The Cast Of 'Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado' on Why The Little Adventurer is Still Gold
You don’t need a map to see how much of a cultural impact Dora the Explorer has had over the last 25 years. Through her iconic bobbed haircut, and her ability to simultaneously teach Spanish while breaking the fourth wall, she taught an entire generation of minds how to find adventure in their own backyards. She was so effective that countless copycats were spawned, some of which still dominate children’s television today. While the original series is no longer on the air, Nickelodeon is still producing new adventures for its resident explorer. The latest is Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado.
The Paramount+ original is a standalone sequel to 2019’s Dora and the Lost City of Gold, but features an entirely different and younger cast. Speaking with FilmSpeak’s Dempsey Pillot, they all acknowledged how weird it was to be making a movie about a character that predated each of them. But they each said that it was an honor because of the character’s timeless lessons.
“When I think of Dora, I just think of childhood wonder, a call for adventure [and] I think as you get older you kind of lose that a bit,” Mariana Garzón Toro said. She plays a brand new character in the film named Naiya. She added that she admired Dora for her ability to encourage adults to get in touch with their curiosity again. Others said that the reason the show still resonates with audiences is its format.
“There’s just something about like checking off a checklist,” said Jacob Rodriguez. He’s the franchise’s newest Diego. “It’s so satisfying,” he added. “All right, she’s gotta go under the bridge first. Then she’s gotta cross that river next…and then she ends up in the gold. As a kid I was eating it up. As an adult I’m eating it up.” Samantha Lorraine, who plays Dora in the film, playfully added to Rodriguez’s answer saying, “That's such a reflection on life too, because you have these goals that you wanna reach, and then sometimes there's a swiper that comes your way.
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On a more serious note, Lorraine complimented the way this particular story is more relatable for adults who may have grown up watching the show and are on real life adventures now. She spoke about one of the film’s biggest (and earliest) twists - which involves her losing one of her companions. “What sets this movie apart from everything that we've seen so far is that we see Dora go through something that's kind of like symbolically life changing in a way for herself,” she said. When she loses the things that kind of make her Dora, she actually proves how much more of a survivor she is. “She is the adventurer. She is la exploradora. She is the light. She is Sol Dorado,” she added.
Although the film is sure to find its audience with fans of the original series, Lorraine also explained how she felt the film was made with so many beloved classics in mind, in the hopes it would become just as timeless for audiences of all ages. “Our director, Alberto Belli, was super inspired by The Goonies, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park. And I think there are some shots that are like such callbacks to those movies,” she said. “Even if you’re not a fan of Dora [but] you love those three movies, this one is worth checking out.”