- Hilarious comedy rules in Disney's THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE! There's something for everyone in this hip, funny movie with its dynamo cast, distinctive style, and great music -- featuring the Academy Award(R)-nominated song, "My Funny Friend And Me" (2000, Best Original Song). Emperor Kuzco (voiced by David Spade) is turned into a llama by his devious advisor, Yzma (Eartha Kitt), and he
Q: What do you get when you cross Kuzco with a llama? A: A very hair emperor!
This royally silly joke book is packed with 96 pages of funny quips, puns, knock-knock jokes, and more!Disney's score-heavy soundtrack to the animated "Emperor's New Groove" blends a scoop of splashy and sentimental contemporary tunes with a shovelful of evocative, masterfully crafted compositions. Big-name artists such as Shawn Colvin, Eartha Kitt, and Tom Jones each signed on to sing one of five Sting-penned songs, and Sting h! imself lends vocals to two tracks (one a duet with Colvin), so the stars are flying high. But fans of these folks may feel they're forever flipping through the wordless orchestral numbers in search of the record's radio-friendly fare. But buyers with more eclectic listening habits are in for a fully engaging if sometimes jumpy sonic ride: Composer John Debney sends pulses racing then mellows them out on tracks teeming with tension ("Beware the Groove"), trepidation ("The Jungle Rescue"), or tenderness ("A New Hope"), and Sting as songwriter doses up splashes of spice by way of the salsified "Perfect World," for which Jones's considerable vocal energies couldn't be better suited, and the prickly "Snuff Out the Lights," which is put across with practiced insouciance by a pucker-faced, still-out-of-this-world-after-all-these-years Kitt, who also plays the movie's devious diva Yzma. "My Funny Friend and Me," Emperor's end-title song and the record's first single, present! s a more familiar Sting, and not only because he's its singer.! Soundwi se, it hardly strays from the artist's huge-selling adult-skewed ballads--his bread and butter in recent years--and as such, it, along with the tender duet "One Day She'll Love Me," grips the potential to send this record racing up the charts. --Tammy La GorceIf you liked ALADDIN, you'll love Disney's THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE, where outrageous comedy rules! Audiences and critics alike raved about this hilarious animated adventure. "Ebert & Roeper And The Movies" gave it "Two Thumbs Up." Faster than you can say "Boom, baby," arrogant Emperor Kuzco is turned into a llama by his devious advisor, Yzma, and her hunky henchman, Kronk, who want to rid the kingdom of this beast of burden. Now the ruler who once had it all must form an unlikely alliance with a pleasant peasant named Pacha. Together, Kuzco and Pacha must overcome their differences as they embark on a hilarious, "groovy" adventure that will have you howling with laughter.Originally developed as an epic called Kingdom of the Sun, The Emperor's New Groove lost scale and most of Sting's song score (some of which can be heard on the soundtrack) on its way to the screen. The end result is the lightest Disney film in many a moon, a joyous romp akin to Aladdin in its quotient of laughs for kids and adults. The original story centers on the spoiled teenage emperor Kuzco (David Spade), who enjoys getting the best of his Aztecan subjects. When he fires Yzma (Eartha Kitt), his evil sorceress, she seeks revenge and turns Kuzco into a llama with the help of her hunk of the month, a lunk named Kronk (Patrick Warburton). Alone in the jungle, the talking llama is befriended by Pacha (John Goodman), who has just been told to vacate his pastoral home by the human Kuzco. What's an ego to do? That's pretty much the story and the characters--simple, direct, fun--a Disney film on a diet. For any fan of the acidic humor of Spade, this is essential viewing. As narrator of his tale, K! uzco uses a sarcastic tone to keep the story jumping with plen! ty of fu n asides (he even "stops" the film at one point to make sure you know the story is about him). Even better is character actor Warburton (Elaine's stuck-up boyfriend on Seinfeld), who steals every scene as the dim-witted, but oh-so-likable Kronk. There's even a delicious Tom Jones number that starts the film off with a bang. --Doug Thomas
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