmakers were smart in their use of humor.

The animation of the film matches the nature of the comedy such as Ezma trying to take her head out of the mud. Timing and irony are also important in an animated comedy and the best use of these qualities is in the diner. Ezma and Kuzco miss each other constantly as they order food from Kronk. When Ezma is finally about to recognize Kuzco, she is completely surprised by the birthday celebration for her. As funny as that is alone, the moment becomes funnier and funnier as it progresses because of timing, irony and contrast. As Pacha yanks Kuzco out of the diner, we see Ezma sitting still with a scowl on her face wearing a huge sombrero amidst the fast paced birthday song. The birthday cake in front of her is small but there are way too many candles on it. As if things couldn’t be more annoying for her and hilarious for us, Kronk shows up laughing with pleasure and mistakenly believes that it actually is Ezma’s birthday. That scene will always be hysterical for me. I love the music during chase scene leading up to the climax. Also, it is such a hysterical surprise when Ezma and Kronk fly over the canyon. All the previously mentioned comedic qualities of the film reach their peak during the climax. Towards the end of the movie, there are three funny moments that in a normal movie would not work at all story-wise. We are very surprised when we realize that Ezma and Kronk have arrived first at the secret lab and like Kuzco, we demand an explanation. We get no such answer however as even Ezma and Kronk themselves are stumped as to how they arrived before Kuzco and Pacha. The filmmakers have just openly revealed a huge plot hole but they turn it into a joke perfectly by indirectly reminding us that it is just a cartoon. This is accomplished by Kronk’s line: “By all accounts, it doesn’t make sense.” The sheer surprise of the Ezma & Kronk’s presence and fact that Kuzco doesn’t press further for an answer also makes up for the plot hole. The second unreasonable event in the climax happens with the giant trampoline. Not only is it there and set up but also it is in exactly the right spot to save Ezma. The gag works however because again the filmmakers, indirectly through the script, point out that they are fully aware of how coincidental the gag is. The same can be said for the third example. It is highly unlikely that Kronk would come out of nowhere to crush Ezma allowing Pacha to get the vial but Kronk himself says exactly what we are thinking: “What are the odds that trap door would lead me out here?” The cat that Ezma turns into is very ironic and full of contrast. It is the cutest looking and sounding cat you ever saw and Ezma is normally evil, old and ugly.

There are other qualities besides humor that make this film great. I usually value the story of a movie more than its other cinematic qualities but there are the rare exceptions. In the case of "The Emperor's New Groove", the humor is able to carry the film but that doesn't mean the story shouldn't have value as well. The opening song in the film, “Perfect World”, introduces very well the hip mood that is reprised throughout the film until the last scene. This hip feeling throughout the film is potent and tasteful because of contrast. The first shot with Kuzco in the rain makes “Perfect World” a lot of fun to watch. The film’s opening is quite organized in how our three supporting characters are introduced and this is thanks to Kuzco’s narration. Usually when the film has a narrator, we adapt his perception as our own. We take his words as truth but from the get go, we understand that our narrator in this film must go through a character change. As a result when we meet Pacha, we know that he is not the troublemaker that Kuzco would want us to believe. By the time we arrive back at the movie’s opening shot, we understand that it is Kuzco’s fault that he is alone and not everyone else’s as he was arguing for. The music is different the second time and this adds to the new subtext that the scene has. We know Pacha the first time will go after Kuzco because it was established that Pacha had guilt for letting Kuzco go into the jungle alone. When the two characters separate for the second time, there is no such hint that Pacha will go after Kuzco. It comes as a surprise for us the audience when he shows back up as Kuzco is about to accept his new life as a llama. This is because the filmmakers really milked the fact that Kuzco is destined to live as a llama for the rest of his life. They also extend the time from when we hear Pacha talking to the other llamas to when we see him. It is great storytelling and direction. The character change that Kuzco undergoes will be discussed more later but it is briefly mentioned here to show that “The Emperor’s New Groove” has heart and emotion in its story. This makes the funny moments even funnier. A lot of this heart comes from Pacha’s family. It seems as though Pacha has the perfect kids and the perfect wife because they are so relatable. It is such a quick scene when we first meet his family but masterfully executed to fulfill its purpose. We need to have sympathy for the family that could lose its house. The “Nuh-uh/Yeah-huh” gag is my favorite joke from Pacha’s family. A great resolving moment in the climax is when our heroes walk up to the vile in the same way they did earlier in the movie to avoid being eating by the crocodiles. The music also helps in making this an important story moment.

The characters are the second best part of this film after the comedy. Kusco is a bad person but not so bad that we don’t care about him. He is just a bratty kid and we want for him to have a change of heart. One part of his personality that we know is changeable is his childish attention span and focus. I like when Kuzco by way of voiceover calls the servant “the thing that wouldn’t shut up”. It is funny but it exists to show how prideful and childish he is in that he does not pay attention to the servant even though he demanded the servant an explanation. The same goes for when he zones out looking at how old Ezma is (It is very funny for me by the way when he sees the lettuce stuck in her teeth). Yet another example of his childlike pride is when he doesn’t clue in that Ezma and her secret lab are the true culprits. Despite the fact that Kuzco has appealing qualities that make him entertaining, we don’t see many things that show that he is a good guy at the start. Then he saves Pacha’s life and we have evidence that he can change. Then when Kuzco has no hope of returning to the palace and/or getting his kingdom back, he goes back to his childish ways and sulks. Interestingly enough, he then stops feeling sorry for himself and decides to accept the consequences of his actions. He tries to fit in with other Llamas but they reject him. His new life will be unhappy. This choice he makes in blaming himself for his new hard life shows that he has grown up to some degree. This was the perfect moment for Pacha to show up. Kuzco knew that Pacha was a great guy but everyone has their limit, right? Kuzco was sure that Pacha had lost all patience with him. Pacha’s extremely forgiving and patient heart is so incredible to Kusco that his heart is changed. The cool thing is that his personality at the end of the film is still the same in terms of his appealing qualities. He is still hip but a little silent about his newly found humility. Tony Stark in “Iron Man” undergoes a similar transformation. Their hearts and priorities change but their personalities remain mostly unaltered. Pacha is the straight man in the film and that is thanks to John Goodman. Goodman’s funniest moment is the CPR scene and the subsequent line: “For the last time, it was not a kiss”. As cliché as the line is, Goodman makes it funny. This movie not only has a groovy main character but that attribute can be used to describe Ezma. We have seen many Disney villains in the past with magical powers and their own evil lairs. The character of Ezma continues that tradition but with a groovy twist. There is a running gag of how old & ugly she is and she has a secret lab as opposed to a usual Disney villain’s lair (Not very secret if you ask me because Kuzco knows about it). “The Emperor’s New Groove” introduced me to the late Eartha Kitt and she played Ezma so well. We now come to one of my favorite Disney characters and the movie's scene stealer: Kronk. He appears to be an idiot at the start of the movie but he turns out to be smarter than we first took him for. He can cook and he remembers not to drink the wine. Kronk appears to just have a problem with focus. Also because he is not actually a bad guy, he causes comedic trouble for Ezma. Before I saw this film, I was somewhat familiar with Patrick Warburton from TV. That all changed after I saw “The Emperor’s New Groove” because I realized just how funny he is. He can take a line that is not funny and make it absolutely hilarious. Kronk has many great moments that are too numerous to mention but he first shines in the dinner scene. I also love the behind-the-scenes story about Kronk’s theme music. Warburton is tone death in real life and so when it came time to record Kronk doing his own theme music, he improvised what we hear in the final film. The funny part is that Disney legally owns this improvised musical ramble because they had Warburton sign copyright forms. He found that very odd but very funny nonetheless. Other great Kronk moments include speaking "squirrel" and instantly knowing how to run the kitchen diner. I also love how it takes Kronk forever to remember Pacha. It was also nice to see the late John Fielder as the old man who gets thrown out the window.

I do not apologize for how long this review is because I wanted to illustrate why this movie is good. This film has great screenwriting and the story is a good one. The best line in the film is “Three oinkers wearing pants, plate of hot air, basket of grandma’s breakfast and change the bull to a gill, got it!” “The Emperor’s New Groove” also effectively uses postmodern characteristics to entertain the audience. The characters are very fresh and comical thanks to their design and voice talent. The humor I feel is timeless, which means that people will be enjoying this film for many years to come. Sting’s Oscar-nominated song is the cherry on top. There are many outrageous and random gags in this movie that break with Disney animation tradition. “By all accounts [this movie] doesn’t make sense” but despite that, the film succeeds so well.

4.5 Stars out of 5