Dora The Explorer 2 - Will It Ever Happen?

Anyone who was a preschooler (or a parent to one) between 2000 and 2019 is likely all too familiar with the adventure-seeking escapades of one Dora the Explorer. On Nick Jr., she'd set out on quests with her trusty monkey companion, Boots, and her talking backpack to learn lessons and find treasure. All along the way, she'd present ample opportunities for the kiddos at home to interact with what was happening on-screen. The idea of the tiny explorer one day making the leap to the big screen was often joked about. There was even a CollegeHumor sketch back in 2012 depicting a live-action Dora (played by Ariel Winter), that's decidedly darker and grittier than what any five-year-olds would expect. 

Joke or no joke, it was only a matter of time until the property actually got a big-screen adaptation, which finally happened in the form of 2019's "Dora and the Lost City of Gold." With primarily positive reviews, and a $119 million worldwide gross at the box office against a budget of $49 million, a sequel could definitely be in the cards. While "Dora the Explorer 2" has yet to receive the green light, that's not going to stop us from speculating on what a follow-up could entail. 

Without any official confirmation that a sequel is even happening, there's no way to say for sure when "Dora 2" may come out. It took 19 years from the inception of Dora the Explorer as a character to make it to movie theaters, but we're hoping it doesn't take that long if a sequel ever gets off the ground. In the event the studio decides to move forward with more Dora, it likely wouldn't take too long to get things together. The first film required 15 weeks of pre-production and 15 weeks of actual filming, which took place in Australia. 

Plans for another "Dora the Explorer" live-action movie could be indefinitely or permanently tabled, as rights-holder Paramount has other plans for the franchise. In February 2022, the company's streaming service Paramount+ announced on Twitter that it had begun planning two new "Dora the Explorer" projects. One would be a brand-new animated show for young children, essentially a reboot of the original "Dora the Explorer." The other is a "live-action series in the same spirit" as "Dora and the Lost City of Gold," with an audience of teenagers and young adults in mind.

"Dora and the Lost City of Gold" was already a pretty big departure from the cartoon. While she's seven years old in the series, we jump forward to when she's 16 in the film, and one possible direction a sequel could take would involve following Dora as she gets even older. In an interview with Screen Rant, Merced even pitched the idea herself when asked about where else she'd want to take the films, stating, "Japan, Brazil. I don't know, college? That would be fun." It would have to be a pretty sanitized version of college to pass as a Nickelodeon film, but no doubt getting out of her parent's thumb would make for an intriguing story line. 

She brings up other good ideas by pointing out how there's a big world out there. In the first film, Dora traverses through an ancient Incan city, but it's easy to see how this franchise could go on to span the globe. It could effectively become a contemporary, younger-skewing version of "Indiana Jones."

In the event "Dora 2" happens, we would expect much of the same cast from the first film to reprise their roles. That would include Isabela Moner returning as Dora Márquez herself, though on an Instagram post from October 2019, the actress announced she would be changing her stage name to Isabela Merced. Even if a sequel doesn't happen any time soon, she has plenty on her plate, moving forward. She released her first EP in May 2020, and she may age out of the role of a teenage Dora.

Other cast members we would assume would come back include Eva Longoria as Elena Márquez, Michael Peña as Cole Márquez, Jeff Wahlberg as Diego Márquez, Danny Trejo as the voice of Boots, and Benicio del Toro as the voice of Swiper the fox. Dora has a lot more animal friends from the cartoon, so they could conceivably come into the picture if more stories go to the big screen.