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Boom Baby! Let's Discuss The Emperor's New Groove
39 Plays7 days ago
Welcome to AniMAYtion Month! This May we are diving into the world of animation by reviewing some of the genre's greatest entries, from 2.5D and stop motion to anime and live action hybrids. So get your pencils ready because this is one month you won't want to miss!
In the final episode of the month, Satsunami and Andrew delve into the realm. of an underrated Disney classic with The Emperor's New Groove! But does its humour still translate well 25 years on? What is the controversial history behind this film? And why did Sting hate working on it?! All this and more in our final episode of AniMAYtion Month!
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Transcript
Introduction and Costume Fun
00:00:00
Speaker
Don't get me wrong, Andrew. I'm happy that you're here, but why you dressed like a pirate again? Because I'm excited to review today's episode. Treasure Planet for Animation Month. Come on, let's get started. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Did you not get my message earlier?
00:00:13
Speaker
It's the Emperor's new groove that won the poll, not Treasure Planet. That explains why you look like a llama today. Aw, why thank you. Wait a
Welcome to Animation Month
00:00:22
Speaker
minute, I'm not wearing a costume.
00:00:23
Speaker
Hey, look, it's Martin. Why is he cosplaying as The Rock? Hey guys, let me in! I can't wait to review Moana! I swear I need to get a better mailing system. Pull the lever, Andrew! Wrong lever! um
Weather and Llama Segue
00:00:40
Speaker
Why do you even have that lever?
00:00:42
Speaker
Well, you see, one thing that I, um, hmm. Welcome to Animation Month, everybody!
00:00:51
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to the finale of Animation Month. My name's Satinami and joining me today is my second llama in command. It is Andrew. Andrew, welcome back. Oh yeah, it's all coming together. Did you bring the spinach puffs?
00:01:09
Speaker
Your spinach puffs. My spinach puffs. Oh, yeah. Other than your burnt spinach puffs, how are you doing today? I'm doing well, thank you. Spring is finally here. It's moderately nice in Canada at the moment, and we're looking forward to hopefully some sunshine very soon.
00:01:24
Speaker
As of recording this
The Emperor's New Groove Wins Poll
00:01:25
Speaker
episode, Scotland has been hit by a heatwave. It is roasting now. A Scottish heat wave is, of course, 17 degrees. 22, would you believe? Oh, I'm sorry. get out of the ice bath for that one. This is taps off weather. Taps off indeed.
00:01:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's walking down the street and then seeing random old men with their shirts off. but For no reason. It's always them. I don't know why. this teenagers having Smurf ice in the park weather? they Very true.
00:01:52
Speaker
but but So that is why we are indeed staying indoors. To stay away from those disruptive teens. Disruptive teens and topless... Old men. Octogenarians. Yeah.
00:02:02
Speaker
yeah but We're living a boring but peaceful life indoors, that's all I'll say. But yeah, I can't even segue what I was going to say. Speaking of llamas... Speaking of spitting facts, let's talk about llamas.
00:02:16
Speaker
That was so much better. Well done! That's why you earned the big bucks, Chatsunami. Wait, you're getting paid? Well, if you go to patreon.com forward slash Chatsunami, you can buy us a coffee, that's all I'll say. But yeah, as you were saying, spitting facts with llamas. Today we are wrapping up animation month. with a film that was chosen by the lovely Mandalorians at home that is indeed the 2000s Disney classic The Emperor's New Groove. Not associated with The Emperor's New Clothes, would you believe, but we will get on to that point.
00:02:50
Speaker
Yeah! I was
Film History and Production Changes
00:02:51
Speaker
actually surprised that this film won, to be honest, because as a cult classic, it has got a lot of funny moments, of course. But on that list, we had as well Moana, we had Treasure Planet as we riffed on at the beginning. And last but certainly not least, we had Atlantis, which I'm going to be honest, I don't think that got a lot of love, does it?
00:03:13
Speaker
Not now and not in the box office. Unfortunately not. So yes, Pandalurians, this episode is indeed for you. We'll be taking a deep dive into that one later. And that is something I was saying Gentlemen, I said we're taking me a deep dive. I heard you the first. Is the poop dick what I think? You need to promote that man. thought were going to promote that llama.
00:03:32
Speaker
Nice. Let's take that again. I want to maximize how funny I sound, so have to retake my ones. No, only I may be funny. Sorry, on you go. No, I was joking. No, you genuinely. That's the power of editing. Take your chances here. see we were just going to keep this all in.
00:03:50
Speaker
The whole thing. Anyway, that's the end of the episode. Thank you so much. But yeah, I was saying this to you before we started recording that I thought this was going to be a very quick episode where we're just going to talk about, oh, how funny this film is. Oh, it was the brainchild of so-and-so and blah, blah, blah. But this film... The film has a really, really fascinating history to One that I genuinely didn't know until I started researching into it.
00:04:16
Speaker
But before we dive into that, because we're going to leave a little hook for you, Mandalorians, before we dive into that, Andrew, what was your experience with this film growing up? Because did you see this in the cinema? I don't recall having seen it in the cinema. I may well have done, but it's not something that I remember having seen the cinema. I did have it on VHS and I watched it religiously. It was one of the Disney films I probably watched most often. I was so obsessed with this movie. I loved Cusco. I loved Kronk.
00:04:42
Speaker
I thought that everything about this movie was hilarious. And then upon watching it as I got older, i started to understand a lot more of like the subtle jokes and meta humor of the movie. I watch this film fairly often, I'd say. I think there isn't usually more than a few years gap between watches of the movie these days.
00:04:59
Speaker
So I watched it just most recently for this recording a few days ago, and I probably will be watching it again within the next of nine to 12 months. If I remember correctly, I genuinely think I must have seen this in the cinema. And I'm with you there, I'm part of the VHS gang as well there. I had as well, watched it religiously with my family. We would make references to ah and everything. It was such a funny film at the time. i have to say, going back to there's some jokes that land, other jokes that you kind of look at and go, yeah, maybe that's a bit too meta, too on the nose. But yeah, it was an interesting piece. period of Disney, because in the 90s we had this Disney renaissance where you had Lion King, The Little Mermaids, those kind of ones, and then we went from those, these very impactful, important cultural landmarks, films as it were to something that almost satirised all of that. Personally, I can't remember are asking to go see this film. It must have just been that it was a new Disney film, so my parents were like, oh, let's go see it, you'll go out for the day. From what remember, I really enjoyed it at the time, but then it's a film that I haven't seen in years until was re-watching it for this.
00:06:11
Speaker
Yeah, I enjoyed it for what it was. I wouldn't say it's my favourite film of all time, but it's one of the more memorable ones out that kind of period. I mean, considering what came after it a few years later with the whole chicken little and Home on the Range and things like that. They were going down a very dark path, or they were in the next few years anyway. But this film, and this is something that you brought up to me before we started as well, that this film actually started production in, I want to say 1994, which is absolutely
00:06:46
Speaker
you think It certainly started being thought about at that time. I think that the actual production line was 1995, 1996. But I know that just following Lion King in 1994, Disney were starting to sort of think about doing projects that were more related to South American culture, so Central and South American culture. And so it was certainly around between 1994 to 1996 that production started on the movie. And considering this film itself came out, i think, what, 2000? Year 2000? Yeah, the year the year 2000, that there was such a long period of time from concept to the film actually coming out.
00:07:22
Speaker
Seems kind of odd from outside view. And then you start to kind of look into the, what had happened in the conceptualizing the production and the complete, ah drama the drama, nightmare that was happening behind the scenes during the creation of this movie. And like how tonally it is completely changed and the story completely changed, got recast, writers and directors changed. There was so much that was very different about this movie. I genuinely couldn't believe that this film started off as a serious story, that they were going to explore Central and South American culture with a film like this, but do it in a serious way, have a sweeping musical score and everything by Sting of all people. That's the thing. And what's so interesting about Disney movies at this time that felt like Pocahontas Hunchback of Notre Dame, both musical, traditionally musical Disney movies, like we've seen success with Aladdin and Mulan and Tarzan and Lion King and Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, all these kind of films, that this then kind of started transitioning away to non-musical Disney films.
00:08:23
Speaker
which we've had in the eighty s and prior, and and there's there was a few during the 90s as well, but this felt like a real kind of departure from that. And then it kind of continued with some of the films you'd mentioned, like Chicken Little, Home on the Range, to a large extent Treasure Planet, Atlantis, and Lilo and Stitch, don't think I mentioned. It wasn't really until, I think,
00:08:41
Speaker
Princess and the Frog that they actually returned back to that kind of musical score type Disney movie. So it really kind of started this very different trend from what we had seen before. and And from the sounds of the production prior to that, as you mentioned, you would have Sting doing very kind of similar thing to Elton John the Lion King or Tarzan and Phil Collins that you had the score done to make this a more musical type movie. And it was very much were a very different kind of story. They were kind of looking at more of a Prince of the Pauper type thing, weren't they? Yeah, because the original director behind it was one of the co-directors for The Lion King of all things. That, of course, being Roger Allers. Yeah, you're exactly right, because i don't know if you saw who was supposed to be the other Cusco in the original one, but... Yep, Owen Wilson, the man, the myth, the car himself. Yeah, it was baffling because it was David Spade who went on to actually do Cusco and the finished product, and it was Owen Wilson who was going to be his twin. As you said, it was going to be a lot more serious with a sweeping score by Sting of all people. They were going to play a lot more towards the South American mythology as well, with South American gods and deities and more mythical kind of type creatures.
00:09:57
Speaker
Yeah,
Shift to Comedy and Production Struggles
00:09:58
Speaker
because the book itself Alors actually based it on was The Prisoner of Zender. not going to pretend that I've ever read it or know what it is. I'm not going to be like, oh yes, it's a classic, you know. But yeah, initially under his, I don't want to say rule, that sounds terrible, but when he was directing it, it was going to be called The Kingdom of the Sun. And it's wild to me how different this is, because, you know, as you were saying before, when you think of this film, you think of Cusco, you think of Pacha, you think of Yzma, you think of Kronk. But one thing that was actually interesting was Kronk wasn't in the original script. Is it right in saying he was like a stone totem or something? He was going to be a sidekick to Yzma who was going to be a lot more sinister and evil and she even had her own solo song. The whole Disney, oh, I'm going to be evil and things like that. Yeah, they just they completely cut that. can Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it because of a mix between a poor screen reception and the fact that Pocahontas and the Hunchback of Notre Dame really underperformed in the box office? I'm not as familiar with what the actual reasoning behind it was. I think you might be right. I think it was also kind of behind schedule as well, which Disney were really down their throats about. And so they ended up threatening the producer. And so i think the producer walked and the director changed and the writers changed. And so they just decided to go in completely different direction from what happened when one of the producers left the project.
00:11:27
Speaker
because I don't think Allurs was very happy when he left the project, because they brought in someone else called Mark Dindle, who was supposed to give a more comedic edge to the film. See, in all seriousness, I get why Disney must have been worried from a financial perspective, from a business perspective, to be like, oh, this film might underperform the same as Pocahontas and the other films. We don't want to take that chance. Let's make it a bit more lighthearted and things. But I still feel sorry for Alors that he had this vision. They wanted to try and create this. And, you know, they got quite far into the production of it. But yeah, unfortunately, that wasn't enough. And then they brought him in who, fun fact, you know how was half joking saying that Disney fell off after Chicken Little. Mark Dindle also did. directed chicken little as well yeah it's a very contentious figure let's just say and what was even worse was apparently if i remember correctly there is a documentary called the sweat box which was brought out in 2002 i think i remember them saying that they decided to create that you know like a kind of behind the scenes documentary of what the emperor's new groove be made was going to be like what ended up happening was i think they made it because they wanted sting to stay on the project and then want them to leave and that was one of his things in his contract it was like yeah make the documentary and everything you know it's going to be great and it was so bad because obviously they started filming this during the kingdom of the sun phase of this film that apparently Disney have pulled this completely. can't see this documentary anymore. you can see it on YouTube apparently due to leaks and things but they haven't made it widely available in Disney Plus have they? You can't access it on Disney+. I'm sorry I'm not promoting the documentary, but they were pretty willing at the time to allow for a very honest deep dive into the whole situation. It is certainly worth a watch if you can get your hands on it. I think it is available to watch on YouTube, albeit in a bizarre aspect ratio, I think. If you want to check that out, then I do recommend it because it is very fascinating how getting Sting's perspective as well, who was pretty peeved at the whole thing, Do you what it reminds me of? And I can't believe I'm saying this, but do you remember that episode of The Simpsons where Bart gets trapped down the well and they say, Sting, you're tired, you should come up. And he's like, not when one of my fans needs me.
00:14:00
Speaker
They're like, actually, I don't think Bart's got any records. Yeah, he's like, he's good at digging. That's how feel about this. It's like, not while my fans need me. It's like, I don't think anybody cares who are on this film's thing. Which is weird, because they kept one of his original songs from
Nonsensical Storyline and Unique Tone
00:14:18
Speaker
that at the very end of the film, you know, for the credits. Disney loved doing that. did same thing with Hercules for Michael Bolton. go the distance. Yeah. I mean, to be fair, Michael Bolton's a treasure.
00:14:29
Speaker
but But the funny thing is they often will do that. They'll have a celebrity singing a song in the end credits. I always find the in-character songs more enjoyable. Like, I enjoy Go the Distance by the kid in Hercules, I can't tell you the actor's name, far more than I do from Michael Bolton.
00:14:45
Speaker
Well, first of all, blasphemy. Second of nah, I'm only joking. I know what you mean, because it's always more passionate. It actually reminds me of when Martin and I re-watched the Pokemon film. And see if you watch the credits of that, That is wild, to the people that they got in. It's like NSYNC, Baby Spice, things like that. Where are these people in the film? It's like, oh no, we just, and again, it's a very 90s, maybe early 2000s thing. i mean, there's still technical. do it nowadays, but not as frequently, where they get a song from a celebrity and they just tack it onto, as you said, the credits, and that's how they get their credit for that, and can say, oh, so-and-so sang for this film. It's a bit underhanded, but at the same time, it's Disney. See, without there any further ado, though, speaking of slinking away from the topic, while we dive into this film and talk about a what makes it iconic, and B, how we probably couldn't imagine this as a serious, epic, Ben-Hur animation. Yeah, let's jump into this.
00:15:46
Speaker
And of course, we'll be right back after these messages. Welcome to Chatsunami, a variety podcast that discusses topics from gaming and films to anime and general interests. Previously on Chatsunami, we've analysed what makes a good horror game, conducted a retrospective on Pierce Brosnan's runs James Bond, and listened to us take deep dives into both the Sonic and Halo franchises. Also, if you're an anime fan, then don't forget to check us out on our sub-series, Chatsunani, where we dive into the world of anime. So far, we've reviewed things like Death Note, Princess Mononoke, and the hit Beyblade series. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out on Spotify, iTunes, and all good podcast apps.
00:16:25
Speaker
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00:16:36
Speaker
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00:16:51
Speaker
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00:17:06
Speaker
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00:17:23
Speaker
Find Serial Napper on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. Sweet dreams. And we are back. This is usually the part where I say to you, did you enjoy the story? What did you think of it But to be honest, is it right in saying that this story is very, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, this story is just nonsensical, watching it back?
00:17:47
Speaker
don't know nonsensical is the right word for it. It's very of its time. Yes. In terms of its tone. My very first note from the movie was freeze frame. Yeah, that's me. I bet you wondering how I got here. Because like that's essentially kind of what it does at the very beginning. starts off midway into the movie, the the character is crying in the rain, and then it stops and the character himself narrating over goes, well, look at that. How pathetic. Well, he used to be the emperor. That was so late 90s, early 2000s. There was so much of that kind of cinematography and writing in a bunch of shows.
00:18:23
Speaker
It is such an of its time movie, i think more so than possibly any other Disney or trying animate movie. It's the most set in its production period. Yeah, because to be honest, when I was watching it, and you know how initially they were very adamant that they had to have this central South American theme, and they obviously, and they use this in the lowest term possible, focused on Incan culture and said, we're going to make a film about an Incan emperor and it's going to focus around that.
00:18:54
Speaker
I'm not convinced that they needed a water slide, to be honest. ah Or they had Tom Jones bursting out a cake, which again, utter whiplash at that, because I keep forgetting he's in this film. It's like a jump scare.
00:19:09
Speaker
He just appears. He's like, oh my God. All right, Wales, you get this one. No disrespect to Tom Jones. Very talented guy and everything, but why Tom Jones? It's just... His sting was busy.
00:19:24
Speaker
Do you think they asked him and they told him to get to you know where? He said you're a manka. Yeah, only true kingdom of the sun aficionados know that one. Another reason why Cusco is called Cusco. Actually touching on that, I was laughing because when I heard that originally they called Cusco manko and of course they had to change that because in Japanese that means something very, very offensive. And do know what I thought of? Say it. Yeah, I had to say it. Castle in the sky. I had to say it. Yeah. It's just that all over again in reverse. They can't keep getting away with it.
00:19:58
Speaker
thing about this film is, and again, this is something I brought up to you earlier, but somehow we got two films based on this area of Central South America and this particular type of culture. To be honest, I think for a lot of these companies doing these adaptations, they just kind of mush them together and say, yes, South American culture Here you go, guys. Yeah, we got the Emperor's New Groove, but then we also got from DreamWorks the Road to El Dorado, which, coincidence, yeah, touchy subject there, are but somehow the Road to El Dorado, which was, again, a very comedic take on two Spanish men exploring that region, which has very disturbing connotations. At least they kept Cortez at bay. Well, yes.
00:20:45
Speaker
It's true. They were heroes. But that is the thing, though. Somehow, that was the more historically accurate one out the two. And that
Animation Style and Comedy
00:20:53
Speaker
one had magic in them. And the giant stone puma thing.
00:20:57
Speaker
This one has magic, too. He turns into a lava. He was supposed to be dead. Yeah, that's um that's unfortunate. ah Because, yeah. I can't believe I'm saying this about the Impersonal Groove, but it was more a scientific magic.
00:21:12
Speaker
ah don't know how to describe but You know, you've got the lab coats, you've got the literal laboratory. It was just a bizarre kind of mishmash of ideas. And don't get me wrong, I think if I had to choose between The Emperor's New Groove or The Road to El Dorado, I think in terms of the better film... Maybe would go for the road to Eldorado, but I don't think that necessarily makes the Emperor's New Groove unmemorable. I think because it's so off the wall and crazy, as I said, you start off with him dancing to Tom Jones, talking about how he's going to turn into a llama soon. It is so stylistic as well. See, touching on the animation, the animation, I wouldn't say is the strongest, but it's distinct, isn't it?
00:21:58
Speaker
Yeah, it is very different from any other Disney animated property that I can think of, at least. I made a note exactly about the animation that it is very, very different. Kuzco's face is very pointed.
00:22:10
Speaker
And I guess this is kind of part of his character that typically with Disney, you often have rounded, warm faces from his characters. And his is very much like a pointed down chin, which is typical of villain character in Disney, which you can argue that his representation is that he was a villainous character that redeemed himself.
00:22:29
Speaker
So it is interesting seeing it. now kind of moving with animation little bit, but just sort of saying that the story itself of a bad guy becoming good and showing goodness and learning to be good is very different from anything else that kind of came before it. What were your thoughts so on animation? Yeah, and again, I'm not an animator, surprise, shock horror, but I didn't feel as a, again, I thought it was very stylised is probably the wrong word, but as I said, I thought it was very distinct, but I wouldn't say it was as impressive.
00:22:59
Speaker
race of This is Disney we're talking about here. They have produced some of the greatest quality animations of all time and a lot of stinkers. But focusing on the positives here, you had The Little Mermaid, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, you had Pocahontas, Aladdin, visual feasts for the eyes, as I've said before. but in this one, I think... The reason I'm kind of hesitant about saying, it was perfect 10 out of 10, is because it's more cartoony, if that makes sense. Everything is exaggerated, the villains are very over-the-top and comical, the faces are all stretched out, almost like anime, you know, where it's like the very exaggerated looks...
00:23:41
Speaker
How they look to me is often whenever you see like a Disney movie's storyboarding, prior to them having their final designs, they are often a lot more elongated. oh basic isn't the right word. But the features are very stylized in a very similar way to this. And I wonder if it was because of the production timeline that they changed the style of the movie to be closer to the storyboards so that it wouldn't take quite as long to get it out after the overhaul. That is very much me just hypothesizing that rather than knowing anything for sure. Yeah, to be honest, that would make sense. I mean, they've obviously had the designs for the characters from the Kingdom of the Sun era. and then going into The Emperor's New Groove, having to rush it out and everything. And I do think that there's just something about it. Again, it's not the worst.
00:24:34
Speaker
It's not a bad looking film. Again, it's not the best. You know, if I'm thinking of Disney animation, I'm not thinking, oh, The Emperor's New Groove is the best example of that. Absolutely not. It does definitely feel more like a cartoon. And don't get me wrong, the animation did get worse when they had their sequel. think Kronk New Groove and then they had the TV show which after that I never really kept up with the Disney shows. I did watch Empress New School. I did have Kronk's New Groove on DVD I think so i watched that a couple of times. It's very much not as good because I haven't seen it in so many years and I watched it as a kid I can't say I noticed too much of an animation difference in either that or the show. Though I imagine going back now I would see a pretty substantial difference because i do see a difference in other TV show adaptations of animated movies. There's always a difference in budget we'll say but I can't say I remember it being detrimental when I last saw it. Because one of the things that I will say the animation does really well and really highlights is the comedy of this film because it is filled with so many background gags and absolutely fantastic jokes and obviously the over-the-top expressions are absolutely fantastic at times there's one joke that I never really knew about until I re-watched it and I noticed it where you know when they're trying to quote unquote poison Cusco and Yzma throws her drink into the plant or the cactus beside her and you see later in the background that cactus is actually changed into the shape of a llama
00:26:06
Speaker
Oh, I hadn't picked up on that. That's very clever. Yeah, neither did I until I rewatched it for this, and I was like, oh, that is such a funny thing. There's also another one where Kronk's trying to get rid of the body, and he's hiding, and he does that thing where he goes against the wall, and he's like, and he's humming, and when he's against the wall, apparently there's two carvings of people pointing right at him. That's why the people walking by look at him as if, why are you doing that? Yeah. Yes, that whole scene is one of my favourite in the entire movie. Him singing his own theme song to freezing his theme song, but he's still making noise.
00:26:41
Speaker
And they can clearly see him, the mosaic pointing at him as well, as you said. That whole scene is wonderful. Did you hear the ba behind the scenes for that? That he, I think, improvised that theme? You know, the humming theme, as it were. But he had to sign the rights over to Disney. I hadn't heard that. That's very interesting. Yeah, was very...
00:27:00
Speaker
range But you know what? If he gets the paycheck for it, fair enough. I do love Patrick Warburton. I think he's absolutely wonderful. Did I send you the video recently of his children all doing the Patrick Warburton crunk voice?
00:27:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's so good. Because that actually brings me on to another point, which I have to admit, I think the film would have died not for the talented voice cast.
00:27:23
Speaker
Because, of course, you've got David Spade, who is returning as Cusco. Yeah. but ah Before, he was Cusco. He and one other were the only surviving people from that original production. Yeah, it was him and Eartha Kipp who plays Yzma. And it's weird hearing her be quite malicious and devious in her original takes.
00:27:45
Speaker
But then in this, she's just so good. She's like, Alaba, who's the boss that we did? And then, as you said, Patrick Warburton as Cronk. Absolutely brilliant. John Goodman as Pacha, who would also return for Sully and Monsters, think. So that's good. Last
Voice Acting and Chemistry
00:28:03
Speaker
but not least, Wendy Malick, who I think, I could be wrong, i think that was Pacha's wife she played.
00:28:09
Speaker
Yes, she's also Ida in Owl House, another fantastic Disney show, so I very much recognise her voice every time I hear it because it's very distinctive. But yeah, the cast is absolutely stacked in this one. It so good.
00:28:22
Speaker
And again, i think without the cast, you probably wouldn't be quoting it as much. Like the whole, as we were joking before, all my spinach puffs, you're supposed to be dead, you threw off the Emperor's groove, that kind of thing. What did you think of the cast in The casting was very, very good. I really enjoyed each of the characters' delivery. I thought they were very, very good at what they did. I love John Goodman in pretty much everything. I think he's such an underrated actor, both in his comedic roles and in his serious roles. I think he's very good. David Spade's not one that I usually enjoy. I've not really found too many things with him that I've liked, but I do think he plays Kuzco very well. It did seem very much like they were trying to write in quotable lines for Kuzco. The no-touchy, the uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. I feel like they were trying to add in loads of different things to try and make it a memorable, quotable film. I don't think that that really worked in the end.
00:29:16
Speaker
Yeah, because you've got at the very beginning, he comes in and he does the boom baby. And yeah, you knew for a fact that they were putting that in all the trailers. Like, oh, look, this is your main character. When Yzma and Kronk, they steal the show entirely. I mean, he does have funny lines, but they totally steal it, don't they? Yes, they are very much the comedic focus. They are the center whenever they're on. Towards the end of the movie when they're all there together very much, Yzma and Kronk taking up more than their share of the screen. Their chemistry is fantastic. They have that kind of back and forth. that There's a scene very early on when Yzma's just been fired and she's smashing up busts of Kuzco's head and Kronk's like laying them out for her. And then at one point, he just very casually turns the bust towards Yzma. And it's such just like a subtle little animation to do that. That's such a nice little touch to make it bit more personal. And there's that whole thing with the rollercoaster that they go down as well, which made me think, why isn't this a part of a Disney World rollercoaster attraction? Well, would you believe, and have seen a lot of anecdotal evidence of this as well, but apparently when this film came out, there was not a lot of merchandise for this. I think maybe there was the Happy Meal toys and things, but i have heard a lot of people say that this came out and Disney were like, okay, it's out, got our money back. Let's just leave it alone. Let's not touch it. And I think maybe in hindsight now with this cult following that maybe they have more merchandise and things, but you're completely right in that because I genuinely don't remember. I think I was in Disneyland in the year 2000. Humble brag much? Yeah, humble brag. But yeah, I don't remember anything being Emperor's New Groove themed, you know. I genuinely don't. What's interesting is they have different sections of the world in Disney World.
00:31:01
Speaker
And so if you go to this particular country's section, then the ride from the movie that took place in that country would be there. and be awesome I'm struggling to sort say one now. Move on, brave, anything.
00:31:13
Speaker
but Yeah, had the brave ride. Everyone was lining up for the brave ride. i want to ride the bird next. but No litter to me. That's kind of this Disney World.
00:31:26
Speaker
It's sad, but true. yeah Mr. Chocolate, no. No, Ben. but We like to have fun on this show. By referencing the grizzly man. Yeah, so I'm surprised that in a more central South American type part of Disney World, I don't know the parks that well. So I might be incorrect. And there is, in fact, stuff about Empress New Groove in this section. But I'm not aware of that, at least. And I feel like it's missing a trick. Because I think that there certainly is a lot of capacity for rides to be made from this film. You've obviously got the little roller coaster scene, which is very short. So there's not too much you can really get from that. But you could certainly elongate that into more stuff, I think. The unfortunate thing is
Potential for Merchandise and Attractions
00:32:04
Speaker
that there isn't much motivation to do that because no one cares about this movie really from a more kind of global perspective. It hasn't really aged in the same way that a lot of the others have that would merit it. They're now making ones based on Marvel and Star Wars and that kind of stuff. like There isn't really as much interest in looking at these not very well profitable Disney movies of the early 2000s.
00:32:24
Speaker
There's not going to be a chicken little ride. Or the Treasure Planet one either. I know. It's tragic. A lot of films around that time love to do very POV type action scenes where you're dodging certain things. There's the whole him surfing on the space board thing in Treasure Planet. There's the roller coaster in this. There's a roller coaster train cart thing in Home on the Range. There's the magic carpet ride diving and going through the Cape of Wonders, the lavas chasing them. There's loads of different little scenes like that. Tarzan sliding down various sort of trees and vines.
00:32:55
Speaker
Yeah, just there's all these different kinds of action scenes that you feel could have been made into theme park rides, and it felt like that was almost the impetus of making those scenes that didn't end up happening. The action in this one, not that I would want any kind of peril given what happens in this one, but it's definitely a lot sillier. You have moments where John Goodman is acting very seriously and he's trying to be like, oh, how am I going to tell my family about Cusco's water park? being evicted yeah it's like really melodramatic and he's got a really sweet relationship with his family and everything but then you've got that and then you've got the llama and then talking squirrels not talking as in in english but you know very squeaky squirrels and things like that i love that squirrel yeah oh the squirrel is excellent there's no diss to the squirrel you This is a squirrel safe zone. The maniacal nodding face of the squirrel when he was about to pop the balloon killed me when I watched it recently. It's an audio-only medium, so I can't do an impression of it, but just how crazed its eyes were while it smiled and nodded while it like slowly put the needle closer to the balloon when it was going to wake up all the jaguars that were around it. Honestly, the punchline of that scene gets me every time that he bursts the balloon that doesn't wake them and it goes, go, go, ha!
00:34:15
Speaker
It gets me every time. But, yeah, ha! As I said, i know obviously Hasha is trying to save his village, save his home as it were, but you have that. Oh, we've got to teach a lesson here. And fun fact, apparently the way this film was going to end was he was going to build the water park anyway. I think he was going to build it in a different place, but he was going to build it anyway. And Sting, of all people, told them that was a terrible, terrible idea because he hasn't learned anything this is a bad message to kids etc i think that was his final screw you guys this is terrible but as i said the story is very much comedy oriented with a lot of slapstick with a lot of visual gags with a lot of absolute silliness and don't get me wrong i think it does it really well that's why it's so popular with our generation as it was I don't know how popular this film would be with younger kids, though. Do you think younger generations would watch this film and be like, oh, this is so funny? Because it's just going back to what you said there about it being a product of its time. It is rather dated. There's even a scene of gay panic in it, where there's a mouth-to-mouth scene, and the whole thing about how like grossed out they were. You can read that as just, he just thought that it was gross that he was going to do that, but I do feel with the context of the time period that it was this element of it that was...
00:35:37
Speaker
that well i mean no because does he not say something like oh did you catch the game last night or something like that so yeah i think him trying to be manly after that yeah you're right it's definitely a oh haha it was a gay kiss oh no Obviously that was not a good thing. One bit that's very much of its time as well, joke wise, was the waterfalls right behind me, isn't it, line. That one I still think is funny. At the time, I thought that was some of the funniest shit. I thought it was so hilarious, that whole scene of there's a giant waterfall behind me, isn't there? It was still fresh at the time. I don't think that I was really as familiar with that as a bit, as a trope. And so I thought it was so funny. And I still think it's funny because I do think that it's of its time. It's pretty original and it's still very well done. And the fact that while falling, he's yelling, booyah, ha ha.
00:36:23
Speaker
It's just such a quotable scene as well. i always
Subtle Themes and Absurdity
00:36:26
Speaker
remember that whenever they advertised it as well, that was one of the scenes that they always played. It's so good. Say what you will, honestly, about the film, but... It is very quotable, isn't it? One thing that and I'm very ashamed, have to say, that I didn't pick up on this when I was a kid. You know, obviously thought Kronk was just the goofy sidekick when there was younger to Yzma, but I didn't realise until i watched it recently, because it's been so long since I watched it, that she was actively hiring out boy toys to help her. LAUGHTER
00:36:59
Speaker
A moment bit when I was like, is that what Kronk is? He's a boy toy. Oh my god. He's our latest him though. Yeah, exactly. couldn't believe how I didn't pick up on it before. See the dinner scene when Kronk goes, my spinach puffs. And then he goes away. And Kusko's asking Yzma about He's like, so what age is this one? 20? And she's like, oh, I'm not sure. jaw hit the ground. I was like, oh my god.
00:37:26
Speaker
Yeah, I can't really say I put two and two together, but it makes sense now that you say it. Speaking of things that I noticed this time, and I haven't noticed before, was when they leave the restaurant, Kronk is holding leftovers in a little tinfoil llama. You only ever see this in America, but when you leave a Chinese restaurant something like that, they'll hand you your leftovers in the tinfoil packaging, and it'll be shaped like a swan. Oh, yeah. And so they did that, but instead it was a llama. And so I was like, oh, that's a cute little thing that they did there. Yeah, you definitely don't get that in the UK. Yeah.
00:37:56
Speaker
10% no. I mean, if you did, you'd be very confused and be walking home with a swan, but there's honestly so many good bits in this film. I also noticed when Yzma and Kronk is at Patch's house and is being entertained by Patch's wife, Chicha, and Patch's kids, because she's very pregnant, and Yzma knocks over a cup to go and speak to Kronk, and She says, like, I don't mind, I'll go pick it up.
00:38:18
Speaker
And so like I didn't pick up that she said that because it's also much more effort for her since she's pregnant to do that. And then you get to see her very slowly doing this pregnant lady squat where she put her legs really wide and then struggled to reach down to pick up this cup from the floor. That's a very subtle joke that you don't really see any other animated movie. You don't really see pregnant ladies really doing pregnant ladies stuff. You also don't really see many mothers, and especially pregnant mothers, in Disney things. I mean, it's obviously more common in the films nowadays, but i think see especially back then, where we're still in the Bambi era of... Well, I mean, Cusco doesn't have parents. Yeah, but still.
00:38:57
Speaker
You've got to take the small victories, it was the 2000s. It was a different time, okay? It was a different time. The children seem to have magical insights as well, which was never brought again, where both wake up from a dream, where one is about dad kissing a llama and the other one is about Kronk and Yzma trying to hurt their dad. This magical insight that they have is never, never addressed again. No, let's never talk about this llama dream again.
00:39:21
Speaker
Yeah, they've really brushed over that. I mean, you're saying that right enough, but one thing that they do that's even worse than that is they disobey the laws of physics. I know if you remember this scene, but see when Kronk's playing Yzma pushes one of the kids away from the rope?
00:39:38
Speaker
It's like there's nobody swinging the rope on the other side. It just keeps going. Maybe the other one kid's doing it with such vigour and ferocity that he just can do it himself. Yeah, but no, it's not two ropes at one point. I can't even remember, but it's just, it's the way. Yeah, exactly. It's just the way that Ezra just pushes them aside and you're like, who's holding that other side of the rope? And it is, again,
Historical Inaccuracies and Speculation
00:39:59
Speaker
you know, you know it's silly and it's over the top, but it just cracks me up every time. It is also so different in the Mesoamerican setting is very much just a backdrop. And like everything else is so modern that is happening. You don't really see that with any of these other kind of Disney movies at that point, at least. Once you get to, again, I've referenced this movie more than I would like to. Like Home on the Range has a very similar thing. It is set in cowboy times, but there'll be references to more modern type stuff. But even in that film, it still kind of sticks to its time period for the most part. Whereas this is is so loosely, both geographically and historically set Yes, it is limited in its time period by some things, but that you'll have kids doing skip rope and old men playing checkers with each other and water parks and different things like that. An American style diner, but they're eating bugs and iguanas and stuff, which feels like a little insensitive towards the culture of anything that they would be hinting at of Mesoamerican culture that that's kind of what they gravitate towards is a bit of a weird one, but it is such a strange decision to so partially set the story in this geographic and historical setting and just decide, actually, that's not what we're doing. That's just a background wallpaper. As I've mentioned before, and I'll probably mention again, with DreamWorks Road to El Dorado, that at least embraces the backdrop. You know, it is the central theme, obviously, because it is El Dorado that the two main characters discover, and they go into the city, and obviously there's lots of bombastic action, fantastical elements, but that is the kind of central theme around it. And you're right, for the Emperor's New Groove, there's not really any point... of it being set in that period other than you genuinely could take this film and put it in, I don't know, medieval times, you could put it in another culture, and to be honest, not a lot would change, and that is just so fascinating. It's interesting about how the fact that they'd planned for it to just be a Prince and the Pauper style or a Prisoner of Zenda kind of storyline, which both of those are set in very much European settings.
00:42:15
Speaker
And so why they didn't attempt to do a more Mesoamerican, historically, not necessarily historically accurate, but kind of more true to the mythology of South America would have surely made much more sense given what they had been doing with other films around that time. time period. that You had a Mulan storyline about the mythology of Fa Mulan, that you had the Aladdin story was around the idea of djinn in the Middle East, albeit, again, similar to this.
00:42:41
Speaker
They kind of take it to their own idea with that one. I don't know if there's many Middle Eastern stories that are more akin to the story of Aladdin, but I'd be surprised. It does use its setting in such a loose way. Why didn't they just go down that storyline? And again, I love this movie. I do. so I'm not trying to be too critical of, oh, why did they do this? why they do that kind of thing? But it was a bizarre choice. And they ah attempted to do Kingdom of the Sun, which when they were playing that route, albeit with this kind of Prince and the Pauper, Prisoner of Zenda style storyline, it sounded like there was going to be more a South American serious tone to it, and that they just completely abandoned and decided there's going be a very wacky Disney movie that is and isn't set in South America. The llamas were very much the key thing. They were like, there has to be llamas involved. Where are llamas?
00:43:22
Speaker
South America. Okay, it's in South America. Are we going to research much about South America? I went to Machu Picchu one time and it was... an Absolutely amazing discovery. And then chundered everywhere. i mean, i don't want to brag here, but I used to live down the road of basically a farm. Not on a farm, obviously, but kind of. It was a good few minutes away. But anyway, long story short, they had llamas.
00:43:43
Speaker
And I can tell you one thing. Scotland does not have indigenous llamas. But I feel as if that's probably still more historically accurate than this film. ah but The llama cafe I visited in the Lake District was more historically accurate. Me spitting my cappuccino!
00:44:00
Speaker
They can't keep getting away with it! Although one of them was called Cusco, so... Yeah, no, I am 100% with you. But I've got to ask you, though, do you think that seeing there is... Probably no reality that this would have ever happened, especially in a business sense. I do agree that as much as it pains me to see somebody's vision get stomped on by company and business interests, see if somehow they were blind to the financial implications and they just said, you know what, we're going to make this film, we're going to make Kingdom of the Sun, we're going to go ahead. Do you think this would have still had the same impact as The Emperor's New Groove? It's difficult because I think if they had gone down the route that they'd initially intended, it would have been more in line with what they had done previously, which was mostly successful. However, both Pocahontas and Hunchback of Notre Dame kind of bombed, respective of how they'd hoped they would do.
00:44:54
Speaker
So Emperor's New Groove now has kind of a cult following, but whether or not it actually would have had a bit more interest around it, or if it would have been closer to Hunchback of Notre Dame in terms of very well respected now, but still not with the same kind of mainstream kind of appeal, it very hard to say. I think it probably would have done better the box office and potentially in a mainstream kind of way if it had been like as it initially intended to be.
00:45:18
Speaker
But I think what we got is a more enjoyable film. Yeah, I agree with that. And I just want to echo what you said there, that I'm not complaining about what we got from The Emperor's New Groove. I genuinely think it's a really funny film, just purely because it's just over the top, it's wacky, but at the same time, you can't deny that it is a very, very silly film. There's not really
Cult Following and Marketing Efforts
00:45:42
Speaker
any weight to the situation where, you know, oh, he's a llama, but you kind of know by the end of it he's going to get turned back. Obviously he's going to get turned back. It's a kid's film. Clearly you've never seen Brother Bear. You just spoiled Brother Bear for like but all the people who haven't seen it. It's been 20 years. And this has been 25. What of it?
00:46:05
Speaker
but You know what I mean, though. The tone would be all over the place if they just decided, yeah, let's keep him as a llama. Even though I do love the scene when he's crying having a breakdown and he goes, llama face. So good. I like when they're running away from the guards and they keep doing different potions he keeps turning to different animals.
00:46:21
Speaker
And then he's like, let me try this one. He becomes a llama again. He's like yay, llama again. He's like, wait. And also the reference to Eartha Cat being Catwoman by the end of it when she literally turns into a cat. Oh. Oh, yeah, because she was Adam West's Catwoman, wasn't she? Yeah, uh-huh. That's right. That's so funny. I've forgotten about that. Yeah, it was when there was research. I was like, oh, yeah, that's Catwoman as a cat at the very end. Bravo, writers. Bravo. Honestly, it is such a quotable film.
00:46:50
Speaker
And I think it's one of these films that I don't really remember it being received well at the time. I don't think at the moment, well, in Disney standards. I mean, according to the box office, they made their money back and everything. But as I said, I think Disney just wanted to get their money back and then just dump it because it was one of the lower earning films of the 90s and of course into the 2000s. It finished behind The Grinch.
00:47:15
Speaker
Did it? Oh my God. Came out a similar week behind the Grinch, which we've also reviewed if you want to listen to a Christmas podcast in what is now April. Oh no, it's May, isn't it? It was now May. It's not either April month. aprilmation was right there i have to say i mean we had two theme months in a row it's been a long few months of editing but yeah that is actually surprising i did not know that it was behind the grinch in the box office also that is interesting as well are you reading about the spanish dub thing yeah that is interesting yeah they were like we'll try and target it at the latin market here's it in spanish and no one went to see it and then they put it back onto english and it grows way more i don't think there's really anything to appeal to that market other than the fact that it's supposed to be set in South America. I don't think the cast are even Latin American. Honestly, that's what we were saying before.
00:48:04
Speaker
Other than the fact it is set in a very historical South American area, that that is the only thing you've got. That is the only hook you've got to advertise with. Everything else, that is baffling. yeah I know Disney have made some blunders with their marketing, but that is another level. I do seem to remember there being a big push at McDonald's at the time for like Happy Meal toys for the Emperor's New Groove themed. i don't know why that sticks out in my head so much, because i would have been four. I seem to remember there being Emperor's New Groove toys.
00:48:35
Speaker
Yeah, because I think that, again, going back to Kingdom of the Sun, I remember in that documentary, I think they said that they had a deal with McDonald's for the Happy Meal toys, which I don't know how the hell they would have...
00:48:49
Speaker
Mark did that if it was the original script, but yeah, they still had that obligation that a film is coming out, we need toys for it, so that's probably why they were trying to push all the plastic stuff out of there. But yeah, that would explain that. I vaguely remember the toys, but that's just kind of the rite of passage, or it used to be. I don't think they do it anymore for Disney films. I don't think they even do Happy Meal toys anymore, do they? There was a Minecraft tie-in recently, Oh yeah, okay, that's true. i think there was toys or something in part that. Yeah, that's true. Because I remember they said they were pulling back from that to make it books and things. And I know that is just such a side tangent from the Emperor's New Groove, but have to emphasise how big these Happy Meal toys were. They were everywhere. Because they do different promotions. They did Pokemon once, like the card game. They did a Pokemon one pretty recently. I don't like the idea of, oh, here's your Happy Meal, but also here's your cardboard cards right beside your hot chips.
00:49:49
Speaker
Hot, greasy chips. It's like, oh, no thank you. Yeah, as a closing point, though, see, going back to this film 25 years later, God, I feel old. I would have been eight years old when this film came out. God, that is depressing. And i would have been born the following year. Would you? Hell...
00:50:07
Speaker
21st birthday this year. I can drink now. I can drink two Pepsis now. But yeah, going to 25 years on, is this a film that you would recommend to people now? Would you say, oh go see The Emperor's New Groove and Disney Plus. It's everything you remember. It's still funny. It still holds up.
00:50:29
Speaker
Oh, I very much hold this in a very high echelon of Disney movies. Kind of the topic of this particular podcast episode of when we put it out as a poll was underrated Disney movies. i don't know how Moana got put in there because it's not. It's very well rated. Blame Martin McAllister for that one. As I am within my rights to do. As a third owner of the podcast. A shareholder.
00:50:51
Speaker
Yeah. but Treasure Planet, Atlantis, and Emperor's New Groove. The three of those films very much are the underrated Disney classics to me that don't get the same attention and love. I think they do much more so now since the millennials, early Gen Z, late Gen Z, whatever, since they have grown up and are now talking about the things they loved when they were young. I think that it's been brought more into the light. And then also, I mean, for some films like Treasure Planet and Atlantis, you have main characters which are kind of thirsted over a little bit. i don't think Kuzco gets that same kind of attention, but I mean, I'm sure there are people that are into him and maybe people into Patcher too. Hashtag Awama lovers.
00:51:27
Speaker
Oh, no. but Get your Zootopia fan fiction out of here, you absolute cretin. You degenerate. You took the degenerate potion. yeah but I'm just checking in with my red panda lawyer in the corner. He's not angry, he's just disappointed.
00:51:47
Speaker
One thing we didn't really talk about was the meta humour. We kind of touched on it a little bit with other the kind of narration, but there's two bits particular that I want to reference. One is, again, the narration in the movie, but there's a particular scene where the narrator gets backed to the original scene that the film starred on and says, see, look how hard done by I am. And then Cusco in the film starts talking back to the narrator himself and they have like a back and forth of each other. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Can you think of any other instance where that's happened?
00:52:16
Speaker
Not off the top of my head, no. Yeah, it's interesting the way they do it because I've played so many video games that do a similar thing, but they don't talk back. If that makes sense. Yeah. you know it's like they'll have a scene from the very middle or end and then they'll put it at the very beginning and then you have to play through it. Because because I know Resident Evil 6 Spec Ops Align.
00:52:40
Speaker
In fact, no, Spec Ops Align does. But anyway, that's an episode to my mother, Dave. But yeah, no, film-wise, I can't think of anything. Yeah. Yeah, I think that is so unique and it's very clever that they've done that. Again, the character narration over the top is very of its time, but that kind of twist on it is what separates it and I think makes it quite unique. And then the other meta joke, which is just so wonderful, is when towards the end of the movie, there's this chase scene and you're seeing the dots on the map as they're running. And then they look back and they can physically see the dots that are there forming behind them and they're kind of confused.
00:53:16
Speaker
Which is funny, funny in many ways. And then it continues, it shows all these different kind of wacky things that are happening and how it looks like Yzma and Kronk's going to catch up and then they get struck by lightning and fall down a chasm. And then after getting to the laboratory, it turns out that Yzma and Kronk beat them there.
00:53:27
Speaker
And they're like, but how did he do that? Which is very kind of a meta joke, just of addressing that. And then the fact that the villains are like, I don't know, how did we do that? And Kronk looking at the map, what's happened and saying, beats me by every means, this shouldn't make any sense. Yeah, because someone pointed it out and said they literally fell into plot hole. Yeah. And I was like, oh my God, they did fall into a plot hole. That is amazing.
00:53:47
Speaker
And
Memorable Scenes and Final Recommendations
00:53:48
Speaker
but they they navigated in such a well done way. If you do that too much, it becomes very cheap and a bit like a that's poor writing. But I don't think that that's the case here. I think they they did write it in such a way that they made fun of that whole trope and were able to sort of bring advanced humor on top of it. That is one of the things that I remember most from this movie, that those kind of very clever meta jokes and mostly Kronk. We've not really touched on a lot of Kronks here were too much, but his shoulder angel and devil.
00:54:15
Speaker
Again, very of its time that they would do that. There's so much comedy around the time that involved the shoulder devil and shoulder angel. Family Guy did it, The Simpsons did it. The kind of conversation back and forth. with the two or three of them, technically. And then showing that he's having this conversation with seemingly nothing and the other characters are just kind of witnessing it and are confused, again, is a use of a trope from the time that is utilized in a much more unique way. And that both the shoulder angel and the shoulder devil come together to agree, oh, we need to take her down. Like, how dare you insult his spinach puffs?
00:54:46
Speaker
Kronk has some of the best lines in this between being bilingual park ranger in his spare time being a talented cook. Yeah, the iconic scene where, as you said, he's talking to his angel and devil on his shoulder and the devil does a handstand or something. he goes, what does that have to do with anything? And he goes, no no, no, no, it's got a point.
00:55:08
Speaker
And that is something I quote on the regular. That has shaped me to be like, no, no, no, no no he's got a point. It's just so it's stupid, but I love it. It's like the right amount of stupid. It's like all the characters are goofy, they're silly, they're over the top, but they don't really overstay their welcome in that regard. Yes, they're very good at that. They're very good at kind of letting a joke just happen and then move on. Because I do agree with something you said at the beginning of the episode where they definitely had a lot of, I'm just going to call them Cusco-isms. You know, the booyah, the oh yeah baby, that kind the thing. You're like, you definitely wrote this to be marketable. Although I did laugh at the very beginning, as horrible as this is, when he's got the brides lined up but and he's... Nope, too short, too this, too that. And it's just the petty line at the end when he says, let me guess, you have a great personality. And the person goes to punch him and she has to be held back. They all look the same as well. Like, each one has a distinctive flaw to them.
00:56:16
Speaker
Again, as my summary for this, I genuinely think this film still holds up. There are, of course, a couple of jokes that aren't perfect, but you know, with a Disney film like this, and especially in the early 2000s, I think that this film still holds up.
00:56:31
Speaker
but See if you're looking for something definitely a lot more lighthearted than what's come before it, because kind of laugh. at the fact that we've had quite serious musicals before. You know, you've had The Lion King, you've got Pocahontas especially, which is brutal at the end. You've also got The Hunchback of Notre Dame, um which is very, very brutal in its own way. And you go from them all the way to The Emperor's New Groove. one actually really dies in The Emperor's New Groove as well, which is interesting. Like, Yzma survives. She's a cat at the end. Kronk has decided that he's not really a villain. He's just Kronk. Yeah, but what about the guards that get turned into the animals? Because they fall out of the Emperor's and nose. We don't know what happens to them. They've gone to the same place as Bambi's mother. The Shadow Realm. Llamatopia. That's it only probably on screen text.
00:57:23
Speaker
but the Emperor's new groove are kind of. But yeah, let's pretend they hit a barrel of hay. I mean, technically there were trampolines at the bottom, which again is such a stupid yet funny line. It's like, why did they order so many trampolines?
00:57:38
Speaker
Yzma falls and she falls and you're like, oh, it's going to be one of these Disney films where, oh, she goes to her death. And then it's like, well, I wish you told me that you didn't need all these trampolines. Trampolines before I unpacked them. Yeah. The screaming as she falls, followed by the bounce, and then the potion that falls well. She grabs it, sees she's got it, starts laughing, immediately smashes her head off of this building. And then you have another plot hole-filling kind of thing of where Kronk had disappeared earlier. And he just appears one point, smashes Yzma away unintentionally, goes, who would have guessed the trapdoor ended up out here? Did Tarzan not have a similar thing where it was a very brutal death of like... get this and it's like yeah you know what Tarzan needed a trampoline a trampoline in this film. Clinton did bounce but yeah not in the way we thought honestly this film has so many as I've said before and I'll say it so many times again it is so quotable is so funny do I feel sorry that Roger Allors didn't get his vision yeah I'm gonna be honest I do feel for any creative that wasn't able to do that and the sad thing is as well is that he can't really make that vision anymore because obviously they've made the emperor's new groove and anything that he would make after that would just be compared to the emperor's new groove i wonder if there's also would be a copyright hell as well with it whether disney owns the rights to that particular story that he had intended to do and if it was done with a different company for example because there's no way disney would make kingdom of the sun now having already made emperor's new groove because it is too similar in a way it's very different but has that kind of similar setting i feel like he would have to be taken to a different company and i don't think that he would be allowed to with disney probably owning the rights to that original story obviously can't do with disney dreamworks probably wouldn't touch it either because they've got the road to el dorado that leaves illumination or sony pictures and movie. I'm not optimistic he's gonna get his serious Mesoamerica epic. No.
00:59:47
Speaker
No, unfortunately, I feel as if Disney have salted the earth in terms of him being able to create that, but that aside, for what we got, I do still think that this is a very entertaining film. I still think it's a lot of fun. The jokes still land, and as I said, it's not perfect, but it's just a fun romp, and usually, I think, I don't know whether to recommend it or not because of that, but you're just looking for a light-hearted laugh and you haven't seen it surprisingly, then definitely go check it out. It's on Disney Plus and you won't regret it. So
Conclusion and Farewell
01:00:21
Speaker
this, of course, leads us to the end of animation month, which I cannot believe.
01:00:26
Speaker
We have been talking about this month for absolutely ages and yeah, now it's come to an end. So Andrew, thank you so much for joining me this month to talk about some of the greatest animated films of all time. Thank you so much for having me. It was really fun being on and reviewing some of these movies.
01:00:44
Speaker
Animation is something that I always enjoy revisiting and talking about, this has always been a long time coming and hopefully can feature another one very soon. And of course, just before we wrap up, where can these amazing Pandalurians listening at home find your content? The Panalorians and the wider audience can find my content on many other episodes of Chat Tsunami. I've been on some of the other episodes of Animation Month. We recently did Avatar The Last Airbender on Avatar Universe Month.
01:01:09
Speaker
We did a bunch of stuff around Christmas time for Christmas movies. And there's another, what, three years now? It was almost most the three years. was a podcast that's been happening. Four going on five. Oh, Jesus Christ. There is...
01:01:22
Speaker
I mean, would you believe the podcast is five years old in November? Oh, that's very impressive. But very scary as well. Time is a flat circle and all that. After all the critics told wasn't to happen, by critics I mean me. Well, who's got an IMDb page?
01:01:37
Speaker
Who's to say you're not credit? very true very true they can find me on loads of other episodes from the past four to five years i think i was like a year into the podcast i actually got onto the episode there's lots of episodes with me and some others that are also okay that aren't with me you can also find myself satsunami marm mccallister and friend of the show robot battle toaster on another podcast that we have some episodes of stop drop and roll initiative a dungeon and dragons let's play podcast There's, think, a couple episodes live right now. Eventually, at some point in the future, there will be more.
01:02:09
Speaker
They've been recorded. They've not been edited. They'll be live at some point in the future. But you can find that at Stop, Drop, and Roll Initiative at SDIpod on Twitter. And you can also find more of the Chatsunami content on Patreon, patreon.com slash Chatsunami, where we have tiers ranging from one pound to five pounds in North American money. That's like... A billion dollars. Yeah. That's like one Happy Meal right there. That's one Emperor's New Groove Happy Meal. That's one Cusco toy.
01:02:37
Speaker
And you can get some behind the scenes stuff. There's a lot of bloopers from this episode alone. So you'll be able to check that out on there. Yes, we have some amazing Pandalurians such as Robotic Battle Toaster, Sonya, Ghosty, and Cryptic. 1991 thank you all so so much for supporting the show honestly it means the world to us we hope you have been enjoying all of our wonderful bloopers and reels and as well as you were saying there bonus content we've got commentary tracks we have let's play content we've got early access we've got our true feelings about kingdom of the sun locked behind patreon for legal reasons that last one is indeed a joke but But yeah, we've got so much exclusive content behind there.
01:03:19
Speaker
And for £1 a month, as well as if you don't want to turn into a llama, then you can join us over at, as you said, patreon.com forward slash chat tsunami. If you want to catch more episodes from ourselves, as well as episodes with the fantastic Andrew here, especially with our theme months that we've done before animation month.
01:03:38
Speaker
such as Manual Month, Avatar Month, and all of the amazing episodes of Animation Month, you can check us out our website, Shatsanami.com, as well as all good to podcast apps. This podcast is, of course, a member of the Podpack Collective. For more information, check us out at our Twitter slash X page, at Podpack Collective.
01:03:57
Speaker
But as always, thank you all so, so much for listening to Animation Month. We hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have. Recording it, making jokes, bloopers, gaffes. Honestly, it's been so fantastic. So thank you all so, so much. As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, but where the words are grove. The grove.
01:04:18
Speaker
but Oh, and Tom Jones. Watch out for Tom Jones. Bye.