Kronk’s New Groove

I remember back in the late 90s when Disney announced plans for The Emperor's New Groove and that David Spade would be voicing the lead character. I was immediately interested by such an unorthodox choice of voice talent for a Disney protagonist. Spade was one of my favorite comedians at the time so I anxiously awaited the final product. Having missed it in theaters, I rented the DVD and the results were mildly amusing. It's definitely not one of Disney's finest accomplishments, but certainly not a lackluster entry into the vault either. I was especially impressed by how they managed to retain Spade's trademark sardonic humor within a G-rated atmosphere.

Given my mild appreciation but not ecstatic love for The Emperor's New Groove, I didn't squirm at the thought of a straight-to-DVD sequel, Kronk's New Groove, since I didn't have to worry about it destroying the original film's legacy à la The Lion King 2. So, it wasn't with bated breath, nor was it with fearful dread that I sat down to watch the sequel to Disney's 1999 transmogrification comedy.

The plot is extremely flimsy. In fact it's more like two episodes of a television series sewn together by one overarching plot point. (I guess this shouldn't be too much of a surprise since I just stumbled upon the actual television series, The Emperor's New School, on the Disney Channel late last night.) In the sequel though, Emperor Kuzco (Spade) is no longer the lead character. The focus has shifted to Kronk (Seinfeld's Patrick Warburton), one of the dimwitted henchmen in the first film, who eventually chose a life of good over evil and is now a hardworking chef.

Turmoil enters his placid existence when he hears word that his father, Papi (John Mahoney), is on his way to visit. Ever since Kronk was a child, he has been trying to impress his Father but to no avail. Now, Papi's arrival is imminent and he's under the impression that Kronk has a beautiful wife and lives in an enormous mansion. This gives way to two flashback sequences that explain the incidents that gave his Father this incorrect idea. The first involves an evil scheme by the conniving Yzma (Eartha Kitt) and the second involves a screwball romance with a rival camp counselor voiced by Tracey Ullman. For the most part, the events ignore the mutation gimmick from the first film. This is nice in that it's not a retread of the first film but a reunion of the characters instead. Although it does leave the New Groove element of the title as a bit of a misnomer.

Kronk is delightfully dim-witted and admirably warm-hearted; the perfect combination for a spin-off hero and Warburton voices the character with zeal. The autocratic Emperor Kuzco appears mostly as intermittent narrator, filling the viewer in on events from the first film.

His presence imbues a healthy dose of post-modern self-reflexivity for the kids, referring not only to the previous story as a film and showing clips but even making reference to the first film's marketing campaign with posters and DVD covers. The goofy, medium exposing references are whimsical and entertaining, although a reference to a projectionist on a straight-to-DVD release seems awfully quixotic.

The animation is of the Saturday Morning cartoon quality, but the impressive vocal talent gives the illusion of something grander. In addition to Warburton and Spade, also returning from the first film are Eartha Kitt, Wendie Malick and John Goodman. The sequel also sees the additions of Tracey Ullman and John Mahoney to the ensemble, so Disney must really pay handsomely for these straight-to-video gigs.

Running a meager 75 minutes (that includes 7 ½ minutes of end credits), Kronk's New Groove is a breezy way to pass a Sunday afternoon. Children will be entertained by the bright colors, energetic musical numbers and the moronic behavior of Kronk. Adults will enjoy the occasional pop-culture allusions like the parody of the "It's a Small World" theme park ride or the reference to Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

Special Features:

Hot to Cook a Movie runs eight minutes and features Warburton and the Directors Saul Andrew Blinkoff and Elliot M. Bour discussing the making of the film at the most basic level. The feature is fun not because of how amateurishly made it is but because we get to see the directors acting like little kids.

The other two features are interactive games geared directly for the kids. The first game, Kronk's Brain Game is rather tedious and the re-playability factor is very low. At least it has Warburton working overtime and lending his voice to the game. Although we have to settle for a Spade imposter as Kuzco (maybe Disney doesn't pay so well after all).

The second game, Pyramid Scheme, is a little more tolerable to sit through. It will definitely entertain kids and even offers some educational bonuses as well. Obviously I realize that I am not the target audience for these games and I expect children would get a lot more enjoyment out of these than I did.

Finally, the DVD is equipped with Disney's Fast Play "” a feature that allows the DVD to immediately begin playing the feature film and automatically play the special features after the end credits. This is a very useful tool that will surely help little kids to watch the movie more easily. Or perhaps it's designed for technologically unskilled parents. Either way it's a practical addition to the DVD industry.

Movie Grade: B-

DVD Grade: B-

Overall Grade: B-