Dora and the Lost City of Gold may be a hilarious kids movie, but that doesn’t mean it is lacking heartfelt and emotional moments. It has been in theaters for over a week now, so you have no excuses if you have not seen it yet. This article is going to have spoilers – lots of them. If you haven’t seen it yet (what are you waiting for?!), you might want to come back after you have. But feel free to check out my spoiler free Dora and the Lost City of Gold review.
Choosing the 10 most emotional moments in a movie is kind of my thing now. I started it with Avengers: Infinity War, and have been doing it ever since. Yes, Dora and the Lost City of Gold has 10 moments that filled me with emotions. All of them. So read on to find out what they are.
These emotional moments are not listed in order of emotion, but in the order they appeared in Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
When Diego Moves
The opening of this movie is absolutely amazing. I was laughing, singing, and just enjoying it. And then we get to the moment I knew was going to happen — Diego has to move away. Dora and Diego are just 6 years old at the time, and the best of friends. They are so sad to leave each other. They split a candy bar and say they will hold on to them until they see each other again. Then he is gone. Off to the city.
Diego Didn’t Save the Candy Bar
I feel like this is the first time you see Dora really, truly, be hurt. She is such a positive force, and a light, and a fun energy. But when she realizes that she kept her half of the candy bar and Diego ate his, probably 10 years go, my heart broke for her. Then she ate it. And it was moldy. And it was so gross. That made me laugh (and cringe!).
Dora’s Parents Go Missing
There is a drastic shift in the movie when Dora realizes something is not right with her parents. She hasn’t gotten a message from them in a while, and she is worried. The skies get dark and things get harder for her. Since I have daughters, this really upset me because I thought of how they would feel if they were in her situation.
When Diego Yells At Dora
At the winter dance Dora is being true to herself — and fun loving young girl. She is dressed as a sun, where everyone else is in much different costumes. Then she hits the dance floor and well, I am honestly jealous of he sweet moves. But high school kids are cruel, and immediately start teasing her and her cousin Diego.
He leaves the dance, and she runs after him. Then he yells at her, and tells her to stop being the class weirdo. She replies with “I can’t. I don’t know how to be anyone but myself.“, which was the first time I teared up watching this movie. It really got to me. What a great message to teach young kids. This is easily the most emotional of emotional moments in Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
The Animated Scene
This was the funniest scene in the entire movie. It had me DYING laughing. This is the moment that I cried so hard I laughed — for several reasons. First of all, as a mom who had to watch the cartoon over and over, this was a real big pay off for me. But also because we saw all of my favorite characters from the cartoon on the screen — and Dora says “we are all here!” and I was like AHHHHH!!! That is amazing! There is Benny, and Isla, and the Troll. That scene is EVERYTHING.
Sammy Says They Are Dora’s Friends
Early on in the movie Dora introduces Sammy and Randy as her friends, and Sammy quickly says that they are not her friends. After a few days of traveling through the jungle, Sammy finally introduces herself as Dora’s friend to Dora’s parents — and that warmed my heart.
The Jungle Puzzle!
Finally Randy got his jungle puzzle! At this moment in the movie I was so over the moon happy for him! He wanted nothing more than a jungle puzzle to appear. And when he got to solve it side by side with his friends, I was so happy for him.
Diego and Sammy Kiss
I was really hoping they would have Diego and Sammy kiss in this movie — but being a kids’ movie, I was not sure we would see it. So when she finally planted one on him, I giggled and clapped. Of course, they added humor to this scene perfectly with Dora staring at them. Which just made that scene even better.
Dora Decides to Stay in the City
At the end of the movie when Dora decides to stay in the city and not go with her parents to the jungle, I felt for them. It was funny how Eva and Michael were exaggerating their crying about her leaving them, but I get it. As a mom of two girls I know the time will come when they leave me. And I will certainly be crying. So this moment hit me in the feels, even though it made me laugh.
End Dance Scene
If you sit through the very end dance scene of the movie and don’t get up and dance, you ain’t right. This was such a fun ending and I loved every second of it. I stood up in the theater with my daughters and danced around — and we had a blast! The very last cut to Dora’s face, with her looking excited, brought a could tears to my eyes, and I was HAPPY for her.
What were the most emotional moments in Dora and the Lost City for you?
About Dora and the Lost City of Gold
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 rag tag 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.
See Dora and the Lost City of Gold in theaters now!
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.
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