The Road to 'The Road to El Dorado' | The Making of an Animated Cult Classic
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- Correction: In this video I state that Carlos Grangel designed Miguel & Tulio. It has since been brought to my attention that Nicolas Marlet was also instrumental in their design.
Written, Presented & Compiled by Joe Ramoni
/ joeramoni
/ hatsoffjoe
Please consider supporting me on Patreon:
/ hatsoffentertainment
Thanks for mentioning me in this, I do appreciate it. And though the reasons that you gave for me leaving the project are pretty inaccurate, there's of course no way you'd know that. So - I happily can let that pass. One thing I'd like to clear up: As you can see me pitching a board to Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh (at 13:45) it's clear they were cast very early on. In fact I worked with just about every actor before leaving for Pixar in 1998. Of more interest - Barry Sonnenfeld came over at Jeffery's request to consult with me and Will, chatting with us about comic staging. He also went to recording session or two with Kevin & Kennith performing together - and must have liked what he saw. Because that is what led to their casting in Wild Wild West. Another thing to clear up is to give credit where credit is due. Nicolas Marlet was actually the lead character designer, and Carlos Grangel followed up on the designs to make more appealing to Jeffery. They are both two of the more brilliant designers around, and very good friends and collaborators. I had a great experience on the film, met and worked with extraordinarily talented artists across the board. And I was appreciative of the credit Jeffery gave to both me and Will, even though we left the project.
David, what a thrill to hear from you! Thanks so much for this insight and for taking the time to address some of the inaccuracies in my research. I’m going to pin this comment so anyone watching can easily view it and see the details you cleared up. Thanks again for taking the time to set the record straight. If you’d ever be open to a quick interview, I’d love to arrange a follow-up video!
Thats amazing, thank you sir :)
Amazing to see you pop in here. Thanks for all of your legendary contributions to The Simpsons, David!
David, you’re a legend! We have a signed Simpsons cel framed in the family living room from 1998 (plus a photo with you from then when I was a little one!)
Will Finn talks a lot about the movie when we talked to him about Home on the Range: ruclips.net/video/dAbqyfGtxkM/видео.html&pp=ygUjaG9tZSBvbiB0aGUgcmFuZ2UgbG9vayBiYWNrIG1hY2hpbmU%3D
I love that Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh recorded their lines together, which gave them a strong, natural banter.
In my opinion any time characters are supposed to be long-time friends or have a lot of history together they should be recorded together. It almost always ends up making the roles that much better because the actors can work together to make it work rather than hoping some editor can piece together clips that sound close enough.
It's always more natural when actors record their lines together.
They probably also improvised and ad lib. Dialogue as well.
Chel was the awakening for a lot of young men lmao.
Ahem . . . and some dads.
She was the Jessica Rabbit of the early '00s.
Soon.
Your telling me.
I first watched it as a seven year old and she didn't stand out to me. When I rewatched it as a 12 year old I had a MUCH different reaction.
They drew her way too sexy
During the Tough to be a God segment, when they scoop their goblets into wine, Meguiel and Tulio's reflections warp into caricatures of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Its brief but its there.
I actually consider The Road to El Dorado one of my favorite animated movies. Great writing, voice acting, timing of things.
Don't worry. The Sinbad movie will pull DreamWorks out of their slump!
CG animation was gaining popularity like candy at a playground back then. It is what it is though. I'm just sad to see 2D animation not being explored anymore by the bigger studios due to return-on-investment.
I literally don't even remember that.
😂
they made a Sinbad movie?
Shame too. That movie was severely underrated and easily one of DreamWorks' best.
"Before DreamWorks found their voice"...
Should be "before DreamWorks sold its soul" the prince of Egypt and road to El Dorado were amazing
They were, but Shrek became the thing that defined the films DreamWorks would make from then on and Antz was also a primordial version of that 🤔.
Mmmmmmmm it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever read mmmmmmmm
Such an underrated movie. It's more than just the memes that have spawned from it
I hope “The Making of an Animated Cult Classic” becomes a new series on this channel.
Me too
Disney's first "PG" rated animated film: *"THE BLACK CAULDRON"*
(1985) would make a great second episode, considering its story woes from pre-production which dated way back in 1971 to Jeffrey Katzenberg cutting *13 MINUTES* of the film (including the complete "Cauldron Born" sequence, in order to avoid an "R" rating) to the film becoming a box-office bomb, and not getting a VHS release until 1998.
Can you do a couple of videos on Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action?
Film Fact: A series of sequels featuring Miguel, Tulio, Chel, Altivo, and even the armadillo going after other legends about gold was planned, similar to the Shrek franchise, but following the disappointing box-office results, they were immediately cancelled.
Imagine road to atlantis
That's sad, they may have found their footing on the second movie
@@wolftitanreading5308 Then they might be accused of ripping off Disney depending on HOW they depicted Atlantis.
@@AlejandroFlores-Ibarra I mean imagine their kita lol it's chel was that nice woah XD
It's pretty similar how Atlantis had plans to a follow-up.
Even making a direct-to-video sequel, that was literally a long pilot for a possible cartoon.
I never realized that this was a homage to a series of films from the 40s. It's something that makes so much sense in retrospect but growing up as a kid I never had the chance to make that connection.
A good example of a film that paid homage while also being its own thing.
This, Atlantis, Iron Giant, Sinbad, Treasure Planet, Titan A.E....
It was a time when people mastered the blend of 2D and 3D animation that was in its infancy during the Disney Renaissance. And Disney intentionally killed it off because they were more expensive to make than Chicken frickin Little.
Who else remembers watching the trailer on The Prince of Egypt VHS? (Sighs) Where does the time go?
I miss VHS
I remember when I was a kid.
@@claymathewselevator8121 i miss holding the tape in my hands. I don't miss rewinding, hitting the tracking button when the screen got too staticky in well-worn scenes, or the way things lurched when you hit pause.
Just shut up 😊 don't care what you think
@@nolancho Obviously you do, otherwise you wouldn't have sent such a "passionate" response.
“Road to El Dorado” is one of those movies that I’d LEAST expect to see discussed on your channel…
And I really DIG IT either way!
Don't care! 😊
El Dorado is a very popular film here in Brazil and I watched so many times during my childhood
the brazilian voice actin is impecable. A perfect movie for a acid trip
It’s nice to see a lot Dreamworks early animated movies getting some appreciation. From 1998 to about 2004, no other animation studio was doing the movies they were attempting.
I hope this first animated cult classic episode is the start of a new series on this channel.
Not even exaggerating when I say this movie was a foundational part of my life and I feel like it's the piece of media that had the biggest impact on my sense of humour. I watched this on repeat as a kid when I needed something to make me smile, so it will always hold a special place in my heart as one of my favourite films of all time (yes, in spite of its flaws).
awww well done for talking about this. I hope you one day talk about 'The Sweatbox' documentary and 'The Emperors new groove' as that has a lot of history. All the best
It's really rich that Katzenburg came up with the "original" idea to do an animated movie inspired by the Hope&Crosby Road movie. He infamously gutted the original version of Aladdin when during a rough cut screening he spent the whole time on his phone planning an anniversary party and then at the end said "yeah, kill the mother, Aladdin's friends, give more time to the genie and the princess". If you've seen the Broadway version (which restores much of the original plot and songs) it has a definite Hope&Crosby feel- particularly in the songs. The one good thing about The Road to El Dorado is that it completely shattered the myth (perpetuated by Katzenburg himself) that Katzenburg was responsible for the Disney renaissance instead of an obstacle that had to be overcome constantly. Road was 100% his baby and it shows he just knew how to check off boxes, but had no real sense for the genre (he famously tried to cut Part of Your World from the Little Mermaid until most of the animation department and Howard Ashman threatened to quit over it).
I hadn’t heard about him gutting Aladdin, but it sounds pretty similar to what he did to The Black Cauldron. I don’t think there is a single project that has been made better by his involvement.
When he heard Katzenberg was gonna cut 'Part of your world', I believe it was Howard Ashman himself who said, "Over my dead body" & threatened to quit, which is why the number stayed.
Katzenberg likely overheard a lot of pitch ideas at Disney & "borrowed" them as part of his Dreamworks plot to beat Disney at their own game. Deep Impact/Armageddon, Antz/Bug's Life, Road to El Dorado/Emperor's New Groove (then Kingdom of the Sun). The only fully original Dreamworks films were Prince of Egypt - b/c Eisner said "no" & Shrek - which Katzenberg initially hated.
Yeah, Katzenberg is one of those guys where literally every time I hear a new story about him, he just sounds worse and worse. The guy is a mediocre executive *at best* and, from what I can tell, mostly failed upwards thanks to being connected to projects with more competent people involved.
Honestly Aladdin already had its maximum dose of silly, to me anyway. It would have been a terrible idea to leave in a classic-comedy feel. It had to be timeless and harsh, so the genie could stand out starkly against it (well, and Iago). Listening to the original Aladdin song pitches, they were goin WAYyyy too campy and broadwayish, it wouldn't have played nearly as well or been a fraction as timeless. I think LOSING that, and going more for wall-to-wall "Every character has to be the genie" silliness, is what killed good disney movies. Though... obviously Pocahontas was way too far in the other direction.
Nooo, you're telling me the man that took out "the love we found" from the original cut of Muppet Christmas Carol gutted Aladdin? The man who told Pixar to add more and more "edge" to Toy Story to the point where it was unwatchable and even he told them the over did it?
I saw this in the theater when I was a kid. I enjoyed it quite a bit then. Haven’t watched it in years, but might see it again sometime soon.
Imagine pitching a character like Chel for an animated movie today?
I can hear the "yikes!".
Well it always has been yikes. Chel is the Indigenous version of Jessica Rabbit.
Great video and I would love to see more of "The Making of an Animated Cult Classic" videos in the near future.
Me too I would love to see The Making of an Animated Cult Classic Series Continue
This is, very literally, my favourite movie of all time. I am so glad its finally finding love.
I've always loved this movie. I even showed it to my younger brother years later and he loves it as well. I'm shocked to hear that it was received poorly when it came out.
I still remember seeing this with my classmates for a field trip to a theater nearby back in 8th grade and we had a blast watching it. Glad to see people giving this film a second chance.
I love this movie as a kid. But I also loved the old 'Road To...' movies as well so it was probably a given that I'd love this one too. 🎶On the trail we blaze!🎶
the fact that it could have been even more risque with Chel makes me weep for what was taken from us
The Road To El Dorado is my favorite hand drawn animated DreamWorks film it’s an underrated animated film and an underrated DreamWorks film. The vocal performances are good with Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Kline and Rosie Perez being the best as Miguel and Tulio and Chel
Oh man I love this channel. The Road to El Dorado is my favourite animated film of all time, second being the best Disney animation ever, Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Took me two decades at least to notice I seem to favour a theme 😅
This is my favorite animated movie of all time, eternally underrated. Thanks for making this video.
Anyone who grew up with this movie absolutely loves it. I personally think it's a masterpiece
I saw this in the theater when it first came out, haven gone a happy meal without a road to El Dorado toy earlier that day, it’s a very cherished childhood memory
In a lot of ways The Road to El Dorado was ahead of its time so it is interesting to hear that it was heavily inspired by films from the 40's and 50's with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. I did not know that so this was pretty interesting for me to hear about. El Dorado was rated PG, but with Chel's heavy sexualization, and Tulio cursing a few times it does not feel like a kids movie really. People don't mention this so much now, but in the more conservative early 2000's where more people at least acted like they were Christian that more adult feel actually derailed the films box office success to a heavy degree as well. As time has passed the humor from the film has created quite a few memes from the generation that grew up with the movie even without seeing it in a movie theater. Myself included. When it came out I had not even been to a movie theater yet.
Definitely a movie that Disney would not have made, and I just wish we had more movies like this. The 2D animation mixed with 3D era was starting to really get better in the early 2000's and then it just was stopped for American studios. Damn you Michael Eisner.
This movie is probably the most GORGEOUS movie I have ever seen
You're so young! I was 20 when this film came out, and I was excited to see it so I actually saw it in the theater. I still love it.
The 2D-3D hybrid style makes it look like it was made recently
The animated spiritual successor to the road to franchise
It genuinely shocks me that Antz of all movies beat this much more well remembered movie.
Granted it mostly lives on through memes and Chel lewds but still.
Anyway I first saw this in theaters as a seven year old and it holds up way better than a lot of other stuff I liked at the time. I miss 2D theatrical animation.
Antz was the 2nd full-length CGI movie ever made, so it got a lot of attention just for existing. Also, it wasn't bad and had some fun scenes. Plus it was a little daring by having more mature themes than Pixar's work. It just doesn't hold up very well in hindsight since the main thing it lacked was simply the lightning-in-a-bottle brilliance of early Pixar.
(That said, I actually prefer Antz to A Bugs Life. ABL has always been my least fave of Pixar's earlier movies.)
antz was hideous, but it somehow pulled you in. You felt something, and the dialogue was funny. But I think without the even-more-ugly (and goofily babyish and cloying) A Bug's Life to stand up against, it would have been largely forgotten.
This movie has special place in my hearth. This was the first movie ever I've seen in movie theather.
It's the second travel adventure movie I've watched next to the beach movie
In these behind the scenes videos, every time I hear them talking about how two characters recorded their lines together, they're always commenting on how much it enhanced their performances and how much better the scenes are because of it. I get it. It makes perfect sense for an actor to be able to do a better job when they're able to hear the person they're bantering with rather than recording lines in isolation and having it put together later.
True, it's probably cheaper and more convenient for the actors' schedules; but even then, when the finished product consistently turns out so much better, and therefore with a higher chance of being successful, I don't get why this method of recording voice actors appears to be the exception rather than the norm.
I thought that, at least at the time, FILMS still recorded everyone together, and it was only TV shows that had *recently* stopped doing it out of the expense.
THANK YOU!!! I appreciate you covering this movie because I grew up with it and love it so much! It's definitely in my top 5 favorite animated movies. Super underrated and a hidden gem!
I loved the road to El Dorado. I still have the DVD. I thought the cast had a lot of chemistry and the comedy was very quick-witted which was my jam.
I've always loved this movie, I had no idea it was a flop.
I've watched This movie when I was a child and it was a unique most beautiful adventure movie beautiful style of animation beautiful Idea beautiful setting, creative setting the people that build and drawn the eldorado fairytale place, there are two best adventure movies that have a high spirit of travel adventure in them these two are the road to eldorado and the beach Leonardo DiCaprio movie
I was completely blown away in how beautiful eldorado is, when tulio and Miguel first reached eldorado beach I was startled, wow this is a really good travel adventure movie that contains so much spirit
I caught the Road to El Dorado on American TV stations when my family had Bell back in 2009. Needless to say, I had a good time with it, from the fluid animation to the chemistry between Branagh and Kline to the excellent soundtrack by Elton John! I didn't pick up on the obvious "Road to" homages the film was based upon, but I did have a deeper appreciation for some of DreamWorks Animation's other 2D animated films. Skadoosh!
Emporer's New Groove has an even more insane production, so I'd love to see a video on that.
Also, great work on (almost) acquiring 200k subscribers!
I am still obsessed with the Elton John soundtrack. One of my favorite movies of all time.
I was just listening to "its tough to be a god," and then this dropped. This movie is an underated gym with beautiful music and possibly the best chemistry ive ever seen in an animated film.
Thanks for the Bob hope and Bing Crosby inspiration + knowledge behind the movie! Kids like me didn't get that history back when we saw this in theatres. Now I know what Im watching after this video 👏🦔🐣 Laughter is the best medicine 🤣
Seriously, the only thing I knew about Bob Hope and Bing Crosby is they sang, and hung out together in SOMETHING. and most of that, I knew from Taz-Mania. Where Maurice LaMarche played both parts!
The early reviews kept me from seeing this when it was new. It's not a perfect film, true, but I'm oh so glad to have corrected that mistake.
I never noticed the connection to the Hope and Crosby movies. But that's brilliant insight. Great review! 👍
yeah it's funny hearing that adding 'the road to' to the title actually held it back, because that kind of makes sense. For kids, it meant nothing. Less than nothing, it made it sound like a boring long car trip to a tourist trap. For adults, it raised things to a higher pedestal it couldn't possibly live up to. Family Guy was my introduction to that genre, and I find it funny, but I can't imagine sitting through an entire film-length comedy of that style. I feel like... Regular Show is more my speed in that regard, when it comes to two close but clashing personalities dealing with a variety of hijinx.
“Tellin the truth can be dangerous business. Honest and popular don’t go hand-in-hand.”
“If you admit you can play the accordion no one will hire you in a rock’n’roll band.”
A classic song by Rogers & Clarke.
Terrific video as always, Joe. Would love to see you take a look at more underrated animated features, like Cats Don’t Dance or another DreamWorks movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
Titan A.E would be an interesting one as well.
@@doctabaldhead I could see the Almost Cult Classics Podcast Joe does covering that.
Thank you so much for all your amazing hard work and dedication to putting these videos out. You deserve so much more praise, sir. I always anticipate your uploads.
Such an underrated film. It was such a beautiful movie that offered a mix of old/new school animation mixed together.
Thanks for watching!
Love this film so much! A big favourite in my family ❤
They used to show it a lot on tv here, in Easter Europe, so much so that my mom grew to despise it simply for how often it was shown. But i loved it. My friend had it on vhs and i would borrow it often (i think i actually still have it). Then his dad burnt it to cd for me. Love this film: beautifully animated, vibrant colours and CG gold effects, great music, fun story, believable characters, and the humour was hilarious.
Another Gem I had the pleasure of seeing in the movie theater as a kid, probably with a school friend. Saw A lot of great movies with my middle school/high school friends
This movie is criminally under rated
I beg to differ. This is easily one of the most underrated movies of all time and definitely one of the most pivotal movies of my childhood. I think the lack of perfection in production isnt a factor that holds value to a story sych as this
I'm so glad you're finally talking about an animated movie!
Amazing video. I always loved this movie, even as a kid. Surprised the find out there was so much discourse behind the scenes.
Now I'm kinda interested in what the movie more in line with the soundtrack was like. It's a great soundtrack with a good mix of different songs. I think I'm gonna grab it out of my old CDs and give it a listen again!
My grandpa love Bob Hope and I am sure he would love this animated movie if was still alive when it was released because of the reference.
Isn’t it ironic that Katzenberg tried to alter the movie to be more like Disney and thus compete with Emperor’s New Groove, because that movie was itself heavily re-written to be less of a Disney cliche. New Groove wound up being a deconstructive farce and break from formula, while El Dorado wound up feeling too stuck in convention to really take off.
have you seen the sweatbox doumentary
Still, New Groove still have it's moments.
Patrick Warburton as Kronk is pure gold.
Nope! Just be quiet 🤫 dumb comment 😊
Fantastic video mate. Hope you cover more underrated animated movies 🎬 ❤
Miguel: I am Miguel.
Tulio: And I am Tulio.
Miguel: And they call us Miguel and Tulio!
I feel like Kipling doesn't get enough credit for this movie. It really is an adaptation of The Man Who Would Be King even if modified. Rossio even said so, yet it not credited as a "Based on" in any material.
Love this retrospective! I’m so happy the movie got more appreciation over the past 24 years.
Saved this video for so long because I wanted to enjoy it in the right mood like a fine old wine 🍷♥️ just hearing the music faintly makes me smile.
I’ve recently started binging this channel . Great content.
Glad you enjoy it!
I find it a bit ironic that the film may have been compromised partially because of Emperor's New Groove, a film that had been plagued by an even messier production.
Either way I love The Road to El Dorado for what it is, but I still wish I could see a version where Cortes would have been the main villain.
Me and my mates still reference this gem every time we get together.
At least it's found a new life through memes. Some things just need to age into being a cult classic
I love this movie, I first saw it when I was 8. My class and I went to go see it on a school field trip. It was disappear from my mind for awhile until it returned to me in 2008 or 2009.
Another amazing video!! You always do such a great job with deep cuts. And this is one of my favorite animated movies that has gone under the radar. Always in for more Dreamworks lore too 😊
This movie is an Underrated Classic with a fun adventure story, mystical fantasy, interesting characters and phenomenal animation. And let's not get into the impact that the character Chel has left in a lot of people.
I swear every world history teacher ive ever had showed us this movie at some point when we would learn about anything that took place vaguely in that area 😂
Recall seeing this in theaters, loved it then. Only saw it once though.
I remember when the movie came out but I never went to watch it, most likely the references to old comedies flew over my parents' heads, but I've seen growing in popularity recently, might watch it, or not. But great video as always!
This movie was not dismissed by anyone I knew. Everyone I know loves and loved it in it's time.
Okay this is a video I’m gonna watch
My class took a field trip to go watch this movie in theaters
Lucky
My Catholic school did that with first Chronicles Of Narnia
We are probably about the same age. This was a movie I always enjoyed as a child, I like the adventure here but also the retelling of history, a universe where Cortes never finds the Aztecs.
As a Swede I dont recognize this movie as a flop, every kid i did know at the time of release loved this film. But nobody has ever heard about "Prince of Egypt", can be that religious themed things dont go down to well in Scandinavia
The best creative decision the filmmakers made with this movie was have Kenneth Branagh and Kevin Kline record their dialog together. It allowed them to play off each other and gave their repartee a different feel from most other animated movies.
One of those movies I sadly never saw as a kid. I do have faint memories of Spirit though. But yeah this looks like so much fun and I have seen some of the Road To pictures Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were in!
Anyone who know who buckaroo banzai is is cool with me
I still got my copy of The Road to El Dor-Do on dvd somewhere. Wish I knew where it went to because I like to re watch since it had been a long time since I last watched.
I loved this movie as a kid, still do to this day.
Loved this as a kid, but haven’t watched it in ages. Ignited my fascination in ancient Mexican and South American cultures
It’s funny that Road to El Dorado and Emperor’s New Groove are two movies that I can watch pretty much any time I just want something to laugh at while I’m working. They never get old, despite their flaws.
Out of the countless animated movies I saw with my young daughters in the mid 90's, I enjoyed it and the girls seemed to also.
i admittedly never knew of Cortes reduced role in the development of the film
The movie should've had a second part, it would be easy tulio and Miguel fight with the Spanish army and kick them off eldorado
I'll have to wait to see this. Never saw this movie, but just bought a copy a few months ago.
Kenneth Branagh has a history of being exactly right for a role to the point that he doesn't stand out and get the praise he deserves.
Not sure I understand the boomer mentality of thinking 90's kids are into Bob Hope motion pictures, but Chel is thick either way.
Jim Cummings was intimidating as Cortes...whenever he does a deep raspy voice.
At a convention where he was at that I went to, he said he based Cortez's voice on a young Orson Welles.
Nega Duck
@@AlejandroFlores-Ibarra I can definitely tell he took influence from Wells
@@AlejandroFlores-Ibarra and a really good Orson Welles impression
They even made him look like orson Wells
My mom would always have Road to Utopia and Road to Morocco playing when I was younger, they are so funny and I wish people talked about them more. This movie was a favorite too
Would love to see you cover more animated projects.