The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
There's a very specific, nostalgic charm to the final gasps of traditional 2D animation at Disney, right before the studio completely surrendered to the CGI takeover. Something bittersweet hangs over these late entries in the hand-drawn era, a sense that you're watching a craft at its peak even as the industry was preparing to abandon it entirely. And that feeling colours how I came to The Emperor's New Groove more than I expected it to.
Let me be upfront: the animation here is genuinely good. Mark Dindal's 2000 feature sits right in that transitional sweet spot, and the art style is bright, snappy, and undeniably nice to look at. There's a cracking visual showcase of what the old-school ink-and-paint departments could still pull off when given a slightly more exaggerated, cartoonish canvas to work with. The character designs are elastic and expressive, and the backgrounds pop with colour and energy. I'll happily concede all of that without hesitation.
But looking pretty doesn't automatically make something a classic.
For all its visual flair, the film is nowhere near the best of the Disney canon. In fact, it's largely forgettable the moment the credits roll. You've got a genuinely cracking voice cast on paper: David Spade bringing his trademark sarcastic whine to the entitled emperor-turned-llama, backed up by the reliably brilliant John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, and Patrick Warburton. Yet even their combined comedic talents can't entirely mask the fact that the script is a bit of a mess of recycled sitcom tropes and slapstick gags that fail to leave any lasting impression. There are moments where it almost sparks into life, usually whenever Warburton is on screen, but they're isolated flashes rather than a sustained rhythm.
The real issue is the target audience, or rather the lack of crossover appeal. It's a perfectly average kids' film and absolutely nothing more. The frantic pacing and loud gags will keep younger viewers thoroughly entertained, no question. But it offers pretty much nothing for the adults sitting next to them on the sofa. No underlying emotional depth, no clever subtext, and certainly none of that razor-sharp, dual-layered writing that made the studio's 90s renaissance so special. I think of something like Monsters, Inc., released just a year later, and the gap in ambition and emotional intelligence is enormous. That film found ways to genuinely move you between the laughs. This one just keeps throwing gags at the wall and hoping enough of them stick.
To be fair, I can see what Dindal was going for. There's a screwball, anarchic energy to the whole thing that occasionally feels refreshingly unhinged compared to the grander, more self-serious Disney epics of the era. It's loose, it's daft, and it clearly isn't trying to be The Lion King. I can respect that decision in principle, even if the execution leaves me cold. The problem is that being knowingly lightweight still requires a certain sharpness to work properly, and the script just doesn't consistently have it. Compare it to something like Zoolander from the same year, another deliberately stupid comedy built around a self-absorbed protagonist, and you can feel the difference between a script that's genuinely precise about its own silliness and one that's just winging it.
Strip away the bright colours and the frantic momentum, and you're left with a harmless, easily digestible distraction that does exactly what it needs to do to pass a rainy afternoon. Functional, visually pleasing, and almost entirely without lasting magic. It's not a bad film. I wouldn't switch it off. But it's a thoroughly forgettable watch for anyone over the age of ten, and that feels like a missed opportunity given the talent involved on both sides of the camera.
Two and a half stars.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 2000 | Watched: 2026-07-23
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Rakuten TV
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.
