The Emperor's New Groove

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mark Dindal directs. Thomas Baker behind the camera. John Debney scores. Tom Finan cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Tight 78-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
• 2$100M budget — tentpole studio territory.
• 326 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 4Part of the "The Emperor's New Groove Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 5Directed by Mark Dindal, shot by Thomas Baker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by John Debney. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Tom Finan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8David Spade and John Goodman and Eartha Kitt carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "It's all about... ME!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0120917 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 11 themes, including "central and south america", "emperor", "cartoon", "incan empire".
• 12Released under 20 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Thomas Baker

Original score

John Debney

Editing

Tom Finan

Production design

Paul A. Felix

VFX supervisor

Mauro Maressa

Sound

Tim Chau

Runtime

78 min · 1h 18m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$100,000,000

Box office

$169,327,687

Return

169% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

G

IMDB

The Emperor's New Groove (2000) ↗

Part of

The Emperor's New Groove Collection

A collection of The Emperor's New Groove movie series

• 
  The Emperor's New Groove

  2000 · this one
• 
  Kronk's New Groove

  2005

Also by

Mark Dindal

• 
  Cats Don't Dance

  1997 · ★ 7.2
• 
  The Garfield Movie

  2024 · ★ 6.9
• 
  Chicken Little

  2005 · ★ 5.9

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Kuzco Wallowing in the Rain - Official Clip

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  The Emperor's New Groove - Theatrical Trailer #1 (35mm 4K) (June 30, 2000)

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  The Emperor's New Groove - 2000 Theatrical Trailer #2

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• r96sk2020-07-10
  ★ 7/10

  Amusing film. <em>'The Emperor’s New Groove'</em> doesn't, in my opinion, feature a great plot, amazing music or incredible animation. All of that is all fine, though it's the humour that makes this film tick. It isn't belly laugh worthy but from start-to-finish I was amused by the funny nature of it. The premise is very silly, which works in its favour, with a load of things that don't quite add up, it even references that itself in the third act. That just adds to the fun, they know it's a mindless 78 minutes and make it work. The reason it comes out so well is thanks to David Spade and John Goodman. Spade is terrific as Kuzco, bringing the perfect wit to the self-serving emperor. Goodman is the overall star though, I thoroughly enjoyed him in the role of Pacha. Patrick Warburton is also decent as Kronk. It all makes for chilled out viewing, you'll have a good time if you just sit back and enjoy it - as I did.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Walt Disney Feature Animation

  US

• 

  Walt Disney Pictures

  US

Key crew

• ProducerRandy Fullmer
• EditorTom Finan
• Executive ProducerDon Hahn
• Original StoryMatthew Jacobs
• AnimationJames Baker
• AnimationTim Allen
• Visual DevelopmentPaul Brizzi
• First Assistant EditorPaul Carrera
• CastingMary Hidalgo
• ThanksJoe Ranft
• Story ArtistMark Kennedy
• Story ArtistJohn Norton
• Executive Music ProducerChris Montan
• Story ArtistDoug Frankel
• Story ArtistDon Hall
• Story ArtistMark Walton
• Story ArtistStephen J. Anderson
• Art DirectionColin Stimpson
• Sound DesignerTim Chau
• Music EditorCharles Paley
• Production DesignPaul A. Felix
• Sound Re-Recording MixerMel Metcalfe
• CastingMatthew Jon Beck
• Sound Re-Recording MixerDean A. Zupancic

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• central and south america
• emperor
• cartoon
• incan empire
• kids
• lighthearted
• animation
• comedy
• cartoons
• amusing
• llama

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2000-12-10G
• Theatrical (limited)2025-11-21G· El Capitan Theatre (25th anniversary)
• Theatrical2000-12-15G
• Digital2019-11-15G· Disney+
• Physical2025-12-09G· 4K Ultra HD
• Physical2001-05-01G· Standard DVD / VHS & The Ultimate Groove: 2-Disc Collector's Edition DVD
• Physical2005-10-18G· The New Groove Edition DVD
• Physical2013-06-11G· The Emperor's New Groove / Kronk's New Groove 2 Movie Collection Blu-ray / DVD

Also known as

International titles

• Keizer KuzcoNL
• Pacha e o ImperadorPT
• A Nova Onda do ImperadorBR
• Kuzco - l'empereur mégaloFR
• Et kongerike for en lamaNO
• Kejserens Nye FlipDK
• Las locuras del emperadorAR
• حياة الإمبراطور الجديدةSA
• Омагьосаният императорBG
• Las Locuras Del EmperadorMX
• 쿠스코? 쿠스코!KR
• Nowe szaty królaPL
• The Emperors New GrooveUS
• Ο αυτοκράτορας έχει κέφιαGR
• Ein Königreich für ein LamaDE