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This article is about Dora and the Lost City of Gold. You may be looking for The Lost City (episode).
Everything you are about to see is true.
Except that foxes don't swipe.
That is a hurtful stereotype.
Brought to you by the Fox Council of the Americas.
Thank you. Gracias.

Swiper in the opening disclaimer

Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a Dora the Explorer movie. The movie was released on August 9, 2019, by Paramount Pictures and

Nickelodeon Movies. The story centers around Dora as a teenager who moves to the city to live with her cousin Diego Márquez.[1]

Synopsis[]

Dora the Explorer finds Dora dealing with high school and leading a new group of friends on an adventure with her sidekick, Boots the monkey, and famed cousin Diego who both embark on a journey to find Dora’s missing parents.[2]

Plot[]

After the events of 2000 series, Go, Diego, Go! and Dora and Friends: Into the City!, Young Dora spends her days in the Peruvian jungle with her cousin Diego, monkey Boots and imaginary friends Backpack and Map while warding off fox thief Swiper. When they're six years old, Diego leaves with his family to live in Los Angeles, even as Dora remains with her explorer parents, Elena and Cole, who are looking for the Inca city Parapata, the Lost City of Gold.

Ten years later, concerned for her safety, Dora is sent to live with Diego's family after her parents decipher a vital clue to Parapata's location. Dora, whose quirky habits of turning to address a non-existent audience and interacting with her imaginary friends, is no longer considered so charming at her current age. And she has a hard time fitting in with her new peers and reconnecting with Diego. Nonetheless, Dora continues to act with her usual positivity and enthusiasm despite Diego's embarrassment, interacting with fellow students Sammy and Randy. In the meantime, Dora has been hearing less and less from her parents and assumes they've just become distracted in their search for Parapata.

During a school field trip to a museum, Dora and the others are kidnapped to Peru by a band of mercenaries. Thankfully, a friend of Dora's parents, Alejandro, helps them escape. But, in the chaos Swiper steals Dora's map. Alejandro reports that Dora's parents have gone missing and mercenaries are hunting for them and planning to take Parapata's riches for themselves. Dora resolves to find them first, and everyone else trundles along hoping for rescue.

The jungle is Dora's element and recalibrates her intrepid spirit while revitalizing Diego in unexpected ways. They travel through the jungle and meet and beat various puzzles and obstacles until eventually, they meet Dora's parents right outside Parapata. Unfortunately, Alejandro was no friend of theirs and is in fact, one of the mercenaries.

They're all captured, but with Boots' help, the teenagers escape. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of Elena and Cole and the teenagers decide they'll have to get into Parapata and use the treasure as a bargaining chip. Inside the city are further dangerous traps, and while they make it through mostly unscathed and reach the central temple, they were unaware Alejandro had been following them.

Greedily, Alejandro attempts to take the city shrine's idol for himself and ends up falling into a trap instead. Parapata's guards are still alive and well, led by their queen, they capture the invading mercenaries. When they go to confront the teenagers, Dora speaks to them in Quechua, and assures the natives they'd only come for her parents and to learn about the city. Peaceably, the Inca lets them leave after getting a glimpse of their greatest treasure.

Back at their home in the jungle, Elena and Cole talk about going on a brand new expedition with the whole family. But, Dora decides to stay with her new friends and renewed relationship with Diego and decides to return to school. When they get back home, Dora, Diego, Sammy and Randy start to dance at their school dance and they got the entire school to dance along.

Characters[]

Characters Introduced real Characters[]

Cast[]

Actor Character
In Order of Appearance
Benicio Del Toro (voice) Swiper
Madelyn Miranda Dora Márquez (age 6)
Dee Bradley Baker (vocals) Animals, Boots and Baby Jaguar
Malachi Barton Diego Márquez (age 6)
Sasha Toro (voice) Backpack
Marc Weiner (voice) Map
Eva Longoria[3] Elena Márquez
Michael Peña Cole Márquez
Joey Vieira Nico
Pia Miller Sabrina
Isabela Moner Dora Márquez (age 16)
Jeff Wahlberg Diego Márquez (age 16)
Adriana Barraza Abuelita Valerie
Damien Garvey Security Guard
Anikka Abelita Vegan Student
Madeleine Madden Sammy
Daniel Donaldson Bad Dancing Teacher
Nicholas Coombe[4] Randy
Tivon Toito'ona • Bailey Hendy
Darcy Worthington • Emily Bell
Soccer Team Kids
Jace Fleming Mean Kid
Michelle Collins English Teacher
Matt Okine
Sean Frazer (uncredited)
Teachers
Natasa Ristic Christina X
Christopher Kirby Viper
Temuera Morrison Powell
Christopher Rawlins Mercenary
Eugenio Derbez[5] Alejandro
Isela Vega Old Woman
Danny Trejo (voice) Boots
Q'orianka Kilcher Kawillaka
Natalie Kinghorn High School DJ
Michael Rooney Choreographer
Daniel Valle
Kate Wormald
High School Dancers &
Assistant Choreographers
Abdulaye Sow • Brooke Schembri
Dustin Taylor • Elke Tulip Paes
Georgia Rothera • James David Portas
Joel Murphy • Kalahni Mia Spink
Karin Mochizuki • Kristin Sparks
Leyton Beal • Ly Thanh Dat
Mitchell Marshman • Phoenix Mitchell
Sarah Harvey • Savannah Foran-McDaniel
Seraseini Momo • Tanisha Mvoyi
William Dyson • Zeke Azzolini
High School Dancers
Alexander Andersen (uncredited) Student
Shaun Barry (uncredited) Bad Guy
Tannum Bowater (uncredited) Pilot
Susan Bush (uncredited) LAX Police
Arthur Costa (uncredited) Guardian
Keiichi Enomoto (uncredited)
Ken Watanabe (uncredited)
LAX Businessmen
Russ Gallagher (uncredited)
A!her Powson (uncredited)
Tourists
Laura Jane Jones (uncredited) Vocalist
Kev (uncredited) Gardener
Alice Lanesbury (uncredited) Flight Attendant
Emilia Lau (uncredited) Crowd High School Student
Braden Lewis (uncredited) Airport Kid
Lambert Majambele (uncredited) High School Student
Mivon Prince-Leyva (uncredited) Lost Guardian
Rob Schyff (uncredited) TSA Officer
Jason Virgil (uncredited)
Bianca Wallace (uncredited)
Airport Passengers
Lachlan Winters (uncredited) High School Student
Dancer
Elizabeth Xu (uncredited) Dancer

Crew[]

  • James Bobin - Director
  • Kristin Burr - Producer

Songs[]

Title Performed by
"The Cliff" (Instrumental) The Red Army Choir
"Dora the Explorer Theme Song" (Opening titles) Francesca Ramirez
"Dangers of Rave Music" Michael Peña
"Como Ves" (Live From The Fillmore) Ozomatli
Isabela Moner
"In Between Days" The Cure
"Cinco De Mayo" Pitbull
"Conga" Gloria Estefan
"Phantom Of The Opera" Nicholas Coombe
"Trio Fiesta"
"Don't Be Dead Song" Madeleine Madden
"These Boots are Made for Walkin'" Lele Pons
"Hooray! We Did It" (Ending song) Cast
"Soy Yo" (Credits song) Bomba Estéreo

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 Maddenalso 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 Trejoannounced 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 movie was released on August 9, 2019. However, it was originally scheduled to be released on August 2, 2019.

Home Media[]

Dora and the Lost City of Gold was released on Digital HD on November 5, 2019, and later on DVD and Blu-ray on November 19, 2019. The film is also available on Amazon Prime and Paramount+.

Trivia[]

  • This is the only live-action Dora the Explorer media so far (not counting the live action previews and commercials).
  • Everything you are about to see is true. In this universe, everything is not canon to the original series and takes place in its own universe.
    • Dora's younger twin siblings Guillermo and Isabella, her cousins Daisy and Alicia, and the Pets of her family as well as Swiper's pet puppy didn't appear or get mentioned at all in the film.
      • Additionally, Diego's stuffed jaguar plush acts as a homage to Baby Jaguar.
    • The design of Dora's house looks completely different than the original.
    • The designs of Dora and Diego's parents look completely different as compared to the original.
    • There are no Explorer Stars in this movie. But there was going to be a scene in which computer-animated versions of Glowy Star, Saltador Star, Noisy Star, and Switchy Star reunite with Dora when she and her friends enter Parapata. The scene itself references the Season 3/4 episode "Star Catcher".
    • The Swiping Disorder is way different in the film.
      • The character simply steals stuff and does not throw it.
        • Technically, Swiper almost successfully swiped (stole) Backpack and Map in this movie before Dora took them back.
      • "(character), no swiping!" is said once or twice.
      • The character does not snap his/her fingers when saying their stop phrase.
      • A dance party rendition of the "We Did It!" song is used during the end credits sequence.
        • The song was not used on Spotify.
    • When Dora, Diego, and Alejandro breathe in fumes from a patch of tropical flowers, they hallucinate their animated forms. This scene features cameo appearances from Tico, Benny, Isa, the Grumpy Old Troll, and the Fiesta Trio. This is the first Nickelodeon film to use hand-drawn animation since 2015's The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
      • Speaking of Fiesta Trio, they appeared at the VERY end of the movie when the credits were done rolling, playing the fanfare and then walking out of the screen after taking a bow along with the spore field scene.
        • Other than the very end, the Fiesta Trio don't appear in this movie, they don't even play their fanfare music after Dora passing every place in this movie.
      • During the hallucination sequence where after Alejandro panics, he says "I don't need these clothes!" so he takes off his clothes and his underwear is flung on Dora's face. He then runs away through the bushes naked. This was cut in some showings of the movie.
      • Boots, Swiper, Big Red Chicken and the Pirate Piggies are the only characters not to appear in the hallucination sequence.
        • Speaking of Big Red Chicken, he was intended to be in the movie, but ended up being completely absent in the final product.
      • The tropical flowers shown are Carrion flowers, specifically Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum), but unlike in the movie, Titan arums do not grow in patches, and fully bloom only around 3-7 years at a time (but can bloom around every 2-3 years as well). They do not have hallucinogenic spores, instead, they secrete a rotting smell for bugs.
    • Boots only talks for a little bit in this movie to Dora, but during the movie, he's usually just making monkey sounds. Additionally, he doesn't have a child voice due to his original voice actor being too old to voice him and puberty, he's got an adult voice.
    • The Travel Song, I'm The Grumpy Old Troll, and Swiper's original music is not featured in this movie.
    • Dora doesn't talk to or even look at the viewer during this movie at all. She only talks to them at the beginning as a joke, she doesn't even ask them for their help unlike in the show.
      • Dora also talks to random people like she does in the show.
    • This movie happens in a different continuity to the previous two Dora the Explorer series. This is because in the movie, Dora has evidently never lived in a city before, despite that being the premise of Dora and Friends: Into the City.
      • Alternatively, Dora and the Lost City of Gold could be considered to have retconned all the events of Into the City, and only follow the events of Dora the Explorer.
      • Apparently, when Dora was 7 her family moved to where Dora's House was.
  • Dora's outfit for the movie resembles her regular outfit for Seasons 1-6.
  • "Conga" is a Radio Song.
    • Thus, this marks the second time Nick Jr. has used a radio song in their TV show since a parody of "Poker Face" on a Bubble Guppies DVD commercial.
  • This movie was first planned in 2008 and was supposed to be a TV movie instead of a theatrical film.
  • Marc Weiner and Sasha Toro reprise their roles as Map and Backpack, respectively, but for some reason, Marc Weiner doesn't do the role of both Map and Swiper (nor the Fiesta Trio) this time, even though he's already a voice actor for both of the characters. Instead, Swiper has a new voice actor for the very first time (that being Benicio Del Toro); Marc Weiner only does the role of Map.
    • Apparently, Sasha Toro confirmed that after departing the show upon the end of Season 4 (being replaced by Alexandria Suarez, who later voiced Naiya), she was reprising her role as Backpack on her Twitter and Instagram while NickALive announced Marc Weiner reprising his role as Map.
  • The movie was originally going to be released on August 2, 2019, but it ended up getting released exactly the Friday after (August 9) instead, when the last episode (Let's Go to Music School) was released.
  • Isabela Moner, who plays Dora in live-action, also voiced Kate (previously voiced by Cassidy Leonard and Sofia Singer) in Dora and Friends.
  • When Dora and Diego turn into cartoon forms by the tropical flowers, Dora sort of and finally makes a kind of angry look (for the first time since the Season 1 episode Lost and Found) when Diego grabs her hand pulling her up.
  • Some parts of the film where Dora, Diego, Randy, and Sammy get sent to the jungle and got captured by Alejandro and his helpers and ending up at the Ancient city were all reused from Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie.
  • Alejandro is the first character to be revealed as the main villain of the movie ever since Solan and Bree Blackbern from The Wild Thornberrys Movie.
  • This movie reveals Dora's parents' names (Elena for Mami and Cole for Papi).

Goofs[]

  • Diego’s nearly 17 years old.
  • Dora’s nearly 16 years old.
  • That sneaky fox is always trying to swipe everyone’s stuff. He'll try to swipe Dora’s Backpack & Map.

Gallery[]

Dora and the Lost City of Gold/Gallery

Transcript[]

Dora and the Lost City of Gold/Transcript

References[]

  1. The film earned $120 million box office. 'Dora the Explorer' Movie in the Works With Nick Stoller, The Hollywood Reporter, October 23, 2017
  2. Deadline
  3. Deadline
  4. Deadline
  5. The Hollywood Reporter, August 20, 2018

External links[]

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