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- The Emperor's New Groove/Buena Vista Pictures, The Emperor's New Groove/Buena Vista Pictures
'The Emperor's New Groove' Fan Theories That Just Might Be True
The Emperor's New Groove isn't the most popular Disney movie of all time, but it's certainly one of the most charming. The story is simple enough - a vapid emperor is transformed into a llama and must rely on a humble subject to regain his throne - but dedicated fans have peered between the lines to uncover new perspectives on the film.
There are tons of fan theories about The Emperor's New Groove out there, and some of them are more convincing than others. Whether they're about Kronk's true origins or the morality of turning people into animals, these entertaining conjectures will change the way you look at this Disney classic.
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1Yzma Chose Kronk As Her Assistant Specifically Because He's So Dumb
This theory from a former Redditor attempts to answer the baffling question of why anyone, especially Yzma, would employ Kronk in their service. They believe it is his dull wits that landed him the job in the first place.
Kronk may also be the only person dumb enough to put up with Yzma's constant ridicule. He's willing to follow her into the worst situations with no questions asked - a valuable asset in a henchman.
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2The Fly That Begs For Help Is Really A Human
This theory from Redditor /u/lish_94 puts a sinister twist on a seemingly innocuous joke. There's a moment in the film when Kuzko witnesses a fly being eaten by a spider. The fly screams, "Help me!" just before it's eaten, and here lies the root of the theory.
The only animals in the movie that are shown to talk are those that were transformed by Yzma's potion. The fly having the ability to talk leads one to believe it must have been a human trapped in the body of a fly. Rather than a tongue-in-cheek nod to the 1958 film The Fly, this little detail makes the insect's demise more of a Kafkaesque nightmare.
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3Kronk And Yzma Accidentally Use A Secret Passage
Near the end of the film, Pacha and Kuzco attempt to race back to the palace before Yzma and Kronk can get there. At one point, the villains are struck by lightning and cast into a deep pool of water, allowing Pacha and Kuzco the chance to win. When the heroes arrive at the palace, they are stunned to see that Yzma and Kronk have beaten them there. Even the villains are confused, as Kronk pulls down a map and explains that it makes no sense.
Redditor /u/drewgarr believes the villains accidentally stumbled into a secret passageway to the palace. Yzma has a lever in her lab that sends victims straight to the alligator-infested river below. It's possible to travel up this passageway, as both Yzma and Kuzco do it during the movie. The theory suggests the body of water that Kronk and Yzma fall into is the same river that connects to the palace. Perhaps they crawled up the alligator-chute in order to beat the heroes to the palace.
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4Kronk Was A Squirrel Before Yzma Turned Him Into A Human
Redditor /u/twerking_nine2five has a theory about Kronk's nonhuman origins. They believe that Kronk used to be a squirrel or monkey before he was a human, and that Yzma transformed him using one of her potions.
The post lays out a lot of evidence for this theory, including the fact Kronk can speak to and understand squirrels. At the end of the film, Kronk is even seen teaching a bunch of boy scouts how to speak squirrel. Yzma also refers to him as a "monkey," and she tells Kuzco she has no idea how old Kronk is.
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5Yzma Is Immortal - And Actually The Good Guy In The Movie
According to Redditor /u/yay855's theory, Yzma might not be as bad as she seems. She's advised the royal familiy for generations, and her alchemical skills suggest she's using some sort of potion to make herself effectively immortal.
In comes Kuzco, the brattiest, most egotistical emperor to ever take the throne. It's stated that Yzma effectively raised Kuzco for most of his life, but he treats her like total garbage. She even tries to convince him not to build his ridiculous water park, but Kuzco fires her for it without a second thought. In fact, it's quite likely Kuzco would have torn down Pacha's home if Yzma hadn't turned him into a llama. Sure, she tries to off him, but mostly for the good of the empire.
Arguably, it's Yzma's actions that make Kuzco a better person in the end. He would have ruined the whole empire if she hadn't done something.
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6Yzma Is A Serial Cougar
There's a theory that Kronk and Yzma are in a romantic relationship, but this addition to the theory from Redditors /u/WesterScout and /u/NorthernBoreus takes it a little bit further.
Early in the film, Kuzco mocks Yzma for having such a young "assistant," implying they're dating. What's more, he specifically mentions she gets a new assistant every 10 years or so, and that Kronk is just the most recent "model."
Maybe Yzma is simply attracted to handsome young men, and Kronk is just another in a long line of mindless booty calls.
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7Yzma Made A Deal With Hades
This mammoth theory from Redditor /u/Amreiz is extremely well-sourced and much too long to break down in its entirety. It bridges The Emperor's New Groove with another Disney classic, Hercules, while also borrowing from ancient myth and history.
In a nutshell: Before the events of The Emperor's New Groove, Yzma was set to marry Kuzco's grandfather. Things didn't work out, so she created a potion to end her suffering. It backfired, so she devoted herself to the god of the underworld, Hades. Hades then commissioned Yzma's father, a royal chemist and mortician, to create the potion that would turn Hercules mortal. Connecting several dots, this leads to the conjecture that Yzma is actually an older, heartbroken Megara. After leaving South America (and a bad relationship with Kuzco's grandfather), she falls in love with Herc, experiences a terrible tragedy while they're married, and finally returns to her ancestral home to live the rest of her life as Yzma.
This theory may also explain why Yzma has a thing for dim, musclebound men.
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8Kronk Is A Homunculus Designed By Yzma
Redditor /u/devilmachineyea put forth a theory that Kronk is actually a spirit forced into the body of a man and made into a servant by Yzma. The theory spawns from the fact Kronk is an enigma in the empire. He loves spinach puffs, which were impossible to make in South America until the Columbian exchange, and he's shown having an argument with a Christian angel and demon.
The theory explains this by arguing that Yzma has visited the Old World at some point in her life. Her possession of blown-glass vials is another hint she's traveled the globe, as blown glass was not available in the pre-Columbian Americas. It was during one of her trips abroad she learned how to create a homunculus slave, and poor Kronk is the result of her experiments.
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9The Goddess Circe Is Pulling The Strings In This (And Almost Every) Disney Animated Film
This theory from Redditor /u/VerumFalsum suggests a large number of Disney movies are connected by one character: Circe, the Greek goddess of magic.
Circe is most-known for turning people into animals, a theme pretty common throughout the Disney canon. The Redditor believes Yzma is actually one of Circe's many forms, which is why she turned Kuzco into a llama. They also believe Circe is responsible for creating the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, the bear in Brother Bear, and the island of donkeys from Pinocchio.
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10Yzma And Kronk Might Be Lovers
Redditor /u/AwesomeAni thinks Kronk and Yzma could be romantically entangled.
It makes sense. Why else would an intelligent, mature woman want a chiseled yet idiotic man hanging around her all the time? Kronk definitely plays a domestic role in their relationship, as he cooks and cleans for Yzma. Kuzco also chides Yzma for how young Kronk is, which only makes sense if they're a couple.
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11Pacha Is Kuzco's Long-Lost Father
Who is Kuzco's father? A theory from Redditor /u/iwillneverstopcry purports to have the answer. They believe the emperor's dad is none other than Pacha, his new friend and companion throughout the film.
Kuzco's father appears for a brief moment in a flashback, but all we see is that he's a large, muscular person. The Redditor also believes Pacha's children look a bit like Kuzco, and that Pacha's name sounds an awful lot like "papa."
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12Kronk Is A Time Traveler Based On His Love Of Spinach Puffs
So this theory is a little out there, but Redditor /u/bea4abbnrq16 believes there is something deeply wrong with the world of The Emperor's New Groove. There's a scene in the movie where Kronk is making spinach puffs, a dish that would be impossible to make given the fact the movie takes place in pre-Columbian South America. The vast majority of ingredients in spinach puffs are exclusive to the Old World, including spinach, so how could Kronk possibly have access to them?
The theory concludes that Kronk is either a demi-god with the power to travel through time and space, which is how he got the ingredients he craved. Another possible explanation is that The Emperor's New Groove takes place in an alternate dimension where these ingredients could be found in the New World.
Of course, the spinach puff line could just be a one-off joke that wasn't meant to be taken seriously, but where's the fun in that?
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