Day Two Hundred and Seventy-two - The Emperor's New Groove, "Kronk, your antics make life worth living sometimes."

When The Emperor's New Groove came out, I remember a lot of folks lambasting it as just another example of the decline of Disney's animation studio from its heyday in the late 80's/early 90's after the Second Renaissance that included The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King. Maybe it was a hostility towards all the fourth wall breaking, or just David Spade in particular... or, perhaps, it was just the general lack of awe-inspiring visuals or catchy musical sequences.

In any case, The Emperor's New Groove was a break from Disney's typical routine and, for that, got a lot of criticism. Personally, though, while I can see the validity of their complaints, there's just this bouncy humor that pervades the entirety of the film that really, really makes me happy... mostly coming at the hands of Chaotic Neutral henchmen, Kronk (Patrick Warburton).

That's not to say that David Spade, the intended star of the show as the Emperor Kuzco, isn't funny... but there are times that his self-absorbed sarcasm rubs the wrong way, whereas pretty much everything that comes out of Kronk's mouth (or, from his kitchen) is delicious.

While co-star John Goodman never really distinguishes himself as a voice actor here, playing the goody two-shoes Pacha (I think Wendi Malick does a much more interesting turn as his wife, Chicha), Eartha Kitt actually does a bangup job as the villainous Yzma, a wretched crone of an enchantress with eyes on the throne. It's actually rather sad that they didn't have her do a musical number as her voice just screams sultry and wicked.

As far as the story goes, it's just your typical buddy/chase flick as Kuzco and Pacha try and get back to civilization whilst bonding with each other and trying to avoid/thwart Yzma and Kronk. No real big surprise there. I was actually hoping that, in the absence of BOTH Kuzco and Yzma, that the people of the empire would attempt some sort of "majority rule" collective, but nope... civilization operates normally while the dueling heads of state, well, duel.

It's weird, The Emperor's New Groove really doesn't have your standard Disney polish and signaled a temporary halt to the trope of every entry being a romantic musical (a halt which led directly to the pulp adventure Atlantis: The Lost Empire), but it also wasn't "nails on the chalkboard" bad like the straight-to-DVD features that Disney was pumping out in the 90's, either. It's quaint and mostly fun... just not a grand Disney Epic, like most folks were used to back then.

I particularly loved (along with Kronk) all the tiny jokes like the Jaguar cub, the rollercoaster voice over, and the map lines... but really, the star of the show was Kronk. I don't think that the movie would've survived without his offbeat humor (and metahumor). Whether it was his obsessive homemaking, arguing with his dueling consciences, or squirrel translation, Patrick Warburton created a character that transcending the possible mediocrity of the film.

The main draw was him... everything else was just a supporting bonus. I mean, they turned Earth Kitt into a freaking cat and didn't even have her purr! Sacrilege!

I can definitely recommend The Emperor's New Groove, just be advised that it's all about the humor... the story, art, and music are all just meh.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Eighty-nine - Erik the Viking, "Myth, Legend, and Farce... all in one."

When your world is nothing but barbarism and the gods have forsaken you, what is left? Do you throw your lot in with entropy and continue in the murderous revelry, or do you search for something else... something to push back at the night?

For Erik the Viking (Tim Robbins) it's all really quite literal.

Fenrir the Wolf has swallowed the sun and all men fight and die in the Age of Ragnarok, but Erik doesn't want to follow in those footsteps. In fact, thanks to a tragic, yet enlightening conversation with an ill-fated peasant, he decides to go on an epic quest to storm Valhalla and wake the gods.

Of course, he takes all the menfolk of his village with him, warriors more used to raping and pillaging than high adventure and diplomacy, but they all make do... or die trying.

Along the way they meet the tone-deaf, but peace-loving people of Hy-Brazil, battle the giant dragon of the North Sea (a humongous anglerfish), repel the villainous Halfdan the Black, and come face to face with Odin and the pantheon of Norse gods.

And Erik finds true love... while trying to save the soul of his first.

Combining the raw satire of Monty Python's Terry Jones with the epic cheese of Corman adventure flicks, Erik the Viking straddles the line between whimsy and melodrama... all while asking some really rather profound questions about humanity, faith, and the myths of our forefathers.

I admit, it's rather difficult to get behind Tim Robbins as a peace-loving viking. He has a kind of "aw shucks" mentality with him throughout the whole film, pretty much. Still, the trials he must overcome are often quite amusing, even if they are utterly ridiculous.

Take, for example, the sea battle with Halfdan, where Erik makes use of his ladylove Aud's invisibility cloak which, unbeknownst to him, only works on her father and Harold the Monk... both men of blind faith. While it works in confusing Halfdan's forces into being routed, it's never really sold by Robbins' delivery.

That's not to say I don't like the sequence... as John Cleese is brilliantly funny as the affable villain, Halfdan, playing a similar role to his take on Robin Hood in Time Bandits, but Erik is definitely the weakest link in the film.

Still, for as much as he... and the overall roughness of the film... brings the production down, it still manages to be redeeming both for its dry humor and for its searching questions concerning love, faith, and existence.

I just wish it didn't feel like an over-long and shoddily shot episode of Hercules or Xena.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~