A viral TikTok breaks down the chaotic production surrounding The Emperor’s New Groove and the subsequent changes Disney made to the final film. Premiering in 2000, the animated buddy comedy proved a disappointment at the box office, garnering $169.3 million worldwide. Compared to the critically acclaimed releases of previous Disney films in the nineties, its overall gross dissatisfied Disney executives hoping for another smash hit. However, The Emperor’s New Groove experienced a surge of popularity once it became available for home viewing. It also recently underwent a pop culture resurrection on social media, where gifs, memes, and video clips of its slapstick scenes have gone viral.
The Emperor’s New Groove follows Kuzco (David Spade), a teenage Incan emperor who alienates both his community and his royal staff with his selfish behavior. His court advisor, Yzma (Eartha Kitt), conspires to poison him in order to take over the throne. However, her assistant, the dim-witted Kronk (Patrick Warburton), accidentally laces Kuzco’s food with a potion that transforms him into a llama. After finding himself stranded in the jungle, Kuzco begrudgingly teams up with Pacha (John Goodman), a village member trying to halt construction of a theme park that would demolish his home. During their journey back to the palace, the two characters confront outlandish situations that catalyze their emotional evolution from foes to friends.
A recent TikTok, created by user Madeline Cook, shares the history behind the making of The Emperor’s New Groove, highlighting the stark alterations that Disney imposed upon the initial script. Via song parody, Cook reveals that the film, formerly titled Kingdom of the Sun, was overhauled despite the protestations of the creator. During this time, Disney fired the original cast, including Owen Wilson, and hired David Spade and John Goodman as replacements. The production also removed a large majority of the score that Sting had composed. At the end of the video, Cook specifically calls out Michael Eisner, previously the CEO of Disney, for heavily modifying six years of hard work.
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A deep-dive into the fraught production of The Emperor’s New Groove builds upon Cook’s research. The original director, Richard Allers, envisioned a musical epic that explored the intricacies of Inca Peru. Due to his prior success with The Lion King, he first received great leeway in terms of storytelling and casting. However, Disney executives began to worry about its financial prospects, particularly after the disappointing debuts of more serious fare like Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. As a result, producer Randy Fullmer hired Mark Dindal to bring in more comedic elements. Two different narratives for the film emerged and Allers, disillusioned, chose to leave production. In the end, Kingdom of the Sun became The Emperor’s New Groove.
Ironically, of course, Disney’s fretting and last-minute, heavy-handed alterations ultimately did little to change the film’s fate at the box office. In fact, The Emperor’s New Groove ended up underperforming both Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. However, its subsequent rise online is undoubtedly tied to its heightened physical comedy and winking gags. In this way, the film’s jokes truly are a goldmine for millennial and Gen-Z audiences. However, Cook’s TikTok rightly criticizes the insensitive ways in which Disney forced a complete revamp of years of diligent research and storyboarding, particularly as it pertained to the history of Peru. In the final product, Kuzco’s heritage is largely ignored, as is the rich, varied environment of South America itself. When taking into account Disney’s penchant for whitewashing history (look no further than Pocahontas), its subsequent slash-and-burn response to The Emperor’s New Groove certainly deserves a call for accountability.
Source: Madeline Cook