Explorer Dora The Explorer

[Aline Braunbeck]

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Dora the Explorer is an American media franchise that traces its roots from the television show of the same name, which follows the adventures of young Dora, her monkey Boots, Backpack and other animated friends. In each episode, viewers join Dora on an adventure in an animated world set inside a computer. The titular character seeks viewers' help in solving a puzzle or mystery she faces in each episode.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST: Dora the Explorer is one of the most recognized Latinx characters on TV. She debuted on Nickelodeon almost 20 years ago. And this weekend, Dora is moving to the big screen in "Dora And The Lost City Of Gold."(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD")EVA LONGORIA: (As Elena) And you can track our coordinates on your map.ISABELA MONER: (As Dora) But it's not the same. I'm an explorer like you.PFEIFFER: Antonia Cereijido from NPR's Latino USA tells the story behind this children's show's lasting impact.ANTONIA CEREIJIDO, BYLINE: Before Dora was an explorer who traversed the world with her backpack and map, she was...CHRIS GIFFORD: Stinky, I think? Was a skunk?CEREIJIDO: This is Chris Gifford, one of the show's creators. In the late '90s, he and two others were tasked with brainstorming the next hit on Nick Junior. And they had many ideas.GIFFORD: Bunny and the Mommy would go on an adventure together and they'd go to the post office, treasure hunt with kitty cats. We went to a girl pretty quickly.CEREIJIDO: The final idea was that a young girl would go on adventures and ask the audience of preschoolers at home for help. She brought magic friends along with her, too.GIFFORD: We had the backpack.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BACKPACK, BACKPACK!")KATHLEEN HERLES: (As Dora, singing) Backpack, backpack.GIFFORD: We had the map.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M THE MAP")MARC WEINER: (As Map, singing) I'm the map, I'm the map.GIFFORD: We had Swiper the fox.(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "DORA THE EXPLORER")HERLES: (As Dora) Swiper, no swiping!M WEINER: (As Swiper) Aw, man.CEREIJIDO: Originally, they imagined that the young girl would be white. But months into developing the show, the creative head at Nickelodeon, Brown Johnson, went to a conference where she learned that of the 80 primetime youth characters under the age of 18, not a single one was Latinx. So she came back and declared that the show they were working on would now feature a Latina. Eric Weiner was also a creator on the show.ERIC WEINER: And at the time, Pat Buchanan was running for president, spewing all this hatred about, we don't want Spanish speakers in our country.(SOUNDBITE OF PAT BUCHANAN CAMPAIGN AD)UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Immigration is out of control. Vote for the third party that puts Americans first. Vote Buchanan for president.E WEINER: So this idea of not building barriers gave extra meaning and heart and urgency to the mission of the show.CEREIJIDO: The creators behind Dora set out to empower Latinx kids and normalize bilingualism, but they were all white. And so they brought on consultants like Carlos Cortes. He's a professor from University of California, Riverside. And he helped with cultural sensitivity and helped answer big questions like, where should Dora be from?CARLOS CORTES: And someone had came up with the idea, we should make her very embedded in one culture - Mexican or Puerto Rican or Cuban or what have you.CEREIJIDO: But they couldn't agree.CORTES: I said, look. I think it's important that kids of different Latino backgrounds be able to identify with Dora.CEREIJIDO: They decided to move forward with a pan-Latina character, not from anywhere in particular. And so finally, Dora the Explorer, with her signature bob and pink shirt, aired on television screens for the first time on August 14, 2000.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DORA THE EXPLORER THEME")HERLES: (Singing) Dora, Dora, Dora, the explorer. Dora!CEREIJIDO: Within less than a year, the show became the top commercial hit for preschoolers aged 2 to 5.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DORA THE EXPLORER THEME")HERLES: (Singing) Let's go. Jump in. Vamanos!CEREIJIDO: And now almost 20 years after her creation, Dora is being reimagined as a teenager played by Isabela Moner in the live action film. She sets off to find treasure in a fictional lost Inca city called Parapata.(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD")EUGENIO DERBEZ: (As Alejandro) All those that seek Parapata shall surely perish.AMERICO MENDOZA-MORI: Parapata is a name in Quechua which means the rainy hill.CEREIJIDO: This is Americo Mendoza-Mori. He teaches the Quechua language at the University of Pennsylvania. And just like the cartoon brought on consultants, so did the film. While Dora, the character, continues to be pan-Latina, the film grounds her in an actual geographical location, the Amazon jungle.MENDOZA-MORI: We also want to use the movie as an opportunity to incorporate many aspects of this and in knowledge.(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD")JEFF WAHLBERG: (As Diego) It's an ancient underground aqueduct. Inca engineers built some of the most elaborate irrigation systems ever devised.DERBEZ: I think Dora is an icon for kids, especially now that Latinos are being so, let's say, harassed by this administration.CEREIJIDO: This is Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez, who also served as an executive producer on the film. The original team behind Dora says they never expected anti-immigrant rhetoric to become so central to the American political discourse. Here's Chris Gifford.GIFFORD: We hope that we had an impact on little kids who saw a character who spoke a different language or had a different skin color than they did. So hopefully, that we made a little impact in that way.CEREIJIDO: Twenty years later, Dora and her fans are all grown up, but her message of inclusivity hasn't changed. For NPR News, I'm Antonia Cereijido.

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She is a 7-8 year old (10 in Dora and Friends and 16 in Dora and the Lost City of Gold) Latina-Asian tomboyish girl who embarks on a trip in every episode in order to find something or help somebody, along with Boots. She asks the viewers at home to help her find new ways to reach places with the help of Map. She also teaches viewers Spanish, introducing them to short words and phrases.

A teenage Dora appears in Dora and the Lost City of Gold. She is much less mellow and more feisty than when she was younger, dedicating herself to becoming a treasure hunter and explorer, much to her parents' chagrin. Her adventurous lifestyle and fierce spirit befuddles her classmates.

In Seasons 1-4, she is voiced by Kathleen Herles. In Seasons 5-6, she is voiced by Caitlin Sanchez. In Seasons 6-8 and Dora and Friends, she is voiced by Ftima Ptacek. In Dora's Explorer Girls: Our First Concert, she is voiced by Stephanie Joy for her speaking voice and Karina Padura for her singing voice.

Dora has short, brown hair and brown eyes. She wears a pink short-sleeved T-shirt, orange shorts, white Velcro shoes (pink-white shoes in Seasons 7-8) with pink soles, frilly yellow ankle-high socks, and a yellow bracelet with a blue flower around her right wrist. She also normally wears one of her friends, Backpack. She also wears gold earrings on her ears, though they are rarely seen. She is of mixed Mexican and Japanese[citation needed] descent and from California.

In Dora and Friends: Into the City, she is now 10 years old, with pale skin, long brown hair, brown eyebrows, and brown eyes. She wears a hot pink dress with a flower design on the side, blue denim leggings, and pink tennis shoes. She also wears a magical charm bracelet on her right wrist. Promotional art depict her wearing a purple headband, but she does not wear it in the actual animation. This outfit is quite similar to the Season 7 outfit, which was later seen in the last two Dora the Explorer seasons, except Dora's hair is longer. She also keeps her living purple Backpack; however, she becomes a little different after her bottom side got torn apart on the cliff but Kate was able to mend her. While mending her, Isa's flower Bud, became sewn into Backpack. Its color is now lavender with pink on the bottom.

In the reboot series, Dora has a pink hairpin on the right side of her hair, and she now has visible teeth. She wears clothes which are identical to the original Dora series, but her shoes are now pinkish-white.

Dora has relationships with all of the characters she meets, failing even to hold a grudge against the mischievous fox, Swiper. She hates villains only when it seems that compromise is impossible, and even in these cases, fails to display actual anger.

She gives others a chance to try their hands at tasks even when she herself might have an easier time with them. Dora values her family, whom she loves openly, though she spends little time indoors at home with them. She tries to introduce her traditions and customs, subtly and without compulsion, to those who are not familiar with them.

In Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Dora remains her intrepid perky self. Even as she continues to address an imaginary audience to the bafflement of those around her, she comes across as eccentric and charming.

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