The Emperor's New Groove is a 2000 American animated buddy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The 40th animated film produced by the studio, it was directed by Mark Dindal, from a screenplay by David Reynolds and a story by Chris Williams and Dindal. The voice cast features David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, Patrick Warburton, and Wendie Malick. The Emperor's New Groove follows a young and self-centered Incan emperor, Kuzco, who is transformed into a llama by his ex-advisor, Yzma. For the emperor to change back into a human, he trusts a village leader, Pacha, who escorts him back to the palace. Development began in 1994, when the film was conceived as a musical epic titled Kingdom of the Sun. Following his directorial debut with The Lion King (1994), Roger Allers recruited English musician Sting to compose several songs for the film. Because of the underwhelming box office performances of Pocahontas (1995) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Dindal was brought in as co-director to make the film more comedic.[1] Because of poor test screenings, creative differences with Dindal and production falling behind schedule, Allers departed, and the film became a lighthearted comedy instead of a dramatic musical. A documentary, The Sweatbox (2002), details the production troubles that The Emperor's New Groove endured during its six years of development. The Emperor's New Groove was released to theaters on December 15, 2000. It performed disappointingly at the box office compared to Disney films released in the 1990s, grossing $169.5 million on a $100-million budget.[2] However, the film found larger success when it was released for home media, and became the best-selling DVD of 2001. It received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised it as one of the best films released during Disney's post-Renaissance era and the most comedic. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "My Funny Friend and Me", performed by Sting; that award went to "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan from Wonder Boys. A direct-to-video sequel, Kronk's New Groove, was released in 2005, and an animated spin-off, The Emperor's New School, aired on the Disney Channel from 2006 to 2008.