Paving the Musical Road to El Dorado  by Sharon Schatz  There is
a little armadillo that tags along with Tulio and Miguel, the
lead characters in The Road to El Dorado. "Whenever you see
him," explains the film's co-composer, John Powell, "We put
churango music in. [A churango] is actually the back of an
armadillo shell, which has been hardened out and they string it
with five or six strings. It's a very particular sound of South
America, obviously, but rather ironic." Irony and inside jokes
aside, it is this attention to detail and ethnic flavor that
musically brings the world of El Dorado to life. But, the task
of matching the music to the film was actually a bit more
complicated than simply playing armadillo-made instrumentals
over an animated armadillo.  Composer Hans Zimmer (middle) with
songwriters Tim Rice and Elton John (left to right). Courtesy of
DreamWorks LLC.  The Team DreamWorks' second traditionally
animated feature reunites songwriters Elton John and Tim Rice
and composer Hans Zimmer, the Osca