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Dora-The-Explorer-Movie.jpg

'Dora The Explorer: Lost City of Gold' Trailer Is aDORAble And Surprising!

By Kristy Puchko | Film | March 25, 2019 |

By Kristy Puchko | Film | March 25, 2019 |


Dora-The-Explorer-Movie.jpg

The little cartoon adventurer, Dora the explorer, has her own live-action feature-length adventure with Dora And The Lost City Of Gold. Fans of the kids’ show will smile to see her trusty backpack, monkey pal Boots, and dear cousin Diego making appearances alongside her signature outfit of pink tee, orange shorts, and pristine white sneakers. But you don’t have to be a fan or a child to be intrigued by this first trailer.

It’s adorable. And surprising!

Isabela Moner (Transformers: The Last Knight, Instant Family) stars as Dora, who is a teenager in this incarnation and is basically thrown into the beginning of Mean Girls. Raised in the jungle by her loving parents, she’s all of a sudden tossed into the wilds of high school, where her chipper attitude and stash of survival gear is confounding to her classmates. But this fish-out-of-water setup gets flipped when Dora and her new pals are kidnapped by nefarious foes who demand this plucky protagonist track down a lost city of gold! That’s where things go Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle. Simply put: this looks really fun!

And look at that cast! You probably spotted Michael Peña, Eva Longoria, and Eugenio Derbez in the trailer. But Dora The Explorer: Lost City of Gold also boasts Benicio Del Toro and Danny Trejo, voicing Swiper and Boots respectively. The series focused on a Spanish-speaking Latina heroine, and Nickelodeon Movies not only didn’t whitewash her for the big screen, but also took the opportunity to stack its cast with incredible actors of color. Also on board are Q’orianka Kilcher, Madeleine Madden, Ken Watanabe, and Temuera Morrison.

We shouldn’t be surprised that Dora The Explorer movie didn’t whitewash the Latina heroine. But this is the same Hollywood that brought us white-washed adaptations like Ghost In the Shell, The Last Airbender, Death Note, and flirted with doing the same to Crazy Rich Asians. Maybe it’s an uncynical commitment to the concept and character. Maybe Nickelodeon truly believes in the power of representation. Maybe it’s that Latinx audiences have finally gotten through to Hollywood that they’re paying customers. Regardless, live-action Dora is ready to roll into theaters and be a powerful and perky role model.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold opens August 2.



Header Image Source: Nickelodeon Movies