Where does Jesse fall? Well, frankly, I'm in the former category. I've never thought there was anything admirably consistent about Disney, quality-wise - aside from the Pixar films they merely distribute, at least. Sometimes, their in-house productions are good. Sometimes they're not. Oftentimes they're forgettable. They're consistent where it gets tiresome to be consistent, like using the same fucking story in roughly 80% of their movies; and they're inconsistent everywhere else. What makes Disney so special? Damned if I know! I'm certainly not a big enough fan to enjoy watching a different Disney film EVERY SINGLE WEEK. (I'm certainly also not a big enough fan to think it's an even remotely romantic idea to spend a honeymoon at a Disney-themed amusement park. You're welcome, Tails.)
Indeed, when I expressed my interest in the D52 thingamajig, I thought it would mostly be a recurring sort of discussion topic at most, until it unwittingly morphed into THIS, which is not a consistently consistent source of fun. Anyway, at least I was less frustrated with this particular week. Because, you see, I fall into the former category.
Part of the reason The Emperor's New Groove works is that it comes hot on the heels of an extended streak of hypocritically self-serious films. Films like Mulan and The Lion King, who were under the horribly mistaken impression that they could still be unfalteringly deep and meaningful, while still playing up the flatulence, for "laughs". (The Lion King isn't bad, but....it wasn't the least bit better off for the inclusion of Timon and Pumbaa, either.) Disney had gone from producing genuinely artistic films (Beauty and the Beast is still the high-water mark), to merely thinking that everything they produced was an "artistic" film. Indeed, Roger Allers seemingly wanted to take this film in a similar direction, back when it was still known as Kingdom of the Sun, and starred Owen Wilson (who of course is the DEPUTY-MAYOR OF ARTISTICNESS). Now, don't get me wrong, I like some of Allers' other work; I just maintain that it was high time for Disney to get off their high llama and, if they insisted on having silliness, at least accept it on its own terms. The Emperor's New Groove is a very silly film, and it only very rarely has pretensions that it's anything but, and somehow that's a huge relief.
I guess the casting of David Spade in the lead role is also a potentially divisive move. Because....well, America's never had much fondness for the scrappy little fella outside the context of being the sort of small, skinny guy that plausibly might hang around with Chris Farley, have they? He's not exactly a dynamic or, well, pleasant presence. But, honestly, doesn't that make him perfect for this role? David Spade is nothing if not the sort of weak, ineffectual, kinda effeminate-but-not-in-a-hot-way guy you'd imagine thinks he's hot shit when, alas, he is precisely that thing, but in the literal sense. And he still likes hanging around fat guys, as you can see. They're just, erm, a little less excitable now. Probably less erratic, though.
I've heard people - erm, person - question why Yzma is framed as the film's villain, when Kuzco starts out just as heartless. "How do we know she wouldn't have changed, too, if she'd had a Pacha of her own?", asks That Person. What, does Kronk count for nothing? I mean, I know Patrick Warburton is an evil black magician whose ability to be in so many pop cultural places at once can make them start to blend together and nullify each other after awhile - ALL ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN, MUAHAHAHA - but still, he's playing a perfectly nice guy here. If anything, it's her fault, for not taking an interest in his Spinach Puffs of Moral Wholesomeness. I don't view it as a problem, because this is a light film, and saying she's the villain because she's the one who doesn't repent is enough justification for such a light film. So very light. Like a well-made spinach puff! :)
The few biggest problems this film does have are those fleeting moments it still has to pretend this emotional arc would be enough to carry a serious film all on its own. To justify it still being a theatrical release from Disney, I guess. Yes, those quiet moments where Kuzco and Pacha realise they're each not so bad and, awwwwww, fwiendship....they're perfectly sweet and all, but in this specific case, they actually seem to undermine the pure silliness that otherwise makes this a relatively unique Disney film. You can look to just about ANYTHING they've done as a studio if you want unearned sentiment! But these moments are so short that, honestly, how can I even complain? It's still plenty silly. The Emperor's New Groove is a "minor" entry in the Disney canon, but it's still good fun - good enough fun that it's probably their BEST minor film, if that makes any sense.
One last time: I'm the former type of fan. When I initially injected myself into this project, I thought it was going to be a recurring discussion topic, not a formal weekly review thing. I stuck with this for as long as I could anyway; but, alas, there's only so much Disney that Taylor and I can possibly take over such a short period of time. They're often not even interesting enough to nitpick at length anymore, sadly. And so, one of the few recent Disney films that I actually enjoyed seems like a reasonable enough place to anticlimactically drop out of this for now, does it not? After all, bigger things ARE on the horizon...
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