"A Llama?! He's Supposed to be Dead!" "Yeah, Weird..."

The first time I saw a preview for The Emperor's New Groove, I thought, "Boy, does that look weird." I mean, a movie about a prince who turns into a llama? Wow. And weird it is. But it's also funny, with the humor making up the bulk of the film.

Kuzco (David Spade) is a young South American prince about to turn 18. He is arrogant and self-centered, putting his silly whims above the needs of his people. I confess that I find Spade terribly annoying, so I wasn't too unhappy when his narration caught up to the scene in the beginning and we didn't have to hear his commentary anymore. It was funny at times, but mostly I found it distracting.

Kuzco's attitude doesn't win him a lot of friends. In the space of only a few minutes, he boots an old man out of the castle for throwing off his groove, informs a village leader, Pacha (John Goodman), that he will be building a resort over his town, and terminates the employment of his advisor, Izma, who is beginning to take too many liberties with her post.

Furious, Izma plots revenge. Enlisting the aid of her gentle buffoonish sidekick, Kronk, she sets about poisoning the impetuous prince. The plan is much complicated, however, when Kronk accidentally uses the llama serum, leaving a very much alive prince who happens to look like a llama.

Charged with the task of disposing of the prince once and for all, Kronk knocks Kuzco out but is unable to finish the job by throwing him over a waterfall; his confused consciences are little help, but Kronk decides on his own that he doesn't have the heart to kill the prince. As he ponders his next course of action, the sack containing the prince tumbles out of his arms and onto Pacha's cart. Hoping this won't come back to haunt him, Kronk walks away from the crowd and back to the castle.

When Kuzco awakes, he is on a mountaintop surrounded by llamas. When Pacha discovers him, he warns the prince that the way down the mountain is perilous; he agrees to guide him if the prince will nix the resort idea. Of course, this is unacceptable to Kuzco, so he continues on his way alone. It's not long, however, before the prince discovers that what he needs most right now is a friend, and he may just be able to find that friend in the form of a common villager.

The remainder of the film is an action-packed account of Kuzco and Pacha's journey back to the castle to reclaim Kuzco's humanity. With Izma and Kronk hot on their trail, the new friends overcome obstacles with wit and style. In one of the film's funniest scenes, Both the bad guys and the good guys are in the same diner during lunch, and they very nearly bump into one another on several occasions. Kuzco still hasn't quite learned to trust Pacha, but before the film is over he will need his new buddy to beat Izma on his own turf.

I had just watched Jackie Chan Adventures with my brother the day we rented this, and I felt a sense of deja vu. In that episode, Jackie and his niece capture a talisman that allows them to change into different animals, and throughout the episode they use it constantly, populating the island on which they're stranded with some very strange animals. In this movie, Izma has a shelf full of animal serums. Only one is the human potion. As Kuzco tries to locate the correct potion, a hilarious chase scene ensues that leaves the audience wondering what the characters will turn into next.

All in all, this is a film chock full of laughs, and I'd certainly recommend it. It was, at times, a little too tongue-in-cheek for my liking, and it could have used a couple more songs, but other than that it's a fine addition to your Disney collection, and certainly one of the most original films you'll find on your shelf. A prince that turns into a llama...weird.