“They came for the gold… they stayed for the adventure”

Elena Levina
Sep 8, 2018 · 5 min read

Last Friday I watched a film called “The road to El Dorado”.

The plot of the story is quite simple: two Spanish con artists Miguel and Tulio who craved for gold and glory accidentally received a map that represented the “City Of Gold”. They were eager to reach that land to achieve their dreams and they did it. Friends soon stumbled into El Dorado where the locals mistook them for gods and everything would be okay but that wasn’t the main idea of the film. I reckon that the “Dreamworks” company which directed the film presents the idea that people shouldn’t chase for the wealthy living because it isn’t the question of gold that we possess but friends that we have.

The main characters have their unique personality, for instance Miguel is genial but reckless while Tulio is sensible but they perfectly got on unless they found the El Dorado. At that point their wishes and vision for the future drew apart. Of course, there was a love story that also separated friends. Finally, after facing a spoke in their wheel they understood that the friendship set above rubies. As they kept saying in the moments of crisis: “And if its any consolation to you, you made my life rich”. The film teaches us this universal truth.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of the Dreamwork’s catroons but I really enjoyed this one. I guess it’s because of Miguel who is one of the main characters. If you’re interested in his describtion, please, read the text below.

To my mind, Miguel is a plain (usual) man. I mean he bears a striking resemblance to someone who all of us has seen before because he hasn’t anything remarkable in his appearance except with his huge eyebrows. He has a friendly heart-shaped face framed by long blonde hair. On his face we can notice a red beard and a mustache. His sparkling green eyes are round. He can be described as a slender figure (a figure that is tall and slim) man. Miguel’s also quite fair-skinned compared to Tulio. I can guess that he’s in his 30 but still has a very youthful appearance. We can’t deny that he looks stylish because the color of his shirt goes together with the yellow pants.

Honestly, I don’t know enough information about his past because it wasn’t said in the film. All I know is that he’s a con artist and has a friend named Tulio. They are quite successful in their tricks and always escape the punishment for them. One day they won a map that represented the treasure land (El Dorado). It could change their lives but life wasn’t a factory wishes so that adventure ended up like their friendship check.

Judging by Miguel’s actions I can guess that his lifegoal is to live a fulfilling life. Actually, his doesn’t chase for the wealth because he was ready to exchange all received gold for a map. Even though a map represented the land of gold I’m sure he chose it because of the sense of upcoming adventure. It describes him as a reckless and airy-fairy man. Also I reckon that he’s keen on music because during the film he sang and played the guitar a lot.

There’s no doubt that Miguel is a developing character. He’s changing during the film. At first we see him as a reckless man who doesn’t care about anything and just want to chill and hang out. As the time passing by and the story continuing in the El Dorado we discover new aspects of him. For example, he turns out to be kind (because he took the horse with him and treated it nicely, he played with local children even though he was “a god”) and just (he didn’t want any sacrifices in his honor). It says he believes in equality. Also in the beginning of the film I didn’t think that Miguel was so passible but I changed my mind when he began to be selfish and jealous when Chel appeared in their life (Miguel&Tulio).

It was an interesting psychological moment when two people were always together whenever or wherever they went and all of the sudden the third person appeares. One of the “friends” becomes a little closer to a new person. Unintentionally the another one begins to feel lonely and be put-upon because he/she exaggerates all the situation. And it’s always hard to understand that the happiness of your friend is your happiness as well. It took Miguel sometime to understand that simple truth. He was noble. He dealt with his jealousy and appreciated the sense of true friendship.

“And if its any consolation to you, you made my life rich”

It was fascinating to follow the Miguel’s evolution. I can make a conclusion that no matter his outer ordinariness he’s a deep person with his own specific life view and values. Without doubt I can say he’s a positive character of this film and he makes cartoon much funnier and kinder because he’s free-spirited, fun-loving and adventurous.

All in all, I advise you to watch this film. You won’t regret, I promise.

Have a nice day,
Elena

Elena Levina

Written by

Be nice.

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