Jeffrey Katzenberg deserves a lot of credit for bringing "ROAD TO EL DORADO" to the screen.  At first glance, the idea of targeting an animated movie focusing on two conmen, to children, may seem horrible.  But, the film, aptly titled with "ROAD" in it, is a throwback to the great "ROAD" films of Bob Hope and Fred Astaire.  The kinds of films I wish my children would have the patience to watch.  Well, "ROAD TO EL DORADO" comes pretty close to the spirit of those films "and" the whole family enjoyed it!  Taking on the roles, Kenneth Branaugh and Kevin Kline, don't share the same screen "voice"
chemistry as "Hope and Astaire", but they're still pretty good.  They play
two Spanish conmen in the 1500s, seeking to win a map to the legendary city of "El Dorado"in a game of craps. After being run out of town for playing with trick dice, the two become stowaways on a ship for an expedition led by no other than Cortez!  Like the earlier "ROAD" films, the duo end up making lots of enemies, and unwittingly finding themselves having to make death-defying decisions, some of which make them heroes!  The only thing detracting from the film's overall success, is the music!  It's awful!
Although the music and lyrics are written by Elton John and Tim Rice, the
two responsible for "Lion King", there's not one memorable tune here!  In fact, not only do the songs fail to move the plot along, they actually
"slow" it down! This title is "Demonstration" quality!  The dvd features the same theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 with 16:9 enhancement.  The colors are exquisite!  Even with the complex color schemes meant to contrast Spain with the majesty of El Dorado, there's never any oversaturation! 
As we've been mentioning a lot lately, we're extremely excited that
DREAMWORKS has been electing to release their titles with both Dolby Digital "and" DTS soundtracks!  We wish WARNER BROS would do the same!  Both sound mixes are terrific here!  Although the score is completely forgettable, it gets the best presentation possible here.  Both sound mixes are extremely active, offering non-stop directional and atmospheric effects!  As with many DreamWorks  DTS/DOLBY DIGITAL comparisons, the mixes are similar.  However,
the DTS soundtrack offers better overall presentation, particularly in terms of low frequency range.
As with almost every title DREAMWORKS has released, with the exception of "IN DREAMS" , there are a lot of supplements on this dvd.
The best of the supplementary features is "BASICS OF ANIMATION:THE COLOR SCRIPT".  This outstanding "behind-the-scenes" documentary provides a terrific commentary/narration about all of the elements necessary in
bringing the film to completion.   As the title suggests, there are "color
script" or "storyboard" sequences.   There is also a shorter feature, "THE
MAKING OF THE ROAD TO EL DORADO", offering extensive interviews with practically the whole cast, as well as "behind-the-scenes" footage of the actual recording sessions.  
One "outstanding" feature that we hope we see much more of is the
"READ-ALONG" segment.  It's a lengthy (20 minutes) animated book version of the feature film, offering narration.  There is also a music video of the song, "SOMEDAY OUT OF THE BLUE". The theatrical trailer for the fim is also included in DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1