The Road to El Dorado

Name: The Road to El Dorado

Directed by: Bibo Bergeron (as Eric 'Bibo' Bergeron) and Don Paul

Screenplay by: Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio

Produced by: Brooke Breton and Bonne Radford

Executive Producers: Jeffrey Katzenberg and Bill Damaschke (co-executive producer)

Music: John Powell and Hans Zimmer

Production Design: Vicky Jenson and Christian Schellewald

Editing: John Carnochan, Vicki Hiatt, Dan Molina and Lynne Southerland

Studio: Pixar Animation Studios

Producer/Release: 20th Century Fox

Airdate: March 31, 2000

Length: 90 minutes

Budget: $95 million

Box Office: $76.4 million

Pixar Movie Number: 303

The Road to El Dorado is a 2000 American animated adventure musical buddy slapstick comedy film directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron and Don Paul, with additional sequences by Will Finn and David Silverman, starring Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, and Rosie Pérez. The soundtrack features songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, as well as composers Hans Zimmer and John Powell.

The movie begins in 16th-century Seville, Spain, and tells of two swindlers named Tulio and Miguel who, when playing dice, win a map that supposedly shows the location of El Dorado, the legendary city of gold in the New World. However, when it is discovered that they are using loaded dice they attempt to escape, only to end up as stowaways on Hernán Cortés' fleet to conquer Mexico. They are discovered, but manage to escape in a boat with Cortés' prize war horse and eventually discover the hidden city of El Dorado, where they are mistaken for gods.

The Road to El Dorado received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $76.4 million worldwide on a $95 million budget, making it Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation's only box office bomb. However, the film has managed to gain a "cult classic" status online over the years.

Plot
In Spain 1519, two con artists, Tulio (Kevin Kline) and Miguel (Kenneth Branagh), win a map to the legendary City of Gold, El Dorado, in a rigged gambling match. After their con is discovered, the two evade capture and hide aboard one of the ships to be led by Hernán Cortés (Jim Cummings) to the New World. During the trip, they are caught as stowaways and imprisoned, but manage to break free and take a rowboat with the help of Cortés' horse, Altivo (Frank Welker).

Later, they land at an unknown shore at the edge of Mexico, and Miguel begins to recognize landmarks from the map, leading them to a totem marker near a large waterfall. They see a native woman being chased by guards, but when the guards see Tulio and Miguel riding Altivo as depicted on the totem, they treat the two as gods, and along with the woman, escort them under the falls and into El Dorado, a city truly made of gold. They are brought to the city's elders, kind-hearted Chief Tannabok (Edward James Olmos) and wicked high priest Tzekel-Kan (Armand Assante). Tzekel-Kan, seeking to seize the city from Tannabok, insist the two demonstrate their powers. Tulio and Miguel bicker between themselves, while a nearby volcano begins to erupt. When Tulio yells at Miguel to stop pestering him, the volcano suddenly stops erupting, and the citizens take this as proof of their godhood. Celebrations are held, and the two are showered with gifts of gold, and given luxurious quarters to stay, along with charge of the woman, Chel (Rosie Perez). Chel is aware the two are conning the people but promises to remain quiet if they take her with them when they leave the city.

Tulio convinces Tannabok to build them a vessel that will allow them to leave the city with all the gifts they've been given, which will take a few days. Chel convinces Miguel to explore the city, which allows her to get romantically closer to Tulio. Miguel comes to appreciate the peaceful life the citizens seem to enjoy, and joins in with some of their activities. When Tzekel-Kan sees Miguel playing a ball game with children, he insists that the gods demonstrate their prowess against the city's best players in the same game. Tulio and Miguel are far outmatched, but Chel is able to substitute the ball with an armadillo named Bibo, allowing them to win; the two spare the ritual of sacrificing the other team, much to the crowd's approval. During the match, Miguel received a small cut, which Tzekel-Kan sees and realizes the two are not gods. Tzekel-Kan conjures a giant stone jaguar to chase them through the city. Tulio and Miguel manage to outwit the stone jaguar, causing both it and Tzekel-Kan to fall into a giant whirlpool, thought to be the entrance to Xibalba, the spirit world. When Tzekel-Kan comes to, he finds himself facing Cortés and his men, and offers to lead them to El Dorado.

With the boat completed, Miguel states his intention to stay in the city. Tulio and Chel board the boat, loaded with the gifts, when they see smoke on the horizon and realize Cortés is close. Tulio concocts a plan to use the boat to ram rock structures under the waterfall to collapse the main entrance to El Dorado, preventing Cortés from finding it, but requires the citizens to pull over a statue in the boat's wake to give it enough speed to ram the rocks. As the statue starts to fall, Tulio has difficulty in preparing the boat's sails, and Miguel, riding Altivo, jumps onto the boat to unfurl the sails, assuring the boat clears the statue in time. Tulio's plan works, though the boat and their gifts are lost. Tulio, Miguel, Chel, and Altivo end up near the totem and hide as Cortés' men and Tzekel-Kan arrive. When Tzekel-Kan finds the entrance blocked, Cortés has him taken prisoner as they return to their boats. Tulio and Miguel, though disappointed they lost their treasure, takes off in a different direction for a new adventure with Chel, unaware that Altivo still wears the golden horseshoes he was outfitted with in the city.

Voice Cast

 * Kevin Kline as Tulio, one of the con artists who pretend to be gods so they can get gold. He is the planner who wanted to leave El Dorado with the treasure.
 * Kenneth Branagh as Miguel, one of the con artists who pretend to be gods so they can get gold. He is the fun-loving one who wants to stay in El Dorado.
 * Rosie Perez as Chel, a young native from El Dorado who discovers Tulio and Miguel's con and decides to play along.
 * Jim Cummings as Hernán Cortés, the merciless and ambitious leader of the expedition to find the empires of the New World.
 * 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 welcomes 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 when gambling with them. Tulio nicknames him Pee Wee.
 * Frank Welker as Altivo, Cortés' horse who ends up teaming up with Tulio and Miguel.

Media Release

 * The Road to El Dorado is released on VHS and DVD in Tuesday, December 12, 2000.

Aspect Ratios

 * 1.85:1 (Widescreen/Full Open Matte)

DVD Main Menu

 * Play Movie
 * Scene Selection
 * Audio
 * English
 * French
 * Latin American Spanish
 * Brazilian Portuguese
 * Language Commentaries
 * Captions
 * English
 * French
 * Spanish
 * Portuguese
 * Dutch
 * German
 * Commentary with Bibo Bergeron and Don Paul
 * Filmmakers' Commentary

Previews

 * Chicken Run Trailer (On Video and DVD)
 * Universal Orlando Resort (Home of Two Amazing Theme Parks) TV Commercial
 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad VHS and DVD TV Spot (Buy it Now)
 * Galaxy Quest on Video and DVD Preview (Own it Today)

Music Videos and Quotes

 * To see both of these pages, click them: "Music Videos" and "Quotes".