FilmBlather.com

"That's great! But I still have 94 monkeys to go."

What a pleasant surprise this was. Disney has snuck their greatest achievement in years literally under the radar this Christmas season. The Emperor's New Groove, their latest animated feature, opens with practically no hoopla, and little marketing hype; the Mouse gives the impression that they don't have confidence in it. And yet it is an extraordinary family film, one of the most enjoyable experiences of the year, a veritable masterpiece that speaks to kids without condescending or sentimentalizing. It bravely defies the Disney formula and works on an impressive amount of levels. Most early reviews have acknowledged this film's biting, mature wit but have ignored how skillfully it delivers its message.

The protagonist is named Kuzco (David Spade), and the most unusual thing about him is how unlikeable he is. He's the emperor; what he is emperor of is never made clear. He's selfish, arrogant and delights in having all of the citizens of his empire at his command. After being fired, his top advisor, the old, wrinkled Yzma and her right-hand man Kronk (David Warburton) plot to kill him and take over the empire. Instead of being killed, however, Kuzco is turned into a llama and winds up at the mercy of kindly Pancha (John Goodman), a villager whose home he was planning to destroy in order to build "Kuzcotopia," a water theme park.

The rest of the film chronicles Pancha and Kuzco's journey back to the palace, where they hope to find the correct potion to turn Kuzco back into a human being -- literally and figuratively. Kuzco's worst nightmare is actually showing kindness to someone; he is used to bossing people around without anyone questioning him. Pancha wants to save his home and his village and hopes that by the time they return to the palace, Kuzco will reconsider building his theme park.

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. The Emperor's New Groove has so many brilliant gags and throwaway moments that if you laugh too hard at one, you may miss the next one. Nearly a week later, I'm still chuckling at a few particular scenes that have not left my head. This isn't just the funniest animated film of the year; it's the funniest film of the year, period.

But, and this is where I seem to stray from the popular opinion, it is not just the laughs that make Groove worthwhile. This is that rare movie where the comedy serves a bigger purpose. There is a fairly simplistic message here -- selfishness is bad -- but the grace with which the film delivers it is what sets it apart from other family fare. The problem with a lot of filmmakers who chose to make movies wholly or partially for kids is that they feel the need to hammer their moral into kids' heads with a sledgehammer. There are invariably sentimental, pseudo-passionate speeches and sometimes even ballads to really bring the point home. Instead of using such primitive devices, Groove gets its message across through its story. There is no preaching or sermonizing, but by the end everyone understands.

The voice talent is dead-on, with the potentially annoying David Spade nailing the snobby, spoiled antihero Kuzco. John Goodman is terrific as Pancha, and Eartha Kitt wrings a lot of laughs out of her scheming villainess. The scene-stealer here, though, is Patrick Warburton (best known as Seinfeld's David Puddy) whose deadpan, slow Kronk is responsible for some of Groove's funniest moments.

The concept of an antihero is shockingly daring on Disney's part, as is making the villain more funny than scary. My best guess is that in between far more expensive and high-profile projects Tarzan and Atlantis, Disney gave its animators some creative leeway with a far smaller budget. It's doubtful that Groove will outperform Disney's so-called "big-leaguers" -- again, no hype, no marketing tie-ins, etc. -- but there is no doubt that it deserves to. This is one of the year's best films in any genre.