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!
Is there a good to evil today?