The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)

Directed by: Mark Dindal

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Emperor Kuzco (voiced by David Spade) is a self-involved young ruler who raises the ire of his sorceress administrator, Yzma (voiced by Eartha Kitt) when he fires her. Seeking revenge (and the throne), Yzma turns Kuzco into a llama. Stripped of his creature comforts, Kuzco must now learn to rely on the peasant Pacha (voiced by John Goodman) to help restore him to his rightful place as Emperor.

Cartoon Cats: After Yzma turns Kuzco into a llama she instructs her dim-witted assistant Kronk (voiced by Patrick Warburton) to dispose of him. But Kronk doesn’t have the heart to kill Kuzko and is trying to sneak him out of the city when he accidentally steps on a sleeping purple cat’s tail on a steep stairway.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon purple cat sleeping on stairs
The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon purple cat being stepped on by Kronk on stairs

Both Kronk and the cat tumble down the stairs, the cat landing on Kronk’s head. As Kronk notices the bag containing Kuzko rolling away on Pacha’s cart, the cat beats a hasty retreat.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon purple cat on Kronk's head
The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon cat being stepped on by Kronk and falling down stairs animated gif

At the end of the film when Kuzco and Pacha are in the final battle with Yzma, they are struggling over countless vials of potion which change Kuzco into a variety of animals. At last there are only two vials left and one explodes, changing Yzma into what seems, at first, to be a ferocious bloodthirsty animal. As it turns out she has turned into a kitten.

The Emperor's New Groove - extreme close up of cartoon kitten Yzma
The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma between llama Kuzco and Pacha
The Emperor's New Groove - Yzma turning into kitten between llama Kuzco and Pacha animated gif

But this kitten has claws, and she wants the last vial as much as Kuzco.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma watching llama Kuzco taking vial
The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma jumping at llama Kuzco
The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma attacking llama Kuzco

Pacha tries to get the raging kitten Yzma off Kuzco but is also attacked.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma attacking llama Kuzco with Pacha running to help
The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma attacking Pacha
The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma attacking llama Kuzco and Pacha animated gif

Kuzco finally manages to smash kitten Yzma against the wall.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma smashed on wall by llama Kuzco

But Yzma still gets hold of the vial. As she threatens Kuzco she is taken aback by the high-pitched squeakiness of her voice.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma with vial looking shocked

She explains that she is going to drink the potion, become human and then kill the emperor.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma with vial
The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma looking evil

But her impatience as she struggles to open the bottle with her little kitty paws causes her to throw it again the wall, bouncing it over the high precipice.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma trying to open vial

Not thinking she leaps after the vial, realizing in cartoon fashion that she’s about to take a big fall.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma frozen in midair

After falling for ages, she lands on a trampoline (conveniently set up by a trampoline salesperson) and flies back up, catching the vial in mid-flight . . .

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma bouncing off trampoline
The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma hugging vial in midair

. . . before crashing into a ceiling.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma crashing into ceiling

But Yzma isn’t done yet.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma looking down

She still manages to get hold of the vial, snatching it away from Pacha. “I win!” she smiles.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma smiling while pointing to vial

Kronk suddenly throws open a door, smashing kitten Yzma and saving the day.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma smashed by door opened by Kronk

In the film’s final tag, Kronk is teaching a group of Junior Chipmunks how to speak squirrel. It turns out a relucant kitten Yzma is one of the troop.

The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma with Junior Chipmunks looking mad
The Emperor's New Groove - cartoon kitten Yzma with Junior Chipmunks looking holding up acorn

A hilarious film with a great payoff, made even more funny by the fact that Eartha Kitt is voicing Yzma (she was also known for playing Cat Woman on the Batman television series.)

The Emperor's New Groove - Eartha Kitt in dressing room with her cat Jinx
Eartha Kitt in her dressing room with her cat Jinx, February 1953.

Final Mewsings: Don’t underestimate the danger of an angry kitten!

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