Dora the Explorer (TV series)

Dora the Explorer
From left to right: Swiper (in background), Dora, and Boots
Created by	Chris Gifford Valerie Walsh Eric Weiner
Starring	(see article)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	103
Production
Executive producer	Chris Gifford
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	Nickelodeon
Release	August 14 2000 – present

Dora the Explorer is an animated television series that is broadcast on Nickelodeon in the United States. A pilot episode for the series aired in 1999, and Dora the Explorer became a regular series in 2000. The show was created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh, and Eric Weiner. The series also airs on Noggin. The show had aired on CBS until September of 2006.

Dora the Explorer has been extremely successful commercially, generating over $3 billion in retail sales of associated licensed products since 2000[1], including $1 billion in 2004 alone. [2]

Characters

Dora

In every episode, Dora goes on a quest, usually to help someone in trouble or otherwise do a good deed for someone. Her quests often involve gathering key objects and/or surmounting obstacles, and are usually done in three stages. Dora always asks the viewers at home to help her do things or to tell her things she needs to know. She can think of a way out of any trouble she or her friends come across. Her love for exploring seems to run in the family. Her Abuela (grandmother) was an explorer just like Dora when she was her age.

Dora also enjoys sports as she was on a baseball team with her best friend Boots and her other friends and was coached by her father (his employment status was never changed after that). She loves soccer and is very good at it.

The character is voiced by Kathleen Herles.

Boots

Boots the Monkey is Dora's best friend on the show. He is voiced by Harrison Chad in the original English version. Boots is friendly and enthusiastic, and usually wears nothing but his beloved red boots, hence his name, Boots. He is blue with a yellow stomach.

Boots is present with Dora on her adventures, and he helps Dora to solve clues and puzzles. He also loves baseball and is on a team with Dora as shown in one episode. He loves to ride Rojo the fire truck.

Boots also seems to "love" many things. In one episode, he would say many times "I love riddles. Call me 'Mr. Riddles'" or "I love nuts, I love chocolate, and I love, love, love bananas!" or "I love my boots!"

Swiper

Swiper is a sneaky fox in a blue mask and gloves, who appears in nearly every episode. He is voiced by Marc Weiner. As his name implies, Swiper steals or attempts to steal key items that help Dora on her adventures. Clever as he is, Swiper never manages to take Dora completely by surprise; an ominous "whisking" sound is always audible just prior to his appearances.

To prevent Swiper from success, Dora must repeat the phrase, "Swiper, no swiping!" three times. Usually she prevails, and Swiper slinks away, snapping his fingers and saying, "Oh, maaannn!"; sometimes, however, Swiper gets to the item before Dora has a chance to repeat the phrase. He then gloats, "You're too late!" (and frequently "You'll never find it now! Ha, ha, ha!!").

Swiper's motive for theft is obscure; he never seems actually to want the object he takes, since he almost immediately throws it away to hide it from Dora (prompting her to ask the audience to help her find it). It is unclear if he swipes merely for the joy of swiping, or from a desire to annoy and frustrate Dora. Compounding the confusion is the fact that, given the right reason — e.g., that the item in question is a present for Dora's puppy — he'll return items he has taken, no matter how much effort he went through to get them. It is also shown that he rarely knows the full importance of what he's taken; e.g. he had no idea the aforementioned gift was for Dora's puppy. He has some kind of New York accent, and lives in a burrow on top of Blueberry Hill (no relation to the song).

Swiper is very fast and agile, and something of a master of disguise. He seems to have a great deal of technical knowledge, as he's built a variety of vehicles and gadgets (including a remote-controlled robot butterfly) to help him swipe things. Most of the time, however, he simply relies on his natural stalking abilities — sometimes with the aid of a costume — to sneak up on Dora. In the early episodes he often "hid" by curling up into a ball, which neither Dora nor Boots ever recognized as Swiper; he apparently doesn't do this anymore.

He has only been seen once without his mask, when the robot butterfly he built to swipe from Dora and Boots (in the episode "Dora's Got a Puppy") apparently malfunctioned; after they stopped it, it swiped his mask and gloves and kept them from him for a few humorous seconds.

None of Swiper's relatives has ever been seen, but his grandmother has been mentioned in two episodes: "A Letter For Swiper" and "Swiper the Explorer."

Over the course of the series, it's shown that there's more to Swiper's character than an urge to swipe things. In one episode it was revealed that Swiper has a soft spot for puppies, and in another that he likes Cowboy cookies. In a few episodes, he expresses feelings of joy with a fox-like cry of, "Yip-yip-yippee!" In the episode "A Letter For Swiper," Dora filled in for a delivery bird whose glasses were broken; Dora delivered stickers to Swiper (which were sent by his grandmother), and he thanked her for it without trying to swipe anything. In the episode "Swiper the Explorer," Swiper helps Dora on her quest to help Baby Fox find its mommy, and Swiper carries the baby fox almost all through the episode. Also in this episode, it's revealed that Swiper doesn't speak Spanish, and wishes that he did.

The interaction between Dora and the antagonistic fox also reveals the kindness and grace of Dora's character. In one unusual episode, "Dora's Dance to the Rescue," Swiper took pity on a Dancing Elf who was caught in a magic bottle, similar to a genie. The elf tricked the sympathetic Swiper into removing the bottle's cork, thereby releasing the elf and his talking cane. Unfortunately, the wily fox was thereby entrapped in his place. Stuck and desperate, Swiper called out to Dora and Boots. The remainder of the episode chronicled an epic adventure involving most of the land's creatures, eventually ending with the release of Swiper after a dance contest. The episode was atypical as it involved many dances and songs, demonstrated a close, unconflicted relationship between Swiper and the other creatures, and had Dora refer to the elf in an uncharacteristically judgmental way ("mean Elf").

In this and several other episodes, Swiper finds himself captured, trapped or in some sort of trouble. Despite his history of mean-spiritedness toward Dora, she demonstrates that the fox is her friend (which he doesn't find out until "Dora's World Adventure") and will always unquestioningly help Swiper just as she would her other friends, Benny, Isa, Boots and Tico. If Dora needs his help he'll come to her aid in the same manner.

Swiper is far from being unable to feel guilty for his actions. In "Dora's World Adventure," Swiper helps Dora return the friendship bracelets he'd swiped all over the world, and was shown to feel guilty once he discovered the magnitude of what he'd done and what he'd stolen. During this time Swiper gets a taste of his own medicine, so to speak, as each country they visit has its own "Swiper," only of different species, who tries to steal the bracelets ; they are Fifi the skunk in France, Sami the hyena in Tanzania, Fomkah the bear in Russia, and Ying Yang the weasel in China. All of them act and dress nearly identical to Swiper and are stopped in the same way he is ; by saying their name, followed by "no swiping" three times. Then they run off, saying Swiper's catch phrase, "Ohh, maann," in the local language ; this was also their only line. Their entrances are also preluded by a sound, only with local music; e.g. Ying Yang has a chau gong playing. Strangely, they were the only ones Dora didn't give a friendship bracelet to, even though she gave Swiper one.

Fiesta Trio

Whenever Dora and Boots are successful in a given portion of their quest (quests are usually divided into three portions), the Fiesta Trio appears from seemingly nowhere to congratulate Dora and celebrate for a brief few seconds with music. The Fiesta Trio is a group of three small animals: a grasshopper, a snail, and a frog. They also appear to assist with singing the celebratory "We Did It" song.

Backpack

Dora's purple Backpack (voiced by Sasha Tora) provides whatever Dora needs to complete her quests. The backpack is a magic satchel, which has been known to produce large items, including multiple ladders, two complete space suits — one each for Dora and Boots — and other items that simply could not fit inside it. Backpack seems to have much too much space within her fabric to be held in such a small area. It was given to Dora as a present by her mother and father. To make the Backpack open up, Dora asks the viewers at home to say "Backpack". The Backpack then sings a little introduction and asks the viewers at home to choose what Dora needs from among the Backpack's contents. Afterwards, the remaining contents go back into Backpack, who says, "Yum yum yum yum yum, ¡delicioso!" ("Delicious!")

Map

The Map (voiced by Marc Weiner) provides travel guidance and advice. When not being consulted, the rolled-up Map resides in a side pocket on the Backpack; to make the Map come out, Dora asks the viewers at home to say "Map." This is the Map's cue to introduce himself to the audience with a repetitive song, which is short in some episodes and longer in others, and describe the path Dora has to take on her quest.

Usually the Map doesn't do anything more than the actions described above, but in a few episodes he plays a more active role, especially in the episode "Super Map"; the Map finds a small red cape that gives him Superman-like powers, and he uses them to help Dora on her current quest.

Other characters

File:Grumpy Old Troll.jpg

The Grumpy Old Troll lives under a bridge and requires Dora and Boots to solve a riddle to cross it.

Other recurring human characters include:

• Dora's dad (Papi).
• Dora's mom (Mami).
• Dora's grandma (Abuela).
• Dora's cousins (Diego, Daisy, and Alicia).
• Dora's twin baby brother and sister.
• Boots’ music teacher
• King Bobo
• Dancing Elf
• Santa Claus
• Mariana The Mermaid

There are a number of minor, recurring animal characters such as:

• Señor Tucán, this character only speaks Spanish.
• Isa the Iguana (voiced by Ashley Flemming), who has a crush on Boots. She loves to ride in a rocket ship.
• Benny the Bull (voiced by Jake Burbage), who lives in a barn, loves to eat, and often rides in a hot air balloon.
• The Big Red Chicken.
• Pirate Parrot.
• Baby Blue Bird.
• Baby Jaguar, who doesn't speak (in this series) but seems to be just as intelligent as the other characters.
• Tico the Squirrel (who's been voiced by Muhammed Cunningham and Jose Zelaya), who only speaks Spanish, wears a colorful striped vest, and is usually seen driving his little yellow car.
• The Grumpy Old Troll (pictured).
• Baby Crab, also Cangrejito.
• Mama Bugga Bugga
• Wizzle, a cute creature who loves wishes.
• Leon the Circus Lion.
• Baby Dino the dinosaur
• Little Monster
• Queen Bee
• Baby Bear
• Baby Pingüino
• Little Lamb
• Pinto, The Pony
• El Coquí
• Baby Red Fish
• Pirate Pig, he has an eyepatch and a hat.
• Squishy Squid, he loves music and also playing bongos.
• Friendly Bear
• Baby Fox
• Val the Octopus he has 8 hands.
• Little Kitten
• Friendly Dragon

Additionally, the show features a number of anthropomorphic objects, such as locomotives, boats, and automobiles with speaking roles. In addition, some episodes include talking trees, gates and walls. Examples are:

• Azul the Blue Train
• Rojo the Fire Truck
• Chocolate Tree
• flower
• Jack-o-Lantern
• snowman
• Arco Iris
• Roberto The Robot
• Gassy the Gas Pump
• Little Star
• El Autobus who appears only in the episodes "The Missing Piece" and "La Maestra de Musica".

Newer episodes feature flying stars, which Dora and Boots catch and put into the star pocket on Backpack. The stars are always excited about going into the star pocket, which was shown in one episode to have much more space inside that one would think, similar to Backpack herself. Normally among these stars are one or more Explorer Stars, which have special powers that Dora uses to overcome obstacles. In the first episode of the 2003-04 season (the first show to feature the stars), Dora and Boots are navigating a boat across a sea when they encounter a pack of sharks in their path; at which point they use a "springy star" to cause the boat to literally leap over the sharks.

Voices

Voices listed below are for the English language version.

Jake Burbage
Harrison Chad
Felipe Dieppa
Elaine Del Valle
Ashley Fleming
Eileen Galindo
Chris Gifford
Kathleen Herles
John Leguizamo
Ricardo Montalban
Esai Morales
Amy Principe
Irwin Reese
Antonia Rey
K.J. Sanchez
Adam Sietz
Sasha Toro
Leslie Valdes
Marc Weiner
Jose Zelaya

Explorer Stars voices
Christiana Anbri
Henry Gifford
Katie Gifford
Aisha Shickler

Episode list

Main article: List of Dora the Explorer episodes

Plot

The episodes of Dora the Explorer almost always follow a regular pattern, breaking the fourth wall:

• Dora has something she wants to do or somewhere she needs to go.
• Dora has three places to go, with the third place as the destination.
• Dora and Boots meet Swiper somewhere along the way, sometimes succeed at saying 'Swiper no Swiping' three times; sometimes Swiper successfully swipes Dora's item and hides it. Dora and Boots always find the hidden item.
• Dora will meet one of her friends at each of the locations detailed by the Map.
• Dora always succeeds in passing the obstacles.
• In the English version, Dora will ask the viewers to help her by giving advice (jump, run etc.), locating items (especially those stolen by Swiper) and often shouting commands to the characters in Spanish (especially Tico and Sr. Tucan, who can only speak Spanish).
• Every character that appeared on the episode sings 'We did it' at the end except for Swiper (unless Swiper has taken some positive role in the episode, such as the episode where he rescues a lost baby fox).
• Dora asks viewers what their favorite part was. She (and usually Boots) then proceed to tell the viewer which part of the adventure she most enjoyed. Any other major character can also be included in this section.
• During the closing Credits, viewers are either asked to find a character, hiding in a location, or follow instructions to achieve an objective.

Foreign language versions of Dora the Explorer

As with many animated series made in the U.S., Dora the Explorer has been dubbed into many languages all over the world. The simplicity and repetitious nature of the episodes make this series especially well-suited for learning important phrases in a foreign language.

• Chinese In the Chinese language version Dora the characters speak mainly Mandarin with limited English. It is broadcast on Yo-yo TV in Taiwan (Channel 25).

• Dutch. In the Dutch language version, broadcast on Nickelodeon, the bilingualism is Dutch-English.

• French. In the French language version, Dora l'exploratrice, broadcast on TF1 in France and VRAK.TV in Canada, the bilingualism is Anglo-French, with Dora and Boots (called Babouche) speaking French and other protagonists speaking and answering in English.

• German. In the German language version, broadcast on the recently restarted German branch of Nickelodeon, the bilingualism is Anglo-German, analogous to the French and Japanese Version.

• Greek. In the Greek version called "Ντόρα η μικρή εξερευνήτρια" (or Dora the Little Explorer), broadcast on Channel 9, the bilingualism is Greek-English. Dora and Boots (called Botas) speak Greek and other protagonists speak and answer in English.

• Hebrew. In the Hebrew version, broadcast on HOP channel, the bilingualism is Hebrew-English. The series is called מגלים עם דורה (or Megalim Im Dora--English: Discovering with Dora).

• Indonesian. The Indonesian language version, formerly broadcast on Lativi, is now broadcast on Global TV.

• Irish. In the Irish language version, broadcast on the Irish Language station TG4, the bilingualism is Irish-Spanish, with Dora and Boots speaking in Irish and some other characters speaking Spanish as in the original. This is generally uncommon, as most foreign language versions of Dora have bilingualism between the local language and English.

• Italian. In the Italian language version, broadcast on Italia 1, the bilingualism is Italian-English. The series is called Dora l'esploratrice ("Dora the Explorer"). Most characters speak Italian, but some characters and especially Dora's parents and backpack speak English together with Italian.

• Japanese. In the Japanese language version, broadcast on Nick Japan, the bilingualism is Anglo-Japanese, with Dora and Boots speaking Japanese and other protagonists speaking and answering in English.

• Malay. The Malay language version is broadcast on TV9.

• Portuguese. In the Portuguese language versions, Dora a Exploradora, broadcast on RTP2 and Nickelodeon Portugal. At Nickelodeon Brasil, Dora and Boots (called Boots in the Portuguese version and called Botas in the Brazilian version) speak Portuguese and the other protagonists speak and answer in English. Some Portuguese episodes are available on DVD.

• Russian. In the Russian language version, broadcast on TNT and Nickelodeon, the bilingualism is Russian-English. The series is called Dasha-sledopyt ("Dasha the Pathfinder"). Dasha is the children's name of Daria (Darya).

• Serbian. In the Serbian language version, broadcast on B92, the bilingualism is Serbian-Spanish. The series is called Dora istražuje.

• Spanish. In the Spanish language version, Dora la Exploradora, broadcast on Nickelodeon in Latin America (and until September of 2006 on Telemundo in the USA), Dora and Boots (called Botas) speak Spanish and the other protagonists speak and answer in English. Some Spanish episodes are available to US viewers on VHS, and some DVDs have a Spanish track (including Dora's Egg Hunt). This version is entirely the reverse of the original English version; Tico & Señor Tucan (called Mr. Toucan) only speak English.

• Swedish In the Swedish language version Dora- utforskaren the characters speak mainly Swedish but will have commands and expressions in English. It is broadcast on Nickelodeon and TV4.

• Danish In the Danish language version Dora is similarly to Swedish listed by Nickolodeon as Dora- utforskaren although this title is actually incorrect use of Danish. Translated it would be Udforskeren Dora (or, Udforskerinden Dora to emphasize the female gender). There are commands and expressions in English. It is broadcast on Nick Jr. in the subscription of Canal Digital and Viasat.

• Turkish In the Turkish language version Dora the characters speak mainly Turkish, Spanish and English but will have commands and expressions in Turkish. It is broadcast on Nickelodeon and CNBC-e.

Stage adaptations

Two stage versions of Dora the Explorer toured North America, the first being "City of Lost Toys," and the second being "Dora's Pirate Adventure." Produced by Nickelodeon and LiveNation, these productions featured live actors portraying the roles of Dora and her friends, including Boots, Diego, Isa, and the Fiesta Trio. Many of the characters wore elaborate foam costumes designed to resemble the Dora characters. Each production featured a structure similar to an episode of the television series.

City of Lost Toys featured Christina Bianco as Dora, while Dora's Pirate Adventure featured Danay Ferrer in the role, a former member of the all female American pop band innosense. Both productions featured a version of the popular Gloria Estefan song "Get On Your Feet" as the final number of the show.

Both productions were conceived by Chris Gifford, creator of the television show, and directed by Gip Hoppe.

There have been three Dora touring companies. The "City of Lost Toys" company and the "Pirate Adventure" company featured actors and crew that were members of Actor's Equity and IATSE, respectively, the unions for professional actors and stagehands in the United States. The third company performs a reduced version of "Pirate Adventure" and does not employ union personnel. This production is currently touring North America, and scheduled to travel to the United Kingdom and France.

Dora the Explorer merchandise

• Currently in Canada, Cheerios is offering free Dora the Explorer the Game CD-ROMs in specially marked packages. However, packages sold in Quebec will only have the French version. Also, there are many action figures and playsets available in many markets, along with DVDs, toys, ride-ons, books, plush, apparel, handbags, play tents play kitchens and more.

• Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet is a video game released for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube.

Trivia

• Dora the Explorer became the first Mexican character in the 79th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, November 24, 2005.
• Years before this cartoon, in 1971, English group Stackridge released a single entitled Dora the Female Explorer.
• Ricardo Montalbán was the voice of El Encantador in the episode The Missing Piece.
• Although Tico the Squirrel mainly speaks Spanish, he can be heard speaking English in some episodes.
• Rap artist Ludacris made a few references to Dora in the song "Number One Spot"; the lyric goes, "Explora Like Dora, those swipers can't swipe me."
• The show began a trend of applying liberal politics into children's shows.
• In Drake & Josh, there is one episode, The Storm, where Crazy Steve is watching Dora.
• The show The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy makes reference to Dora in episode 66: "A Grim Day/Pandora's Lunch Box", where a character bearing a suspicious resemblance and the same name as Dora tries to convince people to open her lunch box.
• This show was parodied on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, when Eduardo was watching a show named "Lauren is Explorin".
• This show was also parodied on Saturday Night Live in a "TV Funhouse" sketch entitled "Maraka". The sketch made fun of the pauses in the show for the child viewer to react, the translations from Spanish to English (and Chinese, German, Portuguese, Hebrew, Swahili, Xhosa, Korean and Russian.) in Maraka's sentences and had many sporadic events. Maraka was voiced by Becca Lish, who imitated Kathleen Herles' voice for Dora.
• Saturday Night Live also featured a Dora reference in their MTV 4 sketch. A rapper (played by Zach Braff) talks about his Dora the Explorer tattoo. He mentioned he likes calling her, "Explora". When asked why he got the tattoo, he said he had a lot in common with Dora as they both, "grew up on the streets". Another character mentions he grew up in the suburbs. "Yeah, but they had streets", the rapper replies.
• In another episode of Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey accuses Dora of being a "rug muncher" in response to the alleged homosexuality of Spongebob Squarepants.
• The Dora the Explorer theme music is almost exactly the same as the piano solo in Led Zeppelin's Fool in the Rain.
• In "Shy Rainbow" the rainbow colors are not in the correct order. Blue is shown next to red, whereas the bluish colors are on the opposide side of the spectrum. (Think "ROY G BIV"!)

External links

• Dora area on NickJr.com
• Dora the Explorer at IMDb
• News, discussion, links and blog at doratheexplorer.co.uk
• Dora the Explorer web page at TreeHouseTV.com
• Dora the Explorer on noggin.com
• Article on the value of Dora the Explorer as a Spanish learning tool