The Emperor's New Groove/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Executive Meddling: The film began life as a much more standard Disney flick, Kingdom of the Sun. It managed to recover, proving that this trope isn't always a bad thing. Though we did lose a rockin' Villain Song in the process so you got your good and your bad.
    • On his DVD commentary, director Mark Dindal grumbles about a minor example, claiming an executive at Disney forced him to include a particular The Wizard of Oz Shout-Out.
    • Also, Composer Meddling: Sting is an environmentalist, and complained about Kuzco building a mansion on the hills on the original ending, causing it to be replaced by a hut.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Patrick Warburton, Eartha Kitt, John Goodman, David Spade and Sting.
  • The Other Darrin: Mark Dindal did the voice of Kitty Yzma instead of Eartha Kitt.
  • What Could Have Been: In the original Kingdom of the Sun, Pacha would've sounded like Lightning McQueen; ANOTHER Pixar protagonist!!
    • That's because both original!Pacha and Lightning are voiced by Owen Wilson.
    • Yzma would still have been the villain, but she would have been much "eviler" than the one everyone knows. Originally, she would have been a necromancer attempting to summon Supei, the Incan god of darkness, to block out the sun and plunge the world into eternal night. Also, the plot would have been similar to The Prince and the Pauper, where Pacha (who was a commoner and llama herder) meeting Emperor Manko, who looked just like him, and the two deciding to swap roles, seeing as Manko was bored with his job.
    • Marc Shaiman originally scored the film but had his work rejected after a test screening and was replaced by John Debney. Shaiman's work can be heard in The Sweatbox (the making-of documentary on the film and its Troubled Production). He describes his take as having too much "Mickey-Mousing".