Kronk's New Groove

In the mid-90s and throughout most of the 2000s, Disney released a number of direct-to-video sequels for some of their films, regardless of box office performance. Some, like Atlantis: Milo’s Return, are actually three episodes of a canned TV series stapled together. One such DTV sequel was Kronk’s New Groove (titled onscreen as The Emperor's New Groove 2: Kronk's New Groove), which released in 2005 despite its parent film, The Emperor’s New Groove, not turning a profit in its initial release. Considering that the spinoff series The Emperor’s New School lasted two seasons with 52 episodes, however, post-release popularity must have come into play. In any case, Kronk’s New Groove notably scored a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, but considering that it only has seven critic reviews, I didn’t consider that an accurate barometer of its quality. Since I owned the film on a Blu-ray with both installments, I thought it best to watch it for myself, though I did go in with already low expectations (Tony Leondis, best known for The Emoji Movie, even had a story credit, for what it’s worth). I found it better than I was originally led to believe, although it’s (unsurprisingly) still a step down from the original film.

The Emperor's New Groove

Note: This review contains spoilers for The Emperor’s New Groove.

In 1994, Disney started production on a musical epic titled Kingdom of the Sun. Over the course of four years, however, the project went through a troubled production period (as detailed in the documentary The Sweatbox, viewable through Internet Archive), only reaching about 25% completion. As a result, studio executives stepped in and, after some discussion, the film changed direction to a lighthearted comedy. The final product, renamed The Emperor’s New Groove, would see a theatrical release in early December, 2000. Though it received a generally positive reception from critics, with an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film underperformed at the box office, making only $169.9 million on a budget of $100 million.

Although I was only eight at the time The Emperor’s New Groove came out, I distinctly remember watching it in a theater and enjoying it. However, it would be about 20 years before I would watch it again through a TV broadcast, which reinforced the fond memories I had of the film. After watching the first episode of  the Disney+ series Sketchbook, in which Story Artist Gabby Capili drew Emperor Kuzco, we felt compelled to watch the film again, which led us to conclude that even after 22 years, The Emperor’s New Groove still holds up as a Disney classic.