Saturday, August 11, 2007

The Emperor's New School


The Emperor's New School is an American animated television series on the Disney Channel. It is follow-up series to the Disney movie The Emperor's New Groove. It features all four members of the core cast (Yzma, Kronk, Pacha, and Kuzco) from the movie. In the TV series, Kuzco (the emperor on which the show and movie are based) has to pass all his classes in the kingdom's school before he is able to rule again.
This show does not include all of the voice actors from the original movies. Eartha Kitt (Yzma), Patrick Warburton (Kronk), and Wendie Malick (Chicha) return, making them the only three actors to be part of all three associated projects. J.P. Manoux reprises his role as the voice of Emperor Kuzco as he did in the series "House of Mouse", replacing David Spade, who voiced the ruler in both movies. The Buzz on Maggie star Jessica Di Cicco voices the new character Malina. Fred Tatasciore voices Pacha instead of John Goodman. However, John Goodman did return in Season 2.
In Australia, it recently began airing as part of the Seven Network's Saturday Disney program. Seven has a long-term program supply agreement with Disney/Buena Vista.
The second season of the show premiered on June 23rd, 2007.[1][2]
Since May 29, 2007, The Emperor's New School has been moved from its Saturday time slot at 4 and 4:30 to its daily time slot at 1 a.m (every day). The show also airs Saturday mornings on ABC Kids

Major Characters

[edit] Kuzco
Main article: Kuzco
Kuzco (played by J.P. Manoux, who also plays Curtis and vice principal Hackett in Phil of the Future) is a temporarily dethroned emperor (or an "emperor to be", as the theme song and a few characters state) who must pass all of his classes in order to regain his full title. He is often gullible, narcissistic, and spoiled. In addition, he is often naive and oblivious to the actual state of affairs (or stops paying attention). Perhaps due to an educational neglect earlier in his life, Kuzco cannot comprehend when Malina uses certain terms (like in "Fortune Cookie Day", when Malina shows him the definition of "gullible").
He has a crush on his classmate, Malina, to whom he often refers as a "hottie-hot-hottie". In "Rabbit Face", he stated he intends to make her his empress.
He is often condescending and abrasive to his classmates and the subjects of his empire, but this is because he resents having been thrown off the throne. Although it has been revealed in "Bride of Kuzco" that he would be willing to forsake his classes and his obligations to resume his rule, it has likewise been revealed that he cares more about Malina than being stuck in a bad situation.
Episodes such as "Bride of Kuzco", "Kronk Moves In", and "Guakumentary" seem to support the hypothesis that Kuzco is growing as a character and may hopefully be changed for the better because of his experiences. Each episode in the first season served to teach Kuzco a lesson about his behavior. Conversely, in the second season, the focus has been shifted a bit from him.

[edit] Yzma
Main article: Yzma
Yzma was the emperor's royal adviser until her firing in the Emperor's New Groove. Although she covets Kuzco's throne, it is unclear how she would attain it since she is no longer in line for the throne in any sense. She constantly schemes for Kuzco to fail and disguises herself as Principal Amzy (Yzma spelled backwards) in order to achieve that end. Unfortunately, her schemes seldom run from A to B and she overlooks things that lead to the plan's foiling. A running gag with this identity comes from Kronk's inability to comprehend that she and Principal Amzy are one and the same. She often has to rip off her disguise in order to make him understand.

[edit] Kronk
Main article: Kronk
Yzma's assistant. Although he is clearly less intelligent than her, Kuzco, and most of the cast, he can have surprising insights, such as to things that Yzma overlooked in her plans. He often forgets things (such as consistently pulling the wrong lever to the "not so secret" lab) and gets carried away, resulting in him leaving the subject rediscussed. As stated in the movie, Kronk is a Junior Chipmunk (and this appears in many episodes, such "Kronk Moves In", "Squeakend at Bucky's", "Chimpunky Business", etc) . In "Kronk Moves In", he mentions that he enjoys manual labor. He also enjoys cooking spinach puffs (another trait that is mentioned in many episodes). In The Emperor's New Groove, Kuzco pegs Kronk's age at late-twenties, yet Kronk is disguised as a student despite this.
Image:ENS-Characters b.jpg
The supporting players (click on image for list).

[edit] Malina
Main article: Malina (The Emperor's New School)
A popular, stereotypical, headstrong, 'A+' average cheerleader, who is one of Kuzco's best friends (and since Kronk is actively engaged with Yzma in trying to kill/permanently dethrone Kuzco, Malina may be considered Kuzco's only real friend, aside from Pacha and his family). Kuzco has a crush on her, which he shows openly. Several times she has shown she might like Kuzco, such as when she offered to dance with him despite his losing in "Clash of the Families" , her obvious disappointment when Kuzco canceled a date he had with her in order to marry a princes and regain his throne ("Bride of Kuzco"), or stating that she doesn't want to be empress if Kuzco continues to behave a certain way (thus implying that she does indeed want to be his empress). She helps him out frequently, sometimes being the only reason that Kuzco can get through whatever trial faces him (such as dragging him for presumably miles in "Emperor for a Day").
Malina sometimes becomes blinded by success and turns selfish and greedy. In "Emperor's New Tuber", she fantasizes about being on parade and everyone cheering for her. She resorts to cheating in order to win, because she cannot bear the thought of losing. In "Picture This", she freaks out over the thought of a bad portrait of her being immortalized. This led to her destroying all the yearbooks she could find and finally, risking Kuzco's and Kronk's lives trying to destroy the last yearbook contained within a time capsule.
Malina is also an overachiever/perfectionist. In "Girls Behaving Oddly", she panics at the thought of an A-. She cannot figure out her place without relating to her grades, her physical appearance, and her social status (in "Girls Behaving Oddly", as a cheerleader).
Malina's occasional selfishness (which, as Kuzco stated in "Picture This", even exceeded his), greed, and desire for praise resemble Kuzco's drives. And, like Kuzco, it seems that these negative characteristics don't necessarily disappear after something bad has happened as a result.

[edit] Pacha
Main article: Pacha (The Emperor's New Groove)
Pacha is one of Kuzco's best friends and always supports Kuzco on his road to becoming Emperor. He serves as a father figure to Kuzco. He and his family took Kuzco in when he had nowhere else to go.

[edit] Mr. Flaco Moleguaco
Kuzco's short tempered (and short in height) teacher. He often finds Kuzco annoying and also tries to play on his weaknesses. He also threatens to fail Kuzco quite often. However, it was revealed in Kuzcogarten that Mr. Moleguaco found his class boring without Kuzco and gladly welcomed him back when Kuzco returned to class. His last name seems to be guacamole, having the first half placed after the second, a perfect example of a spoonerism.

[edit] Bucky
The squirrel that makes various appearances in the show. He dislikes Yzma and is good friends with Kronk. He was also Kuzco's tutor in the episode Squeakend at Bucky's.

[edit] Chicha
Pacha's loving wife. She's like a mother to Kuzco, but is often exasperated with his lack of helping out around the house, and his selfish nature. She's prone to being sarcastic, much of which is directed at Kuzco or his actions.

[edit] Chaca, Tipo, and Yupi
Pacha and Chicha's children. Chaca is the oldest, and can sometimes be bossy, often arguing with her younger brother or making negative comments about Kuzco. Tipo is in the middle child, a tad bit more calm than Chaca, but still prone to bickering with his sister or Kuzco. Yupi is the youngest, and little more is known about him other than he is a baby, but is still strangely a professional at canoeing. Jessie Flower voiced Chaca. Shane Baumel voiced Tipo. Tara Strong voiced Yupi in The Yzma that Stole Kuzcoween.

[edit] The Royal Record Keeper
Keeps track of Kuzco's record in school and also reminds Kuzco of the limitations to his power that are in place until he graduates

1 comment:

Unknown said...

BEST TOON EVER!!!!