Dora And The Lost City Of Gold Behind The Scenes New! -

When the first trailer for Dora and the Lost City of Gold dropped, the internet did a double-take. This wasn’t the gentle, fourth-wall-breaking cartoon from Nickelodeon. This was a live-action jungle romp with quicksand, ancient booby traps, and a surprisingly sharp wit. How do you take a seven-year-old cartoon icon and turn her into a feature film for teenagers and nostalgic adults? We went behind the scenes to find out.

The production of Dora and the Lost City of Gold succeeded because it didn't try to be a "serious" adaptation. By embracing the weirdness of the source material and grounding it in practical, high-stakes adventure filmmaking, the crew created a film that respected the kids who grew up with Dora while making their parents laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Updating a 2D preschool character into a live-action teenager required a careful balance of realism and whimsy. DORA EXPLORES THE GOLD COAST - Ausfilm dora and the lost city of gold behind the scenes

The movie is packed with Easter eggs, but the best one is saved for the end.

Director (who also directed The Muppets and Flight of the Conchords ) wanted the film to feel like a classic 80s or 90s kids' adventure movie (think The Goonies or Indiana Jones ). When the first trailer for Dora and the

“It was chaos,” laughs co-star Jeffrey Wahlberg (Diego). “Isabela would be giving this heroic speech, and then a mechanical flower would sneeze powder in her mouth. We had to do, like, forty takes because we kept breaking character.”

As Merced puts it: “Dora doesn’t get sarcasm. She doesn’t get irony. And in a world full of cynical movies, that’s the most rebellious thing you can be.” How do you take a seven-year-old cartoon icon

And that’s the real treasure.

Gonzalez adds, "We also had a blast filming the action scenes. I got to do some crazy stunts, like swinging from vines and dodging booby traps. It was like being a kid again, playing in a giant playground."

Although the movie is set in the Peruvian jungle, the vast majority of filming took place in . The production utilized the diverse landscapes of the Gold Coast, including the rainforests of Tamborine Mountain and Tallebudgera Valley , to stand in for South America.

One of the most memorable scenes in the trailer—where Dora stares unblinkingly at a security guard—was a commentary on the "uncanny valley" of the cartoon.