History WesternAnimation / TheRoadToElDorado

* MeaningfulEcho: "To err is human, to forgive Divine." First used as a means of appeasing Tzekel-Kan when they dismiss his "[[HumanSacrifice tribute]]". Later, said back to Miguel [[spoiler:by the Chief, all but saying out loud he knows Miguel isn't a god but doesn't care.]]

* MatchCut: Numerous, usually involving something symbolic matched instantly with real version.

* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: Chel hums the opening theme casually while blackmailing Tulio and Miguel. Tulio is also heard singing the last line of "It's Tough to Be a God" right before he discovers that Miguel has left the temple to explore the city.

* EveryoneHasStandards: All those witnessing are horrified when Tzekel-Kan reveals that his "proper tribute" to the Gods is a HumanSacrifice, especially Chief Tannabok, Miguel and Tulio. The latter two use their GodGuise to quickly put a stop to it before any blood is shed.

'''Tulio:''' My plan was that we should lie low! But your plan was to run off and be all "Oh, look at me, look at me, I'm a God!"\\

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Chief Tannabok is shown to be thoroughly involved in keeping his city in order, from going out of his way to making the "Gods" happy to ''singlehandedly'' [[spoiler:keeping the pillars from falling over too early at the end]].

'''Both:''' Mighty and Powerful Gods!\\

* HealingSerpent: After finding out that Tulio and Miguel are not gods, Tzekel-Kan, while plotting, slices open his hand to smear some of his blood on a depiction of Miguel. His hand (when pulled back) is magically healed, but while healing, what appears to be little ghostly serpents are seen entering his hand.

* DistractingFakeFight: Miguel and Tulio pretend to escalate into a swordfight over loaded dice to escape from the gamblers they'd swindled. Showboats that they are, the pair take a bow at the end of the performance. The pair would use this device again on the sinister Tzekel-kan, by pretending to come to blows over posing as gods. Instead, they double-whammy TheVillain; however, this has no effect on the EliteMook that cornered them.

* NeverTrustATrailer: Some trailers made it appear as if Tulio and Miguel's GodGuise was their idea, and Tzekel-kan was the only one not fooled by this and would try to unmask them. In the movie, ironically, it was ''Tzekel-kan himself'' who first suggested that Tulio and Miguel were gods due a series of {{Contrived Coincidence}}s, with the latter two going SureLetsGoWithThat. While Tzekel-kan eventually realizes that Tulio and Miguel aren't gods, it doesn't happen until the second half of the movie.

%%* RedOniBlueOni: Miguel and Tulio as well as Tzekel-kan and Chief Tannabok.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: After sealing off the entrance to El Dorado so Cortés can't get to it, Miguel, Tulio and Chel ride off into the sunset in search of their next adventure.-

* AchillesInHisTent: Miguel, [[spoiler:after a fight with Tulio, decides to stay in El Dorado while Tulio and Chel sail back to Spain. When he sees that they're about to be crushed by a giant pillar, he rushes back to save them.]]

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Chel goes barefoot throughout the film.

* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: Chel hums the opening theme casually while blackmailing Tulio and Miguel.

* DoubleEdgedAnswer: Tulio and Miguel manage to sneak off Cortés' ship with enough food to get back to Spain, with the unexpected event of Altivo jumping off the ship in chase of an apple. After saving themselves, the horse, and the boat, Altivo eats all of their food within seconds.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfRoles: This film gives you your money's worth of Creator/JimCummings.

* InLoveWithTheMark: Miguel starts to fall in love with lifestyle he is living by [[GodGuise pretending to be a god]], while Tulio falls in love with Chel, the native girl helping them pull of their con. This causes to tension between the two of them, as each thinks the other is losing sight of the original plan, and leads to this exchange:

** The first difference is that, in this version, Cortéss' expedition starts in Seville, even mentioning they would stop by Cuba. In real life, it started ''in'' Cuba, where Cortés was already serving as the major of a city before being called up. It was not also the first, but rather the third expedition to make contact with Mesoamerican peoples.

** Cortés' stated that once they touch land, Tulio and Miguel would be sent to Cuba to work as slaves on sugar cane fields. The cultivation of sugar cane in Cuba began in the 18th century. Moreover, the 16th century, the name of Cuba was Isla Fernandina or Isla Juana.

* AdaptationalHeroism: The movie began life as an adaptation of ''Literature/TheManWhoWouldBeKing'' and still is a loose adaptation. Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnahan were straight-up villain protagonists. Tulio and Miguel on the other hand, are not, lacking the EvilColonialist nature of their counterparts, showing no racism or undeserved contempt towards the native populace.

* GenreThrowback: To [[The40s 40’s]] adventure-comedies, specifically the original Road to… series starring [[Creator/BobHope Bob Hope]], [[Creator/Bing Crosby Bing Crosby]] and Dorothy Lamour.

* GenreThrowback: To [[The40s 40’s]] adventure-comedies, specifically the [[Film/Roadto… Road to …]] series of films.

* GenreThrowback: To [[The40s 40’s]] adventure-comedies, specifically the [[Film/Roadto Road to …]] series of films.

* Genre Throwback: To [[The40s 40’s]] adventure-comedies, specifically the [[Film/Roadto… Road to …]] series of films.

* PalmBloodletting: Tzekel-Khan does this and smears the blood on a carving of the gods to emphasize his realization that Miguel and Tulio are only mortal, because "Gods don't bleed." As he lifts his bleeding hand, his cut then instantly heals by magic.

* RevealingInjury: Miguel receiving a cut during the ball game is what tips Tzekel-Kan off to their masquerade, as gods don't bleed.

* BareYourMidriff: Chel. Justified since it's local attire.

* EatingTheEyeCandy: Chel gleefully while watches Miguel and Tulio undress.

* EvilIsHammy: Tzekel-Kan, the villainous priest with a hard-on for human sacrifice, is the hammiest of all the cast.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The real Cortés took Spanish prisoners in a battle with a fleet sent to arrest him for a supposed mutiny (the guy who sent him to the new world changed his mind at the last second due to a petty argument, but Cortés went anyway), but the idea of ''enslaving'' a fellow Christian or Spaniard [[ApeShallNeverKillApe would have horrified him]], especially if they were just stowaways (aside from it being downright illegal in the Spanish Empire). He was also a charming diplomat who forged real alliances with several native groups, not to mention he bedded a native woman, UsefulNotes/LaMalinche, and had a legitimized son with her, while in the film he is a humorless hardass who uses the one native who submits to him as a tool to destroy and kill all the others, betraying him the minute he doesn't get his way.

* DenserAndWackier: The film's emphasis is more focused on humor and innuendos compared to Dreamworks' earlier production, ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' which is more focused on drama.

* {{Disneyesque}}: Sort of. While the animation is clearly as fluid and well-drawn as Disney films, it does break the mold of the Disney School of Mime and Acting with some of the more unique facial expressions, and follows Creator/DreamWorks in-house angular character design style. The much more adult-oriented humor is also very anti-Disney.