Trivia

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.

In November 2019, the film sparked online controversy in the Philippines for glorifying colonialism 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.

The movie, produced in Spain fail to historically report the Battle of Mactan (when Magellan was killed) as the first Filipino resistance against foreign invaders, and Lapu-Lapu was hailed a hero. That's why is needed to remember that it's the version of the story told by the Spanish and not actually what happened. 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."

At the 34th Goya Awards, it earned a nomination for Best Animated Film.

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.