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Poster Description: Kronk’s New Groove is written in bold, bright letters. Kronk smiles behind the title, his large frame filling the whole space. He smiles, wearing a fry cook’s hat and holding a clay bowl of various fruits and vegetables. Bucky, the squirrel, sits on his shoulder, and Emperor Kuzco makes a V gesture over the other, playfully. Yzma grins up at Kronk in the bottom right of the poster, holding a steaming, green vial in both hands. Her hat is tied in bunches, like ears on both sides of her head. |
During the late Nineties and early Noughties, Disney’s latest fad was churning out belated sequels to some of their best films; it was a mixed bag, to say the least, and while The Emperor’s New Groove remains one of my favourite Disney films, it was no Beauty and the Beast. So, Kronk’s New Groove appeared out of the blue, which I saw for the first time recently after watching a video from YouTuber, 24 Frames of Nick. It was aptly called “Disney’s Most Forgettable Sequel” because I’d forgotten it existed, but is that fair? Or is Kronk’s New Groove even worth watching?
The Director: Saul Andrew Blinkoff and Elliot M. Bour
The Cast:
Patrick Warburton – Kronk
Eartha Kitt – Yzma
David Spade – Kuzco
John Goodman – Pacha
Wendy Malick – Chicha
John Fiedler – Rudy
John Mahoney – Papi
Tracey Ullman – Ms. Birdwell
Eli Russell Linnetz – Tipo
Certificate: U
UK DVD/Video release: 5th December 2005
The Plot:
Following The Emperor’s New Groove’s events, Kronk (Warburton, Bee Movie) has built a new life for himself. Beloved by the locals, Kronk is a chef, delivery boy, and Junior Chipmunk leader. Still, his father, Papi’s unexpected arrival (Mahoney, The Iron Giant) has him desperately finding ways to win his father’s “thumbs up” approval.
The Review:
The first thing that is obvious about Kronk’s New Groove is that it has all of its original cast. Given that it was released four years after its predecessor, this could come as no surprise, but it makes for a more believable sequel and doesn’t distract you out of the film. Other straight-to-video/DVD Disney films suffer from more inferior animation quality, but Kronk’s New Groove doesn’t entirely have this problem. It follows a similar formula to Emperor’s New Groove, with Kronk narrating during his lowest point – being covered in an explosion of cheese fondue – followed by a raucous musical number that is instantly forgettable.
Kronk’s New Groove is effectively three stories in one as he regales his woes through flashbacks. The first story sees Kronk getting and losing a house on a hill, with the return of Yzma (the fabulous Eartha Kitt) tricking Kronk into selling his elderly friends her fake youth potion for extortionate amounts of money. Yzma finally gets her own song here; the old people are cantankerously funny, and Kronk is believably naïve, but the plot is probably the weakest of the lot. It fails to explain how Yzma returned to (almost) human form and ends on a massive anti-climax that felt like the writers had run out of ideas.
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Image Description: Kronk and Yzma face each other in a dilapidated hovel. Judging by the purple colour scheme, this is Yzma’s home. Her back is to the camera, revealing a long, bushy tail which she holds with both hands, poking out of her dress. Kronk wears a fry-cook hat and apron. He looks politely bemused by the whole situation. |
At this point I realised that, while Kronk is a likeable character, Warburton’s voice fails to carry the film without becoming annoying. Also, just when you think Kuzco won’t feature in the movie, he breaks the fourth wall to express his opinion about what is going on. While this is undoubtedly in keeping within Kuzco’s character, it was a relief that this only happens twice overall.
The final time occurs during the second story as Kronk gets and loses a girlfriend. She is rival Junior Chipmunk leader, Miss Birdwell (voiced by Tracey Ullman) with a bizarre British accent. Both Junior Chipmunk groups compete in competitions, and things get incredibly competitive, with Pacha’s son taking Kronk’s instruction “Win, whatever the cost,” to heart. Tipo happens to have an angel and devil on his shoulder, similar to Kronk, a novel idea as Tipo idolises him so much. Despite her odd British accent, I liked Birdwell’s character design, how she is not a stereotypical beauty, yet Kronk’s intense descriptions of her knees and eyes are hilariously sincere.
Their romantic montage is accompanied by an Earth, Wind, and Fire song of all things. It pays homage to other films, like iconic scenes from The Lady and the Tramp, Titanic, and the dance routine from Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video; call it quirky, call it meta, the scene overall is very entertaining. The downside of this story is that it is predictable, better suited to a separate children’s cartoon with its obvious moral at the end.
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Image Description: It’s dusk, and Kronk wears a khaki scout with a hat and blue sashes. His has bare arms, holding hands with Ms. Birdwell, who wears a matching outfit with sleeves and orange sashes. They smile goofily at each other under cover of a straw-roofed veranda made from wooden posts. |
The film finally finds its stride when Kronk’s father arrives, expecting to see his son happily married in a lovely house. His friends – including Pacha and his family – rally around to help keep up the lies and farcical fun. While the running gag of Papi’s stages of displeasure raises a laugh, my one problem was that I found it hard to understand why Papi would disapprove of his son’s aspirations of becoming a chef. What’s more, his stunted character design looks like a punchline to an unknown joke, and there is no mention of Kronk’s mother. One can only assume she is dead, so does that technically make him a Disney princess? The ending of the film is somewhat unsurprising, but still amusing.
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Image Description: In a restaurant made from carved wood, Kronk stands to attention as Papi looks stern with his muscular hands on his hips. Pacha’s wife, Chicha, stares at Kronk in confusion with her baby boy. She sits at a table covered in a red, patterned cloth between both men. |
So, is Kronk’s New Groove worth watching? Kronk remains endearing enough to care about what happens to him, but he is not an immediate choice for the main character. Also, Warburton’s voice becomes grating over time. The story – or stories – are watchable but are pretty weak as a whole film and are better-suited to individual episodes for a TV show. As a sequel to The Emperor’s New Groove, it is not half as funny. I have to agree with 24 Frames of Nick; Kronk’s New Groove is fine but entirely forgettable.
The Verdict: 3 STARS OUT OF 5
Sources:
Kronk’s New Groove poster - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401398/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
Image: Kronk and Yzma - https://www.cornel1801.com/disney/Kronk-s-New-Groove-2005/2-some-way-to-stop-getting-old.html
Image: Kronk and Ms. Birdwell - https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Kronks-New-Groove-Blu-ray/68824/
Image: Kronk and Papi - https://www.doblu.com/2013/07/11/kronks-new-groove-bluray-review/
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