Project Disney: The plan is to tackle all of the Disney films, re-reading the classic stories and tales that inspired many of them and to look at how the changes the filmmakers made, the new elements they introduced and the essential elements they kept. We will, of course, be talking about the films as movies as well, saying why we enjoy them and what some of our favorite moments are, but our focus will be on looking at them as adaptations. For the films that are not drawn from any one work we’ll be looking at some of the possible literary influences that we see in the stories. Project Disney is inspired by Picture Me Reading.
This week's Project Disney is The Emperor's New Groove based off the story The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen. Personally I really think the book vs movie are totally different. The story follows a greedy emperor who is obsessed with his looks rather then the Kingdom. Two crooks come to the kingdom and tell the emperor that they have magic fabric that only the wisest and those who belong in their profession can see it. In reality, there is no fabric. They trick the kingdom into giving them the finest materials that they hide. The emperor hires the men on the spot. These men work day and night pretending to make a fabulous ensemble for him. The emperor sends servants to look in at the robes ... all come back and say that it is beautiful. Eventually the King goes to see it and doesn't want others to know he can't see it either so he proclaims it's beautiful too. He goes on a procession through the city where all the townspeople also declare his robes are magnificent, they don't want the King to think they aren't wise. A child finally yells out that he has no clothes on... all the people then begin to say it. The King finishes the procession though since he is already walking. Read Emperor's New Clothes here!
As for the movie... we start out with a young emperor Kuzco. He is hilarious! He wants to build himself a pool on some land that is already lived on by some peasants. So he calls Pacha to court to tell him he is going to tear down his neighborhood for the pool. Of course Pacha is upset by this. At the beginning of the film Kuzco also fires his adviser Yzma (and her assistant Kronk) for trying to run the country for him. Yzma gets revenge by having Kronk poison Kuzco, but this goes wrong because isn't of killing him the poison transforms him into a LLAMA! Now she can control the Kingdom.
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| This is my sister and I's favorite line from the movie. |
The characters all end up back at the castle where everyone is in the science lab trying to the remedy to Kuzco being a llama. Yzma give Kronk a knife to kill Kuzco but his conscious pops up (and angel and devil) and the three of them discuss the situation. Kronk switches sides so Yzma drops him down into a pit. Kuzco grabs a bunch of potions and keep drinking them trying to find the right one to get him human again. He then only has two vials left, Yzma grabs ones and drinks it but becomes a kitten. Kuzco drinks the other and becomes a human again. He eventually builds a little hut next to Pacha's.
I think that really the only similarities between the film and the book is that fact that the emperors are both very egotistical at the beginning of the story. The both really only care about their looks and happiness above the kingdom. There is no invisible clothes but instead a Llama face instead! I love love this movie though. Frankly it is so funny. I think this movie needs way more love. Maybe it's just right up my alley for humor. Plus Yzma as the villain= perfect. I should mention that Pasha's family is in the movie too and they are fun. The voice casting for this movie is spot on also.
The Emperor's New Groove also had a cartoon The Emperor's New School. I wish I would've seen it but I always missed it when it was on TV. There was also a part 2 to the movie called Kronk's New Groove which I also haven't seen.
Be sure to check out my other Project Disney! Half way to the end.
Snow WhiteCinderella
Peter Pan
Treasure Planet
Sleeping Beauty
The Great Mouse Detective
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Princess and the Frog
Pinocchio
Fantasia
Beauty and the Beast
Lady and the Tramp
Alice in Wonderland
The Rescuers
The Rescuers Down Under
Tangled
Oliver and Company
Mulan
The Little Mermaid
Bambi
101 Dalmatians
Frozen
Fantasia 2000
The Jungle Book
The Sword in the Stone
Aladdin
Hercules
Pocahontas
Dumbo
The Black Cauldron
Mary Poppins
Lilo and Stitch
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Make Mine Music
Tarzan
Fox and the Hound
Melody Time
When I first saw this when I was a bit younger I remember laughing so hard! This is definitely one of my favorite reads in terms of humor and a good story :)
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I love this movie sooo much. It's just perfect. The humor is spot on to me. David Spade as the llama is so good, he whines like a spoiled king amazingly.
DeleteWow - this is really interesting - I am a big Disney fan and never heard of Project Disney - love the idea - will check out your other posts.
ReplyDeleteProject Disney has been so fun. You should join up! It's been going on for a little while now but no one is really posting at the same time as someone else so you could just jump right in.
DeleteI might just do that. I have wondered about the difference between the books and movies
DeleteProject Disney sounds like an interesting feature! I took a Disney course for my film minor last summer. So I know a lot about the film aspect of these movies. I think it's interesting that you're also discussing the fact that many of the movies are adaptations of books.
ReplyDeleteThe Emperor's New Groove wasn't my favorite Disney movie, but I did think it was funny. I'm excited to check out your other posts!
I wish I would've been given a chance to take a Disney course in college!! That would've been so fun. I love it when schools offer interesting courses to fulfill requirements.
DeleteI have read a little bit about each movie's filming as I read about it. For example, this movie was almost scrapped. It was taking too long to make. The cast was even different!!!
Yeah. The Disney course was a fun course. Although it was only offered in the summer. So it kinda sucked I couldn't go home.
DeleteAnyways... There's actually a lot of interesting little factoids about the Disney movies. I think most of the movies Disney made took forever. Although I know they ended up doing some short cuts, like reusing scenes. Disney is fascinating.
I also find it fun to see the little easter eggs that are in the films. Yes.. even the dirty ones!!
DeleteI have to admit that I really have never liked The Emperor's New Groove, but my brother always seemed to like this movie. I don't know, but I feel like I might have read the original story for Emperor's New Groove.
ReplyDeleteI am so behind on project Disney. I'm glad you are keeping up with it. You are going to be done so fast. I will be doing Tangled soon and hopefully Frozen. I love the princess movies the most of all. I have wanted to read The Jungle Books forever so I hope I get to that one eventually.
Emperor's New Groove I think is either a like it or don't like it film. It's not really a traditional Disney movie to me. I think there is only one song, no princesses. I guess technically there is a king but he is a llama most of the time and acts so immature you wouldn't think of him as a respectable king.
DeleteHumm... though I did just check out Rotten Tomatoes website and it is pretty high. 87% I think so maybe I am wrong. More people like it then I thought.
I don't think I've ever seen the movie but I loved the tv show. It always made me laugh bc Kuzco did such crazy things. I especially loved his dancing. It was so funny! I might have to watch the movie now though...
ReplyDeleteTime for a Disney watching spree? :)
I wish that the show was on netflix or something. Now you have me wondering if it's at my library. Bummer.. it's not. I can probably get it through interlibrary loan though!!
DeletePS I just saw you have a Kuzco gif on your blog dancing!!
DeleteOh! I ADORE Project Disney, quite surprised to see that I haven't stumbled across this one previously though!
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched this particular adaptation though it sounds very cute! It's actually been quite a while since I watched Disney movies so I think this features just the push I needed to sit back and catch up on the Disney movies that I've missed.
Loving the GIFs, Angela! XD
Honestly I have really enjoyed Project Disney. I have watched Disney for year (in fact I was listening to Disney Pandora station this morning while cleaning). I never actually knew much about the source material before this blog feature though so it's neat to compare.
Deletevery cute ^^ I love them!
ReplyDeleteThanks!!!!!!
DeleteWell this seems fun. I never really got into this movie, but I do want to read the book.
ReplyDeleteThe book is actually a short story. Really is is published as a children's book. In fact.. now that I think about it, it's probably in public domain and can be found online. Let me look and I'll add it up above.
DeleteThe Emperor's New Groove was always one of my favorites. I loved Kronk; I thought he was a riot. Still, one of my favorite movies is Tangled, but maybe that's because my hair is waist-length so I can so relate to Rapunzel. :P
ReplyDeleteSydney @ Utterly Bookish
So fun to see that someone else loves this movie. My aunt's hair was waist length for most of my life. I loved to see her with it. Then when she cut it she cut it all the way to right below her ears. There never was like a middle area. How fun that your hair is so long!
DeleteAh it's never been one of my favourites but I'll admit that its one of the funnier disney films. I want to start writing the odd film and television review on my blog and i'm just wondering about the photos rules. Do you know the rules about crediting film stills and such? If so i'd love the help!
ReplyDeletewww.prettynostalgia.blogspot.co.uk
I don't know the rules. I hear that you are allowed to do it so long as you don't make money off of it. Technically I probably should credit Disney with the above photos, but I think they fall under Fair Use (read here to see what fair use is) http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/copyright-fair-use-and-how-it-works-for-online-images/
DeleteNever use an image that was created by someone else. Artwork or photographs. I did when I started blogging not realize that I wasn't supposed to do that. If I find an image on say Deviant Art I'll email the person who's art it is to see if I can use it on my blog.
I have heard of people being sued for using photos. Big industries (Star Wars/Disney) don't seem to bother with this. But smaller organizations will do it. A photographer wants that $5000! Good luck and navigate carefully.
This movie is so hilarious! I break it out and watch it all the time :D Saw it a few weekends ago as a matter of fact. Kronk has to be my absolute favorite. Squeak, Squeak, Squeakem. I love how you mentioned that the voices were on point for the movie. I've recognized Patrick Warburton in everything that he's done since this. Zane plays Skylanders all the time and he's Flynn on there and he was in The Bee Movie among a ton of other things. Such a great movie! I'm so glad you enjoy it too :D Jaclyn @ JC's Book Haven.
ReplyDeleteHA! Squeak Squeak... "he says a llama gave him trouble"!! I always think of Seinfeld when I think of Patrick Warburton. I didn't realize he voiced someone in Skylanders (which I've only played once so that could be why). Every now and then I'll bust out and say "Llama Face" most of the time no one knows what I am referring to.
DeleteI'm pretty sure I saw the play for the Emperor's New Clothes back in High school and I would definitely agree with you that the movie by Disney was very different. However, that's not really surprising, since they tend to take a lot of liberties with their film translations.
ReplyDeleteDisney does typically change plot lines... but I have found usually they kind of stay a little with the story. For example I expected to see some of the clothes plot line in the movie but there was no clothes in it at all. I suppose that is why I think the movie vs book is very different this time around. The other one that is completely different was Oliver and Company based off of Oliver Twist. That one was totally out there.
DeleteI need to see this movie. Everyone I know who has seen it says it is the funniest movie.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason this reply ended up in my spam folder!!! huh... You do need to see this movie if you haven't yet. It's a lot of fun and worth it.
DeleteI happened to have watched the movie a couple of weeks ago. I love that Kronk ended up standing up for himself. Yzma as a cat was pure genius. She was hilarious! I'm familiar with the original story and you are right it is completely different from the movie. It was redone but in a very good way. You can't make that much of a story with the books plot if you think about it.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite moment of the movie: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m219mttON01rqfhi2o1_400.gif
I also like when she says Is that my voice? Is that MY voice?
I love Yzma as the cat too!!! It's so fun!! Yzma is so fashionable. I hadn't watched in a long time so I am glad this Project Disney was going to be this movie. I should watch the 2nd movie because it's all about Kronk. I am afraid though it's going to not be very good. I love that link to the gif you posted. There were so many I wanted to post for this movie but I didn't want to put too many gifs in this post. Of course... how can you have too many from this movie??
ReplyDelete