<P> Andreas Deja declined to return to the film observing his more serious version of Yzma was incompatible with the wackier, comedic tone of the film, and moved to Orlando, Florida, to work on Lilo & Stitch . Animator Dale Baer would replace Deja as the supervising animator for Yzma . Fulmer would inform Sting by telephone that his songs, related to specific scenes and characters that were now gone, had to be dropped . Bitter about the removal of his songs, the pop musician commented that "At first, I was angry and perturbed . Then I wanted some vengeance ." Disney eventually agreed to allow three of the six deleted songs as bonus tracks on the soundtrack album such as Yzma's villain song titled "Snuff Out the Light", the love song titled "One Day She'll Love Me", and a dance number called "Walk the Llama Llama". The plot elements such as the romance between the llama herder Pacha and Manco's betrothed Nina, the sun - capturing villain scheme, similarities to The Prince and the Pauper stories, and Inca mythology were dropped . The character of Hucua was also dropped from the story, though he would make a cameo appearance as the candle holder during the dinner scene in the finished film . Kuzco--who was a supporting character in the original story--eventually became the protagonist . </P> <P> By summer 1999, cast members Owen Wilson, Harvey Fierstein, and Trudie Styler were dropped from the film . Eartha Kitt and David Spade remained in the cast, Dindal commented, "(a) nd then John Goodman and Patrick Warburton came aboard ." After Sting's songs for Kingdom of the Sun were dropped from the new storyline, Sting remained on the project, though he was told by the studio that "All we want is a beginning and an end song ." The song, "Perfect World", was approached "to open the movie with a big, fun number that established the power of Kuzco and showed how he controlled the world", according to Feature Animation president Thomas Schumacher . The filmmakers had asked Sting to perform the song for the film, though Sting declined telling them that he was too old to sing it and that they should find someone younger and hipper . They instead went with Tom Jones, who is eleven years older than Sting . </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, according to Mark V. Moorhead of the Houston Press, the film's plot does bear some resemblance to that of The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius, wherein a man is turned into a donkey . </P> <P> 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>

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