ANI-MOVIES, *The Emperor's New Groove

What was originally supposed to be a musical epic titled Kingdom In The Sun put together by animation directors Roger Allers and Matthew Jacobs(infamously documented in the film The Sweatbox)was later totally rewritten into a family comedy film that was Disney's first full-length animated movie of the new millenium. This made for a strange reception as most Disney toon movies were regularly based on an existing fairy tale or childrens book, plus the original billing of Kingdom Of The Sun synced with its comedic rebranding didn't leave alot of confidence to initial theatrical releases who weren't sure what to make of it. If the movie was based on some centuries old Grimm Bros. story, audiences would know what they were getting into, so The Emporer's New Groove gained real success after its home video release, becoming a hit with its video rental premiere. Cats Don't Dance director Mark Dindal was given the reigns of the movie, although seemed to trip a little later on with Disney's underated Chicken Little which he also directed, although his helming the Kringle holiday special worked out better for him. However, this departure from Disney's average formula seemed to pan out for them in the long run.

Set sometime during the height of the Incan Empire, or at least in some alternate reality where the Incans never went out of business because the film is filled with up-to-date cultural references, Kuzco is a spoiled teenage emporer who has a compulsary need to have things go a certain way, otherwise it would upset his "groove", leading him to fits of selfish rage. One such upset makes him fire his royal advisor Yzmna, a creepy elderly lady who along with her bumbling but good-hearted sidekick Kronk happens to be a part-time mad scientist who plans to poison he Kuzco, but because of Kronk's nincompoopery is instead turned into a talking llama. The now llama-ized emporer is accidently taken away by a Pacha, a village leader that Kuzco planned to kick off his land to make room for an amusement park. Pacha rescues Kuzco from turning into a jaguar snack, and agrees to help take him back to the palace if he doesn't bulldoze his home. Yzma and Kronk are on the trail for Kuzco after getting some help from a bi-polar squirrel, which has the two parties continuously missing each other in an Incan "diner". The chase leads back to the palace where a mixup of potions has several guards also turning into animals, but Kuzco manages to become human again after several tries, while Yzma is turned into a menacing fluffy kitten. Kuzco is restored to the throne, and builds his getaway on an empty neighboring hill next to Pacha's.

Despite being out of the feature-length non-musical comedy for several years, Disney did turn out a quality production on the level of classic Looney Tunes humor. The animation itself is very above reproach, but not the engaging way that prior landmarks like Beauty And The Beast did. The thing that really sells this movie is the witty performances by the cast. David Spade makes a great recovery into movies after the loss of his former partner Chris Farley as Kuzco, Patrick Warburton cemented himself as a voice over gold mine, and Eartha Kitt plays one of the most bombasticly cartoonish Disney villains of all time. As one of the best buddy comedy films of recent memory, The Emperor's New Groove achieved its place as a fan favorite despite its shaky history.