'Dora And The Lost City Of Gold' Trailer: You Think You Know Dora The Explorer?

In a rush for empathetic inclusivity and diversity, studios are branching out to see what properties they own; they can aim at different demographics… and make them a lot of money. It’s essentially a targeted revenue stream, sure. And while this trend is thankfully growing in Hollywood, it seems like Latinos/Latinx people are being a little bit left behind ever so slightly. I mean, Marvel has made a concerted play for diversity with the promise of LGBTQ characters, but there’s nothing really there yet except for sidekick Luis in “Ant-Man” so far as one example. And for all significant change—David Oyelowo leading the movie “Gringo“—the same kind of film (“Gringo”) are riddled with awful, rotten Hispanic stereotypes and odious racism. And or, the ugly “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” is meant to be some kind of offering too. Change is slow.

But, maybe Hollywood has looked to children’s fair for Latinx representation. Because of late we’ve received Pixar‘s “Coco,” and now we’re getting Paramount’s riff of the beloved children’s character Dora The Explorer. Maybe the marketing algorithm is telling them Latinx dollars are in family fare.

So, now we’ve got “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” which looks like a cross between “Jumanji,” “Tomb Raider,” the Indiana Jones films and maybe a little “National Treasure.” “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” is directed by James Bobin— “The Muppets” (2011), “Muppets Most Wanted” (2014) and “Alice Through the Looking Glass” (2016)—who has carved out a name for being family-friendly, and stars Isabela Moner, who most audiences know from either “Transformers: The Last Knight” or, ahem… “Sicario: Day of the Soldado.” Here’s the official synopsis:

Having spent most of her life exploring the jungle with her parents, nothing could prepare Dora (Isabela Moner) for her most dangerous adventure ever – High School. Always the explorer, Dora quickly finds herself leading Boots (her best friend, a monkey), Diego (Jeff Wahlberg), a mysterious jungle inhabitant (Eugenio Derbez), and a ragtag group of teens on a live-action adventure to save her parents (Eva Longoria, Michael Peña) and solve the impossible mystery behind a lost city of gold.

Written by comedy writer/director and Judd Apatow protégé Nicholas Stoller (“Get Him To The Greek,” ” Neighbors“), who’s also wet his feet in family fare (“Storks” and writing the ” Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie“), “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” co-stars Eugenio Derbez, Michael Peña, Eva Longoria, Adriana Barraza, Temuera Morrison, Jeff Wahlberg, Nicholas Coombe, Madeleine Madden, and Danny Trejo.

Is this the kind of representation we want? Maybe it’s a start. Trailer below and the action-adventure film rolls into theaters August 9.