Monica Duarte from Temple of Geek recently sat down with Maria Canals-Barrera (voice of Abuela) and Kathleen Herles (voice of Mami) to discuss the legacy of Dora, Hispanic representation, and what fans can expect from the new season. The beloved animated series “Dora” is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a new third season. The series, which premiered on Monday, June 23, continues the legacy and positive storytelling that Dora is known for.
To mark this milestone, Nickelodeon is expanding the Dora franchise with a host of new content launching July 2. This includes an original feature-length live-action movie titled “Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado.” As well as a new third and fourth season of the animated DORA series. To top it off, there is an hour-long special, “Dora & Diego: Rainforest Rescues.” The special will see the return of Dora’s cousin Diego and reveal how he met Baby Jaguar. These new releases kick off “The Great Dora Fiesta,” an anniversary initiative featuring new multiplatform content and experiences, consumer products, prosocial initiatives, and on-the-ground marketing activations.
The animated DORA series features all-new CG animation and imaginative character-driven storylines. It follows Dora, the bilingual explorer, and her best friend, Boots the monkey, as they go on adventures in a fantastical rainforest. With the help of Map, Dora and her friends work together to overcome obstacles and outsmart Swiper, the sneaky fox.
Interview with Maria Canals-Barrera (voice of Abuela) and Kathleen Herles (voice of Mami)
Q: What does it mean to you both to be part of a franchise that has resonated with global audiences for so long?
Kathleen Herles: “It means so much to start from the beginning and to see it flourish and grow. And everyone who grew up with the show now wants to share it with their kids or with their little ones and their families”. She added that it’s “really beautiful because it’s a testament to who Dora is and how much she represents. And she’s so positive and she’s a great leader. And all of these qualities to her people love and is still there. So it’s really awesome to see and to be a part of it”. Herles also mentioned the 25-year celebration, noting that “Diego is being reintroduced. There’s a new album, a new live action movie. And it’s really great just to be in this universe”.
Maria Canals-Barrera: She expressed that “the fact that like you said, she’s a globally beloved character is just amazing. It’s wonderful and to be new and welcomed to the franchise is very exciting to me, especially in such an important character as her grandmother”. Canals-Barrera also loves “voicing her,” and draws “upon my own grandma and my mom and the fact that she is a Hispanic American character is just icing on the cake because there aren’t enough characters like that that happen to be both and the way that the stories are told or filled with such humanity and fun. I love it”.
Q: Maria, you said that you draw from your mother, your grandmother, yourself. What are the things that you love the most about Abuela as a character?
Maria Canals-Barrera: “Oh, I love her spunk. That’s right Dora. She’s very up for it. You want to do this? Let’s go. You know, she’s never like I know me. I’m too tired. No, she never does it. She’s up for fun, up for adventure”. She shared that her mom was “very animated” and “would tell you a story and she would relive it”. Canals-Barrera recalled, “If she told the same story to different people every time, it was as if it was the first time”. She also mentioned her grandmother, whose name was Dora, was “a very interesting independent woman. She was a seamstress. She can sew anything. She would make us beautiful dresses”. Canals-Barrera concluded, “So I just draw on these strong beautiful women on their joy and I like to create one character out of all these wonderful examples in my own life and hopefully inspire young kids the way that my family inspired me”.
Q: Kathleen, for you, it’s a new dynamic. You’ve been here as Dora, now you’re Mami, and you’ve been into this for almost three seasons now. How has that dynamic shifted for you personally, going from one role to the next and then just watching the show evolve?
Kathleen Herles: She admitted that “to be honest, in the beginning, it was challenging not to read the Dora lines instead of the Mami lines when I first started in season one”. However, she finds it “really great to put all the love that I have for Dora and being her voice for so long into being her mom”. While she’s not a mom yet, Herles tries “to tap into” her “great relationship with my mom”. She also uses an “actor mind trick” where “in my mind, I’m Dora growing up, and, like, that’s my daughter type of way”. She enjoys “exploring, too, this new character as an actor and to play her mom”. Herles also finds it “really great, too, to see her playfulness as well,” which is evident with “not just mommy, but with Papi and Abuela, like Maria was saying”. She believes it’s “really great for kids to see that dynamics, too, with parents and with grandparents”.
Q: As you’re going into the third season and you’re seeing it grow, what are you most excited for audiences to see?
Maria Canals-Barrera: She is excited for “more of the more personal backstory being touched on”. She elaborated that “it’s richer in in you get to find out, you know about how grandma grew up and how mommy and Papi met and things grandma didn’t have and maybe Dora would want to give to grandma and sweet things like that. A little bit deeper, a little bit more emotional depth if that’s accurate”. Canals-Barrera, as a mom herself, appreciates that.
Dora is “age-appropriate without dumbing anything down. It’s actually quite the opposite. It’s very smart inspiring challenging, but a parent never has to worry what envelope is being pushed”. She expressed pride “to be part of it and give everything that I have as a mom, as a woman, as a Latina to help and inspire and love on and sing to the new generation of kids out there”.
She highlighted the “reintroduction of Diego in a feature-length episode”. She believes “it’s really great because a lot of people who grew up with the original show also know Diego and love him so much as well. So I think it’ll be really exciting for parents to now share that with their kids and the next generation”. She concluded, “The legacy continues”.
Q: If you could explore anywhere in the world and go out and be your own explorers, where would you explore?
Kathleen Herles: “I feel like I’ve traveled to a lot of my bucket list places. But I don’t know. There’s so many more places to go explore. It’s hard to choose one”. She also noted, “I wouldn’t mind going back to places that I visited because there’s so much to explore, right? It’s hard to kind of do that on like a vacation when you only have like a week or two”.
Maria Canals-Barrera: “I mean, if we want to be super ambitious space”. She added, “But I haven’t been to all my bucket list is not that fulfilled so I have lots of places to go to. Let’s see Asia like I used to not be that interested in Asian culture and but I am now as an adult, but I remember growing up I didn’t really think about it”. Canals-Barrera emphasized that “the world isn’t as small as it feels”. She believes that “for a child, you know when they get to see a show like Dora their world really does open up and that’s another wonderful thing about the show is that it keeps kids very curious about each other about their capabilities the world. It’s a terrific show and it’s no wonder that it’s still a hit after 25 years”.
