The Emperor's New Groove
by Tim Wick
Forgive my pretention, but I would like to write this review as an open
letter to Michael Eisner (Chairman and CEO of Walt Disney, Inc.).
Dear Mr. Eisner:
Let me open by saying I am a big fan. It is hard to believe that in less
than 20 years, you have transformed the Disney animation studio from one
that
was capable of producing films like Oliver and Company into a studio that
has produced such master works as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The
Lion King. While I am sure you would modestly acknowledge that Jeffrey
Katzenberg (now of DreamWorks) and Roy O. Disney (who produced Fantasia
2000) had some minor hand in the success of your animantion division, I
think you certainly exacted some influence.
One of the things that really impressed me was the way you would market your
animated features for what felt like decades before their actual release. I
can't remember how many times I saw the preview of Circle of Life before I
finally saw The Lion King. I have every one of the super cool Toy Story
2 happy meal toys sitting above my computer. I typically know the name of
the next Disney film to be released about one year ahead of time. Heck, I
your marketing department managed to turn Dinosaur into a film that
grossed
over $100 million. Given the fact that Dinosaur ranks somehwere in the
same arena with The Black Cauldron for Disney, that is something of an
accomplishment.
So what happened with The Emperor's New Groove?
I didn't see any previews. I didn't see any happy meal toys. I only knew
it
was coming out because of a few vigorous defenders on the Ain't it Cool
News web site. They mentioned, by the way, that you weren't too keen on
this particular picture?
I'm guessing you don't like it because it departs substantially from the
rather tired format that your animated features have been following. It is
not a musical for one thing. Nor does it have a love interest or a cute
animal sidekick. The villain is comical rather than sinister and whole
movie
acknowledges it's own absurdity on more than one occaision. This is the
funniest film your studio has put out since Aladdin and it languishes
unseen because you don't have any faith in it.
A great comedy, Mr. Eisner, is quotable. I can quote chapter and verse of
such venerated titles as The Ref, Ghostbusters and Aladdin. I have
spent the days since I've seen The Emperor's New Groove quoting the
wonderful lines in that film to friends who have seen it. I can only hope
that you get lucky and word of mouth rescues this film from oblivion.
I'm no fan of David Spade, but he does a great job in this picture. John
Goodman and Ertha Kitt are great. And the guy who voices Gronk! Man is he
a
find! I have got to look him up to see what else he's done.
Mr. Eisner, I beg of you to put some publicity around this picture before
it's too late. Your company pushed a clear clunker like 102 Dalmations
and
allowed this little known gem to go the way of The Iron Giant.
I have a great deal of respect for your company, Mr. Eisner. I have little
respect for Warner Brothers. You need to learn from their mistakes and
recognize when you have a solid, crowd pleasing film on your hands. Please
take some time to give this movie a chance.
Sincerely,
Tim Wick
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