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26 Years Ago, ‘The Emperor’s New Groove’ Almost Gave Kuzco a Very NSFW Name

Kuzco was originally named Manco, but Disney reportedly changed it after learning it resembled vulgar Japanese slang.

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Disney’s animated comedy The Emperor’s New Groove, released in December 2000, had a long, six-year journey from script to screen. Initially entitled Kingdom of the Sun, the film was intended to be a loose reworking of Mark Twain’s classic 1881 novel The Prince and the Pauper. By the time the retitled movie was finally released, many changes had been made. In fact, one of the only things that remained for most of the development process was David Spade as the lead voice actor.

Owen Wilson was attached to play........

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