An Aesop: You are the master of your own destiny, and although the future can be uncertain, it's better to decide for yourself what happens.
Screw Destiny: Malina invokes this. The latest fortune cookie told Kuzco that if he didn't hand over his kingdom to Yzma before 5 pm, he'd be turned into a (hairless) sloth. But then Malina realizes it's Daylight savings, and therefore it's not one minute to 5: it's one minute to 6.
Spanner in the Works: If it weren't for daylight savings (or what passes for it in Kuzco's corner of the world), there would've been no way to prove to Kuzco that the fortune cookies didn't really tell the future.
Day Gold Fools
An Aesop: At the end of the day, if you really want something, you have to earn it first.
Jerkass Has a Point: The Incan leprechaun may be greedy about keeping his gold, and Kuzco certainly begrudges him for not giving it to him after all the chores he did, but he's right to say earning things through hard work is better than simply being handed what you want.
Paper-Thin Disguise: For some reason, Kuzco is too gullible to realize the rather short "ghost" is really the Incan leprechaun dressed in a bedsheet.
