<P> In February 2000 , the new film was announced as The Emperor 's New Groove with its new story centering on a spoiled Inca Emperor -- voiced by David Spade -- who through various twists and falls ends up learning the meaning of true happiness from a poor peasant , played by John Goodman . The release date was scheduled for December 2000 . Despite the phrasing of the title , the film bears no relation to Hans Christian Andersen 's classic Danish fairy tale `` The Emperor 's New Clothes '' ( although both stories involve an emperor being tricked ) . However , Eisner worried that the new story was too close in tone to Disney 's 1997 film Hercules , which had performed decently yet below expectations at the American box office . Dindal and Fullmer assured him that The Emperor 's New Groove , as the film was now called , would have a much smaller cast , making it easier to involve audiences . Towards the end of production , the film 's ending originally had Kuzco building his Kuzcotopia amusement park on another hill by destroying a rainforest near Pacha 's home , and inviting Pacha and his family to visit . Horrified at the ending , Sting commented that `` I wrote them a letter and said , ' You do this , I 'm resigning because this is exactly the opposite of what I stand for . I 've spent 20 years trying to defend the rights of indigenous people and you 're just marching over them to build a theme park . I will not be party to this . '' The ending was rewritten so that Kuzco constructs a shack similar to Pacha 's and spends his vacation among the villagers . </P>
<P> In February 2000 , the new film was announced as The Emperor 's New Groove with its new story centering on a spoiled Inca Emperor -- voiced by David Spade -- who through various twists and falls ends up learning the meaning of true happiness from a poor peasant , played by John Goodman . The release date was scheduled for December 2000 . Despite the phrasing of the title , the film bears no relation to Hans Christian Andersen 's classic Danish fairy tale `` The Emperor 's New Clothes '' ( although both stories involve an emperor being tricked ) . However , Eisner worried that the new story was too close in tone to Disney 's 1997 film Hercules , which had performed decently yet below expectations at the American box office . Dindal and Fullmer assured him that The Emperor 's New Groove , as the film was now called , would have a much smaller cast , making it easier to involve audiences . Towards the end of production , the film 's ending originally had Kuzco building his Kuzcotopia amusement park on another hill by destroying a rainforest near Pacha 's home , and inviting Pacha and his family to visit . Horrified at the ending , Sting commented that `` I wrote them a letter and said , ' You do this , I 'm resigning because this is exactly the opposite of what I stand for . I 've spent 20 years trying to defend the rights of indigenous people and you 're just marching over them to build a theme park . I will not be party to this . '' The ending was rewritten so that Kuzco constructs a shack similar to Pacha 's and spends his vacation among the villagers . </P>
who plays the emperor in emperor 's new groove
who plays the emperor in emperor 's new groove
David Spade
David Spade