Dora and the Lost City of Gold

Story

Dora (Isabela Moner) has been brought up in the Amazonian jungle by her professor parents, Elena (Eva Longoria) and Cole (Michael Pena), who have home-schooled her. Elena and Cole’s ambition is to discover the famed lost city of Parapata, known for its mythical treasure trove of gold. Along the way, they’ve taught Dora a love of exploring and a love for the jungle.

When Dora is 16, Elena and Cole send Dora to live with her cousin Diego (Jeff Wahlberg) and her aunt, uncle and grandmother in the city, where she can attend high school. Dora is afraid of leaving the world she knows, but her mother tells her to just be herself and she’ll be fine. At high school Dora takes her mother’s advice and treats everyone as if they’re her best friend. As a result, she’s seen as socially inept, much to Diego’s embarrassment.

One day when Dora is on a school excursion, treasure hunters kidnap Dora to use her to find her parents and, of course, Parapata. Dora is with Diego and two friends, Sabrina (Pia Miller) and Randy (Nicholas Coombe). The treasure hunters take the children to the jungle where they meet Alejandro (Eugenio Erbez), who tells them he’s a friend of Dora’s parents and will help them escape. Things go from bad to worse as Dora and her friends escape from the bandits and try to reach her parents. They run into all sorts of danger and must solve many puzzles, using all of their powers of deduction. This continues even when they finally find Elena and Cole and the fabled Parapata.

Themes

Adventure and exploring

Violence

Dora and the Lost City of Gold has some violence. For example:

Dora chases after Swiper (an animated fox) who steals her map. Dora sends Swiper flying.
The four friends are walking in the jungle and someone shoots at them with arrows. They hide in a hollow log, which starts to roll down the hill.
The explorers find an old woman in a cave. When they tell her they’re trying to find Parapata, she makes fire explode. She then places five figurines on the table and smashes them with a rock.
Dora, her friends and her parents are all seen with their hands tied behind their backs. They’re marched along at gunpoint.
Dora knocks a man out with a yoyo.

Sexual references

Dora and the Lost City of Gold has some sexual references. For example:

Dora says that ‘a life-threatening experience can accelerate the mating process’.
Diego says to Sabrina that they’ll have to start a family.
The two scorpions start to mate.
Diego and Sabrina hug and kiss.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Dora and the Lost City of Gold shows some use of substances. For example:

The treasure hunters use a sleeping gas to knock out Dora and her friends.
The flowers produce a substance that causes strange dreams and behaviour.

Nudity and sexual activity

Dora and the Lost City of Gold has some nudity and sexual activity. For example, Alejandro wakes up from being a cartoon character and is back to normal. He’s still naked but covered by a blanket.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in Dora and the Lost City of Gold: a Big Mac.

Coarse language

Dora and the Lost City of Gold has some mild coarse language including ‘oh my God’, ‘shut up’ and ‘freaking’.

There’s also some name-calling including ‘Dorka’, ‘pain in the butt’ and ‘socially inept nerd’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Dora and the Lost City of Gold is an adventure movie about the way that Dora and her friends use all of their powers of deduction to save themselves and Dora’s parents. Having grown up in the jungle, Dora is a little naïve. She’s also oblivious to nasty comments from her school peers. She relies on knowledge and skill to solve problems.

Although Dora and the Lost City of Gold does contain some violence and scary scenes, these are mostly brief and any sense of threat passes quickly. Therefore the movie isn’t recommended for children under five years, and we also recommend parental guidance for children aged 5-8 years. This is likely to be a great movie for pre-teens.

The main messages from this movie are to be yourself and not let other peoples’ opinions get you down.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include teamwork, courage, self-esteem, determination, inclusivity, kindness, curiosity and perseverance.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life questions For example, why are some people so greedy for gold and money that they're prepared to do anything to get it?