While turning animated properties into live actions films is certainly nothing new, some interesting casting news was recently released. Danny Trejo, best known for playing Machete in the “Spy Kids” and "Machete" franchises, has announced he will be in the new live-action, “Dora the Explorer,” film as the voice of Boots the Monkey. Despite Trejo having appeared in Movies like “Spy Kids” in the past, he is much more well-known for appearing in much more adult-oriented works. His casting as Boots the Monkey is made even stranger by the fact that the character has been almost exclusively voiced by young child actors, giving the character, till now, a very young sounding voice, something Trejo is known for having the exact opposite of.

Maybe Nickelodeon made this decision in response to the internet’s demand to hear Danny DeVito play Detective Pikachu, but we’ll likely never find out for sure.

New posters and what they reveal

Released, shortly before Trejo announced his casting on Twitter, were two posters to promote the new film. The first shows Isabela Moner, as Dora, facing opposite of the camera as she looks out at what is presumably the Lost City of Gold. On her back is her trusty backpack and Boots the Monkey. Unlike in the Nickelodeon series where Boots is about half the size of Dora, here he is portrayed in a smaller more realistic looking size but still sports his blue and yellow fur. Shockingly missing though is his trademark red rain boots that gave Boots his name.

The plot

Comicbook.com lists the official synopsis of the film thusly: "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 (Jeffrey 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." As was confirmed with the casting of Moner, Dora will be older in the film than she has typically been portrayed in the show, being a teen instead of a young child.

Dora also doesn’t usually travel with other humans other than her cousin Diego, who will also take part in the film along with other teens. Another character confirmed to be returning from the show is Swiper the Fox, who will be voiced by Benicio del Toro.

Even ithough it’s impossible to tell if all these elements will combine to make a good film, there’s at least a lot of interesting names attached to the project. At one point even Michael Bay was rumored to produce, which certainly would have been something different for him. According to People.com “A trailer will debut at the Kid’s Choice Awards on Sunday with Moner, Derbez, and Peña presenting it.” This trailer will hopefully give audiences a better idea of the tone the film as well as show off how the animated characters will translate to live action. To read about another Nickelodeon animated series looking to transition to live action check out this article here or for news on Disney’s latest live-action attempt check out this article.
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