In 2000, Disney released The Emperor's New Groove, an animated feature film that would succeed in its storytelling and humor. The movie would go on to cause a spinoff film, Kronk's New Groove, and a Disney Channel original series, The Emperor's New School. The Emperor's New Groove follows Emperor Kuzco, a spoiled young man who knows nothing of the genuine hardships people face every day. So rather than spending his time trying to make the world a better place for his citizens, he sits around thinking about the best place to build his own summer house. That is until Yzma and Kronk turn him into a llama.

Kuzco's transformation forces him to team up with Pacha, the very man whose home Kuzco is trying to steal, to return to the palace and become human again. Along the way, Yzma and Kronk light up the screen as delightful villains who walk the border between intelligent and ignorant. The Emperor's New Groove succeeds in its storytelling, emotional beats, and jokes on a journey of character development and the desire to return to human form. Years after its release, The Emperor's New Groove remains to stand the test of time through its comedic shenanigans, genuine character, and emotional arcs.

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Breaking the Fourth Wall

The Emperor's New Groove Map
Walt Disney Company

Kuzco enjoys interrupting the story to emphasize what he finds important. Kuzco will stop the movie to explain to the audience how something is important because it relates to him directly. Using it at the film's beginning allows the audience to understand who the main character is, and what to expect from the upcoming scenes. The Emperor's New Groove uses it in other small jokes throughout the film, such as the final race to the castle by portraying a map. When Kronk and Yzma make it back first, Kronk pulls down the map the film had used, referencing each pair's steps and declaring it makes no sense that Yzma and Kronk had won against Kuzco and Pacha when they were so far ahead. Breaking the fourth wall can be difficult because it may not always work if done wrong. However, The Emperor's New Groove never overuses the technique, bringing it in and out at the perfect moments without overdoing it.

Comedic Moments Survive the Test of Time

The Emperor's New Groove Kuzco
Buena Vista Pictures

The Emperor's New Groove is home to many jokes that, over time, have become memes. However, lines of dialogue such as Kronk explaining the poison for Kuzco and "Pull the lever, Kronk!" remain iconic moments from the film. The Emperor's New Groove does not succumb to many outdated pop culture references making audiences years later confused about the original nature of the joke. Instead, the movie understands its animation, characters, and story well enough to deliver comedy that achieves its goals without going overboard or reinforcing details unnecessarily. The Emperor's New Groove understands its absurdity and uses it to its advantage. The animation is also a huge help to the movie, as the story uses its ability to create whatever it wants to its benefit rather than relying on a live-action portrayal.

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Yzma And Kronk

The Emperor's New Groove Yzma and Kronk
Buena Vista Pictures

Regarding villains, Yzma and Kronk are two of the funniest that Disney has to offer. Yzma's goal is to replace Kuzco as Emperor, but when her plan fails and turns Kuzco into a llama rather than kill him, Yzma and Kronk must kill Kuzco before he can turn human again. However, while they are antagonists, they are also a comical part of the movie. They have developed characters with quirky personalities and solid chemistry between them that make their scenes amusing to watch. Although they may not be the most frightening villains to appear in a Disney movie, they do not have to be. Instead, how their characters are portrayed is a fun change to a brooding antagonist with several unintelligent underlings.

Kuzco And Pacha's Development

A man and a llama back to back walking up the sides of a cliff
Buena Vista Pictures

At first, it seems like the world may explode before Pacha and Kuzco see eye-to-eye. Kuzco is more interested in kicking Pacha and his family out of their home at the top of a hill than helping the family or even being nice to them. However, when the duo must work together, Kuzco and Pacha learn to understand each other better, allowing them to begin building a bridge toward friendship. Kuzco needs to understand the world outside his bubble and be around others who will not bend the world to his will. That is where Pacha shows Kuzco that an entire world is out there, and he even sees the new sides of Kuzco's empathy begin to show themselves. The Emperor's New Groove relies on Kuzco's character development to understand how he had been wrong as a human, but it takes Pacha's involvement for Kuzco to see the type of friendships he had missed out on.