The Road to El Dorado

Set in Spain in 1519, two con artists consisting of cynical and street smart Tulio (Kevin Kline) and optimistic dreamer Miguel (Kenneth Branagh) are running a con on several sailors when in a last ditch effort one of the sailors wager's a map that supposedly leads to the fabled golden city of El Dorado in the New World. While Tulio wants to walk away, Miguel convinces Tulio to reluctantly play for the map which they win only for the two's con to be outed leading to them being chased through town. Hiding in some barrels, the two inadvertently stowaway on a boat captained by Hernan Cortes who has no tolerance for Stowaways and imprisons the two with the intention of putting condemning them to slavery in Cuba. With the help of Cortes horse, Altivo, the two eventually escape the ship by boat and along with Altivo wind up on an unfamiliar beach. Discovering the beach has a landmark similar to the one on the map they following it to El Dorado where they're mistaken for Gods by the population and teaming up with a native from the city, Chel (Rosie Perez), they play into the con unaware they're in the middle of a power struggle by the kind but skeptical Chief Tannabok (Edward James Olmos) and the fanatical high priest Tzekel-Kan (Armand Assante).

The Road to El Dorado is a 2000 animated adventure comedy and the sophomore traditional animated feature from Dreamworks following their success on The Prince of Egypt. While initially written as a more dramatic film by screen writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, the film was instead turned into a more light-hearted comedic film inspired by the "road" pictures of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby as Katzenberg wanted the studio's next effort to differentiate itself from the seriousness and dramatic weight of Prince of Egypt. Opening at number two at the box office behind Erin Brockovich, The Road to El Dorado was a box office failure only accruing $50 million stateside against a $95 million budget, and only making $76 million worldwide. Critical reception was more mixed with many calling the film's story predictable and lacking in comparison to the studio's prior effort. The Road to El Dorado isn't super ambitious from a story perspective, but in terms of style and character it does have charm.

Easily the best selling point for the film is in the character and acting on display in the film. Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh have fantastic chemistry together and apparently they did their recording sessions together and it shows in the final product as their timing in the verbal exchanges are pitch perfect with Kevin Kline's portrayal of Tulio's world-weary cynicism counter balanced against Branagh's portrayal of Miguel's character as a fanciful exuberant dreamer giving the duo a distinct identity and likability as dashing rogues. Rosie Perez is also very good as Chel who serves as an unofficial third member of their group and love interest for Tulio and she's very much cut from a similar cloth to Tulio and Miguel with a strong knowledge of playing the angles. In terms of setup it's not dissimilar from a mashup of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels mixed with the good natured innocence of the Hope/Crosby road pictures. Edward James Olmos is a likable presence Tannabok whose friendship with Miguel is very endearing as Miguel falls in love with the culture and city of El Dorado and Armand Assante is a fun despicable villain driven by fanaticism and a desire to attain power by fear with Assante committed to the role. The movie builds upon the already impressive animation seen in The Prince of Egypt and with a rich color palette used to create Spain, the Jungle, and El Dorado itself there's a rich level of detail on display even if some of the CGI elements haven't aged as gracefully. The characters are nicely expressive and fluidly animated, and the designs are synced up nicely with the vocal work of the voice actors.

There are some weak points to the movie with probably the most glaring one being the songs by award winning duo Elton John and Tim Rice of The Lion King. Now I don't think the soundtrack is bad, far from it, but the songs have an issue similar to Disney's Tarzan where they don't feel organically woven into the story, and instead feel more clumsily grafted on with Elton John himself singing many of the songs "narration style" in similar fashion to the Phil Collins songs from Tarzan, but unlike Collins' soundtrack Elton John's singing isn't egregiously out of place and does try to integrate itself at least somewhat into the atmosphere of what's presented on screen. The presence of Hernan Cortes also is one of those things that's a little head tilting as Cortes is a remnant from when the film had a more dramatic bent and addressed the slaughter of indigenous peoples by the Spanish Conquistadors and of course being the kind of movie this is of course that's not going to be a thing touched upon and while not as clumsily integrated as historical elements of Disney's Pocahontas it is the kind of thing that should be noted.

The Road to El Dorado isn't a classic (nor does it aspire to be) but in terms of providing an enjoyable ride, the film delivers on all the fronts you expect. The songs aren't as well integrated as they could've been in my opinion and some of the historical details left over from the initial draft could've been refined, but it remains a likable comedy thanks to solid chemistry among the cast and some beautiful animation.

I absolutely adored this movie as a teen and I still think very fondly of it as an adult. I wish they made more films like this these days, cause the adventure genre is seriously lacking.

First TITAN A.E., now EL DORADO. I can´t believe another brilliant animation movie was trashed down by the critics. Trully unbelievable, specialy after inferior works, (in plot or character development) like TARZAN were a big sucess. Marketing realy is a powerfull thing...and being politicaly correct apparently still determines a sucess in the States.

I´d read so many bad reviews about EL DORADO, that i started to believe in them myself, and i was ready to never going to see it, altough i´m a big animation fan. As it is very common in the american reviews, this time EL DORADO was the chosen victim and so it seemed that every critic was playing follow the leader when reviewing it. After reading so many bad reviews , i doubt that some critics ever saw the movie before they wrote about it. Or at least they definetely didn´t saw the same movie i did !

Is there an "european" version or something playing here in Europe ?...

Anyway i went almost dragged to the cinema by my kid this saturday afternoon, and now i´m glad i did, for it´s realy the best animated film i´ve seen in recent years (as good as TITAN A.E. and Princess Mononoke).

And for someone like me who got a little bit disapointed with Chicken Run, and annoyed by yet another politicaly correct animated feature in Disney´s Tarzan, EL DORADO made me think that there is still magic and thrills in modern animation.

I started to suspect that this movie was going to be diferent, when i got in the theater, and i noticed that at least about 80% of the room was filled with an adult audience, and very, very few children, wich for a Saturday afternoon matinée of an animation movie is a particulary strange setting. Did someone knew something about this movie i didn´t ?...

By the end of the movie, i began to understand what was so special about it. First of all this is NOT a Disney movie as so many people seem to think, but a Dreamworks production. The plot altough aparently common for this type of story, ends up being much better than it seems at first glance, because of the characters development and the little details around them all, wich i won´t reveal because part of the pleasure in this movie is exactely the discovery of those scenes. And EL DORADO might look in style like a Disney product, but fortunely has none of those politicaly correct so called educational moments wich infest all Disney products. Contrary to Disney, EL DORADO even has an original story, and doesn´t use the same as in Lion King, wich is the same in Tarzan, wich was re-used again in Dinossaur, etc... EL DORADO doesn´t treat kids like braindead morons but instead presents a good original story in wich they even have to think to realy apreciate the movie wich can only be a good sign.

A good detail , is that, there isn´t realy a "bad guy" so the children can´t separate right away all the plot into good guy Vs bad guy as usual, making them pay more atention to the story to discover what is happening.

I don´t want to spoil anything, but go watch this movie , and notice how the character of Cortez was presented and used in the story without falling into the usual trap of the Disney style villain, and giving a very authentic historicaly correct feeling to the plot Another good twist, is that there is another "bad guy" in the EL DORADO story, but not another abstract villain placed there just to fight with the heros and loose. This second "villain" even has a logical reason to be a bad person, and he´s not just bad just because. Even what happens to him by the end is not the usual cliché used for the villains in the usual Disney movie where the bad guy always has to die to pay for his wrong doings. Well...this time...go watch EL DORADO and you´ll be surprised how cleverly the story uses both "villains".

This is one of the best, surprising and most inteligent moments in this excelent underapreciated film as it connects perfectely the fantasy with the historicaly events of that time.

But there is one thing i can bet was responsible for the faillure of this movie in America. And yes i´m talking about the "erotic" jokes scatered in some scenes and the "sexual" tension as a reason for conflict between the main characters. I can bet that those innocent little subtil scenes must have made plenty of puritane people in America grab hold of their Bibles and cover their kids eyes with thy covers, while the fathers themselves drooled over the sensual curves of the female leading character and the mothers complained how imoral this animation was. I´ve read an hilarious american review, claiming that this movie would incite kids to homossexuality and bigamy ! (WHAT ?!!! Because of the relation of great friendship of the male characters or their relation with the girl ? ARE YOU PEOPLE NUTS ?!! )

I think DreamWorks took a bold risk, in creating an animation including those (innocent "erotic") jokes. They risked and they lost, but that doesn´t mean that their movie is as bad as the reviews say it is. And i don´t agree with the acusation that EL DORADO is nothing but a pale imitation of Disney style. EL DORADO took the Disney visual style and produced a movie way ahead of everything Disney ever did, thematicaly speaking. If anyone still wants to compare this to disney then the only thing i can say is that it´s movies like EL DORADO that Disney should be making, instead of using and re-using over and over again the same plot and formula, withou taking any risks or adding anything realy new to their products.

Think of EL DORADO as a much better and inteligent "Disney" movie with a little spice. One day all animations will be like this.

With a sensational animation style and brilliant performances, The Road to El Dorado charms its way into glory by easily being one of the most fun movies i've seen in quite awhile. First off, any company challenging Disney at their own game let alone their signature 2D animation style has usually had no luck at ever capturing that same Disney magic- but with El Dorado I say it succeeds tenfold. Not only is the animation breathtaking and colorful, but every single frame is just so well done. You can see the heart and soul put into creating this film, and not even just in the animated sense. The characters of Miguel and Tulio are about one of the most charismatic duos i've seen in a film like this in a long time, and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen due to their incredible charm and fun personalities. Not only that, but they were also brilliantly voiced by Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh who just give so much spirit to the role it's hard not to admire it. Rosie Perez also does a fantastic job in her role voicing Chel, who is just about the most gorgeous female character i've ever seen in an animated film. I'm not simping, you are. The music is also quite good, with a soundtrack composed by the great Elton John. It may not have as many familiar songs as The Lion King, but it stands strong in its own right. The pacing is just so well done, you can admire how entertaining it is even if some flaws feel rather predictable and formulaic along the way. We have familiar tropes here and there, but in the end, The Road to El Dorado is as charming as a film can be- and easily deserves more praise than it received on release. Its colorful and imaginative and completely earns its spot among fellow 2D animated films.

My Rating: 8.6/10.

This is the best animated movie (rated PG-13 or lower) since The Lion King. The story seems a bit rushed, but it is entertaining. And the animation simply breathtaking. The soundtrack is another winner for Elton John and the songs he performs add depth to the story.