When it was first announced that there would be a live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon children’s show Dora The Explorer , audiences didn’t really know what to expect. However, the new film, titled Dora And The Lost City Of Gold , has released its first trailer on Paramount Pictures’ YouTube channel, and it looks surprising, to say the least.
Dora The Explorer was an educational animated children’s program that featured on the Nickelodeon network for eight seasons. The highly-successful show has spun off into a large franchise with one-off movies, other series and spin-offs, books and various merchandise, clothing, and much more. The show has been praised as being one of the most interactive and educational programs for children on television as covered by Common Sense Media.
Dora The Explorer has also been applauded for representing Latino characters in children’s’ television as well for teaching kids another language with its use of Spanish terms and verbs. The show has been so popular that many Latino celebrities have appeared on the show as guest voices. John Leguizamo, Ricardo Montalban, and Cheech Marin are but some celebrities who have lent their voices for characters on the show. The show’s reverence as an educational program is far-reaching, as described by Huffington Post .
The trailer for Dora And The Lost City Of Gold sees a young girl named Dora (Isabela Moner) who has spent most of her life in the jungle with her father (Michael Pena) and mother (Eva Longoria). When the parents embark on a dangerous mission to uncover a lost city, Dora is sent to her relatives to attend high school in the city, an experience unknown to her. While having to deal with the challenges of a new school in a new city, Dora is kidnapped by mercenaries and forced to help them find the city. The story sees Dora embark on an adventure back in her own turf in the jungle, with some new and old friends, as she attempts to rescue her parents.
The story and premise feel similar to another children’s adventure movie featuring Latino characters, Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids . The movie itself looks fun and humorous, but also definitely like it’s for a certain age group only. It’s difficult to determine from this first trailer if the movie will appeal to a broader audience or even adults. The supporting cast of the film is impressive, with Pena and Longoria, and also Danny Trejo, as the voice of Dora’s pet monkey Boots. Benicio Del Toro will voice the villainous Swiper.
Dora And The Lost City Of Gold is set to release on August 2.
