ANI-MOVIES, *The Road To El Dorado

For DreamWorks' third theatrical animation release as well as their second traditional animated production, The Road To El Dorado was a mostly original story inspired on the old Road To... movies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Written by former Aladdin screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, plus directed by former Asterix animator Eric Bergeron, the film already had a fair pedigree behind it. The musical score was composed by John Powell and Hans Zimmer, along with original songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, so the soundtrack was real humdinger. Despite all this, the film underperformed at the box office not even making all its budget back. The musical comedy adventure went on to become a favorite among families and animation fans when it was later released on cable and video.

During the 16th Century, Spaniards Miguel and Tulio end up stowing away on Cortes' campaign to South America, but they make off in a lifeboat along with Cortes' horse Altivo. The three of them finally find land and use a map they happened to swindle that is supposed to lead to the mythical city of El Dorado. After a melodic trek through the jungle, Miguel and Tulio locate the outer gates to the city as a lovely young native named Chel was making her escape from El Dorado with the city security chasing her for stealing a divine treasure. The natives mistake the two Spaniards riding a horse as gods and guide them through a watery tunnel which is the opening for the secluded city of gold. Migel and Tulio plot to use their godly ruse to make off with a bunch of loot and return to Spain rich, although the priest Tzekel-Kan is trying to use the presence of these "gods" to steal the thunder of the kindly chief, and Chel wants to leave with the newcomers by loving it up with Miguel. Tzekel-Kan learns that the men aren't really gods and uses his unexplained but genuine magic to attack them with a giant jaguar statue, but they manage to trick the wicked priest into falling into a whirlpool that conveniently streams him to outside the city where he comes across Cortes and his men searching for El Dorado. Knowing that conquistadors are coming, Migel, Tulio, Chel, and Altio use the boat they were going to use for their trip back to Spain with their treasure and block the underground entrance which leaves Cortes free to pillage the rest of Mesoamerica and conquer the Aztec Empire. The surviving adventures ride away on horseback to find their next journey, setting the way for a sequel that never happened.

The Road To El Dorado might not have been the best seller DreamWorks was hoping for, even though it did become the sleeper favorite of Gen Zers. There is some gorgeous animation, catchy songs, and comedy gold, especially the bromance between Miguel and Tulio which is a first for an animated feature where the two main leads are both human males, neither of which are princes. Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh are humor incarnate with their Crosby/Hope homage, and Rosie Perez is alluring as Chel, plus voice acting veteran Jim Cummings plays multiple roles including Cortes. The movie might have been a bigger hit upon its initial release if they had geared it slightly more towards younger viewers and merchandised the heck out of it like Disney.