Elcano & Magellan: The First Voyage Around the World (Spanish: Elcano y Magallanes: La primera vuelta al mundo, Portuguese: Elcano e Magalhães: A Primeira Volta ao Mundo) is a 2019 Spanish animated adventure film directed by Ángel Alonso and written by José Antonio Vitoria and Garbiñe Losana. The film retells the story of 1519 circumnavigation led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano.
| Elcano & Magellan: The First Voyage Around the World | |
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 Film poster | |
| Spanish | Elcano y Magallanes. La primera vuelta al mundo |
| Directed by | Ángel Alonso |
| Written by |
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| Produced by | Ricardo Ramón |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Joseba Beristain |
Production companies |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | Spain |
| Languages |
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Elcano & Magellan: The First Voyage Around the World premiered at the 2019 Málaga Film Festival on 23 March 2019, and was released in Spain on July 5, during the 500th anniversary of the expedition.[1] The film was made controversial in the Philippines for its inaccurate portrayal of the Filipino natives, especially Lapulapu, who led the Battle of Mactan that killed Magellan.[2] At the 34th Goya Awards, it earned a nomination for Best Animated Film.
The OST "Confía en el Viento" was sung by La Oreja De Van Gogh.
Plot
editSet in Seville, Andalusia in 1519, Juan Sebastián Elcano is a young and irresponsible man who wants to live as a captain of his little boat, but due to debts that he has with the city's bank, the bank manager confiscates Elcano's boat and orders the guards to arrest him as a defaulter.
As he tries to avoid imprisonment, Elcano enlists as part of an expedition of five ships commanded by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, nicknamed "The Navigator", in order to arrive in the Moluccas Islands to get spices, very valuable to the ruling Kingdom of Castile.
Portuguese ambassador Álvaro da Costa plots to make the journey a failure since the Moluccas Islands belong to the Kingdom of Portugal, and hires Yago as spy and saboteur to prevent the journey's success. Unaware of it, Magellan completes the crew of the five ships: the Trinidad, the San Antonio, the Concepción, the Santiago, and the Victoria; and starts the journey.
Elcano, hoping to have his own ship, works as a helmsman for Captain Juan de Cartagena, who despises him and is suspicious about Magellan, taking him as a traitor who secretly works for Portugal. At the same time that Yago makes some sabotages, Cartagena conspires with the other captains to get Magellan's secret map to navigate by unknown lands. But after Magellan died after a battle with natives of the Saint Lazarus islands, Elcano is promoted by the crew as the new leader of the trip.
Travelling to the west following the sun and determined to fulfill the mission, Elcano finds himself fighting against not only Yago and Álvaro da Costa, but time and starvation to make history and give the first trip around the world.
Voice cast
edit| Character | Actor | |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | English[3] | |
| Juan Sebastián Elcano | Kiko Jáuregui | Rio Chavarro |
| Ferdinand Magellan | Iñaki Beraetxe | Chris Jahn |
| Samar | Aintzane Krujeiras | Betsy Durkin |
| Paco | José Vera | Avi Hoffman |
| Antonio Pigafetta | Ander Vildósola Gala | Roly Gutiérrez |
| Álvaro da Costa | Kandido Uranga | Oscar Cheda |
| Yago | Xavier Alkiza | Alex Machado |
| Enrique of Malacca | Jon Samaniego | Aaron Goldenberg |
| Gonzalo de Espinosa | Martín Zabala | Paul Louis |
| Juan de Cartagena | Mañu Elizondo | Avi Hoffman |
| Juan de Serrano | Jesús Izeta | David Kwiat |
| Gaspar de Quesada | Mikel Fernández | Paul Tei |
| King of Cebú | Kiko Jáuregui | |
| Almanzor | Mikel Fernández | |
| Gómez | Asier Hernández | Alex Texeira |
| Elcano's Friend | Eduardo Gorriño | Roly Gutiérrez |
| Inés | Vito Rogado | Amanda Williams |
| Banker | Ramón Zalakain | Terry Hardcastle |
| Governor of the Moluccas | Ramón Zalakain | Travis Roig |
Release
editThe film was screened on 23 March 2019 during the Málaga Film Festival.[1] It was later released in Spain by Barton Films and Filmax on 5 July 2019, on the 500th anniversary of the circumnavigation.[4] The film was also released in countries such as Kuwait, Lebanon, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Controversy
editIn November 2019, the film sparked online controversy in the Philippines for glorifying colonialism[5] and its historical inaccuracies, including the clothes worn by the indigenous Filipino natives in the film and its antagonistic portrayal of Lapulapu and the natives, despite Filipino historians challenging Lapulapu's role in the Battle of Mactan as being only the chieftain and not the one who actually killed Magellan. Some Twitter users also pointed out the similarities of the characters' designs to those of the 2000 American animated film The Road to El Dorado.[4]
An online petition was set on Change.org, calling for the movie to be banned for release in the Philippines. The petition garnered more than 4,000 signatures in its first hours.[6] Agusan del Norte's First District Representative Lawrence Fortun called for the film to be reviewed by both historians and the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board before it could be released in Philippine cinemas.[7]
Despite the criticism the film received on social media, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines stated that, while the commission does not endorse or critique films or any other art form in particular, the film is an opportunity for the Filipino public to learn more about their ancestors, noting that both Spain and the Philippines have biases towards the Magellan-Elcano expedition. In a statement, the commission's chairperson Rene Escalante said:
What we request the public is to be critical and make use of the opportunity to discover by themselves who truly were our ancestors, by reading books about Philippine history, culture, and society, or visiting the National Museum and other museums and galleries alike.[8]
In response to the calls for the film's ban, Filipino historian Xiao Chua stated that the producers should be allowed to exhibit the film without suffering from censorship.[8] The Malacañang Palace said that it is up to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board to decide if the film should be either edited or banned in the Philippines.[8]
In response to the film's online backlash, the film's Philippine distributor, Crystal Sky Multimedia, stated that it invited historians, members of the academe and film experts to "re-evaluate" the film.[5]
Accolades
edit| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain | 20 January 2020 | CEC Award; Best Animated Film | Nominated |
| Goya Awards | 25 January 2020 | Best Animated Film | Nominated[9] |
| Platino Awards | 29 June 2020 | Best Animated Film | Nominated[10] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b ""Elcano & Magellan: The first voyage around the world" to premiere at the Malaga Film Festival". Etxepare Basque Institute. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Teaser, poster for 'Elcano and Magellan' movie draw flak in the Philippines – and rightfully so". Rappler. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Elcano & Magellan: The First Voyage Around the World". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
- ^ a b Madarang, Catalina Ricci S. (8 November 2019). "'Elcano & Magellan' film is riling some Filipinos but historians have a sober take". InterAksyon. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Philippine distributor of 'Elcano and Magellan' 're-evaluates' film amid backlash". The Philippine Star. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ Manotoc, TJ (8 November 2019). "Animated film 'Elcano and Magellan' sharply criticized on social media". Balitang America. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Lawmaker wants MTRCB, historians to review 'Elcano and Magellan' movie". CNN Philippines. 8 November 2019. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ a b c "Historian: 'Magellan' film a chance for Pinoys to learn more about ancestors". ABS-CBN News. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (2 December 2019). "34th Goya Awards: Four Nominations for 'Buñuel'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Los Premios Platino Xcaret del Cine Iberoamericano Anuncian las Candidaturas Finales de su VII Edición" [The Platino Xcaret Awards for Iberoamerican Cinema Announce the Final Candidates for its VII Edition]. Platino Awards (in Spanish). 18 March 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.