The Emperor's New Groove Review

The Emperor's New Groove


Release Date: 5th April 2001 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures (presents)
Walt Disney Feature Animation

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia


Genre: Animation/Family/

Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 78 minutes


Budget: $100,000,000

Box Office Gross: $169,701,441 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

Kuzco is a young but vain, spoiled and selfish emperor. He is transformed into a llama by his treacherous advisor, Yzma, in an attempt to seize the throne. Now Kuzco has to find a way to get back into his palace, change back into his human form and reclaim the throne with the help of a llama herder named Pacha.

Voice Cast

David Spade - Emperor Kuzco

John Goodman - Pacha

Eartha Kitt - Yzma

Patrick Warburton - Kronk
Wendie Malick - Chicha
Kellyann Kelso - Chaca
Eli Russell Linnetz - Tipo
Bob Bergen - Bucky the
Squirrel/Fly Stuck in Web
Patti Deutsch - Waitress

John Fiedler - Old Man
Tom Jones - Theme Song Guy (Uncredited)

Miriam Flynn - The Piñata Lady

Jess Harrell - Guard

Steve Susskind - Irate Chef

Joe Whyte - Official

Jennifer Darling - Female Villager #1

Mickie McGowan - Woman #1

Sherry Lynn - Woman #2

Andre Stojka - Topo

Rodger Bumpass - Townspeople/Guard (Uncredited)

Robert Clotworthy - Guards

Crew

Story/Director - Mark Dindal
Story - Chris Williams
Based on an Original Story -
Roger Allers and Matthew Jacobs
Additional Story Material/
Artistic Supervisor: Story - Stephen J. Anderson
Additional Story Material -
Don Hall and John Norton

Additional Story/Lead Animator:

"Chicha" - Doug Frankel

Additional Story - Mark Kennedy and Mark Walton

Associate Producer - Patty Hicks
Executive Producer - Don Hahn
Producer - Randy Fulmer
Production Designer - Paul A. Felix

Casting Directors - Ruth Lambert

and Mary Hildago
Art Director - Colin Stimpson
Co-Art Director - Thomas Cardone
Artistic Coordinator - Dan Hansen
Character Designers - Joseph C. Moshier and
David Pruiksma (Uncredited)

Artistic Supervisor: Layout - Jean-Christophe Poulain

Additional Layout Supervisor - Rasoul Azadani

Artistic Supervisor: Background - Natalie Franscioni-Karp

Supervising Animator: "Kuzco/Kuzco

Llama" - Nik Ranieri
Supervising Animator: "Pacha" - Bruce W. Smith
Supervising Animator: "Yzma" - Dale Baer
Supervising Animator: "Kronk" - Tony Bancroft

Lead Animator: "Tipo" - James Lopez

Lead Animator: "Chaca/Bucky" - Brian Ferguson

Supervising Animator: Paris Unit, Character

Animation - Dominique Monfrey

Additional Animators - Hendel Butoy

and Mark Henn

Artistic Supervisor: Clean-Up - Vera Pacheco
Scene Planning Supervisor - Thomas Baker

Artistic Supervisor: Visual Effects - Mauro Maressa

Editor - Pam Ziegenhagen

Additional Editors - Thomas R. Bryant

and Michael E. Polakow

Associate Editor - Lisa Linder

Sound Designer - Tim Chau

Sound Editors - Nils C. Jensen,

David Kern, Albert Gasser and

Donald Sylvester

Re-Recording Mixers - Terry Porter,

Mel Metcalfe and Dean A. Zupancic

Foley Artists - John Roesch

and Allyson Dee Moore
Music and Lyrics - Sting

Music/Vocal Arrangements - David Hartley

Score - John Debney

Executive Music Producer - Chris Montan

Music Production Manager - Tom MacDougall

Score Recordist and Mixer - Shawn Murphy

Awards

2001 Academy Awards
Best Music, Original Song "My Funny Friend and

Me" - Sting and Dave Hartley (Nominated)

Review
THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE was pretty hilarious. In this movie, Disney made something more lighthearted and whimsical in the tradition of flicks such as Aladdin and, to a lesser extent, Hercules. The plot scenario is meaningful and humorous. This underrated movie had certain developmental hurdles during its production, such as removing the songs by Sting and changing the story at the last minute. The best things about the movie, which I must highlight as a starting point, are the comedy and the voice acting chemistry by David Spade and John Goodman. Their roles are total opposites, and their characters progress in learning to accept each others' differences. Furthermore, Patrick Warburton and the late Eartha Kitt perform with much energy as the two villains.

THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE is arguably the zaniest and funniest animated movie I have ever seen. It almost reached the heights of success before the arrival of Shrek, which came as a pleasant surprise to the audience. NEW GROOVE should not be mistaken for an animated musical, which it is certainly not.

Star rating: (9/10) Excellent Movie

Back to Home