Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Kronk's New Groove (2005)

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus 

Kronk's New Groove (2005)

Even though The Emperor’s New Groove(2000) was only a mild success, Disney decided to bring the entire cast back for a sequel focused around the bumbling evil sidekick Kronk. I will admit Kronk was my favorite part of the first movie so I thought maybe this could be fun.  But nope I was wrong. 

In Kronk’s New Groove we reunite with Kronk who is now a full time chef.  When he gets a letter from his dad saying that he is coming for a visit, Kronk freaks out.  Kronk desperately seeks approval from his dad and has written letters saying how well he is doing, including owning a house on a hill and having a wife and kids.  Unfortunately none of those things are true.  We see in flashbacks how Kronk ended up owning a house on a hill by defrauding some old people.  In another flashback we see how he fell in love at a summer camp but things ended badly so now he doesn’t even have a girlfriend.  At the end Kronk does learn that he has friends that mean the world to him and he wouldn’t change a thing.  Finally he gets the thumbs up from his dad he so desperately wants.  

I’ll start with the positive.  Kronk is a great character.  I love that he is a bumbling fool with a good heart, and Patrick Warburton does a great job of voicing Kronk.  Unfortunately sometimes a character only works in small doses and that may be the case with Kronk.  As the comic relief of the original film he made me laugh every time he was on screen.  But having to carry the whole movie it just didn’t work.  Or, it could be a case where the story didn’t do the character justice.  

The movie does what other Disney sequels have done and breaks the film up into vignettes.  This was done in Cinderella II and Tarzan II.  Tarzan II actually took clips from unaired episodes of the Tarzan and Jane TV show.  And that is what this felt like.  It felt like they were setting up a TV show hoping to use this as a proof of concept.  Unfortunately it just didn’t work.  The flashbacks felt kind of forced and not at all organic and it was pretty unclear how long ago these things took place.  

One of the weirdest things about this movie was the sexuel innuendo’s.  While most of them will go over kids’ heads it still feels a bit jarring while watching a Disney Direct to Video film.  The two scenes that stand out are when Kronk puts a movie in and it’s called “Stag Party” and he looks instantly embarrassed like it’s a naughty tape.  And towards the end when Kronk and his girlfriend are making bread but definitely feels like they are talking about something else.  

Overall: One of the few Disney Sequels that had all of the original cast return but that doesn’t stop it from being a mess.  The story doesn’t flow and it’s just not that funny.  Maybe it’s too much of a good things but I really think given a good story Warburton could make a great Kronk movie.  

Disney Movie Challenge: Encanto (2021)

 

 Disney Movie Challenge

Encanto (2021)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 60 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Encanto in 2021.

My original goal was to finish this challenge before Encanto came out but took a few breaks but I think ending on number 60 works perfectly, and getting to see the last one in theatres seems like a great end to the challenge.  

Encanto is about the magical Madrigal family, who live in a magical house in the jungles of Columbia.  The matriarch Abuala Alma oversees the house and the family. She was there when a magic candle first created the house and gave special powers to each of her children (Julieta can heal people with her cooking, Pepa can control the weather, and Bruno can see the future).  As the family has expanded each grandchild has been given special gifts (super strength, super hearing, shapeshifting, talking to animals, and being perfect) except Mirabel.  Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) loves her family but feels left out because she has no power and Abuela Alma seems to blame her for the magic candle losing some of its power.  Mirabel sets out to save the magic and prove she can contribute to the family.  Her first mission is to find Bruno who has been ostracized for his premonitions.  

As with most Disney films Encanto was made collaboratively.  When you look at the credits and you see 3 directors and 6 writers for most films that would mean it was a disaster behind the scenes.  For Disney animated films it’s par for the course.  Jared Bush and  Bryon Howard who both worked on Zootopia were credited as Directors and Charise Castro Smith was credited as co-director.  Bush and Smith were also credited as co-screenwriters with story by Bush, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse (The Simpsons), and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton).  With so many cooks in the kitchen it amazing that Disney can manage to get a cohesive story 

After sharing songwriting duties on Moana, Disney finally let Miranda free to write a full on musical.  Tapping into his Broadway roots Miranda wrote 8 original songs that are used to tell the story.  Broadway style storytelling was used in abundance during the renaissance and revitalized by Frozen,  but Miranda gives a his own flavor to the songs that makes it stand out from any previous Disney animated film.  The songs have a lot of energy and are pretty catchy and the performances are spot on.  Beatriz has the majority of the singing and she just absolutely shines.  My favorite is when she sings "The Family Madrigal" towards the beginning of the film.  The song is a lot of fun and an important part of introducing all the characters.  But Beatriz doesn’t get all the songs to herself, everyone gets a chance to shine.  

As with all great Disney movies this one has themes that resonates with people.  In this one it’s about feeling like an outsider in your own family and finding your own self worth.  Not having a special gift Mirabel feels very worthless, and the person she is looking for the most acceptance from, Abuela Alma, blames her for the trouble.  As Mirabel searches for the reasons for the cracks in the house she discovers there are cracks in her “perfect” family.  Everyone feels so much pressure to be what's expected of them they never get to be anything else.  Mirabel is able to get them to open up about their feelings and begin a healing process.  The story makes for an emotional journey that of course has a happy ending.  

Overall: I loved the music and the emotional journey of the film.  The animation is colorful and the performances are great.  My one question: If Mirabel’s mom’s food can heal people, why does Mirabel need glasses?