“Can you say delicioso?” — The first line we hear Dora say in the new, second trailer for her live-action movie will sound familiar to anyone who grew up with this most famous cartoon explorer. Her fourth wall break earns the requisite, ironic eye-roll from her parents (Eva Longoria and Michael Peña), who hope their little girl will grow out of this need to address a nonexistent English-speaking audience in their kitchen. Which is why for her big screen debut, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, our favorite bilingual explorer is all grown up. Played by Peruvian American actress Isabela Moner, this teenage Dora is headed to her scariest adventure yet: high school. But having spent her entire childhood with her archaeologist parents in the jungles of South America, it’s no surprise to see that she finds herself stranded in the Amazon, with a bunch of schoolmates, hoping to find her missing parents.
The family-friendly film, which also co-stars Eugenio Derbez as a clutzy jungle inhabitant and Danny Trejo as the voice of Boots the monkey, is very much aiming for that Jumanji reboot audience. Mixing fart jokes with big action set pieces in roaring rivers and dangerous quicksand, Dora is less a Spanish-language tutor here and more a Lara Croft Jr. character. Yet, the title of the film may well hold a key to one history lesson the young explorer will be teaching moviegoers this summer; the mysterious discovery her parents have uncovered is the famed city of gold. A myth that stretches back to the earliest conquest expeditions in what is now Colombia, El Dorado was an alluring idea for many Europeans seeking to further plunder the so-called “New World.” And while no historical record of such a city has ever been corroborated — many historians have pointed instead to the gold-dusted chieftain ceremony that took place in Lake Guatavita in the Andes — its legend continues to entrance Hollywood storytellers.
We don’t get much of a look at this city in the trailer; it offers little plot details in exchange for funny slapstick comedy involving jungle pratfalls. But if the casting of German-born actress Q’orianka Kilcher, who’s of Peruvian descent, as Inca Princess Kawillaka is anything to go by, we’re sure to get a look at an indigenous community that may well be the secret keepers of the city of gold. Watch the full trailer below, which gives us a first look at the Benicio del Toro-voiced CGI character Swiper the Fox and a lot more of the ever-adorable Boots.
Dora and the Lost City of Gold arrives in theaters August 9, 2019.