The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
Early buzz was bad. Lo and behold, it’s the most entertaining, perhaps the best, Disney movie in more than a decade.
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From the Archives: This post was originally published on the film’s opening weekend in 2000. At this time, the site was an experimental, amateur-hour endeavor. I was just learning to write film reviews. I read them now, and I see that I was an impatient writer, uninterested in revision, and hasty in my editing, but eager to find my own voice in the practice of criticism.
I walked into The Emperor’s New Groove expecting another formulaic Disney movie. I came out giddy with joy.
For all of the craftsmanship of this year’s smash family movie Chicken Run, The Emperor’s New Groove is ten times funnier and more creative. It’s one of the year’s... uh... the year’s best... no! I can’t make myself say it! It’s a Disney movie! Aren’t Disney movies just predictable, made-for-marketing, and drenched in sentiment?
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