INDULGING OUR INNER CHILDREN : "THE ROAD TO EL DORADO"

Ok, I have to admit, this is a funny one. In more senses than one. I mean yes, animations are usually valued on their ability to make one laugh, and as far as that is concerned this one is very, very high up there indeed. It errs slightly, ever so slightly on the side of the infantile. But only just. I mean, as you watch it yes, you feel that it is a bit immature. But at the same time they have caught onto such brilliant points in the film that you cannot help liking it in the end or laughing. I don’t quite know how they did it, but this gruesome twosome really stole my heart.
Tulio (voice of Kevin Kline) and Miguel (voice of Kenneth Branagh) are two buddies and con-artists from 16th century Spain. They make their living basically off short-cons, loaded dice and such like and have a pretty OK deal of the whole thing all in all, until their lives change forever by the acquisition of a map. This map is supposedly the map to the legendary golden city of El Dorado in the new world. This means more gold than the two buddies could possibly imagine, it is an opportunity not to be missed. And as luck would have it, Cortes is just about to set sail to conquer the new world and so our two friends decide to tag along. Now the new world is indeed full of gold, adventure and opportunities, and our two friends are waist-deep in all of them pretty fast. But it fast becomes very clear that whether they will actually survive the ordeal to tell this tall tale is another matter altogether.
Like I said. There is a serious lack of “adult jokes” in this one. Do not compare it to something like Antz; which is constructed in a way that is hilarious both for adults and for kids. But the thing with Eldorado is that it is so good at what it does, you can’t help enjoying it. I mean, don’t forget – and I feel we have a bit these days – that good, clean, old-fashioned humor can also be hilarious if done well. We are rather used to double-ententes, allegories or sexual humor, well it doesn’t all have to be this way. I mean, think back at Tom and Jerry cartoons. Basically kids’ stuff, but you watch’em and love’em right? It is “immature” on one level but it’s just… So funny. So really, who cares! This is pretty much the same deal. Good clean fun for adults and kids. And that, let’s face it, is hard to find these days…