Actress Isabelle Moner says she did not expect so much action when she signed for “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” the next film about Latina’s adventure exploring.
Moner said she thought he would be a funny movie, with Dora in a “fish out of the water” kind of situation as she starts high school.
“It’s a ‘Tomb Raider’ encounter ‘Indiana Jones’ movie,” Moner, 18, said in a recent interview. “It’s kind of takes you on this journey that has so many layers and so the number of characters and it’s wonderful. What I want, what I hope for is not only children but adults to really connect to the movie, as well as people of my age. “
While the film is based on the popular cartoon character children who debuted in 2000, “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” presents a new, older version of character. Dora’s film, which faces society for the first time in years when she is sent to California for high school.
“It’s nothing like the TELEVISION show,” director James Bobin says. “We have nods to the TELEVISION show, but the show is about education for kids. It’s a kind of adventure comedy that happens to feature the character of Dora, you know from the TELEVISION show. And in fact, he plays with the idea that you do not who she is and how she would behave if she were a real person. “
The film, which is in theaters on Friday, features a large Latino cast, a rarity for a large Hollywood production.
Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez, also a producer of the film, plays a mysterious explorer; while Eva Longoria is Dora the Mom and actor Michael Peña is Daddy’s Dora. Jeff Wahlberg, who is of Dominicans descent, plays Dora’s famous cousin Diego. And Benicio Del Toro is the voice of Chipeur the Fox who steals Dora from things in the animated series.
Longoria said it was an honor to participate in “such a positive portrayal of a young Latina who is smart and kind and brave and brave and fluent in Spanish and really famous that”.
“It’s definitely the biggest movie budget I’ve ever made to see a studio investing in our (Latin) community, as it has been really, really cool to see,” she says.
“She’s a Latina heroine, I think in a lot of ways, and I think it’s so underrepresented in the cinema. This movie feels like an ‘Indiana Jones’ featuring a girl who is 16 years old and Latina, and who would never have arrived 20 years ago, “Bobin said.
A kidnapping whips Dora, Diego and two other teenagers in the jungle, where they have to work to help save his parents and solve the mystery of a lost city.
For Moner, who was born in Cleveland and learned Spanish as a first language through his Peruvian mom, playing Dora presented the opportunity to explore her own heritage.
The film contains several lines in Spanish and Quechua, inviting Moner to call her grand aunt in Peru during filming, so she can ask about certain words in the native language spoken in the Peruvian Andes and the highlands of South America.
“I felt closer to my culture, my roots, my” Moner said.
With the live-action movie, Derbez is waiting for moviegoers to have fun.
“He has a lot of comedy, so everyone will laugh. It’s not one of those movies that you go with your kids and you get bored, “Derbez said.
Longoria agreed. “I’m so excited that I’m finally in a movie that my son can watch. He can not look at it yet, but when he grows up, he will appreciate it, “she says.
