Thalia Lending Her Voice to Latest Dora the Explorer Special

Call it Thalia’s big adventure…

The 40-year-old Mexican singer/actress will be lending her voice to an upcoming television special featuring characters from Dora the Explorer.

Thalia

Thalia will provide the voice of the mermaid’s mother in Nickelodeon’s Dora’s Rescue in Mermaid Kingdom, set to air Friday night.

The story centers on the efforts of Dora and Boots to help Maribel—a lost mermaid they encounter on the beach—get back to her mother in the Mermaid Kingdom.

“Dora is such an iconic and important Latina heroine, and I’m proud to now be a part of the show’s ever-growing legacy,” says Thalia, a mother of two. ““I was thrilled to play a role on Dora the Explorer, a show that has touched the lives of many children around the world including my own child.”

Dora, now voiced by 7-year-old Fatima Ptacek, is a 7-year-old bilingual Latina who explores an “imaginative, tropical world filled with jungles, beaches and rainforests.”

In its more than 10 year history on the air, the Emmy-winning show has featured guests like John Leguizamo, Cheech Marin, Ricardo Montalban, Esai Morales and Chita Rivera.

Derbez Ready to Make English-Language TV Debut in iRob!

Eugenio Derbez is ready for his close-up on English-language television in the States after hosting the Latin Grammys and starring in the critically acclaimed indie film La Misma Luna opposite Kate del Castillo.

The 49-year-old Mexican comedian/actor, who currently appears as a Mexican gardener in Adam Sandler’s latest film Jack & Jill, will be making his U.S. television debut in Rob Schneider’s new CBS sitcom, ¡Rob!

Eugenio Derbez

“[¡Rob! is going to be] a really, really funny series!” says Derbez, who made his television debut at the age of 12 as an extra in a telenovela. “Remember the movie Meet the Parents? Well this is like, Meet the Mexicans!”

iRob! stars Schneider as a bachelor who marries into an extremely tight-knit Mexican-American family.

In addition to Derbez, the show will star Cheech Marin, Diana Maria Riva and Lupe Ontiveros as the Deuce Bigalow star’s in-laws.

“There’s this culture clash when they arrive,” adds Derbez. “It’s a really funny situation.”

Several episodes of the half-hour comedy have already been filmed and the network plans to debut the show in mid-January.

But Derbez isn’t putting all his acting huevos in one basket. He’s set to costar with Eva Mendes, Espinoza Paz and Raini Rodriguez in the upcoming movie Girl in Progress.