Ahh, the Emperor's New Groove, interesting bit of history for those who don't know. It was originally called Kingdom of the Sun and was going to be a dark and mature story. It even had an unused song from Yzma explaining why she wants to get rid of light. So it will hide her wrinkles and how old she is. But then, I guess there were some problems with the concept and scrapped it. Thus, we get the Emperor's New Groove, a comedy movie that is aware of it's ridiculous premise and just had fun with it.
We even had a direct to video and DVD sequel called Kronk's New Groove. And it was... decent. But did you know that we had a show on the Disney Channel? Not many people did, and uh... for good reason. It sucked. It's called The Emperor's New School and it was TV series that ran on the Disney Channel back in the day. And I unfortunately watched it. Only me. *Sigh*
This'll be short because honestly, there's not much to talk about.
STORY
So you know at the end of the Emperor's New Groove where Kuzco has a wakeup call and becomes a better person and kind ruler as he's seen what his bratty and selfish attitude had caused? And that Yzma was stuck as a cat until the potion either wore off or she found a cure? Fuck that shit, all of that is retconed. We're going backwards now!
Yeah, so apparently, Kuzco has to go to an academy named after himself because of course it is, while learning what it means to be an emperor and taking classes. Yzma doesn't want him to succeed as she still has plans of becoming empress and ruling the kingdom. So she disguises as the academy's principle to look over his progress and screw his chances of becoming emperor.
SPOILERS (Not like it fucking matters...) He succeeds, starting the Emperor's New Groove. I know, shocking right? And that's it. No, really. That's the entire premise. Do you realize how fucking dumb this is? How would this even work as a show? It doesn't. It also suffers from one major flaw... It repeats it's jokes from Emperor's New Groove CONSTANTLY.
Yzma's elaborate plans. The wrong level gag. The beetle and the monkey. Kuzco transforming into different things thanks to Yzma's potions.
And it goes on and on from there. That goes to show, that they literally had nothing to work with. So they had to regurgitate the same jokes from the movie ad nauseum. This is why the show failed. That, and it was a stupid idea in the first place.
ANIMATION
The animation is fine for the most part, but it's not too interesting.
CHARACTERS
Kuzco: Kuzco is back to being his egotistical, annoying assholish self again. But he's even worse in the show than in the movie. Yeah, insane, I know. But he is. He always gets into trouble and by the end of the episode or the next one, he forgets his lesson or the moral he's learned that will help him be a better person and emperor.
Kronk: Kronk is pretty much the same as he does have his funny moments, but so far, he's just a foil for Yzma's plans due to being friends with Kuzco despite being treated like shit.
Yzma: She's the same as well, but her plans to make Kuzco fail or expel him are absolutely moronic and nonsensical sometimes. And if she's posing as the principle... why not rig the tests so he'll fail? Or at least frame Kuzco of a crime he didn't commit so he'll get kicked out? Jesus, she's stupid! I can come up with a better plan!
Pacha: He's just there. He shows up in a few episodes but he does nothing but try to teach Kuzco right from... wait. Do they even know each other at this point? Apparently they do. But... that makes no sense. In The Emperor's New Groove, Pacha and Kuzco meet for the first time and... gghah... bllghgh... brain hurt. Let's move on!
Maleena: Who? Oh, why she's Kuzco's forced love interest of course! No, she wasn't mentioned or in Emperor's New Groove or Kronk's New Groove. She's introduced and shoe-horned into the series in trying to keep Kuzco on track. But she's so... bland and boring. Hell, sometimes I even forget she's in this and sometime forget her name. That's how forgettable she is.
FINAL THOUGHTS AND SCORE
Holy fuck, this show was fucking stupid. Thank God it's over. Out of all the movies they can adapt into a show, why the Emperor's New Groove? What could you possibly do with that? The movie is over. Kuzco's moved on and become a better person. Yzma's old news and stuck as a cat. What would you do? I don't know. But it's obvious the people who made this were bankrupt with ideas.
My final score is...
2/10
The animation is decent and the voice cast is great, some even reprised their roles. But the premise is stupid, they repeat the same jokes over and over again, the characters are one dimensional or forgettable and it's just awful and a waste of time. I don't know why they bothered to make this.
REWRITE
Okay, this takes place after the Emperor's New Groove. Kuzco tries to be a good person and ruler, but has doubts that he will become his greedy and selfish self once more. And maybe not ALL of the people are okay with Kuzco back at the throne. What if some people try to overthrow him or prove that he hasn't changed at all and this is just an act?
Or maybe hidden in the shadows, Yzma has another plan to get her revenge and finally rule the kingdom. Maybe hire different mercenaries or people who have a grudge against Kuzco for what he did to them in the past. Whether it be petty, stupid, or maybe personal. I'm already coming up with better ideas than the "writers" of the show.
Exactly. It never improved. It's like: "Hey, remember the movie and it's jokes? Here, the whole series is like that! ... Wh-where are you going? Please like our show."
Exactly. It never improved. It's like: "Hey, remember the movie and it's jokes? Here, the whole seri
