Arquivo

In 1997, Sting was invited by Walt Disney studios to write the music for a new animated film, Kingdom of the Sun, originally planned as an Inca adventure based loosely on “The Prince and the Pauper”, by Mark Twain. The director was Roger Allers, the same as for The Lion King (1994). Sting agreed and he composed and delivered six songs. The singer, however, could never have imagined how problematical the project was to be. The Disney directors decided to add a new turn to the story to the detriment of six years of production, thousands of working hours, and millions of dollars in animation completed (at a cost of some 30 million dollars). Roger Allers resigned, Sting’s songs were put on file, and thousands of drawings went into the waste basket. Gradually, a new cartoon arose from the remains. With the name The Emperor’s New Groove, the film was launched in 2000, five years after the start of the project. The documentary The Sweatbox tells all of the story backstage involved in thr tour-de-force that was the production of The Emperor’s New Groove.