Dora the Explorer is one of the most popular animated children's shows of all-time, which made it no surprise when a live-action theatrical adaptation was announced. Now, we have our first look at the real-life Dora the Explorer herself. Isabela Moner plays the role and she looks perfect as Dora, though, I must admit, a much more grown-up version. Meet Dora.
Clearly, Dora the Explorer has grown-up. Isabela Moner is 17-years-old, but she's not supposed to be playing a younger kid. The live-action film will see Dora entering high school for the first time after having spent most of her life exploring jungles with her family. So, apparently, the new film is essentially a sequel to the long-running animated series and everything that took place there is canon.
Dora looks perfect. While she's older, the outfit looks like it's something right out of the animated series. Although, it needs to be said that it's more than a little strange that Dora's taste in clothing hasn't changed in a decade. She still wears literally the same outfit she did when she was seven.
While high school may be the new thing for Dora in the film, it doesn't sound like much of the movie actually takes place in high school, as Dora will eventually lead her group of friends on an adventure in the jungle in an attempt to rescue her parents and solve a mystery behind a lost Incan civilization. Standard Dora stuff.
Dora the Explorer ran for eight seasons and 172 episodes on Nickelodeon. As it's been four years since the show wrapped, there are certainly many fans who are a bit older now, so while the decision to make Dora older for the new film may seem a little strange, it probably makes a lot of sense, as many of the kids who watched the show are teenagers, or even older, today. Dora has grown up with them.
Isabela Moner has been making a pretty strong name for herself with roles in films like Transformers: The Last Knight and even more recently, Sicario: Day of the Soldado. Now she's got a chance to lead a movie on her own it what, let's face it, has the potential to become its own franchise if it becomes successful. There's nothing wrong with that, an Indiana Jones-style adventure that's meant for the entire family to enjoy is a fantastic idea if it all comes together properly.
The new Dora the Explorer movie just started filming in Australia and is set for release on August 2, 2019. The film is being directed by James Bobin who directed the two most recent Muppets films with a script from Nick Stoller, who also wrote those films.
