10 Fun Facts About The Emperor’s New Groove

1. Heading South

Initially, The Emperor’s New Groove was going to be called Kingdom of the Sun, and it would have been a retelling of Mark Twain’s “The Prince and the Pauper,” set in South America. Unfortunately, two years of film development resulted in very little progress, and a new storyline was eventually developed. The creative team headed to Machu Picchu, the historical Incan citadel in Cuzco, Peru for inspiration. They spent ten days exploring the landscape of the region, and they also made a trip to a llama farm to study the characteristic movements and mannerisms of the animals. Because the story and songs went through so many revisions, The Emperor’s New Groove took six years to complete.

2. Sting and…Tom Jones?

The Emperor’s New Groove was originally going to be a musical, and would have featured six songs composed by Sting (former lead singer of the group The Police). This made sense, as this was the time that Disney was collaborating with well-known rock stars like Sir Elton John (The Lion King) and Phil Collins (Tarzan). However, once The Emperor’s New Groove was revamped, Sting’s songs were cut. He did, however, rework “My Funny Friend and Me” from one of the discarded tunes and wrote “Perfect World” for the new film. Curiously, though Sting (along with David Hartley) wrote the song, “Perfect World,” he felt that his voice was too old to be heard as the voice of Kuzco’s ego, so Disney invited Tom Jones to sing the part instead. It was an interesting choice, considering that Tom Jones is actually 11 years older than Sting!

3. Well That Would Have Been Awkward…

Kuzco’s name was originally Manco, until it was discovered that a variation of the word is a rather impolite term in Japanese. His name was changed to a re-spelling of the capital of the Incan Empire.

4. Who is That?

The unnamed character who is writing as Kuzco fires Yzma is modeled on David Hartley, Sting’s songwriting partner.

5. Taking Care of the Environment

Sting, an environment activist, also influenced the ending of the movie. Originally, Kuzco was going to build his house on the side of the mountain that was opposite Pacha’s village, but thanks to Sting’s suggestion, Kuzko opted instead for a house that fit into the village, showing that he had indeed learned to be more considerate of both the villagers and the natural beauty of the mountain.

6. Queen Yzma??

Purple was used for Yzma’s costumes because it associated with both royalty and madness!

7. Did You See That?

Keep your eyes peeled as Yzma pours a poisoned drink into the cactus, you’ll see that it momentarily takes on the shape of a llama!

8. It Really Is a Small World After All!

Not only did David Spade (Kuzco) and Wendie Malick (Chicha) co-star in “Just Shoot Me!” (which also featured The Emperor’s New School’s Kuzco, J. P. Manoux, in a recurring role) but Spade also worked with Patrick Warburton (Kronk) in the TV series “Rules of Engagement.”

9. We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

When Pacha and Kuzco are in Yzma’s lab, they make a reference to The Wizard of Oz as they say, “Lions, tigers, and bears,” capped by Yzma’s “Oh my!” The writers did not want to put this joke in the script, but then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, Thomas Schumacher, insisted on it.

10. Meow!

Near the end of the film, Yzma is transformed into a cat. As you may recall, Eartha Kitt (who provided the voice of Yzma), famously played Catwoman on the “Batman” television series.

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