Customer Reviews

The Emperor's New Groove

5 star:		(227)
4 star:		(57)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This may be my favorite Disney movie ever. (I normally prefer Pixar.)

The reviewers who did not like it clearly expected something for small kids. It is not. It is very abstract in places, especially the art, which is really quite amazing. Watch for the design of the panthers, and the bats. And the landscapes. Wonderful stuff.

And the dialogue and the delivery especially is just hilarious. How you can get such delivery in an animated film is beyond me.

Warmly recommended for mature viewers with an edgy sense of humor.

THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE is the funniest movie that I have seen in years. I initially had passed on watching it in the theater because I thought it looked childish, but was convinced to give it a try now that it was out on video. Boy, was my initial impression wrong.

The story revolves around a selfish prince who is turned into a llama by one of his subjects. With the help of a kindly peasant he attempts to regain his throne, and in the process finds there's more to him than he previously thought or wanted there to be. While the moral is a good one, it really plays a secondary role to the comedy, which is literally non-stop. GROOVE takes the rapid-fire humor that Disney perfected in Aladdin and combines it with cartoon-style hijinx, the wit of David Spade, and a hilarious lack of reverence for the traditional Disney animated genre. Spade plays his role to perfection, and luckily never crosses the line into being obnoxious. Seinfeld fans are in for a treat, as Puddy plays a very special side-kick role. You really can't take your eyes off the screen for a minute, because you're guaranteed to miss a gag of some sort. The humor works mainly on an adult level, even though kids will be rolling from the funny visuals and some of the more obvious jokes.

The DVD itself is a good one. The digital transfer was excellent and the sound quality is top notch. The commentary track is one of the better that I've heard, with interesting and funny insight from all contributors. Animated menus. There's a deleted scene that was probably best left out, but is interesting to watch anyway, plus a few other fun features.

In the end, this is one of the best Disney flicks to come along in years. Hardcore Disney fans will eat it up. But even if you're not a fan of Disney's usual animated features you should give GROOVE a shot. Cast aside your pre-concieved notions and you just might be in for a very pleasant surprise. I was. FIVE STARS.

"The Emperor's New Groove" is a unique film in the vaults at Disney. It plays with the audience instead of in front of the audience, and the burning sarcasm of the emperor's character isn't found in any other Disney flick. Unfortunately, this movie seems to be cursed by the idea that any Disney movie has to be done on a grand scale and end with some great moral truth. Why can't a Disney movie just be fun?
"The Emperor's New Groove" doesn't seem to draw as much attention as other Disney fare. It just kind of quietly appeared and then went away. That's a shame. It got the same treatment from Disney that a lot of their direct-to-video/DVD movies received. At least "Hercules" got headlines for its bad, although undeserved, reviews. "Hercules" has always been erroneously treated like a red-headed stepchild compared to other Disney movies, "The Emperor's New Groove" is treated like an abortion. You rarely here anything about this film. Like "Hercules," it doesn't fit the bill as a standard Disney movie. It doesn't try to force it's morals upon you, and you won't be enlightened by any of the dialogue, but you will laugh. Kids will love it for the emperor-turned-llama silliness and adults will love it for the relationship between Spade and John Goodman. Eartha Kitt is glorious as Yzma, the villain in this tale. Patrick Warburton is perfect as Kronk, her sidekick.
Spade talks directly to the viewer as he narrates his tale, and makes sure throughout that you know the story is about him, and no one else. There is also a lot of adult humor in the film as well, much like in "Hercules."
So, this movie is a fun-time film. You won't be sorry to watch it, and your kids will love it as well. They may not be drawn to the characters as much as they would to a Belle, Snow White, or Simba, but they will enjoy this story. So will you.

I love Disney anyway, but actually wasn't that excited when this film came out, nor did I hear anything spectacular about it. That was probably only because my friends at the time were all college students without kids and nobody had seen it, oh but when we did... we laughed ourselves hoarse! It's just one laugh after another, pretty much non-stop until the end of the movie, at least it was for the 6 20-somethings I saw it with. Loved it!

I am upset about the "New Groove Edtion" of The Emperor's New Groove DVD release.
This is for the most part the same DVD as the previous released.
Down to the content and even the menus.
The only thing really new is 2 more deleted scenes.
I thought I would get an upgraded release of the film (hinst the name "New Groove Edition")
However it is the same old same old.
I am totally upset about this situation.
I can not return DVD's to the store because the DVD is opened.
The only way I could know this was not what I wanted was to open the DVD.
As a customer what do you do when the stores have a no return policy on open DVD's.

Total Disappointment!

Also Beware of the new "Special Edition" of Tarzan for it is not a 2-Disc DVD as advertised on trailer previews.

Even if you do not like Disney's post-"Lion King" attempts, you still have to give the studio credit for making each movie so diverse from each other. "The Emperor's New Groove", is without a doubt the most comical of Disney's movies. Odd thing is, that if you weren't to see the "Walt Disney Pictures" intro, you would'nt know it was Disney. This is becuase "New Groove" departs in both animation & story-telling styles that has been Disney's trademark. This film is narrated by the film's main character, Emperor Kuzco, and has more of a fast pace Saturday morning cartoon feel to it (that's not a bad thing, BTW).

In the story of trying to destroy the emperor but instead turning him into a Llama, the villains once again steal the show. However, unlike "Hercules", the good guys are characters you like and care about. It's just that Yzma (probably the most outragoeus of all the Disney villains) and Kronk have all the qualities of live action comedian, including timeing and style that makes you want to laugh. Kuzco and Pacha, have funny moments to, but some of them are forced.

The DTS 5.1 track on the DVD is awesome, and the digital-to-digital transfer is flawless.

It is a whole lot more comedic than "Aladdin", but it's not the same type of movie. "Aladdin" has comedic releif, in an otherwise serious adventure tale. While, "The Emperor's New Groove" has some dramatic relief in an otherwise hysterical adventure tale. Great submission from Disney!

"The Emperor's New Groove" is one of the lightest, most fun, and hilarious cartoons in recent memory. And no, this one, unlike recent Disney movies is not an animated motion picture...it is a cartoon, plain and simple. A cartoon that breaks almost all of Disney's regular rules. What do I mean by that? What is the normal Disney formula? Musical numbers. Love story. Beautiful heroine. Handsome, strong hero. Touching morals. "The Emperor's New Groove" has none of that (almost)! In this story, the lead character is a nasty S.O.B. for most of the movie, and his lovable sidekick is the true hero. And the only possible moral, about how it's more important to be a good person than a powerful leader, is so subtle and underplayed that it's almost non-existent. No, this movie does not exist to give lessons to children or to display the usual classic coming-of-age story Disney is famous for. This movie exists purely to entertain with animated shenanigans. And when I said "cartoon," I meant it. Not in a long time has there been a Disney movie where the characters practically KNOW they're cartoon characters. These characters gleefully flaunt their ability to exist in a world where they could run off a cliff, keep walking, realize there's no ground beneath them, look at each other, then at the audience, and then...fall. Just like an old Warner Bros. or Chuck Jones cartoon! This film really recaptured all the fun antics that cartoon characters can have because they do not have to abide by the laws of the real world. They can turn into other creatures. They can crash into walls and never get hurt (even though their faces might get flattened), etc. etc. At one point, the main character even interrupts the movie, steps in front of the cell, and starts drawing on it like a storyboard. That reminded me so much of the old Looney Tune where Daffy Duck is drawn into tons of different scenes by a wisecracking cartoonist who turns out to be Bugs Bunny. Disney doesn't seem to have had this much fun since the Genie from "Aladdin" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." If you're in the mood for a fun cartoon, I'd especially recommend this movie to adults who are fans of Looney Tunes, Chuck Jones, Hannah Barbera...anything on the Cartoon Network. Remember, you are not seeing a kid's movie. But a glorious, wonderful...cartoon! And if you are going to buy it, you must buy the 2-Disc "Ultimate Groove" set. It is amazing, with an entire extra disk that is literally a "film-school-in-a-box". It leads you through the entire process of creating a cartoon, from storyboards to sketches to the finished product. You see cartoonists, the actors who do the voices, and get to see the insides of the Disney studios. You don't even get this close on the tour of the animation stuidos when you go to Disney World. It is truly a fascinating, very detailed look at the making of a movie. The packaging is also wonderful. The cover art is some of the coolest I've ever seen for a DVD. I'd rank it up there with "Fight Club" as the best cover art for a DVD available now.

No doubt "the emperor's new groove" is by far a great entertainer and one of the best animated films to come out of disney studios but do you actually need another edition of the dvd when two different editions are already available? One being a single disc and the other one being a 2disc collector's edition. Again another single disc release for the same film doesnt make any sense to me. Moreover they havent even cut down the price this time or improved on any bonus materials on the disc.

I just dont get disney and buena vista's strange ways. They'll keep classics like "beauty and the beast", "snow white" etc in vaults for years and keep on releasing stuff which is already in stores everywhere.

This is not a review of the film "the emperor's new groove" which definitely deserves 5 stars in any case!!

Yeah, I know it's a Disney film. But if the screen credits didn't say so, I'd swear it came from Warner. It has that great anarchic Warner-style humor that makes Bugs, Daffy, Wile E. and the gang so much fun to watch. I don't know why this movie wasn't a bigger success in the theaters, but it's a real treat. Stylish animation, great dialog and voice work ... a welcome change from the treacly pap that Disney usually churns out. Five stars all the way!

Disney is well-known for their high-scale musical cartoons. Pop ballads from or inspired by their musical cartoons usually find themselves at the top of the charts. THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE was supposed to be a musical like that, one with a strong moral message, lots of syrupy love songs, and breathtaking animation. However, something happened along the way. The movie took a completely different turn (why do you think the film was 1st released at the end of the year instead of the summer?) and ended up being the least serious of all Disney full-length animated features. Thank goodness! It's about time the power-mouse took a break, had some fun (without too many perverted subtlties), and made a movie that adults will probably enjoy more than children.The closest Disney flick THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE resembles is ALADDIN. However, the humor in this film is more akin to the Muppets, the Simpsons, and early Warner Brothers cartoons. David Spade is perfect as the voice of Emperor Kuzco, John Goodman is delightful as the peasant Pacha who saves Kuzco many tmes, and Patrick Warburton steals the movie as the voice of Kronk.The basic outline of the story is that Kuzco is a selfish Emperor who wants to destroy Pacha's village so he can build a summer home. He fires his advisor Yzma (Eartha Kitt) because he doesn't trust her and in retaliation she plans to kill him. However, Kronk accidently mistakes a llama transformation potion for poison and Kuzco turns into one of the hairy bests instead. Yzma still wants Kuzco dead, but Krok has a conscience and can't complete the task. Eventually, Kuzco ends up in Pacha's wagon and that's all your going to get; my groove just changed.