Monday, September 7, 2020

The Emperor's New Groove: The Ultimate Groove



Llama-Rama, Part 2 of 2

Disney's 39th animated feature The Emperor's New Groove is now available on Disney DVD in two versions: the standard one disc DVD (reviewed in Part 1 last week) and a deluxe two disc collector's edition set titled The Ultimate Groove, reviewed below.

What's the Difference?:
Disc 1 of The Ultimate Groove set is the same as the standard DVD release, without the Behind the Scenes featurettes, Deleted Scene and the Sting Music Video, which are included on Disc 2 of the set instead. Disc 1 features the full-length film, with optional audio commentary from the filmmakers, the Rascal Flats Music Video and the set-top game, "The Emperor's Got Game." Also included on Disc 1 are special DVD-ROM features, including a demo of "The Emperor's Groove Center" (QuickTime required) and exclusive on-line content only accessible through the DVD.

Disc 2 features an exhaustive collection of supplemental material that will be a treat for animation fans in general and The Emperor's New Groove fans in particular. The extras can be navigated in one of two ways: you can choose to view one of two "Get Into the Groove" features (The Studio Groove or The Animation Groove), or explore each section on your own. My recommendation is to watch the two "Groove" sections first. That way you will get a good overview of the animation process as told through the making of The Emperor's New Groove by producer Randy Fullmer and director Mark Dindal. Then you are free to roam about and check out the incidental features and galleries at your leisure. Plus, the two "Groove" sections are set up as a continuous narrative that is best viewed from beginning to end. Sections of the two "Grooves" do reappear in the individual sections, so they can be skipped at that time to go on to the new stuff.


Get Into the Groove - The Studio Groove:
In the spirit of the film it depicts, this "making of" feature is fast-paced and not without it's own degree of laughs, mostly supplied by the clips from the movie interspersed throughout as if reacting to the commentary by Fullmer and Dindal. One can also see a parallel between the two filmmakers and their two main characters. Dindal is the wild and crazy one, teasing and joking with Fullmer, who is relegated to the 'straight man' role in their little comic bits. This is typical Disney 'behind-the-scenes' goofiness, aimed more at younger children who probably wouldn't sit through this type of thing anyway. Thankfully, this silliness is brief, and mostly palatable to those who are watching this who actually want to learn how an animated film is created in this day and age. Which it accomplishes very well.

By using the making of The Emperor's New Groove, Disney here is able to depict the complete gestation of a contemporary animated film, from the first idea of the story down to the completed feature. If you have ever seen any of the earlier documentaries on the Disney animation process (such as in the film The Reluctant Dragon or on old episodes of Disneyland/The Wonderful World of Disney), you have seen how they did it back in Walt's time. While there has been more updated attempts of explaining the newer, more technologically advanced Disney 'way' (The Magic of Disney Animation tours at the Disney-MGM Studios and Disney's California Adventure theme parks, those inane Movie Surfer specials on The Disney Channel), this disc offers a very complete and comprehensive video tour of how Walt Disney Feature Animation makes films today.

Fullmer and Dindal take you through development, story meetings, the creation of layouts and backgrounds, the entire animation process, the adding of sound and music... generally how they make it all work. Again, these all have their own sections so that you can delve even deeper into how each step is performed.


The Animation Groove:
In this briefer featurette, you can watch how a particular scene (in this case, the dinner scene where Yzma and Kronk try to poison Kuzco) is created throughout the animation process with split screen comparisons, from storyboard to rough animation to clean-up animation to the final full-color product. Once you are done with these two, you can go onto the other sections of "The Secret Lab" for even more extras, such as...

Development - The Development Process:
Included in The Studio Groove, this explains how the concept for The Emperor's New Groove was developed and how it was decided that it would 'break the mold' of previous Disney animated features and be a screwball buddy comedy. We also learn that animated films are developed on two parallel paths, the story itself and the visual look of the movie.

The Research Trip: Included on the standard DVD (see Part 1).

Story Treatment:
An all text description of the story for the film. A complete waste of space as A) if you have already seen the movie, this is redundant, and B) if you haven't seen the movie, it gives away the whole plot.

Visual Development Gallery:
Includes the concept art to help the artist grasp the feel of the film, depicting the various locals featured, including Kuzco's palace, Pacha's village and Mudka's Meat Hut.

Original concept art for Kingdom of the Sun

Kingdom of the Sun:
The most disappointing aspect of this disc is that it virtually ignores the original concept of this movie, originally titled Kingdom of the Sun. If you are looking for Disney to come clean on the tumultuous early production of this film, which included defecting animators and a scrapped song score, you ain't gonna find it here. All that is left is a gallery of early concept art in which we can only attempt to glean what this film was originally going to be like.

Story and Editorial - The Story Process:
Focuses on the story department, which consists of storyboard artists and writers, who work together to create the characters and how they will tell the story.

The Pitch: See three different story pitches for the opening number, "Perfect World". We learn in the second pitch that in Kingdom of the Sun, as it was then called, Kuzco sang this song. A fascinating peek at how they 'choreograph' a Disney song and also how they will constantly re-work a scene to get it right.

Putting It Up On Reels:
Another interesting revelation: the editorial department takes the individual storyboard frames and creates a story reel, with dialogue, sound effects and music tracks added. This is done to get a feel for how the scenes are working and to get an idea of how long each scene will be before they go on to the next step of actually being animated.


Deleted and Unused Scenes:
The first deleted scene, "Practice Destruction of Pacha's Village", is included on the standard DVD (see Part 1).

"Pacha's Family": Interesting to note that Pacha's family was originally a lot bigger, with a scrappy grandpa and a surfer dude next-door-neighbor who, in typical sitcom fashion, bursts into the room unannounced and at the worst possible moments. Upon discovering the talking llama, the village throws him a welcoming party. This scene was too long, unfunny and unoriginal and didn't make it past the storyboarding phase.

"Original Kuzcotopia Ending": The original ending for the film had Kuzco building his full-size summer pad on the mountaintop neighboring Pacha's village. In the big grand opening party of Kuzcotopia, we see all the characters joining in for the fun, including the guards that were turned into animals in the final battle. The final gag has Kronk in his apron coming out of the kitchen wanting a "head count for dessert." His shoulder angel and devil pop in, with their own aprons on, and say "We got you covered!" This ending was nixed when Sting, an avid environmentalist, noted that to have Kuzco still build Kuzcotopia showed that he didn't learn anything from what had happened to him through the course of the film. It was still "socially irresponsible" and "ecologically unfriendly" for him to do so, and the scene was altered to what you see in the final film. While I can see why they made the change, it still would have been fun to see that octopus playing volleyball…

Layouts and Backgrounds - Layout and Background Departments: The layout artists are very important to animated films, as they are basically the film's art director and cinematographer combined. They prepare the work for the animators and background artists, who "create the stages where the animated characters will play."


Inside Scene Planning: This department is where all the initial drawings are first put into the computer to create the timing sheets used by the director and the animators. These sheets allow the animators to get the exact timing right for each line of dialogue, gesture, et cetera.

The Workbook Gallery:
Thumbnail sketches of the dinner scene, showing the preliminary creation of the scene, focusing on composition and camera angles.

Layout, Color Key and Background Galleries:
Examples of the best layout artwork, color keys (used to establish the color scheme for each scene) and background paintings for The Emperor's New Groove.

Animation - The Animation Process:
Learn about the three kinds of animation needed to produce a completed film: Character, or rough, animation is handled by the character lead and his/her team. They are the actors behind the pencils who draw the characters. Clean-up animators take the rough pencil drawings and, as their job title states, clean them up into a uniform look for the final product. Special effects animators handle everything that moves in the film that is not a character. For example: rain, smoke, fire, shadows and props.

Character Animation - Character Voices:
Included on the standard DVD (see Part 1).

Character Design:
Each character has there own section, with Animation Tests for the four main characters. See early rough animation for Kuzco that shows a more realistic look for him in llama form (albeit wearing a crown) and with buck teeth and spiky hair in human form.


Character Design Galleries:
See early concept drawings and sketches showing the evolution of all the characters, from the Emperor down to his lowly servants. See how at one point Pacha looked like Marlon Brando in a muumuu and how Kronk, at different stages of development, vaguely resembled Fabio and The Rock.

The most illuminating section is for the miscellaneous characters, where one can see characters that never made it to the final film, including the intriguing "Naked Guy and the Peacock." Also note what one of Mudka's Meat Hut waitresses has on her platter ... grilled flounder must be today's special. You can also see the progression of these designs through the ever changing title on the production sheets: Kingdom of the Sun, Kingdom in the Sun, The New Kingdom and finally The Emperor's New Groove.

Character Model Sheets:
Yet another gallery, this one displaying the final character model sheets for the four main characters. Model sheets are used by the clean-up animators to retain continuity for the characters, so that they look the same throughout the entire film.

CGI Props:
Included in the standard DVD (see Part 1).

Animation Production Progression: Again using the dinner scene as an example, viewers can use the 'angle' button on their remotes to toggle through the progression of the animation, from story reel to rough animation to clean-up animation to the final scene and back again. This is a nifty way to see how all the different stages of animation come together.

Putting It All Together - Ink and Paint Compositing:
The Ink and Paint Department used to actually use ink and paint to hand color each individual animation cel. Now it is done on computers as explained here.

Color Models: Yes, another gallery, this one includes five color models showing the final color schemes for Kuzco, Kuzco Llama, Pacha, Yzma and Kronk. Again, uniformity is the objective here.


Music and Sound - Creating the Music and Sound Effects:
This is the final step: after all the cleaned-up animation has been colored and combined with the background paintings and is all composited in the computer, a 35 mm print of the film is made and is ready to have the dialogue, music and sound effects added. This is done in the sound studio where it is all orchestrated to create the best mix of the three sound elements.

Sting Music Video: "My Funny Friend and Me":
Included on the standard DVD (see Part 1).

Mixing Demonstration: Using a scene from the movie (no, not the dinner scene again ... this time it's the rope bridge scene), you can isolate the dialogue, sound effect and music tracks or combine them in any way you choose by using your remote.

Publicity - Trailers and TV Spots: Includes the two theatrical trailers and three TV commercials for The Emperor's New Groove.

Posters/Ad Campaign: A gallery of the poster art and newspaper ads for the initial theatrical release of The Emperor's New Groove.

Note: The first retail shipments of both the standard and deluxe DVD editions of The Emperor's New Groove come packaged with the free CD-ROM game "Search for the Journal," based on the upcoming Walt Disney Picture Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

All in all, The Ultimate Groove is a fine, although at times overwhelming, presentation of the creation of a Disney animated film.

Toon Talk Grade: B+

Originally posted May 9, 2001

Friday, April 24, 2020

The Emperor's New Groove



Llama-Rama, Part 1 of 2

The Emperor's New Groove, Disney's 39th animated feature is now available on video and on Disney DVD in two versions: the standard one disc DVD (reviewed below) and a deluxe two disc collector's edition set titled The Ultimate Groove, which will be reviewed next week.

Set in an unnamed Latin American empire, The Emperor's New Groove introduces us to the ruler of said domain, the spoiled-rotten Emperor Kuzco (voiced by David Spade). He leads an excessively charmed life where his every whim is catered to; as his 'theme song' states, it is his "perfect world." His pampered existence is threatened by the mutinous mechanizations of his recently fired royal advisor, the devious diva Yzma (Eartha Kitt). Aided by her studly side-kick Kronk (Patrick Warburton), her attempt to poison Kuzco in order to usurp his throne misfires, turning him into a llama instead.


Yzma dispatches Kronk to do away with the now furry and four-legged emperor. But instead Kuzco ends up with the kindhearted llama herder Pacha (John Goodman), whom Kuzco had previously dismissed upon informing him that Pacha's simple mountain village was soon to be the site of his latest extravagance, a huge summer home dubbed 'Kuzcotopia'. A tempestuous relationship develops between the mismatched duo as Pacha agrees to help Kuzco in exchange for sparing his village. Further problems arise when the newly enthroned Empress Yzma discovers that her former boss is still alive, thus threatening her rule of this 'kingdom of the sun'.

The Emperor's New Groove is enjoyable at most, and hilarious at times, but the film never quite takes off into the comic stratosphere of such earlier Disney comedies as Aladdin or even Hercules. Credit is due the filmmakers for shirking the tried-and-true (and often unjustly maligned) Disney 'formula', but it is at the expense of creating a full-blooded Disney entertainment.

While ostensibly taking place in a mythical kingdom in some South American country, one never gets a sense of place. Aside from the Aztec-influenced architecture of the palace, the film could be taking place in any mountainous region. Add to that it's suffering from what I call "Dangerous Liaisons syndrome" (a complete lack of any regional dialect or accents), and this venture feels no more authentically Latin then a Taco Bell.


Much has already been said of this film's troubled production. At first a more straight forward action film titled Kingdom of the Sun, with songs à la The Lion King, it stalled in mid-development due to insurmountable story problems. It was resurrected as The Emperor's New Groove, a full-out, non-singing buddy comedy.

Lost in the shuffle were the songs written for the original story by Sting and David Hartley; in fact, Trudie Styler - a.k.a. Mrs. Sting - filmed a documentary on this whole unfortunate process, unflatteringly titled The Sweat Box. All that remains, save for the obligatory Oscar-bait power ballad sung by Sting over the end credits, is the splashy, Vegas-style opening number "Perfect World", crooned by underwear magnet Tom Jones as Kuzco's 'theme song guy'. This wackily over-the-top production number (complete with Riverdancing centurions) hints at how loony this toon could have been. While I'm not one to think that every animated film needs to be a musical, this story would have benefited especially if it had been musicalized more in this manner.

(To hear what 'might have been,' listen to the original soundtrack album, which features what will probably be the greatest Disney song never animated, Eartha Kitt purring "Snuff Out the Light (Yzma's Song)".)


Such inadequacies are compounded by the main flaw within the feature, that is, a failure to create a likable protagonist. As it stands, Kuzco starts off as a self-centered, uncompromising childish brat and then... remains that way for almost the entire film. He constantly belittles and betrays the trust of the honest and loyal Pacha. Yes, there needs to be dramatic conflict between the two, but by pitting Pacha's unwavering goodness against Kuzco's constant selfishness, it's no wonder he elicits no sympathy, from us the audience, or the other characters for that matter.

This may in part be due to the voice acting of David Spade, who as a performer on the television series' Saturday Night Live and Just Shoot Me has consistently displayed his limited range: he never met a line he didn't whine. Such one-note characterizations may work fine in a five minute comedy sketch or half-hour sitcom, but not when you are trying to create a hero worth rooting for.

In contrast, all of the other members of The Emperor's New Groove cast shine. Pacha, when he's not dodging llama insults, shares some giggle-inducing moments with his rascally family: his strong-willed (and very pregnant) wife ChiCha (Wendy Malick) and his two mop-topped tots, Tipo and Chaca (Elia Russell Linnetz and Kellyann Kelso). Even minor characters such as a chatty squirrel and a brittle old peasant ("Beware the groove!") have their own funny bits.


But it's the one-two comedic punch of Yzma and Kronk (the funniest odd couple on screen since Harold and Maude) that steals this movie, hook, line and sombrero. Theirs is a strangely synergistic relationship, the full depth of which is barely hinted at in this G-rated venture.

With her Venus Flytrap-eyelashes and bony frame, Yzma is a direct decedent of such comic Disney villains as Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook and Madame Medusa. She has yearned for high style and regal accoutrements all her (long) life, but is constantly tripped up by the lunacy surrounding her. Eartha Kitt, who's most famous role to date was as another campy villainess, the Catwoman in the classic Sixties Batman series, is perfectly (or should that be 'purrrrfectly'?) cast here, joyfully sinking her claws into the role's operatic eccentricities.

Patrick Warburton, best known for the dim-bulb, hunky mechanic Puddy on television's Seinfeld, brings a droll charm to the befuddled Kronk. He plays him as a sensitive soul trapped in the body of a linebacker. He may work for the bad guys, but he's not evil... let's just say he has fallen into the wrong crowd. Kronk is more prone to whipping up a batch of spinach puffs then whipping a foe into submission.


In another departure from the Disney norm, the film is heavily influenced by the style of legendary Warner Bros. short director Chuck Jones, most notably in the character of Kuzco. Just like his prankster predecessor Bugs Bunny, Kuzco uses every trick in the Looney Tunes handbook, from anachronistic dialogue to breaking the 'fourth wall' to talk directly to the audience. He even employs a classic comic device, dressing up as a woman to gain access to a jungle 'truck stop' called Mudka's Meat Hut. Some of these gags work well, but when they don't, the filmmakers' attempts at hip cleverness are painfully obvious, throwing off the film's pacing, it's own 'groove,' as it were.

There was a lot of potential in this project in it's many forms... a couple more whacks at this piñata would have revealed all of the goodies inside.

Toon Talk Grade: B-
MPAA Rating: G
Running Time: 78 minutes
Available on VHS • DVD • Ultimate Groove 2-Disc DVD

Standard DVD Extras:
Behind the Scenes - Three featurettes on the making of the film, also included on The Ultimate Groove:
  1. The Research Trip: When possible, Disney animators go to a locale of the film to "soak up the atmosphere" and do research on local architecture, landscaping and artwork. Not only did the crew of The Emperor's New Groove travel to Peru, but they also made a trip to a llama farm, as explained in this brief short.
  2. Creating Computer Generated Images: You'll be surprised to find out what props in The Emperor's New Groove were created by use of CGI, how well they seamlessly blend into the rest of the movie.
  3. The Character Voices: It is always fun to see footage of the voice actors at work. They take their animated roles seriously, just like any other part. As John Goodman (who played Pacha, "the glue that holds the film together") states "it's a different sort of acting, all about truth." Other highlights include: 
  • Patrick Warburton describes Kronk as "about as sharp as a marble".
  • Eartha Kitt on her larger than life character: "I adore (Yzma) because she goes after what she wants... in the end you wind up liking her."
  • David Spade admits he doesn't consider himself a very good actor. (No comment.)


Sting's "Making the Music" Video featuring the Academy Award-nominated Song "My Funny Friend and Me":
Why does every pop song from a movie music video have to feature the singer warbling into a panty-hose protected microphone in a dimly-lit recording studio while promotional clips from the movie are edited in haphazardly? And why would they think we would want to watch them making such a video? Most Unintentional Laugh: Sting actually says "I like buddy songs (like "My Funny Friend and Me") they're not too sentimental." Huh???

Rascal Flats "Walk the Llama Llama" Music Video:
OK, this one is just plain weird. Kiddie dancers do the "Llama Llama" dance on a cheesy-looking set while bored-looking real llamas look on. There's even a little dancing man at the bottom of the screen that you can follow along with to learn the "Llama Llama" dance too! Burning Question: What exactly is a "sassy moonwalk"? (Both videos are also available on The Ultimate Groove.)

Deleted Scene:
In this scene, cut because it "emotionally didn't fit the tone of the picture," we view the "Practice Destruction of Pacha's Village." You can see why it was left out as it was a harsh example of Kuzco's selfishness. (Also available, with two other deleted scenes, on The Ultimate Groove.)

"The Emperor's Got Game" Adventure Game:
While most DVD games will hardly have you hocking your Play Station, this one benefits from the use of new dialogue recorded by Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton. Using your remote, you navigate Kuzco Llama through his treacherous trek from Pacha's house back to the palace by answering trivia questions about the movie. Best Lines: Kronk: "Yzma's still got this whole 'evil' thing going"; Yzma (after you miss a question): "Someone wasn't paying attention to the movie!" (Game also available on The Ultimate Groove).


Audio Commentary:
Participants: Director Mark Dindal, Producer Randy Fullmer, Supervising Animators Nik Ranieri (Kuzco) and Bruce W. Smith (Pacha), Art Director Colin Stimpson, Character Designer Joseph C. Moshier and Head of Story Stephen Anderson. (Audio Commentary also available on The Ultimate Groove).

The Top 10 Things We Learn From This Commentary:
  1. The producers originally wanted Sting to sing "Perfect World", but he refused, claiming "I'm too old for that sort of thing. Get somebody young and hip." So instead of using the 50-year-old Sting, they chose the 60-year-old Tom Jones.
  2. Remember that poor old man that got tossed out the palace window for throwing off the emperor's groove? Did his voice sound familiar? Well it should. It was John Fiedler, the classic voice of Piglet in the Winnie the Pooh shorts, as well as the church mouse in Robin Hood, the owl in The Rescuers and the porcupine in The Fox and the Hound.
  3. Sting's songwriting partner for the film, David Hartley, makes a 'cameo appearance': he is the officer of the court who fills out Yzma's 'pink slip.'
  4. In the dinner scene, after Yzma pours her poisoned drink into it, keep an eye on the cactus.
  5. Patrick Warburton improvised Kronk's 'theme music' and had to sign a legal waiver relinquishing the rights to his 'composition' to Disney.
  6. ChiCha is the first on-screen pregnant woman in a Disney animated film.
  7. Bucky the Squirrel was originally thrown into the storyboard of the "Into the Jungle" scene as a joke, but the director got such a kick out of him that he was used two more times in the film.
  8. After the mock funeral scene, Yzma was originally going to have her own reprise of the "Perfect World" song.
  9. The waitress in Mudka's Meat Hut is patterned after Flo from the TV series Alice.
  10. Note the aluminum foil llama 'doggie bag' Kronk is carrying when they leave the diner.

Toon Talk Trivia:

  • The Emperor's New Groove cast members David Spade (Kuzco) and Wendy Malick (ChiCha) are also Emmy-nominated co-stars of NBC's Just Shoot Me.
  • John Goodman (Pacha) will also be heard as Sully in the upcoming Disney/Pixar release Monsters, Inc..
  • Patrick Warburton (Kronk) voices Buzz Lightyear in the animated television series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. He also voices the Little Green Men in that series as well as in the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins video released last year.

Check out next week's edition of Toon Talk for a full overview of the two disc collector's edition, The Emperor's New Groove: The Ultimate Groove.

-- Originally posted May 4, 2001.