THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: The Disney animation factory tells
a story of its own invention set in pre-
Columbian Peru. A selfish young emperor is
turned into a llama. Taken far from his palace
he goes on an odyssey to return to his home and
win back his throne from an evil pretender. The
story and the characters are likable, and for
once Disney is not trying to impress with
cutting edge animation techniques. While is it
no BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, it is both fun and
funny with a couple of good lessons for kids
hidden behind the entertainment. And how many
films can you name set in pre-Columbian Peru?
Rating: 6 (0 to 10), +1 (-4 to +4)
What would the holiday season be without a new animated film from Disney? This outing rather than taking some classic story and inaccurately making it into a film, they have taken their own story setting it in Peru vaguely sometime before Columbus came to the New World. The Emperor Kuzco (voiced by Saturday Night Live veteran David Spade) has been particularly cruel to a well-meaning lug of a peasant Pacha (John Goodman). Kuzco may not have a shred of meanness in his body but the also does not have a scrap of empathy or kindness. What does have is an ambitious and evil adviser, Yzma (the great Eartha Kitt). Yzma tries to poison Kuzco in order to take his place but instead accidentally turns him into a llama and then loses him. Kuzco find himself alone and friendless except for the peasant he has mistreated. He finds it a rocky friendship but one he comes to depend on.
As Disney animated films go this is not the best, but definitely not the worst. The script does not go into the characters as much as it might, choosing instead to keep the script denser in humor. Wait long enough and the relationship between Kuzco and Pacha will become surprisingly touching. The choice of setting is one that has rarely been used for film and one that the younger members of the audience might not immediately recognize or understand. It may provide a good opportunity for parents to give their children a history lesson, if indeed the parents understand it themselves. Of course the history must not be taken too seriously either. The script mixes its cultures a little too much having in one scene a Mexican piata party. One of Sting's forgettable songs incorrectly refers to this part of the world as "Meso-America." John Goodman is a little large and plump to play an Inca. Incas were probably short and certainly not heavy. The script manages to avoid having anything larger than a ladybug die in the course of the story. The most frightening scenes are not of violence, but of dangers of falling from great heights. Then again, this is Peru and you expect great altitudes. The religious right may object to a usually likable gay character, even if he is the conflicted henchman of the villain. Those who would ban books like Harry Potter and THE WIZARD OF OZ may be unhappy that magic has an effect in this film; though they may take consolation in that it seems never to be the effect intended.
This film does push what were at least of few years ago limits. For most of the film Pacha's wife is noticeably pregnant. And in spite of the fact she seems content to be what we would call "a housewife," she proves herself more than match for some powerful baddies. Most of Disney's best villains have been women so they have never held back from allowing women to be villains, though usually they are uglier and older women and this film is not really an exception. The corpulent hero is, however, something of a change for Disney.
For once the animation techniques do not run away with the show. There are no scenes that are anywhere near a breath-taking as the opening of THE LION KING. Most of the animation seems fairly flat and old-fashioned. This is Mark Dindal's second outing as director. His previous effort was CATS DON'T DANCE for Turner Broadcasting. He did previously direct for Disney the animation sequences for the under-rated THE ROCKETEER. The music is by John Debney and David Hartley. Sting wrote the songs and is apparently unhappy that some of his songs were dropped. He might have a point. The songs dropped could easily have been better than the boring place-holder songs that were not dropped. At least I think they were boring place-holder songs, admittedly not much about the songs comes to my mind at the moment. When Disney Studios said that they mourned the loss of Alan Menken, it was with only the best of reasons.
As animated films go, this one is above average, but it will probably not be a Disney classic. I give it a 6 on the 0 to 10 scale and a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 2000 Mark R. Leeper
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