Editorial Product Review:Description:If you liked ALADDIN, you'll love Disney's THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE, where outrageous comedy rules! Audiences and critics alike raved about this hilarious animated adventure. 'Ebert & Roeper And The Movies' gave it 'Two Thumbs Up.' Faster than you can say 'Boom, baby,' arrogant Emperor Kuzco is turned into a llama by his devious advisor, Yzma, and her hunky henchman, Kronk, who want to rid the kingdom of this beast of burden. Now the ruler who once had it all must form an unlikely alliance with a pleasant peasant named Pacha. Together, Kuzco and Pacha must overcome their differences as they embark on a hilarious, 'groovy' adventure that will have you howling with laughter.
Amazon.com:Originally developed as an epic called
Kingdom of the Sun,
The Emperor's New Groove lost scale and most of Sting's song score (some of which can be heard on the soundtrack) on its way to the screen. The end result is the lightest Disney film in many a moon, a joyous romp akin to
Aladdin in its quotient of laughs for kids and adults. The original story centers on the spoiled teenage emperor Kuzco (David Spade), who enjoys getting the best of his Aztecan subjects. When he fires Yzma (Eartha Kitt), his evil sorceress, she seeks revenge and turns Kuzco into a llama with the help of her hunk of the month, a lunk named Kronk (Patrick Warburton). Alone in the jungle, the talking llama is befriended by Pacha (John Goodman), who has just been told to vacate his pastoral home by the human Kuzco. What's an ego to do? That's pretty much the story and the characters--simple, direct, fun--a Disney film on a diet. For any fan of the acidic humor of Spade, this is essential viewing. As narrator of his tale, Kuzco uses a sarcastic tone to keep the story jumping with plenty of fun asides (he even 'stops' the film at one point to make sure you know the story is about
him). Even better is character actor Warburton (Elaine's stuck-up boyfriend on
Seinfeld), who steals every scene as the dim-witted, but oh-so-likable Kronk. There's even a delicious Tom Jones number that starts the film off with a bang.
--Doug Thomas
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Buyer Reviews
Average Buyer Rating:
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one of the funniest...
This is one of the funniest cartoons I've ever seen. The humor is very witty and Kuzco is so obnoxious, you just can't help but love him!! The charcters are the best, from Yzma, Kronk to Pacha and Bucky! Great for kids and adults!!
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Quite a Suprise
Let me first admit: In general and principle, I hate Disney movies.
There, I said it. I know as American consumers, we consider that blasphemy against the capitalist God that Disney is. They usually destroy any fairy tales they do get ahold of (The Little Princess in original form is NOT
a happy story with saccharin musical numbers), and in those cases, I would recommend avoiding them like the plague...or American Idol.
So why am I writing this? Because sometimes, one in a so often, Disney gets their act together. The original Fantasia is easily one of the most amazing cinematic accomplishments of the early 20th century. They are a huge influence on the Japanese manga scene (you can go straight to Osamu Tezuka's "Astro Boy" for that". However, after Disney died, quality dropped off.
They got a shot in the arm of invigoration with their deal in the 1990's with Pixar, and most of us know that story. However, they also ended up producing two films that were a bit outside their safety zone that were, in my view, surprisingly fresh: Lilo and Stitch and The Emperor's New Groove.
With The Emperor's New Groove, Disney seemed to be completely hands off on the project. Besides the opening Tom Jones piece (which, by the way, is lounge-erific), there are no singing and dance numbers. I normally hate David Spade, but he's okay here. He does his "snotty little punk" act here of course, but the character calls for it, making him bearable. John Goodman as Pacha is an excellent foil, an average joe swept up into extraordinary situation, and Goodman's deadpan works great off Spade (see
"the waterfall scene" for an excellent example). Eartha Kitt plays a great villain here, Yzma, often made fun of for being "very, very, very old" and also has a wonderful wicked deadpan that works. However, the character that steals this movie, hands down, is Kronk, Yzma's manservant (played brilliantly by Patrick Warburton). I was out of breath laughing so hard at this character. He plays a dolt...who has a penchant for cooking and talking to squirrels. He is the icing on the cake of a script that is somewhat Monty Python-esque in it's absurdist humor, which had me hooked.
I haven't seen either of the special editions, and normally I'm not a huge fan of the behind the scenes stuff unless it's a completely overwhelming film (think Lord of the Rings or Star Wars). However, if you are into absurdist humor from an unlikely source, I would recommend checking it out.
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the greatest lesson
the Emperor's New Groove is not only funny but it teaches a great lesson to children and adults- to love others no just your self. so indulge, laugh and cry with Kozko on his journey!
Customer Rating: 
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Check your "DVD Regions"!
Nice DVD, however I would have prefered a big, fat, WARNING written in bright red letters that stated that this disc was for non-US REgions! THis DVD is for playing REgions OUTSIDE of the US!!! What does that mean?? It will not play on any US DvD players!! ugh!