Maps of Movies

The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Where The Road to El Dorado says it takes place, and where it was really shot.

Animated, so nothing was filmed: only the opening in Spain is a real place, and El Dorado itself exists nowhere.

Scenes and places

The rigged dice game in Spain (1519)

Tulio and Miguel cheat sailors at dice and walk off with a map to the City of Gold. When the con is exposed, they run for the harbor.

Set in Spain, 1519 (Barcelona) — In 1519 Spain, two con artists win gold and a map to El Dorado in a rigged dice game. Google Maps · Apple Maps

Barcelona is the hub city chosen for this map; the film itself only says Spain.

Stowaways on Cortés's ship (1519)

Tulio and Miguel are caught and sentenced to slavery in Cuba. They break free and row off with the help of Cortés's mistreated horse, Altivo.

Set in Cortés's expedition ship, at sea — Caught and condemned to slavery in Cuba, the two steal a rowboat.

An at-sea story setting with no fixed place; Cuba is only named as where they are to be sent.

The totem by the waterfall (1519)

Miguel reads the map and leads them to a totem by a waterfall that Tulio thinks is a dead end. Then Chel, running from guards, bumps into them, and the guards take Tulio and Miguel for gods.

Set in Totem marker near a waterfall (South America) — Their boat reaches land somewhere in South America and Miguel recognizes the map's landmarks.

A made-up stretch of jungle; the film never names a real country.

Welcomed as gods in El Dorado (1519)

Chief Tannabok welcomes Tulio and Miguel as the twin gods and piles gold on them. Chel sees through the lie and agrees to keep quiet if they take her out of the city.

Set in El Dorado, the City of Gold — The two are mistaken for gods and given luxurious quarters; Chel discovers the deception.

A fictional city; its buildings were inspired by Maya sites the crew visited in Mexico.

The ball game (1519)

Miguel plays a ball game with children, and the high priest demands the pair face his best players. Outmatched, they win only after Chel swaps the ball for an armadillo.

Set in El Dorado ball court — Tzekel-Kan makes the "gods" prove their powers against the city's best players.

A fictional court in the fictional city; no real ball court is named as the model.

The giant whirlpool (1519)

Tzekel-Kan brings a giant stone jaguar to life to chase the pair. They outwit it and send it and the priest into a whirlpool.

Set in Giant whirlpool (entrance to Xibalba) — Tulio and Miguel outwit an animated stone jaguar, which falls into the whirlpool the natives believe leads to Xibalba.

Xibalba is the Maya underworld; here it is the spirit world the city's people believe lies below.

Sealing the city beneath the waterfall (1519)

Seeing Cortés approach, Tulio and Chel close the main entrance by ramming the rock pillars, even though it costs them the gold. Miguel and Altivo jump aboard to unfurl the sails.

Set in Rock pillars under the waterfall — Suspecting the city would be destroyed if Cortés found it, they ram the rock pillars under the waterfall to close the entrance.

The hidden entrance sits beneath the same waterfall as the totem marker.

Filmed at Chichen Itza — Architecture research trip, not a filming location Google Maps · Apple Maps

Filmed at Uxmal — Architecture research trip, not a filming location Google Maps · Apple Maps

Filmed at Tulum — Architecture research trip, not a filming location Google Maps · Apple Maps

Characters

• Tulio — A con artist and the strategic planner of the pair.
• Miguel — A laid-back con artist who grows fond of life in El Dorado.
• Chel — A woman from El Dorado who sees through the con and plays along.