The Road to El Dorado (2000)
Directed by Bibo Bergeron
Stowing away after a failed con, a pair of swindlers end up on El Dorado, the fabled "city of gold", where they quickly get in over their heads when they are mistaken as gods by the inhabitants.
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8 films that influenced The Road to El Dorado
What critics say influenced The Road to El Dorado
This film, under the freshman directing team of animators Bibo Bergeron and Will Finn, and visual effects specialist Don Paul (Pocahontas, The Prince Of Egypt), immerses the viewer with vivid color and awe-inspiring artwork from the first frame.
Using "Pocahontas" as a template to begin the adventure -- and completely side-stepping the fact that Spain's arrival in Mexico brought mostly misery to the natives -- directors Don Paul and Eric "Bibo" Bergeron (who both jumped ship from Disney) manage to weave an adventure that inspires ear-to-ear grins, even if it's not terribly original.
Tulio (voiced by Kevin Kline) and Miguel (Kenneth Branagh), the bantering cronies in the animated adventure-comedy The Road to El Dorado, are sort of like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in ''Road to Rio.''
But a merely adequate effort is somewhat disappointing coming from DreamWorks, the studio that had so spectacularly redefined the barriers of feature animation with their 1998 epic The Prince of Egypt .
It's not as quirky as " Antz " or as grown up as " The Prince Of Egypt " but as silly fun it does nicely, and no wonder: Its directors are Disney veterans, and the soundtrack includes such effective cartoon voices as Kevin Kline , Kenneth Branagh , Armand Assante , Edward James Olmos and the unsinkable Rosie Perez .
This film, under the freshman directing team of animators Bibo Bergeron and Will Finn, and visual effects specialist Don Paul (Pocahontas, The Prince Of Egypt), immerses the viewer with vivid color and awe-inspiring artwork from the first frame.
Given the massive level of hype generated by DreamWorks Studios for its previous animated features, Antz and The Prince of Egypt, the relative lack of buzz for its latest venture, The Road to El Dorado, is more than a little suspicious.
The images are pretty, but lack the breathtaking awe of Tarzan or The Prince of Egypt.
There's more than a touch of "The Man Who Would Be King" here, but it's not so heavy and dramatic as to lose the younger audience.
The script follows a loose pattern set by both the Road films and John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King, but the trappings are all Disney.
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The Dorothy Lamour role is filled by Rosie Perez, who gives her voice and spunky nature to Chel, a sexy El Dorado native who can out-con the con artists.
Boasting more attitude than Pocahontas and less insight, El Dorado is a hip entertainment (for adults as well as kids) that doesn't quite rise to the classic level of Beauty and the Beast or Pocahontas or Hercules.
They're also a little like Mel Gibson and Danny Glover on a ''Lethal Weapon'' outing, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Timon and Pumbaa, or countless other second-banana comedy duos who work the crowd before and after the hero sings a tenor aria in Disney musicals.
But the result still looks like a Disney knockoff, right down to the trademark smarty-boots horse and the (undistinguished) music by The Lion King's Elton John, Tim Rice, and Hans Zimmer.
Yes, it has Elton John and Tim Rice songs, but "The Lion King" this ain't.
Boasting more attitude than Pocahontas and less insight, El Dorado is a hip entertainment (for adults as well as kids) that doesn't quite rise to the classic level of Beauty and the Beast or Pocahontas or Hercules.