Rating: 
Summary: Funniest Disney Movie I've Seen
Review: I really thought this movie would be so dumb, but I about die laughing every time I see it. It is just so hilariously random! I mean, who comes up with these stories . . . A prince who gets turned into a llama? Weird, but SO funny! I don't even have kids, but I had to get it anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Never Too Old For Disney
Review: I'm fifteen, and I just love The Emperor's New Groove. It's destined to become a Disney classic.
Rating: 
Summary: I love the movie but...
Review: The movie is great! For those who want to know whether or not to buy the movie I would recommend it. I bought it the second it came out on video. However, when I decided to upgrade to DVD I had to decide whether or not I wanted to fork over an extra 10 dollars to get the two disc version rather than the standard DVD. I bought the ultimate groove and I regret it now. I would have been much happier if I had chosen the regular dvd. The second disc is loaded with behind the scenes features which are explained by the director and producer. I hate to be mean but after the first five minutes their attempts to be entertaining become cheesy and redundant. Maybe if I was a little kid I would appreciate it more, but then the behind the scenes footage probably wouldn't hold my interest. It gets repetitive after a while. For all the time they take explaining the processes of animation they could have spent a little more focusing on the actors and/or how they came up with the idea for the movie. It is all very dry and technical. In the end they kind of took the fun out of the behind the scenes features. You would probably be more satisfied with the other version which seems to have all the other features this one has.
Rating:
Summary: A 5 For Humor, But Just a 3 For Quality
Review: THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE opens with the introduction of Kuzco, an arrogant ruler who accepts his self-centerness with pride. People find it hard to accept him as a good ruler because of his arrogance, and when Kuzco fires Yzma from her position as Kuzco's advisor, Yzma becomes fed up with her ruler. So, with her clumsy partner Kronk, she decides to poison Kuzco and thus take over rule of Kuzco's empire. But Kronk somehow gets Yzma's potions mixed up, and when Kuzco drinks the apparent death beverage, he instead turns into a llama. Yzma orders Kronk to finish the death job, but Kronk is hesitant to kill Kuzco, and Kuzco instead ends up at a small cottage in the middle of the woods. This is where Kuzco meets Pacha, a peasant whose house Kuzco wishes to demolish and build his own summer home of "Kuzcotopia," much to his pleasure and his pleasure alone. Even though Kuzco thinks of Pacha as a low person because of his being a peasant, he slowly realizes that he needs Pacha's help in order to get back to the palace and turn back into a human again- especially when he eventually finds out that it was actually Yzma and Kronk who gave him the potion, not Pacha, as he first thought it was. But Kuzco and Pacha's quest back to the palace is not easy, especially since Yzma and Kronk are trying to find Kuzco and kill him.This depiction of the plot to THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE may give the idea that the movie is more geared towards adults, but that is not the case at all: the entire movie has a humor baseline that depicts this story as a wacky trip, yet it still provides just enough sentimentality and feeling to show Kuzco coming to his senses over his wrongdoings. This movie is worth noting because it goes away from Disney's recent trends of portraying legendary characters in their movies (from POCAHONTAS to TARZAN) and returns to the jolly humor that gave ALADDIN a sizable anchor, only this time, the humor revolves around just about the entire movie. And the ways the humor is used is at times very interesting. For instance, even Yzma herself wonders why there is a trap door near her laboratory that leads to a pool of snapping crocodiles.... Yes, this movie can be deemed very silly, and to a certain extent, stupid. But those humorous charms work to the movie's advantage, for they never let up steam, even when the movie is at its climax. That does not mean the plot structure is very strong, and that turns out to be the film's main fault. The evolution from to the film's first conflict (Kuzco's turning into a llama) to the climax is poorly paced, and Kuzco's infrequent narration in most of the movie is an annoying misstep. And even though the actors do give very good performances of their characters- especially David Spade's take with Kuzco- none of the characters are really that memorable, largely because of the plot's weaknesses. However, THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE is still actually better than all of Disney's most recent animated projects, and it is probably their best animated movie since THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (for the record, the computer animation movies are not considered in this equation). Why is it better than MULAN or TARZAN, you may ask? Because despite its weaknesses, the plot still does not seem as tired and predictable. Even though this change of plot structure did not necessarily result in huge sales- the film barely made half of what TARZAN did at the box office- this change is still a step in the right direction for Disney to take in order to get their animation train back on its track. And for that, THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE would not be a bad investment towards a kid's film collection.
Rating: 
Summary: 1.66 is NOT WIDSCREEN
Review: Some people consider this widescreen. This movie was in the theater at 1.85. This movie is PAN SCANED to the 1.66 aspect ratio. Sure this is better then full screen but it still is not widescreen since it is not how the movie was showen in the theater. For those who don't like widescreen this is not for you either. Since there are still black bars. They are just slightly thiner. Release it in its proper aspect disney.
Rating:
Summary: THE KIDS LOVE IT
Review: We not only have the DVD but the books on CD as well. We listen to it in the car and watch the DVD. It is great when the kids pose and say BOOM BABY. They really have fun with it. The extras on the DVD was the selling point. Even dad loved the game.
Rating:
Summary: pay attention to the details
Review: This movie goes a little different from what you usually see in Disney. First, it has a great economy of characters, basically the entire plot is supported by 2 heroes and 2 villains -proof that a good story doesn't need a novel-like cast. Then, it's much lighter than many others. Remember how dramatic "Tarzan" was? Or "The Lion King"? Nothing like that: this one is sheer comedy, strictly to laugh, and that doesn't mean it's less artistic: cartoons are allowed to be simply funny. Artistic it is: I can tell you, I've been myself to Peru to study Inca world quite closely, I can see they took their time to research what they were going to draw here. The drawing line is also lighter than other movies, much in the Aladdin style, far from Poccahontas, where you can see the difficulty of the design, still the animation is as good and sophisticated as ever. As for the characters it's the typical Disney style: there's the lovable guy (in this case, sidekick Pacha), the modern "groovy" guy is the star, Emperor Kuzco, (in the smart-guy style of Aladdin's Genie, or the Lion King's Timon, or Mulan's Mushu) and the villain team made of the Evil One, that can be calm like Jaffar or hysterical like Cruella, in this movie, Yzma, the criminal master mind leans to the second choice, and her right-hand man, the silly, stupid guy, Kronk, that continues a tradition going as far as Pinocchio's team, the fox and the cat. About the plot, it's quite different from what we usually see in a Disney feature, much lighter too and very simple, but interesting enough to keep your attention to the end: the young ruler is a selfish brat and his evil assistant wants him out of the way, but in trying to kill him she accidentally turns him into a llama and he must overcome his spoilt obnoxious self to get out of his tragic situation, learning in the proces how to be a more likable person. For those that say this film is out of the usual Disney style I'll point out a few things: as always, they took a careful research for the environment presented (if this is not Inca world I don't know what it is!), the star is still cute and funny (even as a brat you have to like him) and he'll be the good one at the end. The humor can be striking at times and very refined others, just enough to keep you smiling, but all along! In this movie, we go back to old classic cartoon jokes that seem a little odd in a long feature, but work well for being so unexpected. And there are only as many songs as needed, (nothing can be more annoying than a song out of place that only seems to intrerrupt the story instead of working with it). And still it is very different from what we've seen so far. The story is not a love plot, the star doesn't pursue life-longed dreams and he's not Mr. Nicest Guy In The World. This is the story of a naughty conceited boy turned into a good person (in fact, what the original story of Pinnochio or Aladdin are really about, but Disney didn't use in the movie version) And, of course, there is a moral at the end: be good and you'll win -the typical Disney message. In it's roughness and apparent simplicity, "The Emperor's New Groove" is a real gem! The proof that a movie doesn't need to be overdone, that a Disney cartoon doesn't have to be a superproduction to be a masterpiece. It's as simple as a Pluto short film, and yet as exquisetely worked out as Aladdin. A great combination! And to laugh your head off!
Rating: 
Summary: Disney is making comedy
Review: I had seen this with my best friends. This movie is the best Disney movie of the year 2000. It's got comedy, action, and silly things. A selfish emperor turns into a lama, for he was selfish and nasty and wanted to knock down Pacha's house to make a summer house, because Pacha's house is way way on the top.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Over and Over Again
Review: I was more than pleasantly surprised when I watched this movie. The mix of comedy appeals to kids with more veiled humor for adults. And this isn't just a one-time movie - I've watched it a dozen times and it's just as entertaining every time. David Spade is very funny and Eartha Kitt, John Goodman, Wendy Malik, and Patrick Warburton only add to the entertainment. I, like many, had given up hope for another truly comedic and enjoyable Disney movie after Aladdin, but this has restored my faith in Disney's ability to create a movie fit for all ages. There are so many different levels to this movie and many quotes from the movie will stick in your head after the movie is over. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: The Groove In This DVD Is Great!
Review: The Emperor's New Groove is a fun frolic of wit and humor. This film relies mainly on the quick verbiage and dialogue to get some really interesting humor. David Spade plays the Emperor Kusko and John Goodman plays Pacha - the man he befriends in order to get back home. Get back home you say? Kusko is transformed into a llama thanks to his ever-evil advisor Isma. (Played brilliantly by the voice talents of Ertha Kitt. With her sidekick - Kronk, Isma turns Kusko into a llama - by accident. Her intent was to originally kill him by its Kronk who makes the wrong choice. The story then moves in two directions, Pacha, who learns that Kusko wants to destroy his village must convince the Emperor that this is the wrong thing to do to his people and a Kusko must get home and try and become human again thinking Isma is on his side. Later Kusko learns Isma wants to kill him and therefore the race to the secret laboratory is on. The visuals are fun and interesting and the colors are very pastel like and everything has a hard edge to them. Not like the other rounder Disney films have been. The DVD Extras are the best I have ever seen. There is a complete walk through with the Producer and Director from everything from concept to theatrical release. They have script-to-screen comparisons, music supervision section - complete with Sting as well as the interviews with cast, crew and artists. There are many hours of viewing on this DVD. Also the CD-Rom features are very good. Great for kids and adults alike. I liked this movie in the theatre and I love the DVD even more! You will too! 8-6-02
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