The Road to El Dorado

"They came for the gold. They stayed for the adventure."

2000 1h 30m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 4,241

FamilyAdventureAnimationComedyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“They came for the gold. They stayed for the adventure.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Kenneth Branagh
Miguel (voice)
Kevin Kline
Tulio (voice)
Rosie Perez
Chel (voice)
Armand Assante
Tzekel-Kan (voice)
Edward James Olmos
Chief (voice)
Jim Cummings
Cortes (voice)
Frank Welker
Altivo (voice)
Tobin Bell
Zaragoza (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bibo Bergeron
Writers: Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott, Jeff Snow
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $95M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 80% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

26 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Vicki Hiatt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kenneth Branagh and Kevin Kline and Rosie Perez carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "They came for the gold. They stayed for the adventure.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bibo Bergeron directs. Hans Zimmer scores. Vicki Hiatt cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Mid-budget at $95M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
3Earned back only 80% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
426 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Vicki Hiatt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Kenneth Branagh and Kevin Kline and Rosie Perez carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "They came for the gold. They stayed for the adventure.".
9IMDB entry: tt0138749 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 12 themes, including "gold", "horse", "cartoon", "musical".
11Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Original score: Hans Zimmer
Editing: Vicki Hiatt
Production design: Christian Schellewald
Sound: Anna Behlmer
Runtime: 90 min · 1h 30m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $95,000,000
Box office: $76,400,000
Return: 80% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Also by

Bibo Bergeron

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Kamurai2020-09-22
★ 5/10
Decent watch at best, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend. This is a Dreamworks animation at a time when Disney was still doing strong 2d animations. It does look like Dreamworks attempted a shift to digital cell animation around the same time (based on this movie), so at least the animation is smooth and of a good quality. As with most Dreamworks products, I don't enjoy the same art style they seem to love, which always makes it a little hard for me to watch regardless of if the movie is actually good. I also didn't care for the voices, not saying the actors did a bad job, but the direction was of my taste. The story itself is based on El Dorado being a big deal, but as worthless as gold actually is, it is really hard for me to personalize with it. They're also criminals, and not the redemptive kind. They don't become good people until they start actively going against the head priest. Thinking about it, I also have a lot of issues with the European-god confusion, so there may be a lot of me not enjoying the premise more than anything. I'm honestly struggling to find things that I enjoyed other than it was a well produced animation, and I can't say much else that the story is at least structured well so there is something you could enjoy.

Production companies