The Emperor's New Groove (2000)

Today's movie is something completely different, perhaps the least "Disney" of all the movies in the Disney Animated Canon.  Here's The Emperor's New Groove.

The Movie:

The Emperor's New Groove is the 40th film in the Disney Animated Canon and one of the early post-Renaissance films.  Although it received mostly favorable reviews upon its release, it wasn't given a huge marketing push and performed only modestly at the box office.

The movie takes place in South America during the time of the Inca Empire.  The main character is Kuzco, a bratty young emperor who is turned into a llama by his vindictive advisor Yzma and her assistant Kronk in a failed attempt to kill him and take over the kingdom.  As Kuzco attempts to return to the palace and become human again, he finds he needs the assistance of villager Pacha to help him on the way.

I absolutely love this movie because it is hilarious.  I first encountered this film during the summer of 2001 when I worked at a day care, and it was one of the movies on high rotation being fairly new at the time.  Not only was it a hit with the kids, but I instantly fell in love with the movie, primarily because of its style of humor.

Now critics of this movie will point out that it is much different than most Disney movies, and that is kind of the point.  It has a unique place amongst Disney animated films.  Originally, it was meant to be a big epic in the vein of The Lion King and Pocahontas called Kingdom of the Sun, and the musician Sting was brought in to do the music.  However, the long protracted production eventually gave us this movie instead.

And speaking of Sting, he and his collaborator did get an Oscar nomination for one of the two songs that did make it to the film, "My Funny Friend and Me."  That song played over the credits.  But the more memorable song is "Perfect World," the opening number, gloriously performed by Tom Jones.  The score by John Debney is fun, jazzy, and at times almost Bond-like.

You can't go wrong with the voice cast of this movie, including David Spade, John Goodman, Patrick Warburton, and Eartha Kitt.  All in all, a very fun, and very funny, light-hearted romp with a little bit of heart to boot.

Presence in the Parks:

Unfortunately, The Emperor's New Groove is almost nowhere to be found in Walt Disney World.  Supposedly there were character greets in the parks around the time of the movie's release, but nothing lasting.

The one place where this movie does pop up is in the Magic Kingdom game Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.  This game debuted in the Magic Kingdom back in 2012 and has been fairly popular as an interactive experience in the parks, especially for those who visit frequently.

I've not ever played the game, but here is my understanding.  At the start of the game, you are given a set of cards with various Disney and Pixar characters that serve as spells.  You are also assigned one of a handful locations to start your quest.  Each location has a different Disney villain, and each villain has a corresponding hero that helps you at that station.  In order to complete the quest, you have to use the correct type of spell card to defeat the villains at a certain number of stations.

Yzma is one of the villains found in Adventureland, and Kronk also appears with her.  Kuzco is your hero companion as you battle Yzma.  However, none of the 70 possible spell cards include a character from The Emperor's New Groove.

I should mention it, since I didn't yesterday, that The Lion King is also found in this game.  Scar is another villain in Adventureland, and Rafiki is your hero guide.  Simba, Pumbaa, and Rafiki are all found on spell cards.

Other than this game, The Emperor's New Groove has no presence at WDW, which is a shame because of the potential.  The movie actually depicts a roller coaster which could be the setup for a ride, and another scene could be the basis of a water ride.  It could also tie-in to a South American country in Epcot if one was ever built or a South America land in Animal Kingdom.  But even though this movie is somewhat of a cult favorite, it probably won't see a new attraction any time soon.

P.S. I left one other thing out yesterday with The Lion King, and that is that it has a set piece in the Hollywood Studios show Fantasmic!  That's easy to do when so many movies pop up at some point there.