History WesternAnimation / TheEmperorsNewGroove

* StaggeredZoom: Done for laughs in the scene where Kronk has barely prevented the sack containing the unconscious emperor from going over a waterfall. The camera pauses on Kronk then zooms out five times... until finally the waterfall isn't even visible anymore, and the focus is now on a monkey eating a bug which is lampshaded by Kuzco the narrator.

* ColorCodedCharacters: Kuzco and Yzma's signature colors are red and purple respectively - colors that sit on opposite extremes of the spectrum, and which also denote how they stand in relation to other characters and each other. Pacha and his family are characterized by warm, earthy colors, mainly green and yellow. Kronk, who's Yzma's closest ally, is dressed mostly in blue.

* AnAesop: ThePowerOfFriendship. As delivered in the reprise of Kuzco's theme song at the end:
-->'''Theme Song Guy:''' You'd be the coolest dude in the nation\\
Or the hippest cat in creation,\\
But if you ain't got friends\\
Then nothing's worth the fuss.

** Kuzco starts out very hard-lined and softens to more Disney-appropriate features after he learns his [[AnAesop Aesop]]. Yzma looks like she's going to have the demon face but ends up turning into something much cuter than her original "scary beyond all reason" appearance.

Kuzco (Creator/DavidSpade) is the spoiled young emperor of a mountainous jungle nation [[{{Mayincatec}} loosely based]] on the [[UsefulNotes/PreColumbianCivilizations Incan empire]] of South America. On the eve of his eighteenth birthday, he fires his ancient adviser Yzma (Music/EarthaKitt) from her high-profile job, prompting her and her dimwitted but affable lackey Kronk (Creator/PatrickWarburton) to assassinate him. The plan misfires, and Kuzco is instead accidentally turned into a llama. He's forced to team up with good-hearted family-man peasant Pacha (Creator/JohnGoodman) on a dangerous trek through the jungle to reclaim his throne -- while Pacha tries to teach Kuzco just a ''little'' bit of humility in the process. This all plays out more like a feature-length ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon than a typical Disney flick.

A ''very'' atypical animated movie from Creator/{{Disney}}. Hugely self-aware and a lot more [[DemographicallyInappropriateHumour risque]] than the previous entries in [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon the studio's canon]], ''The Emperor's New Groove'' is a film that trawled the deepest levels of DevelopmentHell and finally emerged as a heavily comedic film that veered heavily away from its original concept of an Incan version of ''The Prince and the Pauper''. The film was directed by Creator/MarkDindal, whose previous work, ''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance'', shares much of the same breakneck humor as ''Groove''.

--> '''Kuzco:''' Okay, I've got to get back to the palace. Yzma's got that... "secret lab"... I'll just snap my fingers and order her to change me back!

--> '''Waitress:''' ''(Completely deadpan)'' Hot and crispy pillbug for the happy couple. Mazel Tov.

** Oh, so much (what's an American-style GreasySpoon--complete with HashHouseLingo and an {{Expy}} of the Big Boy--Doing in the pre-Columbian Andes??). Most of it can be chalked up to RuleOfFunny.

--->'''Tipo:''' I don't believe you're really my great-aunt. You're more like my great-great-great...
--->''[scene cuts away, cuts back to [[OverlyLongGag Tipo still talking]]]''
--->'''Tipo:''': ...great-great-great-great-great...
--->'''Yzma''': All right! Are you through?
--->'''Tipo:'''...great-great-aunt.

-->'''Shoulder Angel''': Now, now, remember, guys. "From above, the wicked shall receive their just reward."\\

* DisguisedInDrag: Kuzco dresses up as a lady and plays the role of Pacha's newlywed wife to get into a restaurant. Unlike most cases, [[WholesomeCrossdresser he does't seem to mind]].

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Beware the Groove."'']]

[[folder:S-Y]]

** After Kuzco asks why the old man he threw out the window forgave him so easily, the old man tells him "Oh, it's not the first time I was tossed out of a window, and it won't be the last." No further explanation is ever provided.d

* NoodleIncident: How Yzma and Kronk made it back to the palace first. Not even ''they'' know how they did it.

%%* TheEmperor: Obviously.

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Kronk's famous line as he stalls for time after realising he may have mixed the potions up:

* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Pacha briefly plasters himself in front of the restaurant's "Big Boy"-style logo to avoid Yzma's notice.

* NoHuggingNoKissing: The closest thing we have is Pacha's relationship with Chicha, but it's mostly portrayed in a "happily married for a long time" way. Ironically, the film gained notoriety for be being the first film in the {{Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon}} to show a pregnant woman.