~The First Doctor
Let's talk about "The Road to El Dorado".
"El Dorado" was one of DreamWorks' earlier animated films. Though it was ultimately a financial failure in the box office, particularly when compared with Disney's "The Emperor's New Groove", which also took place in an ancient South American civilization, "El Dorado" still holds a decent amount of nostalgic power. I personally remember watching the movie dozens of times with my younger cousins one summer, and I also remember a co-worker at a video store I used to work at whose go-to-movie to watch in the store was "El Dorado" (at least until they started forcing us to play those annoying preview DVDs). It holds up really well.
What I didn't know until just a few years ago was that "The Road to El Dorado" is actually loosely-based on a very old Rudyard Kipling novel, "The Man Who Would Be King", which was also adapted into an excellent movie starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine.
While the settings are different, the overall concept is the same. Two dudes come to a primitive land, they're mistaken for gods, they use their modern knowledge and cleverness to perpetuate the ruse, but they are ultimately discovered as frauds and... well the endings tend to differ from story to story, but it doesn't often end well.
Why do I bring this up?
Well, because when I tell you the synopsis of the "Doctor Who" serial "The Aztecs", I don't want you thinking that "El Dorado" totally ripped them off. This is not the case. "The Aztecs" and "The Road to El Dorado" BOTH ripped off "The Man Who Would Be King". Though, given some of the interesting aesthetic similarities, I concede that it is entirely possible that the writers of "El Dorado" may have looked at "The Aztecs" as an additional influence, particularly when it comes to the South American setting ("The Man Who Would Be King" took place in Afghanistan), the subplot of trying to end barbaric rituals, and the antagonist being a High Priest of Sacrifice that first shows any sign of disbelief. However, the characters of Miguel and Tulio of "El Dorado" are much more similar to the characters Daniel and Peachey of "The Man Who Would Be King" than any of the characters from "Doctor Who", so I'd say that the Kipling novel was likely their primary influence.
Anyway, "The Aztecs" is about the Doctor and his companions getting stuck in the time before the Aztecs were destroyed by the Spaniards because of the whole human sacrifice thing (and also because the Spaniards were kind of dicks like that). Finding themselves in one of their sacred tombs, Barbara, who is an expert on Aztec culture and history, puts on an ancient artifact for the hell of it and is mistaken for a goddess. She hopes to try and use her influence to convince the Aztecs that human sacrifice and barbarism is not necessary to earn the favor of their gods, in order to help them be more civilized so the Spaniards do not wipe them out completely. She is opposed at every turn by Tlotoxl (I apologize if you're reading this aloud), the High Priest of Sacrifice, who immediately suspects that she is a fraud and does everything he can to expose her and kill her "servants".
If you've read my previous reviews, you'd know that I've come to develop quite a liking for Barbara Wright. While I concede that by modern standards she isn't anything terribly remarkable, considering how this series was made in the early 60's, I'm impressed that she has as much intelligence and agency as she does. I mean, on the flip side, look at Susan. All she does is get trapped, get in trouble, go insane, and scream and whine. This was commonplace for women in genre fiction at the time. However, Barbara was the first companion to demand and earn the Doctor's respect. She has racked up a larger body count than Ian, who is supposed to be the "physical" character. While the other characters are largely reactive, she seems to be the most proactive. I don't think I'm unjustified in thinking she's awesome.
This serial is, in a way, all about Barbara, so it shouldn't be surprising when I say that this is my favorite serial so far. But it's not my favorite just because Barbara is the main character and because the plot is very similar to a movie that I have a lot of nostalgic fondness for. It's also my favorite because it's the first serial that's actually well-paced. It's only four episodes long, and while I think that it MIGHT have been able to fit into three episodes, none of the episodes feel completely extraneous.
Now, without further ado, let's dig deeper into the story.
