The Emperor's New Groove

ARROGANT YOUNG EMPEROR KUZCO IS TRANSFORMED INTO A LLAMA BY HIS POWER-HUNGRY ADVISOR - THE DEVIOUS DIVA YZMA. STRANDED IN THE JUNGLE, JUZCO'S ONLY CHANCE TO GET BACK HOME AND RECLAIM THE HIGH LIFE RESTS WITH A GOODHEARTED PEASANT NAMED PACHA. KUZCO'S "PERFECT WORLD" BECOMES A PERFECT MESS AS THIS MOST UNLIKELY DUO MUST DEAL WITH HAIR-RAISING DANGERS, WILD COMIC PREDICAMENTS AND - MOST HORRIFYING OF ALL - EACH OTHER AS THEY RACE OT RETURN KUZCO TO THE THRONE BEFORE YZMA TRACKS THEM DOWN AND FINISHES HIM OFF. ULTIMATELY, JUZCO'S BUDDING FRIENDSHIP WITH PACHA TREACHES THIS ROYAL PAIN TO SEE HIS WORLD IN A DIFFERENT WAY. ================= THE OSCAR NOMINATION FOR THE SONG "MY FUNNY FRIEND AND ME" WENT TO STING AS COMPOSER/LYRICIST AND DAVID HARTLEY AS COMPOSER. THE VOICE CAST INCLUDES DAVID SPADE ("JOE DIRT," "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE"), JOHN GOODMAN ("MONSTERS, INC.," "MY FIRST MISTER"), EARTHA KITT ("I WOKE UP EARLY THE DAY I DIED"), PATRICK WARBURTON ("DIRT," "THE DISH," VOICE OF BUZZ LIGHTYEAR), WENDIE MALICK (TV'S "JUST SHOOT ME," "MANNA FROM HEAVEN"), ELI RUSSELL LINNETZ, KELLYANN KELSO AND BOB BERGEN. "THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE" TELLS THE STORY OF KUZCO (DAVID SPADE), THE SPOILED, TEENAGED EMPEROR OF A MYSTICAL KINGDOM. THE SELF-CENTERED KUZCO MAKES THE MISTAKE OF FIRING HIS ADVISOR, YZMA (EARTHA KITT). VOWING REVENGE AND SEEKING THE THRONE, YZMA ASSIGNS HER FAITHFUL BUT DISTRACTED HENCHMAN, KRONK (PATRICK WARBURTON), TO POISON KUZCO. A BETTER COOK THAN A CROOK, KRONK BOTCHES THE JOB AND THE EMPEROR IS TURNED INTO A LLAMA INSTEAD OF BEING DISPATCHED TO THE AFTERLIFE. NOT SAFE IN THE PALACE, KUZCO MAKES HIS WAY TO THE FOREST WHERE HE DISCOVERS LIFE IS HAZARDOUS FOR A LLAMA. THE EMPEROR IS RESCUED - ON A FEW OCCASIONS -- BY THE JOVIAL PEASANT PACHA (JOHN GOODMAN), WHO LIVES ON A HILLTOP WITH HIS WIFE, CHICHA (WENDIE MALICK), AND THEIR CHILDREN. PACHA AND KUZCO ARE OFF TO A SLAPSTICK ROMP THROUGH THE FOREST THAT EVENTUALLY BRINGS THEM BACK TO THE PALACE. "THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE" STARS THE VOICE CAST OF DAVID SPADE AS KUZCO, JOHN GOODMAN AS PACHA, EARTHA KITT AS YZMA, PATRICK WARBURTON AS KRONK, WENDIE MALICK AS CHICHA (PACHA'S WIFE), ELI RUSSELL LINNETZ AS TIPO, KELLYANN KELSO AS CHACA, BOB BERGEN AS BUCKY (THE SQUIRREL), TOM JONES AS THEME SONG GUY, PATTI DEUTSCH AS WAITRESS, JOHN FIEDLER AS OLD MAN AND JOE WHYTE AS OFFICIAL. THE 2000 ANIMATED FILM WAS DIRECTED BY MARK DINDAL FROM A STORY BY ROGER ALLERS ("ALADDIN," "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST," "THE LITTLE MERMAID"), DINDAL, MATTHEW JACOBS ("YOUNG INDIANA JONES" SERIES), CHRIS WILLIAMS AND DAVID REYNOLDS ("FANTASIA/2000," "A BUG'S LIFE"). THE FILM IS A PRODUCTION WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS AND DISTRIBUTED BY BUENA VISTA PICTURES.