December 15, 2000
The Emperor's New Groove is a 2000 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. It was directed by Mark Dindal and written by David Reynolds, based on a story conceived by Dindal and Chris Williams. The film stars David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, Patrick Warburton, and Wendie Malick. Inspired by ancient Peruvian culture and set in an Incan empire, The Emperor's New Groove follows Emperor Kuzco (voiced by Spade), who is accidentally transformed into a llama by his treacherous ex-advisor, Yzma (Kitt), and her dimwitted henchman Kronk (Warburton). For the emperor to change back into a human, he entrusts a village leader, Pacha (Goodman), to escort him back to the palace before Yzma can track them down and finish him off.
Development of The Emperor's New Groove began in 1994 when the film was conceived as a musical epic titled Kingdom of the Sun. Following his directorial debut with The Lion King (1994), Roger Allers recruited English musician Sting to compose several songs for the film. Because of the underwhelming box-office performances of Pocahontas (1995) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Dindal was brought in as co-director to make the film more comedic. Because of poor test screenings, creative differences with Dindal, and production falling behind schedule, Allers departed, and the film became a lighthearted comedy in the vein of a Chuck Jones cartoon instead of a dramatic musical. A documentary, The Sweatbox (2002), details the production troubles that The Emperor's New Groove endured during its six years of development.
The Emperor's New Groove premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on December 10, 2000, and was released in theaters on December 15, 2000. It received generally positive reviews from critics, but underperformed at the box office compared to Disney films released in the 1990s, grossing $169.5 million on a $100-million budget. However, the film found larger success when it was released for home media, and became the best-selling home video release of 2001. In the years since its release, The Emperor's New Groove has garnered a cult following among fans. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "My Funny Friend and Me", performed by Sting; that award went to "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan from Wonder Boys. A direct-to-video spin-off sequel, Kronk's New Groove, was released on December 13, 2005, and an animated television series, The Emperor's New School, aired on the Disney Channel from 2006 to 2008.
Storyline
In South America, Incan emperor Kuzco has been spoiled his entire life, and has become incredibly conceited. On the day before his 18th birthday, Kuzco announces his plan to demolish a nearby village and have a lavish summer home constructed in its place, despite the objections of its leader Pacha. Kuzco also discovers his elderly advisor and alchemist Yzma is usurping his duties and summarily fires her. Yzma and her bumbling sidekick Kronk plot to poison Kuzco's wine and take over the empire before the news of Yzma's termination becomes public. However, Kronk takes the wrong chemical vial from Yzma's laboratory, accidentally turning Kuzco into a llama. Yzma orders Kronk to knock Kuzco out, take him outside the city, and kill him. An attack of conscience and a series of mishaps causes Kronk to drop the sack containing the unconscious Kuzco; the sack lands on the back of Pacha's cart, and Pacha leaves the city before Kronk can catch up to him.
Kuzco awakens in Pacha's backyard, having lost some of his memory. Believing Pacha transformed and kidnapped him, Kuzco orders Pacha to take him home. Pacha refuses to help unless Kuzco changes his mind and builds his summer home elsewhere. Kuzco arrogantly rejects Pacha's demand and ventures into the jungle alone, despite Pacha's warnings. Kuzco is pursued by jaguars, but Pacha saves him. Kuzco begrudgingly agrees to relocate the construction site of his summer home if Pacha takes him home. On the way to the palace, Kuzco tries to renege on his promise; he and Pacha fight on a collapsing bridge, before being forced to work together to escape some crocodiles and a crumbling cliff face. Meanwhile, Yzma discovers Kronk lost Kuzco and the duo set out to find him. At a roadside diner, Pacha and Kuzco arrive at the same time as Yzma and Kronk, but neither party initially notices the other. However, Kronk nearly recognizes Pacha, who overhears Yzma's plans to murder Kuzco. He sneaks Kuzco out of the diner, but Kuzco does not believe Pacha's warnings. Kuzco and Pacha fight again and part ways. Kuzco almost approaches Yzma and Kronk, but overhears them discussing their plans to kill him; they also remark that Kuzco's subjects were not grieved by his apparent death. His self-delusions shattered by Yzma's true colors, Kuzco flees into the jungle to apologize to Pacha, but cannot find him.
The next morning, Kuzco glumly resigns himself to living like a llama, but finds Pacha, and the duo reconcile. Meanwhile, Kronk remembers where he saw Pacha before and tells Yzma. Kuzco and Pacha return to Pacha's village, only to discover that Yzma and Kronk are in Pacha's house, posing as distant relatives. Pacha's family distracts Yzma to give Pacha and Kuzco a head start; however, Yzma and Kronk still manage to confront the duo in Yzma's lab. Against Yzma's orders of dispatching the duo, Kronk has another attack of conscience and Yzma repeatedly insults him and he tries to kill her instead. Yzma drops Kronk through a trapdoor. As Pacha and Kuzco flee from Yzma and her guards, Kuzco tries several different potions, without success. After figuring out which vial is the "human" potion, Kuzco, Pacha and Yzma fight over it; Yzma is turned into a cat by one of the other potions, and Pacha nearly falls off the side of the palace; this forces Kuzco to rescue Pacha, allowing Yzma to take the vial. With some teamwork and inadvertent assistance from Kronk, the duo defeat Yzma and recover the vial. After becoming human again, Kuzco makes amends with the people he hurt and builds a much smaller summer home on the uninhabited hill next to Pacha's. Meanwhile, Kronk goes on to become the leader of a scout troop, with Yzma, still as a cat, being a reluctant member of it.