50 Fun Facts About The Emperor's New Groove

In what year was The Emperor's New Groove released?

It opened on 15 December, six months after its planned summer slot went to Dinosaur.

Who directed The Emperor's New Groove?

He took over after original director Roger Allers stepped down.

Who voices Emperor Kuzco?

The character is described as an entitled, pampered and arrogant 18-year-old.

How old is Kuzco?

The birthday party where he meets Pacha kicks off the plot.

Who voices Pacha, the village leader?

The role was originally meant for Owen Wilson in the film's earlier incarnation.

Which singer and actress voices Yzma?

The performance won her an Annie Award and she kept the role through two spin-offs.

Who voices Kronk, Yzma's muscular sidekick?

The Seinfeld and Family Guy actor got his own film, Kronk's New Groove, in 2005.

Wendie Malick voices Chicha, who is what?

Her children Chaca and Tipo help protect Kuzco later on.

Into what animal is Kuzco accidentally transformed?

Yzma had meant to poison him, but Kronk grabbed the wrong vial.

What does Kuzco plan to build on Pacha's hilltop?

The plan involves destroying a rainforest, and Sting refused to be party to that ending.

What does Yzma order Kronk to do with the unconscious Kuzco?

Kronk's conscience wins and Kuzco ends up on Pacha's cart instead.

Pacha rescues llama Kuzco from which animals in the jungle?

The pair then plunge over a waterfall together.

Where do Kuzco and Pacha first learn to work together?

The scene is a classic buddy-comedy forced-cooperation set piece.

Where do both duos, hunters and hunted, coincidentally end up at the same time?

Kronk ends up cooking in the kitchen, and the near-misses pile up.

During the finale, Yzma is turned into what?

One of her own potions gets her, and she stays a kitten in the spin-off series.

Instead of Kuzcotopia, what does Kuzco build at the end?

The redemption arc ends with the emperor swimming with his new neighbours.

The film's setting is inspired by which ancient civilisation?

The mountainous landscape resembles the highlands of Peru.

What was the working title of the film in its original, more serious form?

Roger Allers, fresh from The Lion King, began developing it in 1994.

The original version's plot borrowed from which Mark Twain novel?

The emperor and a peasant swapped places so the emperor could escape his boring life.

In the original story, Yzma planned to summon the god of death and destroy what?

The goal was to make herself young and beautiful forever.

Harvey Fierstein was cast in the original version as Huaca, which was what?

The rock kept an eye on the emperors who ruled before Manco.

Kuzco was originally named Manco. Why was the name changed?

Producer Randy Fullmer discovered the problem before release.

For how long did the producers halt production in December 1998 to retool the film?

Dindal pitched 'a buddy road picture with two guys being chased in the style of a Chuck Jones toon'.

Which animator's cartoons did Dindal cite as the style for the retooled film?

The result was a chase comedy far removed from a Lion King-style epic.

Which musician wrote songs for the original version and stayed on for the finished film?

His wife Trudie Styler documented the whole painful process in The Sweatbox.

Which Sting song from the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song?

'Perfect World' is the Tom Jones theme; 'Snuff Out the Light' was Yzma's cut villain song.

Sting objected to the original ending in which Kuzco did what?

He said 'I will not be party to this', and the ending was changed.

The Sweatbox, the documentary about the film's troubled production, was made by whom?

It premiered at the 2002 Toronto festival and Disney has largely kept it under wraps since.

The film's budget was about $100m. Roughly what did it gross worldwide?

It was considered a box-office disappointment but became Disney's best-selling home video of 2001.

Which Welsh singer voices Kuzco's Theme Song Guy?

The emperor's personal theme-song conductor performs 'Perfect World'.

Which animated film took over the summer 2000 release date originally planned for this project?

The retooled comedy slipped to December instead.

Kronk's New Groove was released in December 2005 in what format?

Kronk is now chef and Head Delivery Boy at Mudka's Meat Hut and dreading a visit from his father.

In Kronk's New Groove, what does Yzma try to pass off as a youth potion?

Kronk goes along with the scam to impress his father.

At Camp Chippamunka, Kronk falls for fellow counsellor Miss Birdwell while leading which group?

Tracey Ullman voices Miss Birdwell.

In The Emperor's New School, what must the young emperor do to claim his throne?

The Disney Channel series ran for two seasons from 2006 to 2008.

In The Emperor's New School, Yzma disguises herself as the school's principal under what name?

The anagram fools everyone but Kuzco.

Who replaced the original voice of Kuzco in The Emperor's New School?

John Goodman returned as Pacha for the second season after Fred Tatasciore filled in.

How many Daytime Emmys did the actress voicing Yzma win for The Emperor's New School?

She added two Annie Awards for the same role.

Roughly what share of critics' reviews of The Emperor's New Groove are positive on Rotten Tomatoes?

The film became something of a cult favourite among Disney fans.

Malina, Kuzco's love interest in The Emperor's New School, is described as what?

Her intelligence and popularity make her the one person Kuzco cannot outmanoeuvre.

What does Kuzco do to Yzma that sets her murder plot in motion?

He catches his elderly adviser sitting on his throne and doing his job, so she and Kronk decide to poison his wine before word gets out.

Kronk's little animal companion Bucky, who cannot stand Yzma, is what kind of creature?

He is voiced by Bob Bergen, who also voices a fly stuck in a web and later joined the crew's 25th-anniversary livestream in 2025.

At the end of the film, what does Kronk become the leader of?

Yzma, stuck in her new feline form, ends up as a reluctant member of his group.

In 1996 the production crew travelled to which site to study Inca artifacts and architecture?

A photo of the site hanging in studio chief Thomas Schumacher's office reportedly inspired Roger Allers to pitch an Inca-set musical in the first place.

In Kronk's New Groove, Kronk is chef and Head Delivery Boy at which eatery?

It is the same place where a waitress named Mata served the heroes and villains in the first film, and it later became an attraction in the game Disney Magic Kingdoms.

What are the names of Pacha and Chicha's two mischievous children?

The pair help stall Yzma and Kronk when the villains turn up at the family home posing as distant relatives.

Eartha Kitt's performance as Yzma earned her which honour?

The Annies honour animation specifically, and she went on to win two Daytime Emmys for voicing the same villain in the TV spin-off.

In Kronk's New Groove, Yzma turns herself into which animal to escape the angry old folks?

The trick backfires when a condor swoops in and carries her away, though she is human again by the TV series, apart from the tail.

At which Los Angeles cinema did The Emperor's New Groove premiere on December 10, 2000?

Sting attended the premiere, and the same Disney-owned venue hosted a 25th-anniversary run in November 2025.

In the scrapped Kingdom of the Sun, who was cast as the peasant who looked just like the emperor?

He was dropped in the summer of 1999 along with Harvey Fierstein and Trudie Styler when the swap-places story was thrown out.