Disney is mostly known for their princess films, but as a new millennium rolled in,
they decided to take a crack at a movie about an Emperor.
Colourful, energetic and full of fun and relatable moments, the film was one of the most memorable
post-Renaissance Era Disney films.
But in a world run by some of the most underhanded and selfish characters, who can be redeemed
and who is left as the most evil?
I’m Brad with WickedBinge and this is The Emperor's New Groove and Kronk’s New Groove:
Good to Evil.
As usual, we’ll be starting off with the most pure and working our way down.
These characters are The Good.
Starting off, we have Ms Birdwell.
A rival Squirrel scout leader, she is an eventual love interest to Kronk in the sequel.
She's not as laid back as Kronk, wound tight with a no nonsense attitude.
She has a love for her troop, finding ways to help them overcome fears even if it means
having to tell off a girl’s doll for her.
When she saw she was hurting her troop with her competitive nature, she had the same idea
as Kronk to make it up to them.
She fell for Kronk, and though hurt by one of his scouts cheating during the games, she
forgave him in the end.
Speaking of, Kronk gets our Gold Medal of Good.
He began the films as Yzma’s (pronounce: Yeez-ma) assistant, with the woman using his
submissive nature to her advantage.
He reveals in the sequel centered around him that he only ever wanted one thing growing
up: his father’s approval.
Though he knew his father was not the happiest with his hobbies growing up, Kronk grew up
to be very passionate about helping people.
He always set aside his own happiness to help the children, the elderly and even Yzma herself.
He stood up to her when she verbally berated him at the end of the first film, calling
him stupid and insulting his cooking.
The reason he doesn’t get the Gold Medal of Good is because he did try to poison Kuzco
and when that didn’t work, he tossed the body where it could have been disposed of.
He did show to have a struggle of conscience during these times, the little angel and devil
showing up to help guide him along.
Kronk’s worst trait is that he’s easily swayed and is often taken advantage of.
Chicha, Pacha’s wife, gets the Bronze Medal of Good.
Loyal to her family, she’s shown to be a very capable woman.
She adores her children, helping to boost their confidence with height measurements
and supporting her husband helping Kuzco after Pacha reveals what happened.
She did take the ruler out with a frying pan, but having a talking llama pop up in the window
would throw anyone off.
She distracted Yzma long enough for them to escape and though Kronk was being used by
the elderly woman, Chicha still showed him some kindness, even taking her time saying
goodbye to him as he left.
When Kuzco regained his throne, she welcomed him back, even making him a poncho to display
his time traveling with her husband.
And who didn’t love her locking Yzma in a closet and encouraging her kids to help
her knock the villain down a peg?
Chaca and Tipo follow their mother.
Like most kids, they’re full of energy and curiosity.
They show nothing but love for their parents, even having nightmares centered around them.
Though whether they ever find out that their dreams are real remains to be seen.
They did harass Yzma, but at their mother’s encouragement once they knew the situation.
When the antagonists first come into their home, they’re pretty welcoming.
They make conversation with Yzma and play jump rope with Kronk.
When Kronk becomes the new Squirrely Scout leader, they don’t hesitate accepting him.
Pacha is up next and it’s easy to see why.
The man is a devoted husband and father and a respected member of his village, being the
one called on by the emperor.
He does his best to see the good in life and expects the best of his fellow man.
He helped Rudy when he found the old man stuck in a banner and while he did use Kuzco’s
situation to compromise and be rid of the theme park, we can’t say any decent person
wouldn’t do the same.
Even after seeing Kuzco wander off, the man still put his neck out to save the selfish
ruler, taking on jaguars, scorpions, waterfalls and an evil woman bent on power.
He was the only one to believe Kuzco was capable of being a good person, showing back up when
he knew Kuzco would need him again and offering to help the ruler be rid of Yzma.
Kuzco we decided to place next.
He is a very conflicting character, but gains a lot of redemption points.
Being the one telling the story, he gives himself a lot of leeway he doesn’t deserve
initially.
He expects everything to revolve around him and he thinks he’s someone to be worshipped.
He had no issue calling Pacha all the way to his palace just to get some input on a
hill and when he revealed his plan to build his own personal theme park, he didn’t hesitate
to tell Pacha his family would have to relocate for it.
He did eventually become attached to Pacha after their journey together, even saving
the man from plummeting to his death and choosing to catch the man over the vial that could
change him back.
Kuzco did ultimately call off his theme park plans, and instead made a more modest get
away next to Pacha’s home.
And he even made sure to apologize to Rudy for having him tossed out a window.
Speaking of, we’ll place Old Man Rudy next.
He had a small role in the first movie, being much closer to Kronk in the sequel.
Due to Kronk’s helpful nature, Rudy came to trust and depend on him, and even treated
Kronk like a son.
He gave friendly advice but he caved under pressure when he thought he had a chance to
be young again.
But when Kronk helped him regain his senses, he also spoke up against hurting Yzma.
Though he wanted revenge too, he acknowledged that he and the other elderly residents behaved
younger just because they believed in the potion and when they were determined to take
Yzma down.
When he heard Kronk was dreading facing his father, he was one of the people that stepped
in to help, trying to impress Papi on the young man’s behalf.
The Scouts were more of an influence in the second film.
Kronk made a mention on how much the troop he grew up with influenced him growing up,
and it shows in the way he runs his own troop.
Between him and Ms Birdwell, the kids were competitive, sure, but they were also sweet
and considerate of one another.
They wanted to be able to enjoy themselves and helped Kronk and Birdwell remember that
there was more to life than being labeled as the best.
The Waitress was a memorable character and it was nice to see her reappear in the second
feature.
She’s not the most enthusiastic character, often sounding and appearing tired, but she
does grant good advice to Kronk, allowing him to vent while they man the restaurant.
She believed in being upfront to people, telling Kronk over and over to just tell his father
the truth.
She was pretty much exhausted by the end of the second film, clearly not happy with Kronk
insisting on learning everything the hard way, but she didn’t kick him while he was
down either.
We’ll now be discussing the more chaotic of the characters.
Welcome to the grey area.
Elderly Residents are worth mentioning.
Like Rudy, they adore Kronk.
They treat not only Kronk as a sort of son or grandson, but they also show a lot of love
and respect towards one another.
When on screen together, they are seen being close, playing games, cooking and giving compliments
towards everyone else.
They despise Yzma, but who doesn’t?
It was nice to see them all band together and it’s not a usual move on Disney’s
part to have so many elderly characters in one movie, let alone painting them as relatable
and fun people.
We’re giving props to the writers of the movies for that choice.
Papi, Kronk’s father, was a critical man but a caring one.
While he wasn’t the best at showing Kronk affection as he grew up, he made it clear
that he only wanted his son’s happiness.
He wished for Kronk to be successful and have a home with a wife and kids because that was
all Papi himself strived for in life.
When he saw how much of a positive impact Kronk had on everyone, he was able to rethink
what happiness meant for Kronk.
His son thrived when helping others and Papi was perfectly fine with that, finally giving
that long awaited thumbs up.
We’ll briefly mention the Princesses next.
They were only seen in one very short scene, but were lined up just so Kuzco could find
a bride.
They had to put up with being degraded, knowing full well what kind of man he was.
We’re giving some bravery points to the one princess that stormed out of line to try
and hit him.
She was a favorite.
The Cook Kronk eventually replaced is next.
He’s temperamental, snapping under all of Kuzco’s criticisms and demands.
The way he was talking as he packed up suggested that the llama wasn’t the only one to be
critical of him and the cook didn’t take well to having his dishes disregarded.
We rank him here because though he was clearly upset and walked out on a job, he still was
adult enough to not make a more horrible scene.
He didn’t spit in anyone’s food, he didn’t threaten anyone.
He simply packed up and left.
Finally, we arrive at The Dark Side.
These characters are The Bad and The Evil.
Bucky was hard to place, but considering how much he delighted in causing problems, we
have to give him the Bronze Medal of Bad.
While he did try to show Kuzco some kindness, offering a nut to the llama, he was also quick
to turn when his kindness was ignored.
Once he made up his mind that Kuzco wasn’t worth it, Bucky went overboard.
He took advantage of the llama being in a dangerous situation where he could literally
be ripped apart and took delight seeing the fear on Kuzco’s face.
As much as the ruler was a jerk, we can’t help but call that overkill.
The Guards, and general palace staff, were worth placing on the list too.
They get The Silver of Bad. hile they did serve Kuzco, they didn’t really seem to
care much when they heard from Yzma that he was dead.
They displayed basically no emotion, holding a ceremony just to make the passing official
and bring Yzma into power.
They immediately got to work changing the palace designs to suit the woman and carried
on business as usual.
It’s understandable that the young man was insufferable at times, making ridiculous requests
that exhausted them day in and day out, but the fact still remained that many of them
likely knew Kuzco all his life.
The fact that they still had no attachment to him was rather worrying.
Yzma (pronounce: Yeez-ma) takes the cake when it comes to the most vile character of this
franchise.
The woman was relentless even before she tried killing the young man she claimed to have
basically raised herself.
She had no care for peasants going hungry, always hired aids that were low intelligence
so they did her bidding without question, and only put off disposing of Kuzco’s body
to enjoy desert and coffee.
The only person that showed her any understanding was Kronk, and she mistreated and used him
constantly.
The poor guy had to literally carry her around, was mocked even when he was of help to her,
and she used his wish to please his father to her advantage.
She used Kronk’s reputation to trick the elderly, making them drink a fake elixir to
make them think they were becoming young again, knowing they would give her everything to
keep having access to it.
She was unfeeling, taking people’s homes and life savings just to fund her own ambitions,
and it was clear she had no mercy even after being bested by Kuzco.
That’s our ranking!
But what do you think?
Who’s the most noble character in The Emperor’s New Groove films?
Don’t forget to hit that notification bell and binge our Good-to-Evil playlist.
Where we break down the morality of the characters from your favorite cartoons, shows and movies.
But most importantly, stay wicked!