that_L_do_pig
07-11-2005, 07:13 AM
I got this from IMDB:
This film was originally planned to have been a dramatic, sweeping Disney musical named "Kingdom of the Sun", to be directed by The Lion King (1994) director Roger Allers and Mark Dindal, director of Turner's Cats Don't Dance (1997), with six original songs written by Sting, that was essentially an Incan re-telling of Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper." David Spade was the voice of the young emperor Manco, Owen Wilson was Pacha, a young peasant with a striking resemblance to the emperor, and Eartha Kitt was Yzma, the aged royal sorceress. The film involved Manco and Pacha switching places, except that Yzma finds out, turns Manco into a (non-speaking) llama, and makes Pacha do her bidding. Pacha also eventually was to fall in love with Nina (voice of Carla Gugino), the emperor's betrothed. The resulting film tested very poorly, and the production was suspended, even though the film was 50% complete. Allers and Yzma supervising animator Andreas Deja both left the project and moved to Orlando, Florida to work on Lilo & Stitch (2002). During the production hiatus, Dindal, producer Randy Fullmer, story man Chris Williams, and screenwriter David Reynolds completely overhauled the film, eventually throwing out Wilson, the "Prince and the Pauper" angle, the completed footage, and all but one of Sting's songs. The story was rebuilt from the ground up, retaining Spade's and Kitt's characters and creating a new, wackier film that centered around Spade's (talking) llama, Yzma, and two new characters: Pacha, now a middle aged man played by John Goodman and Patrick Warburton's character Kronk.
50%! Can you imagine being an animator at THAT staff meeting?
I recall touring Disney MGM and seeing the 'serious' movie mocked up and when I saw the release I was surprised how different it was than what I thought it would be like. I had heard rumors like this since then, but after I saw it this weekend on DVD I went to IMDB to check it out. Kronk actually makes this a funny movie. I was surprised at how much my 4 year old girl liked it alongside the normal movies (TLM, BATB etc)
This film was originally planned to have been a dramatic, sweeping Disney musical named "Kingdom of the Sun", to be directed by The Lion King (1994) director Roger Allers and Mark Dindal, director of Turner's Cats Don't Dance (1997), with six original songs written by Sting, that was essentially an Incan re-telling of Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper." David Spade was the voice of the young emperor Manco, Owen Wilson was Pacha, a young peasant with a striking resemblance to the emperor, and Eartha Kitt was Yzma, the aged royal sorceress. The film involved Manco and Pacha switching places, except that Yzma finds out, turns Manco into a (non-speaking) llama, and makes Pacha do her bidding. Pacha also eventually was to fall in love with Nina (voice of Carla Gugino), the emperor's betrothed. The resulting film tested very poorly, and the production was suspended, even though the film was 50% complete. Allers and Yzma supervising animator Andreas Deja both left the project and moved to Orlando, Florida to work on Lilo & Stitch (2002). During the production hiatus, Dindal, producer Randy Fullmer, story man Chris Williams, and screenwriter David Reynolds completely overhauled the film, eventually throwing out Wilson, the "Prince and the Pauper" angle, the completed footage, and all but one of Sting's songs. The story was rebuilt from the ground up, retaining Spade's and Kitt's characters and creating a new, wackier film that centered around Spade's (talking) llama, Yzma, and two new characters: Pacha, now a middle aged man played by John Goodman and Patrick Warburton's character Kronk.
50%! Can you imagine being an animator at THAT staff meeting?
I recall touring Disney MGM and seeing the 'serious' movie mocked up and when I saw the release I was surprised how different it was than what I thought it would be like. I had heard rumors like this since then, but after I saw it this weekend on DVD I went to IMDB to check it out. Kronk actually makes this a funny movie. I was surprised at how much my 4 year old girl liked it alongside the normal movies (TLM, BATB etc)