Dora and the Lost City of Gold facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dora and the Lost City of Gold |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | James Bobin |
| Produced by | Kristin Burr |
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| Cinematography | Javier Aguirresarobe |
| Editing by | Mark Everson |
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 9, 2019 (United States) |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $49 million |
| Money made | $119.7 million |
Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a 2019 American adventure comedy film that is a live-action adaptation of the Nick Jr. animated television series Dora the Explorer and directed by James Bobin. The film stars Isabela Moner, Eugenio Derbez, Michael Peña, Eva Longoria, with Danny Trejo as the voice of Boots and Benicio del Toro as the voice of Swiper.
A live-action Dora film was announced in 2017, and Moner was cast in the title role in May 2018. Most of the other lead cast members were hired throughout the rest of the year, and filming took place from August to December 2018 in Australia and Peru. This film is set after the events of the animated original television series and was also the first film based on a Nick Jr. series.
The film was theatrically released in the United States on August 9, 2019, by Paramount Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Moner's performance and the self-aware humor, and grossed $119 million worldwide.
Contents
Plot
Deep in the Peruvian jungle, 6-year-old Dora Márquez (Madelyn Miranda), daughter of jungle explorers Cole (Michael Peña) and Elena (Eva Longoria), spends her days going on adventures with her monkey friend Boots, her 7-year-old cousin Diego (Malachi Barton), and imaginary friends Backpack and Map while thwarting Swiper (voiced by Benicio del Toro) the thieving fox. One day, Diego and his family leave to Los Angeles while Dora and her parents remain searching for the hidden Inca city of gold, Parapata.
After 10 years of exploring, Dora's parents decipher the location of Parapata and choose to send a now 16-year-old Dora (Isabela Moner) to Diego's high school in Los Angeles while they travel to the lost city. Staying with a now 17-year-old Diego (Jeff Wahlberg) and his family, Dora meets fellow students Sammy (Madeleine Madden) and Randy (Nicholas Coombe). Due to Dora’s intelligence, Sammy sees her as her rival. Still, Randy is amused by Dora’s intelligence and her being very nice to him and develops an immediate crush on her. Dora enjoys her new life, but Diego is embarrassed by her eccentric behavior; it culminates in mocking and name-calling by several of their peers when Dora publicly dances to a conga song at the school dance. As Diego walks outside, Dora tries to comfort him, but Diego says that she is no longer in the jungle, which leads to a fallout between them.
The following day, on a class field trip to a museum, Dora and the others are lured to its off-exhibit archives, where they are captured by mercenaries led by Powell (Temuera Morrison) who fly them to Peru. When they land, a man named Alejandro (Eugenio Derbez), who claims to be a friend of Dora's parents, helps them escape. In the process, the mercenaries, aided by Swiper, steal Dora's map. Alejandro reports that Dora's parents have gone missing and that the mercenaries are searching for them in hopes of getting into Parapata to steal its treasures. Dora resolves to find her parents first with Alejandro's help, while Diego comes along to look after Dora, with the other teens tagging along in hopes of being rescued.
The group travels through numerous obstacles, including quicksand, Inca ruin puzzles, and attacks from forest guards of Parapata. During the journey, Sammy warms up to Dora and becomes nicer to everyone. Dora and Diego eventually reconcile, and Dora notices Diego has a crush on Sammy. After numerous hazards, Dora reaches her parents just outside the borders of Parapata, but Alejandro reveals he was the mercenaries' leader all along and captures them. The other teens are caught as well, but Boots appears and helps them escape. With Dora's parents still prisoners, Boots (voiced by Danny Trejo) helps Dora to find her confidence and tells the teens that they need to find the way inside Parapata to acquire the treasure so they can use it to bargain for Elena and Cole's release.
Inside the hidden city, Dora and the others solve its temple's puzzles and dodge its traps, bringing them to the central shrine. Alejandro secretly follows them and attempts to steal its central idol himself but instead falls into a trap. The soldiers guarding Parapata defeat the mercenaries and confront the teens. Dora speaks to their queen (Q'orianka Kilcher) in Quechua, assuring that the kids only came for her parents and to learn. The Incas are grateful for saving their treasures and permit them all to have a single glimpse of their greatest treasure.
After the group leaves, Diego and Sammy become a couple. Dora's parents and the teens arrive at her jungle home, where the other teens' parents are waiting and are happy to see them. Her parents discuss going on another expedition as a whole family, but Dora decides to return to school in Los Angeles.
During the credits, Dora and her friends celebrate at the school dance while singing the extended version of "We Did It." Alejandro remains a prisoner in Parapata. Cole and Elena prevent Swiper from making off with one of their items.
Cast
- Isabela Moner as Dora Márquez, a 16-year-old jungle explorer and the main protagonist of the eponymous series. She is the daughter of Cole and Elena, and Diego's cousin.
- Eugenio Derbez as Professor Alejandro Gutiérrez, an explorer and professor at the National University of San Marcos. He is a treasure hunter and the leader of the mercenaries.
- Michael Peña as Cole Márquez, a jungle explorer who is Dora's father and Diego's uncle.
- Eva Longoria as Elena Márquez, a jungle explorer who is Dora's mother and Diego's aunt.
- Jeff Wahlberg as Diego Márquez, Dora's cousin and the main protagonist of Go, Diego, Go!. He later becomes Sammy's boyfriend.
- Nicholas Coombe as Randy Warren, a school classmate who is friends with Dora, Diego, and Sammy. He also has a crush on Dora.
- Madeleine Madden as Sammy Moore, a school classmate who is friends with Dora, Diego, and Randy. She later becomes Diego’s girlfriend.
- Temuera Morrison as Powell, a mercenary working for Professor Alejandro as his second-in-command.
- Adriana Barraza as Abuelita Valerie, Dora and Diego's grandmother.
- Q'orianka Kilcher as Princess Kawillaka, the ruler of Parapata.
Voices
- Danny Trejo as Boots, a monkey and Dora and Diego's best friend.
- Benicio del Toro as Swiper, a sneaky red fox who conspires to swipe useful things from Dora.
- Marc Weiner as Map, an imaginary vocal item who helps Dora with different locations.
- Sasha Toro as Backpack, an imaginary vocal item who has all the things that Dora needed.
Production
On October 24, 2017, a deal was struck for a live-action version of the television series to be made, with James Bobin directing. Nicholas Stoller and Danielle Sanchez-Witzel were hired to pen a script. Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes was announced as producer, though Bay and the company were ultimately not involved.
The film depicts a teenage version of Dora. It was issued an initial release date of August 2, 2019. In May 2018, Isabela Moner was cast to play Dora. Eugenio Derbez began negotiations to join in June, and was confirmed to appear in July. Micke Moreno was cast to play Diego, though had to withdraw and was replaced by Jeff Wahlberg. Eva Longoria and Michael Peña were cast as Dora's parents that August. Madeleine Madden also joined the cast of the film. In October, Q'orianka Kilcher was added to the cast, and in November, Pia Miller was set to play Dora's aunt Sabrina. In December 2018, Benicio del Toro joined as the voice of Swiper, and in March 2019, Danny Trejo announced that he had been cast as the voice of Boots the Monkey.
In an interview with Forbes, Moner stated that she learned Quechua language for the character. She said that the film would "take audiences to Machu Picchu" to "explore the Incan culture," and commented that "Dora is very cultured and she knows everything about everything," and that she "doesn't have a defined ethnicity."
Filming began on August 6, 2018, on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and concluded on December 7, 2018.
The visual effects are provided by Mill Film, Moving Picture Company and Cheap Shot VFX, supervised by Lindy De Quattro, Andy Brown and Richard Little with visualization services provided by Proof and 2D animation provided by Blink Industries.
Release
The film was released on August 9, 2019. It was previously slated for August 2, 2019.
Home media
Dora and the Lost City of Gold was released on Digital HD on November 5, 2019 and also streaming on Amazon prime. and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 19, 2019.
See also
In Spanish: Dora y la ciudad perdida para niños
