La Route d'Eldorado

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.

You probably think the one line summary of this comment is a bit strange, since The Road to El Dorado isn't in fact that old, but what I meant by it is that they do not make feature films like this anymore. Sure every now and then there is a great animated film that revives the Adventure genre of film-making, but that's basically it. If you're an adventure freak like I am and you simply love Indiana Jones or Stargate or The Mummy for all I care you should definitely watch this film. I bet you'll enjoy it, disregarding your age (although very small kid's might get frightened at times). Thank you Dreamworks for providing me with a fantastic story of adventure. I appreciate it. It's been so long since I've seen any good adventure (The Mummy was last and Indy before that).

TO ALL STUDIOS I MUST SAY THIS: start making feature films like this again please, I miss them. Does it seem ‘right' to you that I I have watch an animated film mostly aimed at children, to get a film with a good plot, a good villain, great action, enough thrills, blood and emotion? It does not sound right to me. No Bad Boys II, no Triple X 2, no stupid and expensive action. You can do big with little as long as elements fit together.

8 out of 10

The Road to El Dorado (2000), an animated cult film if there ever was one. It's interesting to compare this flick to Disney's The Emperor's New Groove (2000), which came out the same year. Both are traditionally animated. Both are wickedly funny. Both underperformed at the box office. While Emperor has gone on to be one of the most beloved modern Disney films, El Dorado is still only a cult film. That's a real shame, because it's a fun ride with snappy dialogue and cool characters.

If I have any complaints, then it's that the mixing of traditional animation and CG has dated badly. Most of the musical numbers are forgettable and could have been done away with. Luckily, those issues don't hurt the picture much.

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.

What can I say? The Road to El Dorado kept me hooked right from the very start, proving to be an amazing adventure filled with action, comedy, color, breath-taking imagery and music. After The Prince of Egypt, I wasn't too keen on another Dreamworks animated film. Don't ask me why, but Prince of Egypt just failed to reel me in. El Dorado on the other hand has restored my faith in the studio.

I'll keep this short and to the point. El Dorado seemed to deliver the goods in every aspect. The music was great and certainly enhanced the mood and scene, Tim Rice and Elton John did a fantastic job with the instrumental score. The characterisation was done quite well, and you could really sense the strong friendship that Tulio and Miguel had with one another. Chel was also a character favorite of mine, and Rosie Perez did a great job providing her voice! The artwork was also exceptionally good, with the colorful Mayan themes and designs providing an amazing backdrop for the story. Of course the film is not without its fair share of eye-candy, the special effects were excellent and Dreamworks didn't go overboard with them. The story was also a nice change. For once it wasn't the tired, rigid old formula of "good guys meet bad guys, conflict, defeat bad guys and everyone's happy". I mean..sure everyone is happy in the end...and there is the token good guy VS bad guy routine but Dreamworks seemed to mince it up somewhat and introduce all-new elements.

Surely it has its flaws, you say. Well in all honesty, I'm hard pressed coming up with any. I didn't exactly love the character design for Tulio and Miguel but that's just being incredibly petty....

All in all, The Road to El Dorado was very refreshing and a welcome change from the usual Disney-formula-based feature. As for comparisons and similarities with the "brilliance of Disney", I believe that there is no need for that talk. I ask you, why do we need more Disney? The Road to El Dorado shines in a light all of its own.