SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: THE ROAD TO EL DORADO

"THE ROAD TO EL DORADO"
(2000) (voices of Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	Minor	Extreme	*Moderate	Mild

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	Minor	Moderate	None	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Mild	Minor	None	Mild	Moderate

QUICK TAKE:: Animated Action/Adventure: Two 16th century con artists pose as gods hoping to snare as much booty as possible from a legendary city of gold.

PLOT:

It's 1519 Spain and Tulio (voice of KEVIN KLINE) and Miguel (voice of KENNETH BRANAGH) are two petty con men who've just won a map to El Dorado, the legendary city of gold. Before they have much time for celebration, however, their gambling ruse is discovered and they inadvertently become stowaways on a ship in Spanish explorer Cortes' fleet that's bound for Cuba.

After a daring escape and much time at sea in a small longboat, the two con men, along with Cortes' intelligent steed, Altivo, wash up on a tropical island. Recognizing the environs from their map, the three set off looking for the hidden city, but instead encounter a native woman, Chel (voice of ROSIE PEREZ), and a small contingent of armed soldiers who were pursuing her.

Mistakenly believing Tulio and Miguel to be gods, the soldiers take the men to El Dorado where they meet the Chief (voice of EDWARD JAMES OLMOS), and his high priest, Tzekel-Kan (voice of ARMAND ASSANTE), who wishes to use their arrival as a means of overthrowing the Chief. Everyone but Chel believes the men to be true gods, and she becomes a partner of sorts in their plan to return to Spain with all of the gold that's been showered upon them.

As the men try to keep up their ruse over several days as the workers build them a ship to return to the "heavens," Tulio and Miguel must not only contend with their true identities being revealed as well as Tzekel-Kan's evil plans, but also the growing differences between them and the possibility of Cortes' arrival in their luscious jungle abode.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Since it's an animated film along the lines of what Disney normally pumps out, it's a good bet that many younger kids will want to see it.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For mild thematic material and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: Whether kids see animated characters as role models is debatable, but here's how the major characters act.
TULIO is one half of the con man team who's responsible for most of their schemes. He also fools around with Chel (although we don't see the exact extent of that).
MIGUEL is the other half of the con team who's more an idealistic dreamer who comes to like the people of El Dorado more than the gold they possess.
CHEL is the scantily clad woman who somewhat blackmails the con men into letting her join their scheme to leave with gold lest she inform everyone of their ruse. She briefly fools around with Tulio (although we don't know the exact extent).
TZEKEL-KAN is the city's high priest who dabbles in supernatural powers as he tries to gain control of El Dorado for his own evil plans.
THE CHIEF runs El Dorado and is a happy and jolly man who knows more than he ever lets on.; TULIO is one half of the con man team who's responsible for most of their schemes. He also fools around with Chel (although we don't see the exact extent of that).
MIGUEL is the other half of the con team who's more an idealistic dreamer who comes to like the people of El Dorado more than the gold they possess.
CHEL is the scantily clad woman who somewhat blackmails the con men into letting her join their scheme to leave with gold lest she inform everyone of their ruse. She briefly fools around with Tulio (although we don't know the exact extent).
TZEKEL-KAN is the city's high priest who dabbles in supernatural powers as he tries to gain control of El Dorado for his own evil plans.
THE CHIEF runs El Dorado and is a happy and jolly man who knows more than he ever lets on.; MIGUEL is the other half of the con team who's more an idealistic dreamer who comes to like the people of El Dorado more than the gold they possess.
CHEL is the scantily clad woman who somewhat blackmails the con men into letting her join their scheme to leave with gold lest she inform everyone of their ruse. She briefly fools around with Tulio (although we don't know the exact extent).
TZEKEL-KAN is the city's high priest who dabbles in supernatural powers as he tries to gain control of El Dorado for his own evil plans.
THE CHIEF runs El Dorado and is a happy and jolly man who knows more than he ever lets on.; CHEL is the scantily clad woman who somewhat blackmails the con men into letting her join their scheme to leave with gold lest she inform everyone of their ruse. She briefly fools around with Tulio (although we don't know the exact extent).
TZEKEL-KAN is the city's high priest who dabbles in supernatural powers as he tries to gain control of El Dorado for his own evil plans.
THE CHIEF runs El Dorado and is a happy and jolly man who knows more than he ever lets on.; TZEKEL-KAN is the city's high priest who dabbles in supernatural powers as he tries to gain control of El Dorado for his own evil plans.
THE CHIEF runs El Dorado and is a happy and jolly man who knows more than he ever lets on.; THE CHIEF runs El Dorado and is a happy and jolly man who knows more than he ever lets on.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a quick summary of the content found in this PG-rated, animated film. As with most such animated features, some scenes - such as those featuring a gargantuan and menacing-looking stone statute that comes to life and tries to kill people, as well as other adventurous/perilous moments - may be disturbing, suspenseful or downright frightening to some kids, all dependent, of course, on their age, level of maturity, and tolerance for such material.

The only major female character is a scantily clad, buxom woman and she and one of the men are involved in some sort of hanky-panky, although the extent of that is never shown (it occurs off camera). While of the animated variety, we also see the bare butts of the two male characters as they go skinny dipping and running through the woods nude.

Profanity consists of a minor amount of a few cuss words, some brief drinking and smoking are present and various characters have varying degrees of bad/disrespectful attitudes toward others (including one who uses supernatural powers while trying to kills others and usurp power).

Should that summary not address your concerns about the film's appropriateness for anyone in your home who may wish to see the film, we suggest that you take a closer look at our more detailed content listings.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: A sailor drinks from a small jug (that presumably contains liquor).
At the end of a musical number involving the city's celebration, we see a blurred and multiple vision view of Altivo, suggesting that either the horse or our two heroes had some sort of mind-altering substance (alcohol, etc.).

BLOOD/GORE: We see a tiny bit of cartoon blood trickle down from one of our hero's faces. Moments later, Tzekel-Kan slices his own hand with a knife and smears blood on a stone wall (and his wound miraculously heals instantly).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Tulio and Miguel are two con men who cheat at gambling games (we see that they're using "loaded" dice) and then continue a ruse after being mistaken for gods (so that they can take lots of gold back to Spain).
A character tells another, "You fight like your sister."
We see that Chel has stolen some gold from El Dorado (but she's captured and returned) and she later participates in Miguel and Tulio's ruse so that she can leave and also be rich.
We learn that Tzekel-Kan has been giving orders (lying that they're from their "gods") to "cleanse" the city of the less than desirable inhabitants (we only see one person being rounded up and Miguel stops the soldiers before anything happens).
Tzekel-Kan gives himself supernatural powers as he tries to kill Tulio and Miguel and usurp control of the city.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence" may also be suspenseful or scary to some kids, all dependent on their age, level of maturity and tolerance for such material.
Cortes is a big, stern and foreboding looking explorer who proclaims that Miguel and Tulio will be flogged for being stowaways on his ship (but this never happens).
During Tulio and Miguel's escape from Cortes' ship, Altivo (the horse) falls into the ocean and Miguel dives in to save him. The three are then repeatedly nearly hit by the large ships (at one point ending up beneath their overturned longboat). Later, but still at sea in their small boat, the three briefly encounter huge waves in a storm.
A menacing looking shark jumps out the water, bites off part of the boat, and swallows a tired and/or old seagull that was sitting on it.
After washing up on an island, Miguel and Tulio spot several human skeletons that have swords through them, thus indicating how those people died (and that may frighten or disturb younger kids).
During a musical montage, we see one of the men pulling leeches from the other man's back.
A volcano explodes and briefly appears that it might be menacing to the villagers, but then it abruptly stops.
Tzekel-Kan appears ready to perform a human sacrifice and raises a pole-like object above a man (standing on a precipice above a whirlpool that's identified as leading to the spirit world) prepared to hit him, but our heroes verbally stop him from doing so.
Tzekel-Kan pushes a man into a supernatural stew he's brewing which then gives the high priest supernatural powers (and presumably kills the man although that is never verified). As a result, he causes a gargantuan stone jaguar statue to come to life and chase after Tulio and Miguel in a several minute sequence that might be rather riveting, unsettling or scary to kids. During it, the villagers flee from the creature, it steps down onto one man (although we hear him yell out that he's okay), and chases the men into a lava flow where they're nearly tipped into the magma that the creature eventually sinks into. It suddenly leaps out, however, and chases them to the edge of a precipice above a swirling whirlpool. Moments later, it and Tzekel-Kan fall into the whirlpool as the precipice breaks away, leaving Tulio and Miguel hanging from vines.
Seeing that a huge pillar is about to fall onto a boat, everyone steps in and tries to prevent that from happening. The pillar does miss the boat, but then creates a huge "tidal wave" that sweeps the boat through a tunnel where it eventually crashes and its occupants are thrown into the water (but are okay).

GUNS/WEAPONS: Rifles/Spears/Swords/Knives/Crossbows: Carried and/or occasionally used to threaten people (the rifles are also fired in a ceremony of sorts). See "Violence" for details.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Crappy," "Holy ship" (instead of what it sounds like), "Nuts" (crazy), "Suckers" and "Shut up."
Tulio repeatedly bangs his head against a post in a ship's brig.
Tzekel-Kan slices his own hand with a knife and smears blood on a stone wall (and his wound miraculously heals).

JUMP SCENES: A menacing looking shark jumps out the water, bites off part of the boat, and swallows a tired and/or old seagull that was sitting on it.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A moderate amount of suspenseful and/or adventurous music plays in certain parts of the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 2 hells, 1 damn, 1 crap, and 1 use of "Oh my God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: We see Miguel and Tulio's bare (cartoon) butts as they run and jump into a pool of water naked (and then again briefly see their bare butts as they run through the jungle).
Chel wears an outfit that consists of the equivalent of a small, strapless tube-top and a long sarong of sorts that's cut very high up each hip where the front and back are only connected at the hip with a narrow piece of material. An image of her can be seen in one of the pop-up boxes at the following site (http://www.roadtoeldorado.com/index_main.html).
The men agree that since they're supposed to be gods and not given in to temptation, that they'll stay away from Chel, to whom they're both obviously attracted. However, Chel then later acts somewhat like a seductress giving Tulio a massage and then receiving one from him.
Later, it's implied that they were fooling around to some extent as she suddenly pops up at the bottom of the picture, followed by Tulio whose hair is all tussled, as they're interrupted by Tzekel-Kan.
Later, we see Tulio and Chel making out (causing Altivo the horse to drop his draw upon seeing them).

SMOKING: During a musical number, we briefly see Miguel and Tulio with cigars, while we also see the Chief with a cigar in one scene.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Tulio and Miguel going along with inhabitants' belief that they're gods so that they can take the gold that's been showered upon them back to Spain.
Tulio and Miguel's friendship weakening as the story progresses but eventually coming back together by the story's end.
The supernatural powers that Tzekel-Kan uses in trying to kill others and usurp control of the city.

VIOLENCE: Miguel and Tulio feign having a sword fight with each other, and during their escape from the people they cheated, some soldiers fire arrows from crossbows at them and a bull chases them.
Tulio repeatedly bangs his head against a post in a ship's brig.
A menacing looking shark jumps out the water, bites off part of the boat, and swallows a tired and/or old seagull that was sitting on it.
After washing up on an island, Miguel and Tulio spot several human skeletons that have swords through them, thus indicating how those people died.
During a musical montage, we see a piranha biting one of the men on the butt.
Tzekel-Kan appears ready to perform a human sacrifice and raises a pole-like object above a man (standing on a precipice above a whirlpool that's identified as leading the spirit world) prepared to hit him, but our heroes verbally stop him from doing so.
Cortes steps down upon and crushes a human skull.
A wall painting shows a soldier with his spear going into a man's chest with non-realistic, but symbolic blood coming out.
In an imaginary scene, Tzekel-Kan bites into a rat and smashes a large spider.
Tzekel-Kan slices his own hand with a knife and smears blood on a stone wall (and his wound miraculously heals instantly).
Tzekel-Kan pushes a man into a supernatural stew he's brewing which then gives the high priest supernatural powers (and presumably kills the man, although this is never verified).
A gargantuan stone statue of a jaguar comes to life and chases after Miguel and Tulio, trying to kill them. The statue does step down onto another man but we hear him yell out that he's okay. As it chases them, it smashes and crashes through various walls and mountains. Altivo kicks and breaks one of the creature's stone eyes, but it continues the chase.
As Miguel and Tulio fake a fight to distract the high priest, they end up smacking, pushing and preparing to punch each other. Instead, they collectively punch Tzekel-Kan, and he and his stone creature fall into the whirlpool (and are presumably killed at that moment, although we do later see Tzekel-Kan).
Cortes holds a gun on Tzekel-Kan when they meet.
Tulio purposefully swings around a bag of gold so that it hits Miguel on the head.
A boat crashes but its passengers are okay (despite being thrown into raging waters).
Cortes pushes Tzekel-Kan down into some water (but he's otherwise unharmed).

Reviewed March 23, 2000 / Posted March 31, 2000

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