''Dora the Explorer'' is an American

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program, o ...

centered on an eponymous animated

interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes, and Eric Weiner, and produced by

Nickelodeon Animation Studio Nickelodeon Animation Studio Inc. (also known as Nickelodeon Animation Studios or Nick Animation and credited as Nickelodeon Productions on-screen) is an American animation studio owned by Paramount Global through the Nickelodeon Group. It has c ...

. The series originally ran on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

from August 14, 2000, to June 5, 2014, with the final six unaired episodes later airing from July 7 to August 9, 2019. It has since spawned a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

television series (''

Go, Diego, Go! ''Go, Diego, Go!'' is an American animated children's television series that aired on Nickelodeon from September 6, 2005 to September 16, 2011, with 80 episodes across five seasons. Created and executive produced by Chris Gifford (writer), Chri ...

''), a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

television series ('' Dora and Friends: Into the City!''), a live-action feature film and a reboot. As of 2014, retail sales for the franchise exceeded $13 billion, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

Television series

''Dora the Explorer''

Dora the Explorer revolved around a young girl named Dora of Latin American origin and her best friend, Boots the Monkey. The show usually revolves around a problem or a goal presented to the characters at the start of the show, for which they had to go on a mission in order to achieve that goal. It is also a Spanish-language teaching show, to teach kids Spanish.

''Go, Diego, Go!''

''Dora and Friends: Into the City!''

''Dora''

Films

''Dora and the Lost City of Gold''

''Dora and the Lost City of Gold'' is a 2019 American

adventure comedy film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by

James Bobin James Bobin is a British filmmaker. He worked as a director and writer on ''Da Ali G Show'' and helped create the characters of Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Borat, and Brüno (character), Brüno. With Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, he co-created ' ...

from a screenplay written by

Nicholas Stoller Nicholas Stoller (born March 19, 1976) is a British-American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the comedy films ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall'' (2008), its spin-off/sequel ''Get Him to the Greek'' (2010), ''The Five-Year Engagement'' (2012) ...

and Matthew Robinson and a story by

Tom Wheeler Thomas Edgar Wheeler (born April 5, 1946) is an American businessman and former government official. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was appointed by President Bar ...

and Stoller.

''Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado''

Directed by Alberto Belli, the film was released in July 2025, and it serves as the reboot by redefining the characters. Samantha Lorraine played the titular role.

Short film

''Dora and the Fantastical Creatures''

''Dora and the Fantastical Creatures'' is a 2023 American animated

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

directed by William Mata from a screenplay by Alejandro Bien-Willner and a story by Bien-Willner and Sean Gill.

Stage adaptations

Two stage versions of the series toured North America, the first being "City of Lost Toys", and the second being "Dora's Pirate Adventure". Produced by Nickelodeon and

LiveNation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment internatio ...

, 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 Christina Bianco (born February 7, 1982) is an American actress, singer and impressionist. Bianco is best known for her theatrical work, television appearances and YouTube videos in which she impersonates celebrities, both singing and speaking ...

as Dora while Dora's Pirate Adventure featured Danay Ferrer of the band

Innosense Innosense was an American girl group that were active from 1997 to 2003. History 1997–1999: Formation and "Wherever You Are" The band was managed by Lou Pearlman and Janet Lynn Harless (mother of Justin Timberlake). The original members were ...

in the role of Dora and

Frankie Grande Frank James Michael Grande Marchione (born January 24, 1983)Murphy, T. Michelle"10 Facts you won't learn about Frankie Grande on ''Big Brother 16''" Metro.us, September 22, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014 is an American actor, singer, dancer ...

as Boots. Both productions featured a version of the popular

Gloria Estefan Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...

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 The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book or thro ...

and

IATSE The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...

, the respective 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.

Merchandise

Many action figures and playsets are available in many markets, along with cosmetics, hygiene products, ride-ons, books, board games, plush dolls, apparel, handbags, play tents, play kitchens, and more. Licensees include

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

-owned

Fisher-Price Fisher-Price, Inc. is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York, East Aurora, New York (state), New York. It was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression ...

in the United States and Holland Publishing in the United Kingdom.

Toys

In 2004,

Lego Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...

released four sets based on the characters of the TV series. These include ''7330 Dora's Treasure Island'', ''7331 Diego's Rescue Truck'', ''7332 Dora and Boots at Play Park'', and ''7333 Dora and Diego's Animal Adventure''. In 2007, lead paint used by a contract toy manufacturer in China prompted Mattel to issue recalls for nearly a million toys, many of which featured ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' and Nickelodeon characters - including Dora the Explorer. In response, Nickelodeon stated that they would introduce "third-party monitoring" of all manufacturers of products under its brands.

Books

''Dora the Explorer'' series

# ''Dora's Backpack'' () # ''Little Star'' () # ''Happy Mother's Day Mami!'' () # ''Meet Diego!'' () # ''Dora's Thanksgiving'' () # ''Dora Loves Boots'' () # ''Dora's Book of Manners'' () # ''Dora Goes to School'' () # ''Dora's Fairy-Tale Adventure'' () # ''Dora's Chilly Day'' () # ''Show Me Your Smile!'' () # ''Dora's Pirate Adventure'' () # ''Big Sister Dora!'' () # ''At the Carnival'' () # ''Dora's Costume Party!'' () # ''Dance to the Rescue'' () # ''Dora's Starry Christmas'' () # ''Super babies'' () # ''The Birthday Dance Party'' () # ''Dora's World Adventure'' () # ''Dora Climbs Star Mountain'' () # ''It's Sharing Day!'' () # ''Dora Had a Little Lamb'' () # ''Dora Saves Mermaid Kingdom!'' () # ''Dora and the Stuck Truck'' ()

''Ready To Read'' series – Level 1

# ''Dora's Picnic'' () # ''Follow Those Feet!'' () # ''Dora in the Deep Sea'' () # ''I Love My Papi!'' () # ''Say "Cheese!"'' () # ''The Halloween Cat'' () # ''Eggs for Everyone!'' () # ''Just Like Dora!'' () # ''I Love My Mami!'' () # ''Puppy Takes a Bath'' () # ''Around the World!'' () # ''Dora's Sleepover'' () # ''Dora Helps Diego!'' () # ''Dora's Perfect Pumpkin'' () # ''Dora's Mystery of the Missing Shoes'' ()

''A Lift-the-Flap Story''

* ''Good Night, Dora!: A Lift-the-Flap Story'' () * ''Where Is Boots?: A Lift-the-Flap Story'' () * ''Let's Play Sports!: A Lift-the-Flap Story'' () * ''All Dressed Up!: A Lift-the-Flap Book'' ()

Treasury books and collection books

* ''Dora's Ready-to-Read Adventures'' () Contains: "Dora's Picnic", "Follow Those Feet", "Dora in the Deep Sea", "I love my Papi!", "Say 'Cheese * ''Dora's Storytime Collection'' () Contains: "Dora's Backpack", "Little Star", "Happy Birthday", "Mami!", "Meet Diego!", "Dora Saves the Prince", "Dora's Treasure Hunt", "Good Night", "Dora!" * ''Dora's Big Book of Stories'' () Contains: "Dora's Book of Manners", "Dora Goes to School", "Dora's Fairy-Tale Adventure", "Dora's Chilly Day", "Show Me Your Smile!", "Dora's Pirate Adventure", "Big Sister Dora!"

Sticker books

* ''Dora's Magic Watering Can'' ()

Video games

Video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s based on the show were released. In Canada,

Cheerios Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States and Canada, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In Europe, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand; in Austral ...

offered free ''Dora the Explorer the Game''

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

s in specially marked packages; however, packages sold in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

had only the French version. ''Dora the Explorer: Barnyard Buddies'' is the first video game based on the show for the home consoles as it was released for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

in the U.S. in 2003. It was not released in Europe until 2005 when it was one of the last games released on that platform in that territory as the PlayStation declined in production as well as all production on other PS1 games the following year.

Soundtrack

Audiovisual viewing

Seasons of ''Dora the Explorer'' are available on a variety of streaming or direct-purchase video services.

Home videos/Home media

Streaming

Direct purchase

Notes

References

{{Portal bar, Television, Film, United States, Television, Comics * Mass media franchises introduced in 2000 Paramount Global franchises Paramount Media Networks franchises Paramount Pictures franchises