Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “The Emperor’s New Groove” is a 2000 film that is still beloved by people today. Why has it stayed this way, and what has caused this movie to be one for the ages? The movie starts out in the middle of the story, where we get to meet one of our main characters, a selfish emperor who is currently a llama. After that scene we get caught up on the rest of the story.
As we get caught up, there are a few characters that stand out rather quickly, and if you have seen any clips of the movie, but not the actual movie, you’d already know who the characters are. Yzma and Kronk, who are our two antagonists, are very quickly defined as fun characters. Yzma is trying to take over the empire; however, in her old age she needs the help of the big Kronk. Kronk is as dumb as he is strong, being able to handle plenty of physical activity without breaking a sweat. They are a very interesting duo and are comic relief in many scenes, such as when entering Yzma’s secret lab to find a poison for the emperor. This leads to a scene where the iconic line “Pull the lever Kronk,” and “Wrong lever!” comes in as Kronk pulls a lever that sends the two of them into a free fall below. Scenes like these come up more throughout the movie, another example being when the two of them arrive at the palace impossibly fast, and when asked how they got there so quickly Kronk says, “Well, you got me, by all accounts it doesn’t make sense.” These make some bigger scenes seem a lot less heavy and add a really funny air to the movie.
The movie, aside from our lovely dynamic duo, is also very well written. The main story follows the emperor as he gets stuck in the form of a llama, and is forced to be in the company of a family man who lives in the village that the emperor is currently looking at destroying for construction of a new pool for himself. Their two personalities merge together and allow the emperor to learn what it means to care for people other than himself. The movie offers a wonderful journey full of great and funny moments and is a must watch for anyone who has not already. Five stars from me.
