- “It's all about ME.”
- ―Tagline
The Emperor's New Groove is a 2000 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures through Buena Vista Pictures Distribution on December 15, 2000. The 40th animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon, the film is a comedy including adult and child humor. Produced by Randy Fullmer and directed by Mark Dindal over a six-year production timeline, The Emperor's New Groove was altered significantly from its original concept as a more traditional Disney musical entitled Kingdom of the Sun, to have been directed by Dindal and Roger Allers (co-director of The Lion King). Unlike most Disney films, this has no musical numbers, is very comical and funny, and almost nothing dark or realistically sad happens at all, as a result, many fans consider this a black sheep of the Disney Animated Canon, while others consider it to be spoof of Disney movies, despite the fact that it was made by Disney itself.[1] However, despite being a box office disappointment,[2] the film saw a second life thanks to strong home videos sales and rentals throughout the year of 2001.[3][4][5]
The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song for "My Funny Friend and Me" performed by Sting, but lost against "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan from Wonder Boys. Although it didn't lose as much money compared to some of the later films, this didn't make much riches as there was some competition with How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie at the same year this film was released. Today however, the film has gained a large cult following with Disney fans and has become a popular source of memes online.[6][7][8]
A direct-to-video sequel Kronk's New Groove was released in 2005, followed by an animated television series The Emperor's New School in 2006.
Plot[]
Kuzco (David Spade) is the self-centered, spoiled, and vain emperor of the Incan empire brought up by his ancient, head advisor Yzma (Eartha Kitt). One day, he summons Pacha (John Goodman), the headman of a nearby village, to inform him that he is building his enormous summer home, Kuzcotopia, on the site of Pacha's village. Pacha objects, but is dismissed. Kuzco also fires Yzma for attempting to run the kingdom while he is preoccupied, infuriating her. She, along with her easily-distracted assistant Kronk (Patrick Warburton) then attempt to poison Kuzco so that she can take full and permanent control of the empire.
Yzma invites Kuzco to a "farewell" dinner, and he drinks the poison, which supposedly kills him. However, he is still alive, and suddenly, his ears become those of a llama. Soon, his neck stretches, his hands turn into hooves, and his face turns into a snout. Yzma orders Kronk to knock the transformed Kuzco unconscious and discovers that the supposed "poison" was actually a potion that turned him into a llama. Yzma orders Kronk to dispose of him, but after throwing him into a canal, a conscience-stricken Kronk retrieves the sack holding Kuzco before losing it after falling down some stairs. Kuzco ends up in a cart belonging to Pacha, who inadvertently takes him to his village. After not being able to bring himself to tell his family about the impending destruction of their village, Pacha brings his cart to a nearby well. Kuzco then wakes up, angrily accuses Pacha of transforming and kidnapping him, and demands that Pacha help him return to the palace. Pacha refuses unless Kuzco builds his summer home elsewhere. Kuzco attempts to find his own way home through a nearby jungle despite Pacha warning him that it is dangerous. Kuzco meets a squirrel named Bucky, who offers him an acorn which he rudely rejects. In retaliation, Bucky pops a balloon near a pack of sleeping jaguars. This fails to awaken the jaguars, but Kuzco's yelling of "Ha!" at Bucky does wake them up. The jaguars corner Kuzco at a cliff, but Pacha rescues him, which leads them getting tied to a giant tree branch and falling down a waterfall. Meanwhile, Yzma assumes command of the nation, but when Kronk reveals he never killed Kuzco, the two head out and begin to search the local villages for him.
Kuzco feigns agreement with Pacha's demand, and Pacha leads him back toward the palace. On their way across a bridge, Pacha falls through a weak plank. Kuzco refuses to help him, revealing that he lied about promising to relocate Kuzcotopia. Kuzco then falls through a plank like Pacha, and he and Pacha start fighting. The bridge shortly snaps and falls. Kuzco and Pacha fall down the ravine and end up stuck at the bottom. Working together, they climb up the cliff to reach the rope to pull themselves up the cliff. While climbing, Pacha grabs a rope, but it's stuck on a branch which scorpions then fall off onto Kuzco, and Kuzco gets scared and falls. Pacha then grabs Kuzco, and Kuzco's face gets stuck in a hole. The scorpions then climb up onto Pacha's back. Pacha gets scared and smacks his back onto the wall. This wakes up some bats in the wall with Kuzco that then attack Kuzco and launch him off. Kuzco, scared, runs up the wall with Pacha, and they land back on the cliff. After laughing about it, the cliffside Pacha is on begins to fall, and Kuzco saves him by grabbing onto Pacha's poncho and launching him back. Pacha finds out that Kuzco is starting to change his ways no matter how much Kuzco denies it. Pacha then says they should start going as it's a four-day walk to the palace with no bridge. Kuzco then questions Pacha about this, and Pacha says that he shook hands on it and will still take Kuzco, confident that Kuzco will eventually change his mind about Kuzcotopia.
Meanwhile, Yzma and Kronk are in the jungle looking for Kuzco, and after getting chased by bees, Yzma meets Bucky and screams at him. Bucky gets scared and runs to Kronk, and they start talking. Yzma is mad only until Kronk translates that Bucky said a talking llama gave him trouble. After asking him for Yzma, Kronk finds out where Kuzco went, and he and Yzma head off.
Meanwhile, Kuzco and Pacha are walking until they find a roadside diner and decide to eat there with Kuzco dressed like a woman since llamas are not allowed. After Kuzco talks to the chef about the food, Pacha begins to eat until Yzma and Kronk arrive shortly after, and he overhears Yzma discussing their plans to kill Kuzco. Pacha goes to Kuzco and attempts to warn him, but Kuzco, convinced Yzma is loyal, furiously berates Pacha and they part ways. Kuzco returns to Yzma, only to overhear Yzma and Kronk not only discussing that they are seeking to kill him, but that the kingdom does not miss him. Kuzco realizes Pacha was right, but Pacha has left. A repentant Kuzco spends the night alone in the jungle, but runs into Pacha the next morning. After reconciling, Kuzco and Pacha race back to Pacha's house to get some supplies. While going up, two old men tell Pacha his relatives came by, but it turns out to be Yzma and Kronk. Pacha warns his wife in private. Pacha's wife and kids then set a trap for Yzma, leading to her getting covered in honey and feathers and being beaten as a piñata. Yzma then sees Kuzco and Pacha running off. She then tells Kronk, and shortly, he and Yzma race back to the palace after Kuzco and Pacha. Yzma and Kronk chase them until the pursuers get hit by lightning and fall into a chasm.
Kuzco and Pacha arrive at Yzma's laboratory only to find that their pursuers somehow got there first (by a method which, humorously, not even they know). Yzma passes Kronk a knife to finish the duo off. Kronk becomes stricken with doubt as his shoulder angel and devil appear on his shoulders and converses with them, to everyone else's confusion. Kronk changes sides after a vicious tongue-lashing from Yzma and attempts to drop a chandelier on her, but her thin body enables her to escape harm. In retaliation, she drops him down a trap door. Yzma summons the palace guards, forcing Kuzco and Pacha to grab all of the transformation potions they can and flee. After trying several formulas that convert Kuzco to other animals and then back to a llama, they escape the guards (but not Yzma) and find they are down to only two vials. Yzma lunges onto Kuzco but accidentally lands on one of the two, turning herself into a tiny kitten. A struggle ensues, and Pacha dangles from a ledge. Kuzco has then grown a conscience and chooses to save Pacha rather than the remaining vial. Yzma still almost manages to obtain the antidote but is thwarted by the sudden reappearance of Kronk.
Kuzco becomes human again and sets out to redeem himself, building a much smaller summer cabin on the hill next to Pacha's home. Meanwhile, outdoorsman Kronk becomes a scout leader, with kitten-Yzma forced to be a troop member, to Kronk's pride.
Cast[]
- David Spade as Emperor Kuzco
- John Goodman as Pacha
- Eartha Kitt as Yzma
- Patrick Warburton as Kronk/Devil Kronk and Angel Kronk
- Wendie Malick as Chicha
- Kellyann Kelso as Chaca
- Eli Russell Linnetz as Tipo
Additional voices[]
- Stephen Anderson as Ipi
- Robert Bergen as Bucky/Fly
- Rodger Bumpass as Male Villager/Cow Guard
- Rob Clotworthy as Guard/Messenger
- Jennifer Darling as Female Villager
- Patti Deutsch as Mata the Waitress
- John Fiedler as Rudy
- Miriam Flynn as Piñata Lady
- Geri Lee Gorowski
- Jess Harnell as Guard
- Sherry Lynn as Female Villager
- Danny Mann as Male Villager/Dresser
- Mickie McGowan as Female Villager
- D.F. Reynolds
- Andre Stojka as Topo
- Joe Whyte as Official
- Steve Susskind as Irate Chef
Uncredited[]
- Mark Dindal as Cat Yzma
- Tom Jones as the Theme Song Guy
- Frank Welker as Jaguars/Bees/Llamas/Misty the Llama
Music[]
- "Perfect World"
- "My Funny Friend and Me" (credits and after the movie)
Production[]
- Main article: Kingdom of the Sun
Original version[]
Early in development, the film was titled Kingdom of the Sun, later Kingdom in the Sun, with Roger Allers as the film's director and Randy Fullmer as producer. Among those on Allers' production team were supervising animator Andreas Deja, who was in charge of the witch character of Yzma, and pop musician Sting, who, in the wake of Elton John's success with The Lion King's soundtrack, had been assigned to write several songs for the film.
Kingdom of the Sun was to have been a tale of a greedy, selfish emperor who finds a peasant who looks just like him; the emperor swaps places with the peasant for fun, much as in author Mark Twain's archetypal novel The Prince and the Pauper. However, the evil sorceress Yzma has plans to summon a dark spirit named Supai to block out the sun (the object she blames for her wrinkles), in exchange for eternal youth. Discovering the switch between the prince and the peasant, Yzma turns the real emperor into a llama and threatens to reveal the pauper's identity unless he obeys her. The emperor-llama learns humility in his new form, and even comes to love a girl llama-herder named Mata. Together, the girl and the llama set out to undo the witch's plans. In the end, the emperor turns back into a human, and he and Mata got married and lived happily ever after.
Influences[]
The title of the film is derived from that of the popular Danish fairy tale The Emperor's New Clothes. Similarly, the personality of a self-obsessed ruler who puts himself first to the detriment of his own people is also based on the fairy-tale. The story of an emperor cured of his pride after living as an animal echoes the Biblical account of Nebuchadnezzar in Chapter 4 of the Book of Daniel.
The setting and culture of The Emperor's New Groove are based on the Inca Empire that developed into what is now modern-day Peru. Along with the architecture, roads, intricate waterworks, sun worship, and llamas as domestic beasts, Kuzco's name is similar to Cusco, the Peruvian city considered the capital of the Inca Empire, and Pacha's name is drawn from Pachacutec, considered the most important ruler of the Inca Empire, and a historical figure. Names and imagery mingle elements of Incan culture with elements from pre-Incan Peruvian cultures and non-Incan cultures of Central and South America. There are also incongruities and anachronisms (most notably wheels), some for humorous effect and some simply the result of not prioritizing historical authenticity. While the animators made a research trip to Peru for inspiration, the film and its publicity are notably non-specific about the geographical or historical setting of the story.[9]
Unlike many previous Disney animated films, The Emperor's New Groove is almost completely devoid of musical numbers and is extremely comical and nothing dark and scary happens at all. It is the first Walt Disney Feature Animation film since 1990's The Rescuers Down Under not to be a musical, and the start of a larger trend where the studio began to move away from musicals and produce films based on original stories.
Deleted scenes[]
The standard DVD release includes a nearly complete deleted scene, in which Pacha witnesses a practice attack by royal guards on a mock-up of his village. Much of this scene is seen as complete animation in full color. The 2001 two-disc collector's edition DVD includes several other scenes which did not make it past the storyboarding phase, including Kuzco (as a llama) meeting Pacha's sitcom-esque extended family.
The film's ending originally had Kuzco building his Kuzcotopia amusement park on another hill near Pacha's and inviting Pacha and his family to visit. Sting, an environmentalist, protested against the ending because it appeared that Kuzco had destroyed portions of the rain forest to build his park, and he also has not truly changed his ways if he still built his excessive mansion. The ending was rewritten so that Kuzco changes his mind about destroying more land, constructs a shack similar to Pacha's, and spends his vacation among the villagers.
Home media release[]
- Main article: The Emperor's New Groove (video)
The standard VHS and DVD was released May 1, 2001 at the same time the "2-Disc Collector's Edition" was released but with more Bonus Features. The standard VHS and DVD & The 2-Disc Collector's Edition are now discontinued. Disney re-released a single-disc special edition called "The New Groove Edition" on October 18, 2005. It was released on Blu-ray in a 2-Movie Collection with Kronk's New Groove on June 11, 2013.
Reception[]
The film received tons of positive reviews and currently holds an 85% "Certified Fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the Rotten Tomatoes consensus saying that the film "The Emperor's New Groove isn't the most ambitious animated film, but its brisk pace, fresh characters, and big laughs make for a great time for the whole family."
The Emperor's New Groove made $89,302,687 at the U.S. box office, and an additional $80,025,000 worldwide; totals lower than those for most of the Disney Feature Animation productions released in the 1990s. New Groove and all but two of the five future traditional Disney Feature Animation films—2002's Lilo and Stitch and 2003's Brother Bear—would sustain losses during their theatrical releases. Despite that, it became a cult classic due to positive reception, as mentioned earlier, and had strong home video sales.[10][11][12]
Annie Awards[]
| Result | Award | Winner/Nominee Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Nominated | Animated Theatrical Feature | |
| Nominated | Individual Achievement in Directing | Mark Dindal (Director) |
| Nominated | Individual Achievement in Writing | Mark Dindal (Story) Chris Williams (Story) David Reynolds (Screenplay) |
| Nominated | Individual Achievement in Storyboarding | Stephen J. Anderson (Story Supervisor) |
| Nominated | Individual Achievement in Storyboarding | Don Hall (Story Artist) |
| Nominated | Individual Achievement in Production Design | Colin Stimpson (Art Director) |
| Won | Individual Achievement in Character Animation | Dale Baer (Supervising Animator—Yzma) |
| Won | Individual Achievement in Voice Acting - Female | Eartha Kitt ("Yzma") |
| Nominated | Individual Achievement in Voice Acting - Male | Patrick Warburton ("Kronk") |
| Won | Individual Achievement in Music | Sting (Music/Lyrics) David Hartley (Music) |
The Sweatbox[]
- Main article: The Sweatbox
Trudie Styler, a documentarian, had been allowed to film the production of Kingdom of the Sun/The Emperor's New Groove as part of the deal that originally brought her husband Sting to the project. As a result, Styler recorded on film much of the struggle, controversy, and troubles that went into making the picture (including the moment when producer Fullmer called Sting to inform the pop star that his songs were being deleted from the film). Styler's completed documentary, The Sweatbox, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 13, 2002. Disney owns the rights to the documentary and has not released it on home video or DVD.
Sequel and TV spin-off[]
A direct-to-DVD sequel titled Kronk's New Groove was released in December 2005, and a Disney Channel cartoon series, The Emperor's New School followed, but without David Spade voicing Kuzco and John Goodman voicing Pacha, as they had in the original film and sequel. Patrick Warburton, Eartha Kitt, and Wendie Malick reprised their roles for the series. John Goodman has subsequently reprised his role for the current season of The Emperor's New School.
Video Games[]
Two video games were developed and released concurrent with the film. The first, for the Sony PlayStation, was developed by Disney Interactive and published by Sony Computer Entertainment of America. The second, for the Nintendo Game Boy Color, was developed by Sandbox and published by Ubisoft. Both titles were released in PAL territories the following year.
In the Disney Theme Parks[]
When the film was first released, Kuzco and Kronk were walkaround characters in the parks. Eventually, Yzma would also make appearances in the Disney Parks although all three characters are rare to find now. For Tokyo DisneySea, an attraction inspired by the Incan settings of the film, Raging Spirits opened in 2005 in the Lost River Delta area of the park. One of the Adventureland missions in Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom features characters from the film (with Patrick Warburton as the only returning voice, due to Eartha Kitt's death in 2008).
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Pam Ziegenhagen was also the editor of Disneytoon Studios film Mulan II, the Sony Pictures Animation film Open Season, and the Illumination Entertainment film Despicable Me.
- This movie is the first Disney movie not to have the logo on the middle of the poster.
- This is one of the few Disney animated films to use Hanna-Barbera sound effects.
- In the original early production of the film when it was titled Kingdom of the Sun, Owen Wilson (who would later become the voice of Lightning McQueen) was intended to provide the voice of Pacha.
- This the first Disney animated feature to show a pregnant woman. Previously, Darling was pregnant offscreen in Lady and the Tramp.
- When the people are feeding Kuzco, as the camera pans up you can see a few hidden Mickeys on the plates as food.
- In the scene when the fly hits the spiderweb and gets eaten, the fly screams "help me" in the same way as the classic movie The Fly (1958), where a half-human fly is eaten by a spider.
- The scene of the chimp with the bug is a subtle reference to one of the opening shots of Citizen Kane (1941). During the opening montage of the Xanadu Estate, there is a similar shot of a pair of monkeys eating bugs.
- Marc Shaiman was originally hired as composer for this movie, but his score was shelved and he was replaced by John Debney. This was revealed in the unreleased documentary "The Sweatbox".
- This was the first animated movie released in theaters where Patrick Warburton lends his voice to an animated character.
- When Chicha says to Pacha "coming through. Lady with a baby." is a line from Grease (1978).
- The Emperor's New Groove is the first Disney animated feature film to be released the same year as the previous one (in 2000's case, the previous feature film is first live-action/computer-animated Dinosaur and Fantasia 2000). Treasure Planet is the second, following Lilo & Stitch in 2002.
See also[]
References[]
External links[]
The Emperor's New Groove on Wikipedia
The Emperor's New Groove on IMDb
The Emperor's New Groove on Disney.com
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