I’ve never seen The Emperor’s New Groove, but it’s a testament to the enduring quality of Disney film that so many of its quotes have entered pop culture. The animated movie is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year (really??), and Disney is bringing it back to the big screen. The studio announced today that The Emperor’s New Groove will be screened at the legendary El Capitan Theatre from November 21-24, before making its debut on 4K Ultra HD on December 9. It will also be released on Digital and Blu-ray on the same day.
The film follows Kuzco (David Spade), an Emperor who thought he had it all: a devoted populace to rule over, a wardrobe of glamorous garb and his unwavering “groove.” But his world is flipped upside down when he’s turned into a llama by his devious adviser Yzma (Eartha Kitt), and her hunky henchman Kronk (Patrick Warburton). Now the once-mighty ruler is forced into an unlikely alliance with pleasant peasant Pacha (John Goodman). Together, they must overcome their differences as they embark on a groovy adventure.
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The Emperor’s New Groove was originally titled Kingdom of the Sun. It was conceived as a musical epic and was being developed by Roger Allers (The Lion King). The plot was similar, but it would have found the selfish emperor switching places with a peasant who looks just like him in order to escape his boring life and have a little fun. However, the villainous Tzma discovers this and turns the real emperor into a llama and threatens the peasant with revealing the truth unless he obeys her.
However, after Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame performed below expectations, Disney got cold feet and felt that the film needed more comedy. Mark Dindal (The Garfield Movie) was brought in as co-director, and the project was revamped, but Disney still wasn’t satisfied. Allers left, and the production shut down for six months to see what could be done to salvage it. Old characters were dropped, new characters were brought in (including the scene-stealing Kronk), and the film finally hit theaters in December 2000, over six years after development began.
The film underperformed, but it found a huge cult following when it was released on home media. Will you be adding The Emperor’s New Groove to your 4K collection?