1.First off, this movie was packed with adult jokes that totally flew over your head as a kid.
2.Like the time Tulio said this as a huge ship was bearing down on them.
3.Or when THIS HAPPENED.
4.Of course, there are some more innocent jokes that will still make you laugh.
5.Especially when Miguel's endless optimism comes into play.
6.It's so beloved that people have come up with some pretty great casting ideas for a remake.
7.It inspires some amazing cosplay, too.
8.Probably because Tulio's anxiety is universal.
9.And because Miguel's faces are hilarious.
10.And every time the two of them BS their way out of a situation, it's so fun to watch.
11.Honestly, these guys are more similar to gods than you'd think.
12.Oh, and did you know that Miguel is voiced by Sir Kenneth Branagh?
YEAH. THIS GUY.
13.And Tulio is voiced by Kevin Kline.
14.The chemistry between them is so good that people ship them. They ship them hard.
15.They even like to theorize that Flynn Rider from Tangled is their child.
16.Honestly, I just ship Chel and her own sexuality.
She actually initiates her relationship with Tulio, instead of being an object to be won!
17.Or Altivo and his gold horseshoes.
18.But most importantly, the movie gave us the best GIF ever, which has been adapted again and again.
The Road to El Dorado | |
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Directed by |
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Produced by | |
Screenplay by | |
Starring | |
Narrated by | Elton John |
Music by | Score Songs |
Edited by |
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Distributed by | DreamWorks Pictures |
| |
89 minutes | |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $95 million[1] |
Box office | $76.4 million[1] |
The Road to El Dorado is a 2000 American animatedadventure-musical[2] film produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. It was directed by Eric 'Bibo' Bergeron and Don Paul; Will Finn and David Silverman directed additional sequences. The film stars Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Rosie Perez, Armand Assante, and Edward James Olmos. The soundtrack features songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, as well as composers Hans Zimmer and John Powell.
The film follows two con artists, who after winning the map to El Dorado escape from Spain. After washing ashore in the New World, they use the map to lead them to the city of El Dorado, where its inhabitants mistake them for gods. Released on March 31, 2000, The Road to El Dorado grossed $76.4 million worldwide on a $95 million budget.
The plot is loosely based The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling.
- 3Production
- 5Soundtrack
- 6Release
- 7Reception
- 8Video game
Plot[edit]
In 1519 Spain, two con artists, Miguel and Tulio, win a map to the legendary City of Gold, El Dorado, in a rigged dice gamble, although this time they win fairly. After their con is exposed, the two evade the guards and hide inside barrels, which are then loaded into one of the ships to be led by conquistadorHernán Cortés for the New World. During the voyage, they are caught as stowaways and imprisoned, but break free and take a rowboat with the help of Cortés' horse, Altivo.
Their boat reaches Guatemala located in South America where Miguel begins to recognize landmarks from the map, leading them to a totem marker near a waterfall that Tulio believes is a dead end. As they prepare to leave, they encounter a native woman, Chel, being chased by guards. When the guards see Tulio and Miguel riding Altivo as depicted on the totem, they escort them and Chel to a secret entrance behind the falls, into El Dorado. They are brought to the city's elders, kindhearted Chief Tannabok and wicked high priest Tzekel-Kan. The pair are mistaken for gods thanks to an volcano about to erupt immediately reversing itself and given luxurious quarters, along with the charge of Chel. She recognizes that the two are conning the people but promises to remain quiet if they take her with them when they leave the city. The two are showered with gifts of gold from Tannabok but disapprove of Tzekel-Kan attempting to sacrifice a civilian as the gods' ritual.
Tulio and Miguel instruct Tannabok to build them a boat so that they can leave the city with all the gifts they have been given. During the three days this will take, Miguel explores the city, and Chel gets romantically close to Tulio. Miguel comes to appreciate the peaceful life embraced by the citizens; by then, he reconsiders leaving, especially after overhearing Tulio telling Chel that he'd like her to come with them to Spain, before adding he'd like her to come with him and to forget Miguel – afterwhich, the two partners get into a heated feud.
When Tzekel-Kan sees Miguel playing a ball game with children, he insists the 'gods' demonstrate their powers against the city's best players in the same game. Tulio and Miguel are outmatched, but Chel is able to substitute the ball with an armadillo named Bibo, allowing them to win. Miguel spares the ritual of sacrificing the losing team and chastises Tzekel-Kan, much to the crowd's approval. Tzekel-Kan notices Miguel received a small cut and realizes the two are not gods, since gods do not bleed. He soon conjures a giant stone jaguar to chase them throughout the city. Tulio and Miguel manage to outwit the jaguar, causing it and Tzekel-Kan to fall into a giant whirlpool, thought by the natives to be the entrance to Xibalba, the spirit world. Tzekel-Kan then surfaces in the jungle, where he encounters Cortés and his men. Thinking Cortés is a god, he offers to lead them to El Dorado.
With the boat completed, Miguel decides to stay in the city. As Tulio and Chel board the boat, they see smoke on the horizon and realize Cortés is close. Knowing what will happen if Cortés discovers the city, Tulio suggests using the boat to ram rock pillars under the waterfall and block the main entrance to the city. The plan succeeds with the citizens pulling over a statue in the boat's wake to give it enough speed. As the statue starts to fall too quickly, Tulio has difficulty in preparing the boat's sail. Giving up on staying in the city, Miguel and Altivo jump onto the boat to unfurl the sails, assuring the boat clears the statue in time. The group successfully crashes against the pillars, causing a cave-in but losing all their gifts in the process. They hide near the totem just as Cortés' men and Tzekel-Kan arrive. When they find the entrance blocked, Cortés brands Tzekel-Kan a liar and takes him prisoner as they leave.
Tulio and Miguel, though disappointed they lost the gold (unaware that Altivo still wears the golden horseshoes with which he was outfitted in El Dorado), head in a different direction for a new adventure with Chel.
Voice cast[edit]
- Kevin Kline as Tulio, one of the con artists who pretend to be gods so they can get gold. He is the strategic planner, often becoming anxious and overthinking things.
- Kenneth Branagh as Miguel, one of the con artists who pretend to be gods so they can get gold. He is more relaxed and easygoing than his con-partner Tulio.
- Rosie Perez as Chel, a beautiful native woman from El Dorado who discovers Tulio and Miguel's con and decides to play along in an effort to get out from El Dorado.
- Armand Assante as Tzekel-Kan, the fanatically vicious high priest who has a religious fixation for human sacrifices.
- Edward James Olmos as Chief Tannabok, the kind chief of El Dorado who believes that Tulio and Miguel are gods, though he at one point implies that he has figured out Miguel is not actually a god, though only after Miguel demonstrates kindness to his people.
- Jim Cummings as Hernán Cortés, the merciless and ambitious conquistador leader of the expedition to find the empires of the New World. He also voices the cook on Cortes's ship, a warrior who gets stepped on Tzekel Kan's stone jaguar, and the native who warns Chief Tannabok about Cortés.
- Frank Welker as Altivo, Cortés' horse who befriends Tulio and Miguel.
- Tobin Bell as Zaragoza, a sailor on the voyage to the New World of El Dorado and the original owner of the map, which he loses to Tulio and Miguel after a game of dice.
- Duncan Marjoribanks as Acolyte.
- Elijah Chiang as Kid #1.
- Cyrus Shaki-Khan as Kid #2.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Shortly before the public announcement of DreamWorks SKG in October 1994, former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg had met with screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and gave them a copy of Hugh Thomas's book, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes and the Fall of Old Mexico desiring to make an animated film set in the Age of Discovery. By the spring of 1995, Elliott and Rossio devised a story treatment inspired by the Bob Hope and Bing CrosbyRoad films with self-interested, comedic anti-heroes who would set out to find the Lost City of Gold after acquiring a map to its location.[3][4]Will Finn and David Silverman were originally the film's directors with a tentative release scheduled for fall 1999.[5] Originally, the story was conceived as a dramatic film due to Katzenberg's penchant for large-scale animated films, which conflicted with the film's lighthearted elements. This version of the story had Miguel initially conceived as a raunchy Sancho Panza-like character who died, but came back to life so much that the natives assumed he was a god, as well as steamier love sequences and scantly clothing designed for Chel.[6] In Elliott and Rossio's treatment, the film was meant to end with Miguel and Tulio saving the Mayan people from Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés who would abandon their civilization to live in the nearby jungle amidst the tragic backdrop of the destruction of their culture.[3]
However, while The Prince of Egypt was in production, Katzenberg decided that their next animated project should be a departure from its serious, adult approach, and desired for the film to be an adventure comedy.[7] Because of this, the film was put on hold, where it was jokingly referred to as El Dorado: The Lost City on Hold due to several rewrites.[6] Miguel and Tulio were rewritten as petty swindlers, and the setting of the film was changed to a more luscious paradise.[7] Additionally, the romance was toned down, and new clothing was designed for Chel. Producer Bonnie Radford explained, 'We originally thought it would be rated PG-13 and so we skewed it to that group..But then we thought we could not exclude the younger kids so we had to tone the romance down.'[6] Finn and Silverman left the project in 1998 following disputes over the film's creative direction,[4] and were replaced by Don Paul and Eric 'Bibo' Bergeron.[6] Additionally, Katzenberg himself reportedly co-directed the film albeit uncredited.[8]
Casting[edit]
On August 15, 1998, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, and Rosie Perez had signed onto the film.[9] Because the characters and film drew from the Bob Hope and Bing CrosbyRoad to .. films, producer Bonne Radford remarked that '[t]he buddy relationship [between the duo] is the very heart of the story. They need each other because they're both pretty inept. They're opposites — Tulio is the schemer and Miguel is the dreamer. Their camaraderie adds to the adventure; you almost don't need to know where they're going or what they're after, because the fun is in the journey.' Unusual for an animated film, Kline and Branagh recorded their lines in the same studio room together, in order for the two to achieve more realistic chemistry. This resulted in a good deal of improvised dialogue, some of which ended up in the film.[10]
Animation[edit]
Early into production, a team of designers, animators, producers, and Katzenberg embarked on research trips to Mexico where they studied ancient Mayan cities of Tulum, Chichen Itza, and Uxmal in hopes of making the film's architecture look authentic.[6] By January 1997, one hundred animators were assigned onto the project.[11] However, because the animation department was occupied with The Prince of Egypt, the studio devoted more animators and resources on the film than on Road to El Dorado.[4][6]
Music[edit]
Marylata Jacob, who started DreamWorks' music department in 1995, became the film's music supervisor before the script was completed. Consulting with Katzenberg, Jacob decided the musical approach to the film would be world music.[12] In late 1996, Tim Rice and Elton John were asked to compose seven songs, which they immediately worked on.[13] Their musical process began with Rice first writing the song lyrics, and giving them to John to compose the music. John then recorded a demo, which was given to the animators whom storyboarded to the demo, as the tempo and vocals would remain intact. Eventually, the filmmakers decided not to follow the traditional musical approach by having the characters sing. Co-producer Bonne Radford explained, 'We were trying to break free of that pattern that had been kind of adhered to in animation and really put a song where we thought it would be great..and get us through some story points.'[12] On February 20, 1999, before the release of Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, it was announced that ten songs had been composed for El Dorado, and that the release date had been pushed to March 2000.[14]
Soundtrack[edit]
The Road to El Dorado | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | March 14, 2000 | |||
Recorded | 1997-99 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Rock, pop | |||
Length | 62:14 | |||
Label | DreamWorks Records | |||
Producer | Patrick Leonard, Hans Zimmer, Gavin Greenaway | |||
Elton John chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Road to El Dorado | ||||
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The Road to El Dorado is an album released by singer Elton John to accompany the DreamWorks animated motion picture The Road to El Dorado. The songs were composed mainly by John with lyricist Tim Rice, with score contributions by Hans Zimmer and John Powell. John, Rice, and Zimmer had previously collaborated on the soundtrack to Disney's The Lion King, another animated film. Zimmer had also previously composed the music score to The Prince of Egypt.
In some instances (such as 'The Trail We Blaze'), the songs have been altered musically and vocally from the way they appeared in the film. A 'Cast & Crew Special Edition' recording of the soundtrack exists, but was never released to the public. It includes the theatrical versions of the songs, including 'It's Tough to be a God' recorded by Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh, and several of the score tracks by Hans Zimmer.
The Backstreet Boys provided backing vocals on 'Friends Never Say Goodbye',[15] but were uncredited due to record label problems.[citation needed] The group is 'thanked' by John following the credits in the CD booklet. The Eagles members Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit are credited as background vocalists on the song 'Without Question'.
Track listing[edit]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | 'El Dorado' | Elton John, Tim Rice | 4:22 |
2. | 'Someday Out of the Blue (Theme from El Dorado)' | Elton John, Patrick Leonard, Tim Rice | 4:48 |
3. | 'Without Question' (featuring Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit) | Elton John, Tim Rice | 4:47 |
4. | 'Friends Never Say Goodbye' (featuring Backstreet Boys) | Elton John, Tim Rice | 4:21 |
5. | 'The Trail We Blaze' | Elton John, Tim Rice | 3:54 |
6. | '16th Century Man' | Elton John, Tim Rice | 3:40 |
7. | 'The Panic in Me' | Elton John, Tim Rice, Hans Zimmer | 5:40 |
8. | 'It's Tough to Be a God' (Duet with Randy Newman) | Elton John, Tim Rice | 3:50 |
9. | 'Trust Me' | Elton John, Tim Rice | 4:46 |
10. | 'My Heart Dances' | Elton John, Tim Rice | 4:51 |
11. | 'Queen of Cities (El Dorado II)' | Elton John, Tim Rice | 3:56 |
12. | 'Cheldorado' (with Heitor Pereira) | Hans Zimmer | 4:26 |
13. | 'The Brig' (with Triology) | Hans Zimmer | 2:58 |
14. | 'Wonders of the New World (To Xibalba / Save El Dorado / The Ball Game)' | John Powell | 5:56 |
Best Buy exclusive tracks | |||
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No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
15. | 'Perfect Love' | Elton John, Tim Rice | 4:09 |
16. | 'Hey, Armadillo' | Elton John, Tim Rice | 3:46 |
Release[edit]
Marketing[edit]
The film was first revealed in a double trailer with fellow DreamWorks animated feature Chicken Run on the home video of The Prince of Egypt. It was accompanied by a promotional campaign by Burger King.[16]
Home media[edit]
The Road to El Dorado was released on DVD and VHS on December 12, 2000. The DVD release includes an audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, music video of 'Someday Out of Blue', production notes, interactive games, and trailers and television spots.[17] In July 2014, the film's distribution rights were purchased by DreamWorks Animation from Paramount Pictures (owners of the pre-2005 DreamWorks Pictures catalog)[18] and transferred to 20th Century Fox before reverting to Universal Studios in 2018. Because of this, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment subsequently released the film on Blu-ray on January 22, 2019.[19]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 48% based on 104 reviews and an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, 'Predictable story and thin characters made the movie flat.'[20] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 51 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating 'mixed or average reviews'.[21] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of 'B+' on an A+ to F scale.[22]
Reviewing for the Chicago Tribune, Michael Wilmington summarized that 'This movie is fun to watch in ways that most recent cartoons aren't. It's also more adult, though it's the same cartoonish sensuality as the original 'Road' movies, with their heavily coded prurience. It's a high-spirited movie, though it's not for all tastes. The John-Rice score isn't as rousingly on-target as The Lion King. The script, while clever, often seems too cute and show-biz snazzy, not emotional enough.'[23]Lisa Schwarzbaum, reviewing for Entertainment Weekly, remarked that 'this trip down The Road to El Dorado proceeds under the speed limit all the way. Our Tulio and Miguel aren't big enough, nor strong enough, nor funny enough to buckle any swashes. They're as lost to us as the lost city into which they stumble.'[24] Similarly, animation historian Charles Solomon remarked on the lack of character development writing 'Tulio and Miguel move nicely, but the animators don't seem to have any more idea who they are than the audience does. Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh supply their voices, but the characters say and do similar things in similar ways. Who can tell them apart?'[25]Paul Clinton of CNN wrote, 'The animation is uninspiring and brings nothing new to the table of animation magic,' praising the Elton John/Tim Rice songs, but noting the weak plot.[26]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four and commented that although it wasn't 'as quirky as Antz or as grown up as The Prince of Egypt', it was 'bright and has good energy, and the kinds of witty asides that entertain the adults in between the margins of the stuff for the kids.'[27]Joel Siegel, reviewing on the television program Good Morning America, called it 'solid gold,' claiming the film was 'paved with laughs.'[28] Jay Boyar of the Orlando Sentinel stated 'The Road to El Dorado is borderline entertaining, I suppose, with animation that is, at times, truly impressive. And if the six Elton John/Tim Rice songs are thoroughly forgettable, they lack sufficient distinction to actually become annoying.'[29]
Box office[edit]
The film grossed $12,846,652 on opening weekend ranking second behind Erin Brockovich's third weekend.[30][31] The film closed on June 29, 2000, after earning $50,863,742 in the United States and Canada and $25,568,985 overseas for a worldwide total of $76,432,727. Based on its total gross, The Road to El Dorado was a box-office bomb, unable to recoup its $95 million budget.[1]
Accolades[edit]
Award | Category | Winner/Nominee Recipient(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Annie Awards[32] | Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature | Nominated | |
Individual Achievement in Storyboarding | Jeff Snow (Story supervisor) | Nominated | |
Individual Achievement in Production Design | Christian Schellewald (Production Designer) | Nominated | |
Individual Achievement in Character Animation | David Brewster (Senior Supervising animator - Miguel) | Nominated | |
Individual Achievement in Character Animation | Rodolphe Guendonen (Supervising Animator - Chel) | Nominated | |
Individual Achievement in Effects Animation | Doug Ikeler (Effects Lead - Crashing the Gate) | Nominated | |
Individual Achievement in Voice Acting | Armand Assante ('Tzekel-Kan') | Nominated | |
Individual Achievement in Music | Hans Zimmer (Music) John Powell (Music) | Nominated | |
Critics' Choice Awards[33] | Best Composer | Hans Zimmer | Won |
Saturn Awards | Best Music | Hans Zimmer and John Powell | Nominated |
Video game[edit]
Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado was the video game tie-in, developed by Revolution Software, released on PlayStation, Game Boy Color, and Microsoft Windows.[34]
The PlayStation and Microsoft Windows version of the game is drastically different to the Game Boy Color version. The main difference between the two games is that the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows version is a 3D adventure game, while the Game Boy Color version is a more traditional 2D side-scrolling platformer.[34]
Versions of the game were intended to be released for the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast, but were eventually cancelled.[35][36]
Reception | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The PlayStation version received 'unfavorable' reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[53]
Game Boy Color version[edit]
This version of the game is an 8-bit 2D side-scrolling platformer, where the player takes control of either Tulio or Miguel. The main objective in the first part of the game is to find nine separate map pieces that will eventually lead to the lost city of El Dorado. The player explores many settings in each different level such as a Spanish town, a ship, jungles, caves or the city of El Dorado. During the gameplay, there are two choices for weapons, a sword, the close range option, or bags, which can be thrown at enemies from a distance. Throughout each level, there are many bags which can be picked up, and replenish the 'ammunition' count of the player. While moving through the different settings, you must fight off animals, plants, human enemies, or evading natural dangers. Inside each level there are many things to collect such as extra lives, or coins, which help boost the player's score.
References[edit]
- ^ abc'The Road to El Dorado (2000)'. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^Scahtz, Sharon (April 1, 2000). 'Paving the Musical Road to El Dorado'. Animation World Network. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- ^ abTed Elliott and Terry Rossio (April 27, 2013). 'Interview: Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio' (Interview). Interviewed by MJ Simpson. Blogger. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ^ abcLaporte, Nicole. 'Rolling'. The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks. Mariner Books. pp. 208–9. ISBN978-0547520278.
- ^Aleiss, Angela (January 24, 1999). 'Animated Features of a Different Hue'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
The movie features the voices of Edward James Olmos, Armand Assante and Rosie Perez and is tentatively scheduled for a fall release.
- ^ abcdefMunoz, Lorenza (March 29, 2000). 'Bumpy Road to 'El Dorado''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^ abPezsko, J. Paul (March 1, 2000). 'El Dorado: The Old World Meets the New in Tradigital Animation'. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^Solomons, Jason (July 5, 2004). 'Me and my troll'. The Guardian. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ^Beck, Marilyn; Smith, Stacy Jenel (August 6, 1998). 'Heard But Not Seen'. Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original(Subscription required) on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
- ^Barbara and Scott Siegel (March 29, 2000). 'Theater News: Kevin Kline & Kenneth Branagh'. TheaterMania.com.
- ^Fabrikant, Geraldine (January 20, 1997). 'Despite a Sluggish Beginning, DreamWorks is Viewed as a Potential Hollywood Power'. The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
- ^ abSchatz, Sharon (April 1, 2000). 'Paving the Musical Road to El Dorado'. Animation World Network. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^'The Road to El Dorado'. timrice.co.uk. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
- ^'Rocket to Launch Tim Rice, Elton John's 'Aida''. Billboard. Google Books. 118 (8): 76. February 20, 1999. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^'The Road to El Dorado'. Tbook.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
- ^'Travel Down 'The Road To El Dorado' With BURGER KING(R) For An Exciting Adventure Full Of Fun And Glory' (Press release). Miami: PRNewswire. Burger King. March 30, 2000. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^DeMott, Rick (December 13, 2000). 'The Road To El Dorado Leads To Home Video'. Animation World Network. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^Chney, Alexandra (July 29, 2014). 'DreamWorks Animation Q2 Earnings Fall Short of Estimates, SEC Investigation Revealed'. Variety. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
- ^The Road to El Dorado Blu-ray, retrieved November 23, 2018
- ^'The Road to El Dorado (2000)'. Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^'The Road to El Dorado Reviews'. Metacritic.
- ^'CinemaScore'. cinemascore.com.[not in citation given]
- ^Wilmington, Michael (March 30, 2000). 'Taking The High 'Road''. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^Schwarzbaum, Lisa (April 7, 2000). 'The Road to El Dorado'. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^Solomon, Charles (May 31, 2000). 'For Good Animation, It's Always a Question of Character'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^Clinton, Paul (April 3, 2000). 'Review: Little gold in this 'El Dorado''. CNN. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
- ^Ebert, Roger (March 31, 2000). 'The Road To El Dorado'. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
- ^'Road to El Dorado newspaper ad April 8 2000'. Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
- ^Boyar, Jay (March 31, 2000). 'Road Trip With Few Surprises'. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^Natale, Richard (April 3, 2000). 'A 'Beauty' of a Weekend for Oscar Winner'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^'Weekend Box Office Results for March 31-April 2, 2000'. Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. April 3, 2000. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
- ^'Legacy: 28th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (2000)'. The Annie Awards. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
- ^Armstrong, Mark (December 19, 2000). 'Broadcast Critics Eat Crowe'. E! Online UK. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
- ^ ab'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado'. Gamespot. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
- ^'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado (Dreamcast)'. IGN. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
- ^'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado (PlayStation 2)'. IGN. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
- ^Lacey, Robert (October 3, 2008). 'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado'. Adventure Gamers. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^Woods, Nick. 'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado (GBC) - Review'. AllGame. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
- ^'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado (PS)'. Electronic Gaming Monthly. March 2001. Archived from the original on March 9, 2001. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^'[Gold and Glory: The] Road to El Dorado (GBC)'. Game Informer (89). September 2000.
- ^Reiner, Andrew (February 2001). '[Gold and Glory:] The Road to El Dorado (PS)'. Game Informer (94). Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^Sanders, Shawn (February 2001). 'Gold & Glory: The Road to El Dorado Review (PS)'. Game Revolution. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^Provo, Frank (May 25, 2000). 'The Road to El Dorado Review (GBC)'. GameSpot. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^Villoria, Gerald (January 24, 2001). 'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado Review (PS)'. GameSpot. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^Nix, Marc (June 21, 2000). 'Road to El Dorado Review (GBC)'. IGN. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^Peterson, Erik (January 30, 2001). 'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado (PC)'. IGN. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^Zdyrko, David (March 5, 2001). 'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado (PS)'. IGN. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^'Gold & Glory: The Road to El Dorado'. Nintendo Power. 133. June 2000.
- ^Steinman, Gary (March 2001). 'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado (PS)'. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Archived from the original on April 10, 2001. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
- ^'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado for Game Boy Color'. GameRankings. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado for PC'. GameRankings. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado for PlayStation'. GameRankings. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ ab'Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado for PlayStation Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Road to El Dorado |
- The Road to El Dorado on IMDb
- The Road to El Dorado at The Big Cartoon DataBase
- The Road to El Dorado at AllMovie
- The Road to El Dorado at Box Office Mojo
- The Road to El Dorado at Rotten Tomatoes
- Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado (Game Boy Color) at MobyGames
- Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado at MobyGames
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Road_to_El_Dorado&oldid=904051735'
Platforms: | PC |
Publisher: | Light & Shadow Production |
Developer: | Revolution Software |
Genres: | Adventure / Action Adventure |
Release Date: | December 28, 2000 |
Game Modes: | Singleplayer |
You won’t find many quality games based on movies, and those based on animated shows are even fewer. On the face of it, Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado, appeared to be among the few with real potential. Created back in 2000 on the animated movie with the same name, the game is a lighthearted adventure that tangentially reminds one of swashbuckling pirates from another comedic game. It isn’t completely without merit, and surprise either since the creators behind it also worked on the Broken Sword games.
The story will feel familiar to those who have watched the animated show. It follows Miguel and Tulio and their adventures of saving El Dorado from the clutches of Cortez. Granted, they don’t want to do this selflessly, as the journey should reward them with plenty of riches. The game is played from pre-rendered backdrops similar to Grim Fandango or Escape from Monkey Island. Starting out in Spain, the duo have to find a ship to take them to their destination. Along the way they encounter pretty simple run-of-the-mill puzzles, probably to keep it mellow for the game’s target demographic. But the problems in El Dorado are always fun, and the solutions humorous.
El Dorado was first released for the console market, so it doesn’t make use of the mouse. For young computer users this means that some keyboard dexterity is required for character navigation. Mostly this navigation is at an annoyingly slow pace, save for the finale where some speed is required. There are also 9 or 10 keystrokes to memorize including the arrow keys for navigation and others for inventory access, for running and crouching and for interacting with the game world. Very usefully, objects that can be interacted with flash brightly. It’s still not an optimal replacement for a point and click interface, but it works.
System Requirements: Pentium 100 MHz, 16 MB RAM, Win95
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/TheRoadToEldorado
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For example when I type @ I have to use the apostrophe key and for the ” I have to us that At key.I have done exactly what is advised using numerous you tube and other tutorials how to fix this but the keyboard still stays the same. Does the keyboard light up on the sds 100.
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A traditionally-animated 2000 film by DreamWorks Animation, The Road to El Dorado follows the adventures of Spaniards Tulio and Miguel as they try to con and cheat their way to fame and fortune. A game of chance earns them a Treasure Map which seems to point the way to El Dorado: the lost 'City of Gold.'
Two con men and (mis)adventurers named Tulio (voiced by Kevin Kline) and Miguel (voiced by Kenneth Branagh) stow away by accident on theHernán Cortés's flagship, and their escape strands them in the New World with only Cortez's horse and the treasure map for company. Seeking enough gold to 'buy Spain', they set off into the jungles of Central America, where they'll find something worth much more than treasure.
According to the producers, after seeing so many animated features whose heroes were upstaged by more memorable sidekicks, they decided to just cut out the typical 'hero' characters and center the film on Those Two Guys in the first place. With the plot of The Man Who Would Be King. With songs by Elton John, reunited with lyricist Tim Rice and composer Hans Zimmer after all three had worked on another little animated movie.
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As might be expected from the title and the two con-artists traveling plotline, the film is heavily influenced by the Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour series of Road to .. films of the 1940s.
Trailers: Teaser Trailer, Theatrical Trailer, Home Video Trailer
This film provides examples of:
- Achilles in His Tent: Miguel, after a fight with Tulio, decides to stay in El Dorado while Tulio and Chel sail back to Spain. When he sees that they're about to be crushed by a giant pillar, he rushes back to save them.
- Adipose Rex: Chief Tannabok, who is obese but still fit enough to walk to the top of the temple, while Miguel, Tulio and Altivo are all left breathless.
- Air Quotes: Used by Tzekel-Kan when he sicks the jaguar statue on Miguel and Tulio, sarcastically emphasising 'divinity' towards them.Tzekel-Kan: Now everyone will know the truth of your 'divinity'!
- All There in the Manual: The tie-ins reveal the armadillo's name: Bibo.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Of all kinds. Particularly of note are the animals seen within El Dorado, including gigantic catfish and tall, but friendly, flightless birds. Truth in Television for a tropical rain forest environment!
- Anachronism Stew: The story is supposed to begin in 1519, which makes several bits of costume and equipment inappropriate:
- Fashion in general is way too ahead of its time. For example, ruff collars and trunk hose for men didn't catch on until a couple decades later.
- The main characters make mention of the peseta as a currency. The peseta wasn't introduced until 1869, exactly 350 years after the time the movie is set in. (The Spain-Spanish dub corrects this to the period-appropriate maravedí and doblón.)
- Those ultra thin cup-hilted rapiers used by the guards in Seville didn't exist until the mid 17th century. In the time of Cortez the rapier was still in its embryonic stages, differing hardly at all from the medieval knightly sword apart from the ricasso and some extra bars on the hilt.
- The morion helmets worn by Cortez and his conquistadors were a fashion of the second half of the 16th century and the early 17th. Cortez' troops probably wore sallets, kettle hats, and burgonets.
- Cortez stated that once they touch land, Tulio and Miguel would be sent to Cuba to work as slaves on sugar cane fields. The cultivation of sugar cane in Cuba began in the 18th century. In the 16th century, the name of Cuba was 'Isla Juana'.
- Altivo's apple can be seeing bouncing off a telescope on Cortez's ship. The telescope was not invented until the early 1600s in the Netherlands.
- Tzekel-Kan's use of Air Quotes at one point, which are a relatively modern thing that certainly wasn't in use in any Mayan society, much less in the 1500s. Their hieroglyphic writing system didn't even have anything resembling quotation marks.
- When Tulio stops Chel from giving him a backrub, he holds his hands in a 'T' shape for 'time-out'.
- The various characters using 'Okay,' which wasn't a slang term until the mid-1800s.
- And the Adventure Continues: After sealing off the entrance to El Dorado so Cortez can't get to it, Miguel, Tulio and Chel ride off into the sunset in search of their next adventure.-
- Artistic License – Geography: The legend of El Dorado has nothing to do with Central America or a tropical, jungle locale. El Dorado comes from Colombia at the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, which features perennial woodland and dry cold. Not quite as romantic in reality.
- Artistic License – Geology: Aside from being pure Rule of Funny, there is no possible way for a volcano to reverse the eruption process as it did when Miguel and Tulio arrived at El Dorado.
- Artistic License – History: Let's be serious. This movie resembles Cortez's campaign as much as The Magic Voyage resembles Columbus' first travel. Though, of course, that's not the point.
- Awesome, but Impractical: The giant stone jaguar, while terrifyingly strong and fast, doesn't fare too well as a weapon. It can't turn as fast as its prey, can't fit through tight spaces, and ultimately proves quite fragile — after only a few minutes of chasing Tulio and Miguel its eye is damaged and its lower jaw is visibly dislocated.
- Bad Boss: Tzekel-Kan, who kicks his loyal acolyte into the magic pool as part of the Human Sacrifice needed to bring the jaguar statue to life. He could've gotten anyone else but chose to just immediately resort to killing his only truly loyal follower.
- Bare Your Midriff: Chel. Justified since it's local attire.
- Big Bad: Starts off as a Big-Bad Ensemble between Tzekel-Kan (a High Priest who's a little too sacrifice-happy) and Hernàn Cortez (attempted conqueror of El Dorado), but Cortez wins.
- Big Damn Heroes: When it seems like Tulio and Chel's ship won't make it past the falling pillar, Miguel rides Altivo towards the ship to give him the impulse he needs to jump and pull the sail down so the ship can go faster and avoid certain death.
- Big Fun: Chief Tannabok is significantly fatter than anyone else in the city, and he's also far kinder than Tzekel-Kan.
- Big 'NO!': Tzekel-Kan yells 'No!' when he is about to fall into the maelstrom during his battle with Miguel and Tulio.
- Big Word Shout: Tulio yells 'STOP!' apparently stopping a volcano from erupting.
- Blood Magic: Tzekel-Kan seems to power his magic with human sacrifice during the Jaguar rite scene. However his lack of knowledge for the main ingredient (body) suggests that he didn't do it very often and that most of the Human Sacrifice attempts he made were purely for ideological and psychological reasons rather than any magical and practical profit.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: 'I am Miguel.' 'And I am Tulio.' 'And they call us Miguel and Tulio.'
- Brief Accent Imitation: Tulio briefly imitates Miguel's British accent at the end. note Tulio: You had to be all 'Oh, look at me, look at me, I'm a god.'
- Buffy Speak:
- When trying to get Altivo to find them a pry-bar.Miguel: All you have to do is find a pry-bar! A long piece of iron with a hooky-thing at the end!
- Later when trying to explain why the boat is unacceptable.Miguel: I have been around boats, believe me. And that, um.. pointy tall.. the-the-the long up and- up and down thing..
Chief Tannabok: The mast?
- When trying to get Altivo to find them a pry-bar.
- Call-Back: Miguel and Tulio appearing to fight each other to get out of trouble. Works on Spanish soldiers AND crazy Aztec priests.
- Card Sharp: Or more specifically Dice Sharp; their source of income is pretty much Tulio's trusty loaded dice. It is mentioned in the novelisation that his preferred targets were the wealthy and corrupt.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Both inverted and played straight. Miguel and Tulio do get into serious trouble for using loaded dice, but, on the other hand, if they hadn't cheated they wouldn't have gotten to El Dorado in the first place. Later on, cheating at the ball game saved their bacon. Then again, it only delayed things since it directly led to the Big Bad coming after them.
- The Chew Toy: Tulio takes a lot of amusing injuries during the 'Trail We Blaze' sequence.
- Comically Missing the Point: Cortez goes into a detailed explanation of exactly how Miguel and Tulio will be punished, culminating in their being sold into slavery when they arrive in Cuba. Miguel's response?
- Con Man: Both Miguel and Tulio made a living as grifters before getting swept up in their adventure.
- Conspicuous CGI: I hear CGI Gold is the best kind of gold.
- Justified Trope: They wrote special animation software to make the gold look 'gold' rather than merely 'yellow'.
- The barrels the duo hide in are also CGI.
- There's a lot of this, since many of the backgrounds are CGI.
- Contrived Coincidence: The guy the duo gambles against happens to have a map to El Dorado just as the Spanish Fleet is leaving for South America, the duo happen to wash up right on its shores after days adrift at sea, a thief just happened to be escaping El Dorado just as our heroes were leaving for Spain, and a volcanic eruption happens (and cancels itself) just as the duo are asked for proof of their divinity.
- Convection Schmonvection: Slightly averted as when Tulio and Miguel are escaping the stone jaguar by a lava pool, they're shown sweating.
- Cue the Rain: When Miguel and Tulio are adrift at sea with no food or water.
- Deadpan Snarker: Tulio, Miguel, and Chel. Well, it is a film about the sidekicks instead of the heroes..
- Death Glare:
- Tulio gives several of these to Miguel for digging them deeper into trouble.
- Miguel himself gives a truly awesome one after his Shut Up, Hannibal! speech.
- Cortez, too, is good at these.
- Disney Acid Sequence: The 'It's Tough to Be a God' party sequence gets pretty acidy near the end, where it's implied that they'd had a LOT to drink and smoke, and the wine/alcohol they'd been drinking was probably fairly strong, given that Tulio looks gobsmacked when he first takes a drink and Miguel spits it out.
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- Disneyesque: Sort of. While the animation is clearly as fluid and well-drawn as Disney films, it does break the mold of the Disney School of Mime and Acting with some of the more unique facial expressions, and follows DreamWorks in-house angular character design style. The much more adult-oriented humor is also very anti-Disney.
- Disney Villain Death: Despite the perfect timing and the circumstances under which it happened ultimately averted. See 'Karmic Death' below.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Cortez plans to have Miguel and Tulio flogged and sold into slavery, all for accidentally stowing away on his ship.
- Does Not Like Shoes: Chel goes barefoot throughout the film.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- The scene where Tzekel-Kan completes the potion that summons the huge jaguar stone-beast-thing. Orgasm much?
- Speaking of orgasm face, Tulio really gets into that massage he gives Chel.
- Double-Edged Answer: Tulio and Miguel manage to sneak off Cortez's ship with enough food to get back to Spain, with the unexpected event of Altivo jumping off the ship in chase of an apple. After saving themselves, the horse, and the boat, Altivo eats all of their food within seconds.Tulio: Did any of the provisions make it?
Miguel:[looks and sees Altivo eating] Well, yes and no.. - Ear Worm: The opening theme. It even appears to be one in-universe, since Chel hums it casually while blackmailing Tulio and Miguel.
- Easter Egg: When Tzekel-Kan is flicking through his codex, one of the pictures is a boy fishing from a moon.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Chel does this while watching Miguel and Tulio undress.
- Eternal English: Played completely straight. Everybody - even the people of El Dorado - speaks English (though, being generous, it could be eternal Spanish).
- Gets confusing when Chel needs to translate certain words for Tulio and Miguel, like the word for 'spirit world'.
- Even more confusing when Miguel and Tulio first find the entrance to El Dorado.. and, not seeing the city itself, Tulio remarks that El Dorado must mean 'Great Big Rock' in the native language. 'El Dorado' is a Spanish term, not a Mesoamerican one. The main characters speak Spanish, but apparently don't recognize a simple Spanish term, mistaking it for a term in the native language of the city.. which refers to itself by that same Spanish term.
- Eye Scream: Altivo kicks the jaguar in one of its gem eyes, which damages it and seems to shock and hurt Tzekel-Kan.
- Facepalm: Chel makes one when Miguel and Tulio agree to send the gold to Xibalba.
- Fanservice: Equal opportunity fanservice, no less. In addition to Chel's many lovelyassets, there are plenty of scenes that show off the verynice bodies of Miguel and Tulio, including a changing scene bordering on Male Frontal Nudity.
- They even lampshade it, with Tulio asking Chel (who is watching them change) 'Do you mind?' She responds 'No', and bites her lip.
- Faux Affably Evil: Tzekel-Kan, even after he discovers Miguel and Tulio aren't gods, maintains a veneer of civility.
- Faux Symbolism: Invoked; Cortés claims that his crew was 'as carefully chosen as the disciples of Christ.'
- Feud Episode: Tulio and Miguel nearly split up over Tulio's relationship with Chel. (And over Miguel deciding he'd rather stay in El Dorado than go back to Spain with Tulio)
- Flynning: Justified when Tulio and Miguel do it deliberately during a rapier swordfight with each other, then reveal it's all a ploy to avoid being arrested.Tulio: Ladies and gentlemen, we've decided it's a draw!
Miguel: Thank you all for coming! You've been great, see you soon!
Tulio: Adios!- The way it's staged suggests that they've done it before, and considering the film being set in the early 1500s (and the rapier being a civilian weapon) it's likely that both are in reality adequate fencers.
- From Bad to Worse: Lampshaded when the two of them (and the horse) are stranded on the rowboat in the Atlantic:Miguel: Look on the positive side. At least things can't get—
[Massive thunderstorm starts]
Tulio: Excuse me. Were you going to say 'worse'?
Miguel: Absolutely not. I've revised that whole thing.
[Scene ends with a pan out showing sharks approaching] - The Fundamentalist: Tzekel-Kan's aim is to execute as many of those in El Dorado that he sees as wretched in the form of human sacrifice to appease the gods.
- Funny Background Event:
- Miguel playing his mandolin during the gambling scenes.
- Hee hee◊
- When they first enter the city, Altivo mouths 'El Dorado!' along with Tulio and Miguel.
- Gambling Brawl: When Tulio and Miguel were caught cheating with loaded dice, the two knew that they were in for a brawl so they started accusing each other, and began a fight with each other, using the guards' swords. They used this fight to get away from the guards and the angry gamblers.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: Lots.
- When Chel seduces Tulio.Chel:[alarmed]The High Priest?! What's he going to think when if he finds one of the gods like this with me?!
Tulio:[dazed] Uh.. lucky god? - 'HOLY.. SHIP!'
- SO MANY lines and moments - but when Tulio starts talking about 'Ascending Horizontally,' even Miguel gets in on the joke.
- There's a surprisingly easy-to-miss one right at the beginning: During the opening song, a pair of armadillos meet, sniff each other's noses, and disappear into a bush. The bush shakes around a bit and a moment later the two armadillos pop out again.. followed by a bunch of babies.
- It could just be an animation slip-up, but much has been made of the fact that when Tulio and Chel's makeout session is interrupted, her head is nowhere near his lips. And it doesn't help that she's clearly straddling him as we see her move her leg to get off of him.
- And then there's Chel moaning when Tulio massages her shoulders, before he says, 'Oh yeah.'
- Right before the natives address them when they first arrive, Miguel apologizes to Tulio about a past girl. Tulio's mouth clearly starts to form the F-word right before Tzekel-Kan interrupts. (And the subtitle confirms it: 'So you f—')
- During the 'Trail We Blaze' section Miguel and Tulio are both shown stripping down before jumping into the hot springs.
- At one point during 'It's Tough to Be a God', Miguel sings, 'So let's be gods; the perks are great!' He and Tulio promptly fall to the ground, surrounded by women.
- During the early gambling scene.Tulio:[frustrated mumbling] Come on baby, papa needs that crappy map.
- A couple of female background characters in El Dorado aren't wearing anything resembling a shirt under their ponchos.
- When Chel seduces Tulio.
- God Guise: The basis of most of the plot. C'mon, it's a Mayincatec classic.
- God Test: The Doradans challenge the explorers to a ballgame.. two gods against 15 mortals.
- Gold Fever: Downplayed. Tulio really, really loves gold. His more materialistic outlook clashes with Miguel's simple desire for adventure, which creates a rift between them, but he doesn't hesitate to abandon the gold to save El Dorado.
- Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen: When going for a dip Tulio and Miguel's clothing is swiped by monkeys! With fleas!
- Hammerspace
- Lampshaded with Chel, with perhaps a bit of Victoria's Secret Compartment.Tulio: How did you get those?
Miguel: Where was she keeping them? - Played straight when Tzekel-Kan stows his codex under his tunic.
- Lampshaded with Chel, with perhaps a bit of Victoria's Secret Compartment.
- Hard Head: In attempting to figure out an escape plan, Tulio bangs his head on a wooden plank so often over a period of (we must assume) months it leaves a worn, rounded dent in the shape of his forehead.
- Hartman Hips: Chel, almost to the point of parody. Her waist was, tops, twenty inches and her breasts were rather large, considering. Waltz on down below the waist and her hips are at least as wide as her shoulders.
- Headdesk: Tulio is banging his head against a wall to try to figure out a way to escape from Cortez's ship. He appears to get an idea.. but just resumes banging.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Miguel and Tulio are inseparable from the beginning of the film, clearly care deeply for each other, and share massive amounts of Ho Yay. Both are also attracted to Chel.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Human Sacrifice is treated as something the people of El Dorado don't like, but have been led to believe in as a necessary evil. The one person pushing human sacrifice into his culture, Tzekel-Kan, is evil and also uses it secondarily as a form of Blood Magic. There is contradictory evidence about what players of the Mesoamerican ball game were historically sacrificed after, if the losers or the winners, but it seems that (unlike in the film) the sacrifices considered it a honor.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Cortés did not sail to the New World for gold and glory in Real Life. He was sent to trade with the natives. But he overruled his orders for gold and glory, even defeating a Spanish army sent to arrest him in the process. He took Spanish prisoners in that battle, but the idea of enslaving a fellow Christian or Spaniard would have horrified him. He was also a charming diplomat who forged real alliances with some native groups, while in the film he is a humorless hardass who uses the one native who submits to him as a tool to destroy and kill all the others, and betrays him the minute he doesn't get his way.
- Horse of a Different Color: While the main characters do have an actual horse, the people of El Dorado appear to have domesticated gigantic sea turtles that they ride on in the aqueducts through the city.
- Humans Are Bastards: Tzekel-Kan's philosophy is steeped in this: that humans deserve to be sacrificed to the gods because humans are unworthy.
- I Choose to Stay: Subverted. Miguel loves the city, but decides to stay only because he got into a fight with Tulio, who wants to go back to Spain. Eventually, to save Tulio and Chel's lives, he's forced to leave anyway.
- Idiot Hair: Both Miguel and Tulio have it, though the animation style gives their hair a bit more weight and droop than a lot of anime examples.
- Ignored Enemy: Tulio and Miguel ignore the imposing city guard in favour of challenging each other to a duel.. which leads them onto a rooftop and freedom. Later in the film they get into a rather nastier slapfight, to their delight of their ignored opponent Tzekel-Kan and his fifty-foot animated stone jaguar.
- I'm Okay!: Used when a guard encounters the Jaguar's foot. Then he gets stomped:
- Incoming Ham: Tzekel-Kan goes full ham once his plan enters its final phase.Tzekel-Kan: BEHOLD! As the prophesies foretold! The time! Of judgement! IS NOW!!!
- Intellectual Animal: Altivo has canine traits and is capable of sarcasm.
- In the Local Tongue: Provides the page quote.Tulio: Apparently, El Dorado is native for great.. big.. ROCK!!!
- Irony: Cortés boasts that his crew was as carefully chosen as the disciples of Christ. Christ chose his disciples by asking people to drop what they were doing and follow him, and the ones that did became his chosen ones.
- It Has Been an Honor: Tulio and Miguel in the rowboat, where they think that they will soon die. Ham-to-Ham Combat ensues:Tulio: If it's any consolation, Miguel.. you.. made my life.. an adventure! [sobs]
Miguel: And if it's any consolation, Tulio.. you.. made my life.. rich!
Altivo:[rolls eyes] - Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Both Miguel and Tulio. Though Tulio is more of a jerk than Miguel, they both end up saving the city from Cortez and Tzekel-Kan.
- Just a Stupid Accent: Everyone speaks English, period. The Spaniards sound like native-born Americans/Brits, most everyone else speaks with a Central American accent, and Tzekel-Kan has a dialect all his own.
- Karma Houdini: Hernan Cortez suffers no pain or indignities in this story. A foregone conclusion, sadly.
- Karmic Death: Averted at the conclusion of Tzekel-Kan's battle with Tulio and Miguel. Tzekel-Kan falls into the maelstrom along with the stone jaguar he was controlling and is thought to have been killed. However, he is sucked out of the maelstrom into the entrance to El Dorado.
- Keet: Miguel is really excitable.
- Kick the Dog: Tzekel-Kan sacrifices his loyal but not-too-bright right hand man to fuel a spell.
- Knight of Cerebus: While Tzekel-Khan gets some humorous moments, every time Cortez appears, all the humor is drained out. Well, almost every time.
- Knight Templar: Tzekel-Kan wants to purge the city of, what he believes, the wicked and unrighteous citizens of El Dorado.
- Large Ham: Tzekel-Kan: 'BEHOLD! As the prophecies foretold! The TIME of JUDGMENT is NOW!'
- 'MIGHTY AND POWERFUL GODS!'
- [sniffs potion] 'AAAHHH!'
- Miguel and Tulio as well, not that surprising since the former is voiced by a Shakespearean actor and the latter's voiced by the guy who was the lead in the 1983 version of The Pirates of Penzance.
- Last-Second Word Swap: Tulio doesn't do a good job hiding his desires regarding Chel.Tulio: ..free from any tempta— uh, distractions.
- Latin Land: The legend of El Dorado does not come from Central America; just ask a Colombian.
- Lean and Mean: Tzekel-Kan is skinny and enjoys human sacrifice and BLOOD, in contrast to his counterpart, the large, fat and benevolent Chief Tannabok.
- Left the Background Music On: Miguel provides his own soundtrack at numerous points in the film.
- Lighter and Softer: The plot of the movie is based on Rudyard Kipling's 'The Man Who Would Be King,' which was made into a live action movie with Sean Connery and Michael Caine. The original story and the live adaptation are significantly darker. Each of the two con-men there is a violent and ruthless Villain Protagonist for starters who will do anything to scam the tribe, a sharp contrast to the likable Antiheroes of this film who treat the natives nicely and even started the whole charade primarily out of fear.
- Living Statue: Using powerful magic, Tzekel-Kan brings to life a giant jaguar statue and controls it as a Marionette Master.
- Loads and Loads of Roles: This film gives you your money's worth of Jim Cummings.
- Loud Gulp: When Miguel and Tulio have to play a ball game they've never played before against fifteen of the best players in the city and are expected to win since they are gods.
- Lovable Rogue: Miguel is the closest; stealing and lying most of the time but never being malicious about it and he outright defends strangers without asking for anything in return. Tulio and Chel are both more self-serving but come through in the end.
- Magic Cauldron: Wicked high priest Tzekel-Kan has a bubbling cauldron built into the floor of his workshop. One potion mixed there brings a huge stone jaguar to life, right after adding a Human Sacrifice ingredient.
- Marked Change: Tzekel-Kan gains Tron Lines on his body when he takes control of the stone jaguar.
- Match Cut: Numerous, usually involving something symbolic matched instantly with real version.
- Mayincatec: The native culture is sort of a blend of all the typical Hollywood Aztec/Mayan/Incan traits.
- Meaningful Echo: 'To err is human, to forgive Divine.' First used as a means of appeasing Tzekel-Kan when they dismiss his 'tribute'. Later, said back to Miguel by the Chief, all but saying out loud he knows Miguel isn't a god but doesn't care.
- Meaningful Name:
- Altivo is Spanish for 'arrogant'.
- And Miguel means 'Who is like God'.
- Tulio means 'That who leads'.
Road To El Dorado Part 1
- Mega Neko: When Tzekel-Kan discovers Miguel and Tulio aren't gods, he decides to eliminate them and purge El Dorado himself by animating a massive jaguar statue.
- Mighty Whitey: Averted. From climbing temple stairs to the local sports, Miguel and Tulio are comically out of the natives' league. They can only get anywhere through cheating and duplicity.
- Mr. Fanservice: Both Tulio and Miguel. Their overall attractiveness and the scene where the monkeys steal their clothes attributes to this.
- Ms. Fanservice: Chel. She wear a very skimpy outfit, has huge hips (as demonstrated in a ball-game scene) and openly seduces one of the male Main Characters.
- My Grandma Can Do Better Than You: Variant:Miguel: You fight like my sister!
Tulio:I fought your sister; that's a compliment! - Naked People Are Funny: Tulio and Miguel, naturally, in the scene where the monkeys steal their clothes. Also in the scene where they're changing and Chel is pretending not to peek.
- Non Human Side Kick: Altivo the warhorse is a pretty valuable ally throughout the story and shows a lot of emotions. The armadillo is also helpful during the ball game.
- Noodle Incident:
- Mentioned by Miguel when he thinks he and Tulio are going to die.Miguel: Tulio, I just want you to know, I'm sorry about that girl in Barcelona.
- Possibly, Chel's reasons for leaving El Dorado, which are never clarified, but her facial expression is more than a little suspicious in that instance.Chel: You've got your reasons.. and I've got mine.
- In the junior novelization and storybooks, Tzekel-Kan was about to sacrifice her before the chief stopped him. This scene was the original opening to the movie before it was cut.
- Mentioned by Miguel when he thinks he and Tulio are going to die.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: For a Spaniard, Miguel sounds awfully.. British. And, come to that, Tulio sounds awfully.. American.
- Not in the Face!: Tulio while Flynning.
- Not So Great Escape: Takes on a pronounced zig zag through the beginning of the film: Miguel and Tulio avoid arrest through impressive Flynning only to fall into a bull pen. They make a dramatic exit with the bull mowing down some of their pursuers, jumping off of a high wall into open barrels full of water to elude the others. They pull the lids over themselves, only to be hoisted aboard a ship bound for the New World and have a large, heavy chest piled on top to keep them from getting out. At sea, the chest is removed, they emerge dramatically in full view of the crew, and are promptly locked in irons for an involuntary audience with Cortez. They are thrown in the brig as stowaways and presumably flogged, eventually sneaking out in the dead of night with the help of Altivo's fetching skills. After another dramatic escape when Altivo jumps overboard, all three wind up at sea in a rowboat, dying of starvation and thirst. Fortunately, they miraculously beach themselves a stone's throw away from a landmark in their map to El Dorado.
- Nubile Savage: Chel, who is a very shapely and scantily-clad local of El Dorado.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Around the middle of the movie, Chief Tannabok hints that he already suspected that Miguel and Tulio weren't gods. He probably chooses not to divulge this because the 'gods' presence weakened the high priest's power and put a stop to the human sacrifices, which he was clearly against. The fact they were pretty fun anyway probably helped.
- Ocean Madness: Referenced after Miguel, Tulio, and their horse Altivo have been floating for God-knows how long and then suddenly wash ashore:Miguel: And it is! It really is the map to El Dorado! [he pants with excitement]
Tulio: ..you drank the seawater, didn't you? - Ominous Latin Chanting: Well, ominous chanting, anyway..
- Palm Bloodletting: Tzekel-Khan does this and smears the blood on a carving of the gods to emphasize his realization that Miguel and Tulio are only mortal, because 'Gods don't bleed.'
- Perma-Stubble: Tulio has stubble even when he's in a city and could shave.
- Pet Gets the Keys: From their holding cell onboard ship, Miguel offers Altivo an apple if he will bring them a pry-bar. Just as Tulio is ridiculing him for expecting a horse to understand the words 'pry bar,' Altivo shows up with the cell keys instead.
- Planning with Props: When Tulio tries to formulate a plan for their boat of gold and the pillars that lead to El Dorado, he uses a stack of earrings to represent the pillars and a pendant for the boat. The armadillo spills water over the whole scene, inspiring Tulio to decide to crash the boat into the pillars.
- Plot-Irrelevant Villain: While Cortez is indirectly responsible for Miguel and Tulio winding up at El Dorado, he vanishes from the bulk of the film after the opening, is briefly seen a couple more times and only factors into the plot again very late in the film, with Tzekel-Kan taking over as the main villain for the bulk of the film.
- Pop-Star Composer: Elton John co-wrote and performed all the songs for the movie.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
- Tulio gets to do four of these:Tulio: Apparently, El Dorado is native for.. 'Great. Big.ROCK!!!' [echoes]
Tulio: Get. On. The horse.
Tulio: WHAT. Do you THINK. You're DOING?!
Tulio: ..On the one hand - Gold! On the other hand [points at mural of an execution] - Painful. Agonizing. FAILURE! - Tzekel-Kan gets a much less hammy one.
- Tulio gets to do four of these:
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Miguel uses this on Tulio, who calls it 'The Face', to gamble for the map. It is very effective; Tulio just can't say no.. for long.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Chief Tannabok, who loves his people in spite of the high minister's bloodthirsty religious fervor and accepts Miguel and Tulio even after he figures out on his own that they aren't gods.
- Record Needle Scratch: Atop their temple, looking over the majestic city below, Miguel is gazing out as Tulio is thinking inside.Tulio: We just have to lie low.
Miguel:[beautiful music swells] But Tulio, this place is amazing! I mean I wonder what's-
Tulio: NO! [needle scratch] Don't even move!!! - Recycled In Space.
- The Man Who Would Be King. In cartoon form. In South America. With musical numbers.
- Or any of the Bob Hope / Bing Crosby 'Road' movies AS A CARTOON!
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Miguel and Tulio as well as Tzekel-kan and Chief Tannabok.
- Revealing Injury: Miguel receiving a cut during the ball game is what tips Tzekel-Kan off to their masquerade, as gods don't bleed.
- Riding into the Sunset: The movie ends this way, or rather Chel rides off, with Miguel and Tulio running to catch up after they fall off Altivo.
- Rock Bottom: Miguel keeps trying to find rock bottom but there are still a few things that can be piled on.Miguel: Tulio, look on the positive side! At least things can't get any-
[Cue pouring rain and thunder]
Tulio: Excuse me, were you going to say WORSE?
Miguel: Nnnno.. no.
Tulio: You're sure?
Miguel: Absolutely not, I've revised that whole thing.
Tulio: We're at least in a rowboat.
Miguel: We're in a rowboat, exactly.
[cue Threatening Sharks] - Royals Who Actually Do Something: Chief Tannabok is shown to be thoroughly involved in keeping his city in order, from going out of his way to making the 'Gods' happy to singlehandedlykeeping the pillars from falling over too early at the end.
- Scenery Porn: What'd you expect from the City of Gold? Also present everywhere during the 'Trail We Blaze' sequence.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Miguel and Tulio - they even provide the page image. But, of course, you'd probably react the same way to a giant green stone jaguar breaking out of a temple. But less so when it's Chel.Tulio: Miguel and Tulio!
Miguel: Tulio and Miguel!
Both: Mighty and Powerful Gods!
Chel: Hello!
Both:*squeal* - Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Both Tulio and Miguel prove to care more for people than cold metal. Even if they scammed the whole city with their God Guise, leaving it for Cortez to plunder is beyond them.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Chief Tannabok eventually hints that he figured out Miguel and Tulio aren't gods.
- Shout-Out: The fighting bull that chased Miguel and Tulio looks a lot like the bull that would occasionally pester Bugs Bunny.
- Sinister Minister: Tzekel-Kan is an evil priest. He's also, to a certain extent, The Grand Vizier. Though the chief is not the typical Horrible Judge of Character who lets the Grand Vizier get away with everything; he clearly distrusts and dislikes Tzekel-Kan, and is glad when the gods start speaking for themselves.
- Silent Snarker: Altivo, the eye-rolling horse.
- The Smart Guy: Tulio plans things and keeps Miguel grounded.
- Soft Water: Quite a few scenes, including the scene where Miguel and Tulio get onto the ship.
- Spexico: The aesthetics of El Dorado and its inhabitants are a mixture of different prehispanic cultures of Central America, in order to avoid connecting El Dorado to any particular geographical place. The buildings and temples are a composition of the Mixteco city of Mitla, in modern Oaxaca, Mexico, and the Mayan city of the Palanque. The features of the locals are distinctly Mayan, as well the murals and the Xibalba tradition. The weapons, attires and human sacrifices customs are mostly of Aztec origin. Curiously, even though the inspiration comes from Central and Southern Mexico, the most widely accepted location for the real El Dorado legend was the Amazonian rain forest.
- Spiritual Successor:
- The film is seen by many fans as a Spiritual Successor to the old Hope and Crosby 'Road to ..' movies.
- The connection is referenced in the film itself during 'It's Tough to Be a God,' where Tulio and Miguel's aquatic reflections are briefly made to resemble those of Hope and Crosby.
- To The Lion King, at least production-wise. Producer Jeff Katzenberg recruited Elton John to write the songs because they had enjoyed each other's company while making that film.
- The film is seen by many fans as a Spiritual Successor to the old Hope and Crosby 'Road to ..' movies.
- Stout Strength: Tannabok, easily the fattest person in El Dorado, manages to single-handedly slow the topple of a massive stone pillar by pulling on all the guy ropes at once.
- Stripperiffic: Chel doesn't wear much, but she has the tropical climate as a justification.
- Tempting Fate: Hilariously played with in the scene where Tulio and Miguel are stuck on the rowboat with no food.Miguel: Look on the positive side, at least things can't ge- [immediate thunderstorm]
Tulio:[angry] Excuse me, were you going to say 'worse?'
Miguel: Er.. no.
[hey argue as the camera pulls out to show at least a half dozen sharks following their boat.] - This Way to Certain Death: As soon as Miguel and Tulio make landfall somewhere on the Yucatan Peninsula, they discover on the sandy beach two skeletons, each with glaring evidence of a violent demise. One has a sword through his rib cage that surely would have punctured the pericardial sac. The other has an axe-like implement embedded in his skull.
- Those Two Guys: The entire idea behind the film was to take Those Two Guys and make them into main characters instead of putting them in their normal sidekick role.
- Thwarted Escape: After their impressive display of Flynning to avoid being arrested, Miguel and Tulio drop behind a stone wall, only to find they have fallen into the pen of a huge bull that doesn't seem too happy to see them.
- Threat Backfire: Tzekel-Kan is not impressed by the new 'gods'.Miguel: That's right, do not question us! Or we shall have to unleash our awesome and terrible power, and you don't want that!
Tzekel-Kan: Oh yes! We do!
Miguel: ..You do? - Threesome Subtext: Both Tulio and Miguel are incredibly attracted to Chel and Chel herself shows about equal attraction to the both of them, and let's not forget that the main drama of the show comes from Tulio and Miguel's relationship problems.
- Treasure Map: The map won by Miguel and Tulio leads to El Dorado.
- The Trickster: Chel, though Miguel and Tulio are not exactly lacking in this department either.
- Tron Lines: Tzekel-Kan's ritual causes glowing blue-green markings to cover his own body and the jaguar statue.
- Truth in Television:
- There actually was a real event in the 15th century where a Spanish army (led by Hernan Cortès) attempted to invade the Aztecs only to be warmly greeted with gifts and gold in the belief that they were gods, though the veracity of the God Guise story has been contested by other scholars.
- The rapier really was a civilian weapon in 16th century Spain due to being cheap to make, easy to use, light to carry, and less lethal than many other weapons. Miguel and Tulio could both have learned to fence with bothFlynning and with genuine skill.
- Vagabond Buddies: Miguel and Tulio. Unsurprising, since it's styled after the Trope Codifier.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Tulio and Miguel are each quite critical of the other.
- 'Wanted!' Poster: Miguel and Tulio are first introduced by one to establish that they are criminals.
- You Fight Like a Cow: This is part of their ruse when their con games go south.
- Miguel: You fight like my sister!
Tulio:Ah ha! I've fought your sister! That's a compliment!
- Also a case of Getting Crap Past the Radar in the German dub:Miguel: You fight like my sister!
Tulio: Ah ha! I've fought your sister, but with my best sword!