Jim Hill: From the Archives
Page 3 of 5
Sting
(c) Disney
It's true, kids. Sting's wife -- Trudie Styler -- is a renowned film- maker in the U.K. And one of the conditions Sting got Disney to agree to before he took on the "Kingdom" project was that Trudie be allowed to film a documentary about the making of "Kingdom of the Sun." So Sting's wife was given amazing access when it came to Production No. 1331 (AKA "Kingdom"). She and her camera sat in on story meetings for the movie, rolled while actors auditioned as well as taping Sting while he recorded the score.
And -- in a truly bizarre twist -- Trudie has her camera trained right on her husband's face just as Sting gets the call from Fullmer and learns that most of his songs have been cut from "Kingdom of the Sun." Randy's on the speaker phone in his office and ... Well, it's just this really powerful moment out of a pretty incredible documentary.
What's the name of Trudie Styler's film? "The Sweatbox." Look for this amazing documentary to turn up in theaters sometime around Christmas, two weeks or so after "The Emperor's New Groove" 's initial release. If you love behind- the- scenes stories about the Walt Disney Company, this is *DEFINITELY* one film you should make a point to see.
Anywho ... A lesser artist -- faced with the terrible news that Fullmer had just given Sting -- might have angrily quit the production. Not Sting. Though the pop star was obviously disappointed that so much for his work was being dropped from the film, the ex-Police man was a pro. He shook off his disappointment and immediately got back to work. In fact, Sting and his longtime collaborator David Hartley came up with a buddy song for the new version of "Kingdom" that the pop star now considers to be one of the best things he's ever written. All because Mark and Randy opted to cut six of his other songs out of the score.
Mind you, not everyone who worked on "Kingdom of the Sun" handled the changes in the film's story as gracefully as Sting did. Master Disney animator Andreas Deja was said to be furious with the way Fullmer and Dindal had re-invented the character he was working on: Yzma, the evil sorceress.
In the original storyline for "Kingdom of the Sun," Yzma was this incredible villainess. Right up there with Malificent in 1959's "Sleeping Beauty," Cruella De Vil in 1961's "101 Dalmatians" and Madam Medusa in 1977's "The Rescuers." And what Andreas loved most about Yzma was her bizarre motivation for being evil: her vanity.
Yzma, voiced by Earth Kitt
(c) Disney
According to the character's backstory, Yzma had once been this legendary beauty in the Incan royal court. But time and the sun had cruelly robbed this ravishing creature of her once startlingly good looks. Yzma began dabbling in the dark arts in an attempt to revive her beauty. But -- in the end -- she blames the sun for causing her to age.
That's why -- in the original story of "Kingdom" -- Yzma attempts to take advantage of Pacha switching places with Manco by hatching an awful scheme. The crazed sorceress wants to snuff out all light on earth. To do this, she must unleash Supai -- the force of darkness -- to block out the sun. Then, in a world locked in perpetual darkness, Yzma feels that her great beauty will finally be restored.
Alright. I know. That motivation seems kind of loopy. But Andreas -- working off of Eartha Kitt's incredible vocals -- was doing astounding stuff with Yzma. His production team had taken the musical number, "Snuff out the Light" (considered by many at Disney Feature Animation to be the best thing in Sting's score) and turned it into an absolute show stopper.
(Quick Side Note Here: In one of the better in-jokes the animators had come up with for "Kingdom of the Sun," the trio of desiccated mummies that backed up Yzma during "Snuff out the Light" were named after badly aging rock stars. And what were these mummies called? Mick, Bowie and Lemmy.)
But -- in the new version of "Kingdom of the Sun" 's storyline -- Yzma's isn't some vain sorceress who will do anything to reclaim her beauty. She's just one of Kuzco's advisors that the Emperor thinks has gotten too old to do the job. So Kuzco casually and callously fires Yzma.
Angered by Kuzco's curt dismissal, Yzma plots to dispose of the Emperor and take his throne for herself ... Which -- I guess -- is an okay motivation for a villain in a Disney film. But it's not nearly as much fun as getting to animate a character who wants to plunge the world into eternal darkness just so she can regain her lost beauty.
So you can understand Andreas' disappointment when he learned how Mark and Randy had reworked Yzma's backstory and motivation. Deja was reportedly particularly disappointed when he learned that the sorceress's big song, "Snuff out the Light," had been cut from the score.
Dindal and Fullmer tried to persuade Andreas to stay on with "Kingdom of the Sun." But -- in the end -- Deja told Mark and Randy that he wanted to work "on a great film." Allers' version of "Kingdom" -- story problems and all -- looked to Andreas like it had the makings of true greatness.
The newly revamped version of "Kingdom of the Sun"? To Deja, it looked like it would be fun to watch and probably make a lot of money for the Mouse. But would it ultimately be a great film? Sadly, no.
That's why Andreas exited "Kingdom of the Sun." Truth be told, Deja bailed out of Burbank entirely -- opting instead to join the team working at Feature Animation -- Florida. Here, the master animator found another project to work on that he feels will someday be viewed as a truly great Disney film: Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois' "Lilo and Stitch." Andreas is reportedly handling one of the title characters for this funky little project.
But -- if Deja felt strongly enough about the original version of "Kingdom of the Sun" that he'd quit the production rather than work on the revamped version -- one has to ponder some awfully troubling questions.
Did Disney Feature Animation actually cancel the wrong version of "Kingdom of the Sun"? Sure, Mark Dindal's revamped version of the story sounds like fun and has been testing well. So it will probably make a lot of money for the Mouse this holiday season.
But did Disney miss out on the chance to make a truly great animated film -- all because they couldn't see their way clear to giving Roger Allers the time he needed to properly finish his version of "Kingdom of the Sun"?