#trted

(TRTED!Jackpot belongs to @creator-of-monsters! Hiii!!)

Tzekel-Kan from The Road to El Dorado has BPD!

Two con-Saiyans get hold of a map to the lost City of Gold, El Dorado. After stowing away onto one of the ships of the Spanish explorer Captain Caviar Cookie, the pair escapes and eventually do find the city. There, a priest proclaims them to be gods in a scheme to win control of the city for himself. Meanwhile, they meet a beautiful girl who helps them in their ruse.

In loving memory of Akira Toriyama- You made a world we’ll never forget! 🐉

Goku as Miguel (Dragon Ball Z)

Vegeta as Tulio (Dragon Ball Z)

Samus as Chel (Metroid)

Mephilies as Tzekel-Kan (Sonic The Hedgehog)

King Dorephan as Chief Tannabok (The Legend of Zelda)

Rathalos as Altivo (Monster Hunter)

Captain Caviar Cookie as Hernan Cortes (Cookie Run)

Candy Diver Cookie as Themselves/Cortes’ Right Hand Man (Cookie Run)

Daroach as Zaragoza (Kirby)

The Salty Sharks as The Spanish Guard (Cookie Run)

Sillydillo as Bibo (Kirby)

Infinite as Acolyte (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Chi Chi as The Girl in Barcelona (Dragon Ball Z)

The Mechadragon as The Giant Stone Jaguar (Mega Man)

Here’s your Hint for the next casting (It’s a Remake):

Chel understands her place. 

She’s spent her life wanting more than she has, so at least the discomfort is familiar. She’d made a bid to steal Tulio just like they were stealing the gold from the city, and just like the gold, she’d lost Tulio. Now all three of them are together and no matter how his eyes brighten when he looks at her, he’s been looking at Miguel with that same brightness for far longer. 

The can only afford to rent one room at the inn with a single bed. They insist she take it while they lie on the floor, using each other’s arms as pillows with their legs tangled together. The bed feels cold and too big and she’d rather be on the floor with them, but instead she turns into the bed’s softness and tells herself its enough. 

In the morning Tulio kisses her as he hands her breakfast, casual and absentminded. She looks at him, bewildered, but he’s already turning away to help Miguel saddle Altivo. 

Later he moves to help her into the saddle and Miguel stops him. Does he know that Tulio kissed her? Is he angry at her? 

“Don’t hurt your back even more,” he scolds, elbowing Tulio in the side. He steps forward and grips Chel’s hips and lifting her onto Altivo’s back. 

“Nag, nag, nag,” Tulio mutters but it’s more fond than irritated. 

They don’t walk in front of her or to the side. Instead Tulio stands to her right, Altivo’s reins in his hands, and Miguel stands to her left, the two of them talking around her without talking through her. 

They’re keeping her between them. 

They’d slept between her and the door. 

They’re letting her take the bed and ride the horse and maybe the place for her isn’t the one she’d assumed but the one they’re giving her - between them. With them. 

goodness asker you got me WORKIN 9-5 (I don't mind I love writing and rambling)

Everything about trted makes me FEEEEEEL

I love the scenery, hand drawn backgrounds

When animators actually fucking cared

The story

The deep relationships

The MUSIC FUCK I LOVE ELTON JOHN

In Spain, two conmen, Tulio and Miguel, win a map to El Dorado during a fixed bet and stowaway on a ship, only to be immediately captured. They however escape with a warhorse to a mysterious island and follow the map to El Dorado, but upon arrival, are mistaken as Gods by the residents. Willing to take advantage of their misunderstanding, the two con-men play along as the roles of Gods, but are quickly found out by the thief, Chel. Their plan is to get out of the city and return with a hunk of gold but their differences arrive where Tulio continues their plan while Miguel finds peace in the city. During their stay, the priest plans to expose the truth and continue his human sacrifices.

For story standards, I’m impressed that the movie didn’t have to pull off the whole “liar revealed” cliche, only to make fun of it when both conmen are discovered by the villain. The beginning and the journey to seeking out El Dorado contained a small layer of fun, before the tone settled down when they arrive at the titular city. The plot itself doesn’t exactly pick up but rather spend a large chunk of the middle act mainly focusing in the city; it’s all up until the third act which forced out a couple of climaxes, both differing in quality with a tame chase around the city and a thrilling boat escape down the rapids.

However, while I’m greatly relieved that it avoided one overused cliche, there was a whole conflict by the third act that involved the friends separating due to different pathways. It couldn’t have stopped there as they had to include a whole song number dedicated to the moment of misery. It was filled with some small moments of comedy, but I could tell from a mile away that they were going to reunite when the next very climax rolls on by.

While The Prince of Egypt had a larger scope and animation was geared for the realistic approach, this upped the game by increasing the facial expressions of the characters, able to pull off a variety of shifts to pull off the comedy. Its animation style also relies heavily on quick movements during the action sequences, while throwing a lot of witty one-liners at you at the same time. It’s not entirely perfect where the quality can be overblown, as it practically throws all of the prettiest colours directly at you, similar to the entire second act of The Three Caballeros; they do dive bomb directly out of the screen during the song numbers, but there’s moments where the characters and overall movement style take their time. Not saying it’s better than the previous but certainly a step-up to their game. I really liked the fast-paced nature and endless amount of colours even it can be a bit too quick. It does know when to take a break. El Dorado itself is well-designed as the city of gold, stupendously appealing to audiences and even to the main characters themselves. With two climaxes, the animation especially knew how to up the tone from a stone jaguar wrecking the city to a hazardous boat escape.

The side characters are also fun and make their own mark in the story, such as the thief, Chel, becoming an amazing secondary character and instigator in the main’s plans. She wasn’t just a simple pretty face as she’s able to see through their plans, before deciding to go with their scheme as a desperate way out of the whole city.

I also liked the horse for sticking as an animal sidekick, where he had some intelligence to mouth the name of El Dorado and hide his horseshoes by the end. There’s also an armadillo who helps them mainly as their way to fool the residents, but am I the only one who hears almost the same voice as the hummingbird from Disney’s Pocahontas? I also liked the chief of El Dorado for being incredibly generous and understanding of the two, actually allowing the last supposed God to leave without a single moment of disdain or anger, since he saw how much they impacted his people.

The only characters I really couldn’t get into were the villains. There’s the Spanish conquistador, Hernán Cortés, voiced by Jim Cummings, that you see during the beginning and ending parts; based on a historical figure, he proposed such significant threat from his status and booming personality and could have been a larger threat. The downside was that he’s limited to only background fodder.

Then, there’s Tzekel-Kan as the high priest, managing to find the truth behind the newcomers, while experiences the sacred rituals of human sacrifices to achieve his true potential. After his defeat, you’d expect him to be written out of the movie, only for him to wear out his welcome even more. He does become an obstacle by the middle, but then is subjected to becoming the first villain’s slave, all amounting to nothing by the end. I won’t lie that upon rewatching, I actually forgot that he was even in the storyline.

I understand that the soundtrack was worked on by both composers behind The Lion King, namely Elton John and Hans Zimmer, the latter even working in The Prince of Egypt; however, I’m not that much of a fan of the songs. The only two that I actually do recall in my mind were Elton John’s El Dorado and the enjoyably-catchy It’s Tough to be a God, portrayed by the main’s voice-actors. The one song that does stick to me, though not in the same boat as the first two was Friends Never Say Goodbye, incredibly amping up the bittersweet momentum between the two main characters, focusing on their disagreement before their predictable reunion.

Coming back to this movie was certainly a ride, where I can see this film’s comedy similar to The Princess Bride in a way. I do feel that this is one of DreamWorks’ lesser-known films and one of the few that I feel that deserves a place as an internet phenomenon.

Final Rating: B