Kronk!
December 7, 2020 8:35 AM Subscribe
From Disney Jail to ‘Emperor’s New Groove’: A Patrick Warburton Story. Just ahead of the 20-year anniversary (Dec 15) of the film The Emperor's New Groove, The Daily Beast has a conversation with Patrick Warburton (with a cameo from his sons) on the creation of his "reticent henchman" character.
Linked in the piece is a Polygon article on the long difficult road of creating the film in the first place, and how a box-office loser of a film found new life and appreciation in the 20 years since.
Our cat's name is Yzma.
posted by No Robots at 8:53 AM on December 7, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by No Robots at 8:53 AM on December 7, 2020 [7 favorites]
Much to Warburton's dismay, I am currently downloading a copy of Dragonard, because now I just have to see it.
posted by deadaluspark at 8:54 AM on December 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by deadaluspark at 8:54 AM on December 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
We took our kids to see this over their winter school break. Zero marketing, went in totally blind. I laughed so hard, for so long, that I gave myself a splitting headache that lasted two days. Totally worth it. I /love/ this film.
posted by ZakDaddy at 9:04 AM on December 7, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by ZakDaddy at 9:04 AM on December 7, 2020 [6 favorites]
My only Patrick Warburton story is seeing him get denied entry into the United Club at the Denver airport and looking so crestfallen about it that I was about to pay for a one-time entry for him, but then a friend of his literally walked through the door and did it for him.
Also "The Emperor's New Groove" is wonderful.
posted by jscalzi at 9:13 AM on December 7, 2020 [14 favorites]
Also "The Emperor's New Groove" is wonderful.
posted by jscalzi at 9:13 AM on December 7, 2020 [14 favorites]
The Emperor's New Groove is the Best Warner Brothers cartoon they ever made.
Props should also be given to Lilo and Stitch as well.
posted by Chocomog at 9:43 AM on December 7, 2020 [15 favorites]
Props should also be given to Lilo and Stitch as well.
posted by Chocomog at 9:43 AM on December 7, 2020 [15 favorites]
I love Kronk so much. He's such an unexpected character: introduced as a himbo, but ultimately shown to be a loyal person with a lot of valuable skills. I'd have mixed up the poison, too! The label looked like a skull!! The himbo aspect is just that he doesn't snipe and covet power like Yzma and Kuzco. (I mean, Ned Stark is basically just a depressed Kronk, right?)
posted by grandiloquiet at 10:03 AM on December 7, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by grandiloquiet at 10:03 AM on December 7, 2020 [6 favorites]
Oh yeah, it’s all coming together.
posted by mystyk at 10:08 AM on December 7, 2020 [12 favorites]
posted by mystyk at 10:08 AM on December 7, 2020 [12 favorites]
I just checked out the possibility of purchasing a Blu-Ray at amazon and I found the movie packaged as a double feature with something called "Kronk's New Groove" (?!?!)
Anyone want to tell me what THAT'S about?
posted by Bill Watches Movies Podcast at 10:32 AM on December 7, 2020
Anyone want to tell me what THAT'S about?
posted by Bill Watches Movies Podcast at 10:32 AM on December 7, 2020
The saddest thing about this movie is how David Spade and Patrick Warburton did such great work, and then they went and joined a sitcom (Rules of Engagement) that is just astoundingly bad.
posted by emjaybee at 10:50 AM on December 7, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 10:50 AM on December 7, 2020 [5 favorites]
At Lockheed Martin in the early 2000s, the ethics training video we had to watch every year starred Warburton. By the time I got there he was famous from Seinfeld so people would cheer when he came onscreen. I remember that he was silent for the whole video until the very end, when he answered the phone and in his unique voice said, “We don’t do that here” and hung up. We would leave the training all fired up to hang up on someone like that.
posted by BeeDo at 10:57 AM on December 7, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by BeeDo at 10:57 AM on December 7, 2020 [9 favorites]
something called "Kronk's New Groove" (?!?!)
Anyone want to tell me what THAT'S about?
Definitely worth watching, is what that's about.
I mean . . . it's more Kronk. What's not to like?
(No, seriously, it actually doesn't suck.)
posted by soundguy99 at 11:04 AM on December 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
Anyone want to tell me what THAT'S about?
Definitely worth watching, is what that's about.
I mean . . . it's more Kronk. What's not to like?
(No, seriously, it actually doesn't suck.)
posted by soundguy99 at 11:04 AM on December 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
Warburton is the best The Tick. He's also good as the Wolf in Hoodwinked, which has godawful animation but all the voice actors are fantastic!
(Little Red Riding Hood treated as a crime drama - it starts with the penultimate scene in Grandma's cottage and follows up with each of the characters telling their version of the lead-up story during the subsequent police investigation, until we all learn the real criminal motive of the story.)
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:10 AM on December 7, 2020 [10 favorites]
(Little Red Riding Hood treated as a crime drama - it starts with the penultimate scene in Grandma's cottage and follows up with each of the characters telling their version of the lead-up story during the subsequent police investigation, until we all learn the real criminal motive of the story.)
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:10 AM on December 7, 2020 [10 favorites]
Look at this guy! He's doing his own theme music!
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 12:17 PM on December 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 12:17 PM on December 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
"I'm gonna have to charge you extra..."
posted by Windopaene at 12:22 PM on December 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 12:22 PM on December 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Coolest takeaway from the article: Warburton has a son named Talon. Imagine going through life as Talon Warburton.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:33 PM on December 7, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:33 PM on December 7, 2020 [5 favorites]
For my money, ENG is the best animated film Disney ever made, and the casting is a huge part of that. Thank you, Mr. Warburton, for your contribution to American culture.
posted by orrnyereg at 12:37 PM on December 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by orrnyereg at 12:37 PM on December 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
The NPR "Pop Culture Happy Hour" podcast recently did a little retrospective episode on The Emperor's New Groove, which was really lovely to listen to.
Also, sometimes at random I'll just watch the clip on YouTube of Yzma's "box" monologue, to cheer myself up.
I'LL SMASH IT WITH A HAMMAHHH!
posted by theatro at 12:44 PM on December 7, 2020 [6 favorites]
Also, sometimes at random I'll just watch the clip on YouTube of Yzma's "box" monologue, to cheer myself up.
I'LL SMASH IT WITH A HAMMAHHH!
posted by theatro at 12:44 PM on December 7, 2020 [6 favorites]
"Or, to save on postage..."
posted by Windopaene at 12:54 PM on December 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 12:54 PM on December 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
Oh man, I just rewatched this movie because of that PCHH episode! Which led me to this video, which I assume was a DVD special feature or something, of Eartha Kitt singing "Snuff Out The Light" and generally dancing all over the other people in the recording studio, along with some storyboard drawings. How on earth did they wind up with Eartha Kitt in that movie and not feature her singing? But then have that inexplicable and unrelated Sting song in the credits? I'm going to have to watch that documentary.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 1:21 PM on December 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by bowtiesarecool at 1:21 PM on December 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
I got a chance to see The Sweatbox when someone's bootleg on youtube hadn't been taken down yet. It's amazing that the movie got made at all!
posted by rivenwanderer at 1:44 PM on December 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by rivenwanderer at 1:44 PM on December 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Of course, my title should have been, "Why do we even have that lever?"
posted by soundguy99 at 3:07 PM on December 7, 2020 [11 favorites]
posted by soundguy99 at 3:07 PM on December 7, 2020 [11 favorites]
I got a chance to see The Sweatbox when someone's bootleg on youtube hadn't been taken down yet. It's amazing that the movie got made at all!
Oh, it's... still around... somewheres.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:06 PM on December 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Oh, it's... still around... somewheres.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:06 PM on December 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Funny enough, we just watched Emperor's New Groove for the first time the other day. I was surprised at how funny it was. That led me down a Patrick Warburton rabbit hole, which led me to his Bugle Boy commercial from thirty years ago. (!)
posted by 41swans at 5:20 PM on December 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by 41swans at 5:20 PM on December 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
My ENG story:
This is back in uni days, when my sister and I were developing our relationship from adversarial children to thick as theives adults.
We pulled up to get petrol in my little '84 corolla. (Important detail: fuel cap is on the other side to the driver.) We noticed there was a car of cute boys next to us. I got out and went to fill up, but when I got there realised I hadn't popped the fuel cap cover. I leaned in my sister's window and explained that I didn't want to embarrassingly walk back around, could she please lean over and pull the lever down beside the driver's seat? (You can see where this is going.)
She leaned over the driver's seat (navigating the hand brake) and found it. Pop! The boot (trunk) opened up instead.
"Wrong lever!" I said, doing the voice
"Why do we even have that lever?" She replied, doing an even better voice.
We laughed so hard, setting each other off, eventually managed to get and pay for fuel while trying to keep a straight face and drove out of there.
It's one of my favourite memories of that era of my life.
posted by freethefeet at 5:29 PM on December 7, 2020 [20 favorites]
This is back in uni days, when my sister and I were developing our relationship from adversarial children to thick as theives adults.
We pulled up to get petrol in my little '84 corolla. (Important detail: fuel cap is on the other side to the driver.) We noticed there was a car of cute boys next to us. I got out and went to fill up, but when I got there realised I hadn't popped the fuel cap cover. I leaned in my sister's window and explained that I didn't want to embarrassingly walk back around, could she please lean over and pull the lever down beside the driver's seat? (You can see where this is going.)
She leaned over the driver's seat (navigating the hand brake) and found it. Pop! The boot (trunk) opened up instead.
"Wrong lever!" I said, doing the voice
"Why do we even have that lever?" She replied, doing an even better voice.
We laughed so hard, setting each other off, eventually managed to get and pay for fuel while trying to keep a straight face and drove out of there.
It's one of my favourite memories of that era of my life.
posted by freethefeet at 5:29 PM on December 7, 2020 [20 favorites]
One of my roommates watches this movie whenever she is either sad or bored, so we've watched it about 75 times during the pandemic.
It's still great.
posted by joannemerriam at 9:26 AM on December 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
It's still great.
posted by joannemerriam at 9:26 AM on December 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
Emperor's New Groove is a Thing in my family. We are (hopefully) going to Disney next year and we got everyone ENG shirts.
There was a PC game that my kids loved back in the day that introduced the phrase "my Wampy!" into our lexicon. I spent many hours spitting seeds at leopards? other llamas? I don't remember now!
posted by Biblio at 4:25 PM on December 8, 2020
There was a PC game that my kids loved back in the day that introduced the phrase "my Wampy!" into our lexicon. I spent many hours spitting seeds at leopards? other llamas? I don't remember now!
posted by Biblio at 4:25 PM on December 8, 2020
Today I learned that a dude I knew in college and who went on to work for Disney animation almost immediately upon graduating actually was one of the team of people doing the animation for Kronk. He reports that the people who were working on Kronk were the best.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:54 PM on December 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:54 PM on December 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
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posted by gwydapllew at 8:42 AM on December 7, 2020 [5 favorites]