Kuzco is a good role model

It’s not the old tale of the man who walked around naked because no one would tell his or her leader the truth, but it’s close. Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove introduces a spoiled brat of an emperor, Kuzco, voiced by David Spade, who believes no one could possibly ever want to disagree with him.

Kuzco finds out differently when he is betrayed by his trusted but power-hungry advisor Yzma, voiced by Eartha Kitt, and turned into a llama. He was supposed to die, though, and Yzma’s orders are to find him and kill him – pretty un-kid-like orders for a kids’ movie, but Disney deals with it in an upbeat, unthreatening, way. (That treatment of murder opens up an entire genre of psychological study, but we won’t discuss it here.)

Kuzco fights to return to his throne and to his human form, at first not knowing the identity of his betrayer nor her desire to see him dead. Through a lucky twist of fate, Kuzco finds a friendly peasant named Pacha, John Goodman, who believes this talking llama is the missing emperor and helps him return to his castle. This evil body-switching spell has another benefit: It allows Kuzco to see his empire from the point of view of his people and to see the effects his rulings can have. It also forces him to care about people who were simply window treatment on the windows of his little world.

This movie is another great lesson about what can happen when you don’t think of others. Kuzco learns his actions directly affect the lives of others, and he learns to care about those effects and those other lives. The music, composed by Sting, was upbeat and sweet.

Although, as a Disney film, most viewers are young, I think there is an attraction to viewers a little older. Fans of David Spade’s work in movies and television are typically in their teens and wouldn’t as willingly be found catching the latest Disney movie in an auditorium packed with gurgling infants and boisterous rugrats, but those are the fans who might enjoy this most. Parents might be familiar with John Goodman and Eartha Kitt, but David Spade’s cynical wit leaves many older viewers out of the loop.

The Emperor’s New Groove is a witty analysis of a spoiled brat’s growth into a caring adult, but don’t let the kids know they might find a lesson woven into the screenplay. That’s just for you and me to keep to ourselves.

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