HIP, HIP, HOORAY – CELEBRATE DORA’S BIG DAY!

Dora the Explorer 10th Anniversary Special, “Dora’s Big Birthday Adventure”
Premieres Saturday, August 21 at 5pm on Nick Jr.

August 2010 marks ten years since Dora the Explorer first appeared on television screens in the U.S., calling out “Hola!” to pre‐schoolers. Along with her best bud, Boots the monkey, she has invited little ones to explore the big wide world with her, work interactively to solve problems, and even learn a little Spanish along the way. Hugely popular to phenomenon status, Dora has been watched and loved in Australia for seven years, and is now heard in 30 different languages spanning more than 151 markets across the globe!

Nickelodeon Australia kicked off Dora’s 10th Anniversary celebrations in March this year with a campaign called “Explorers Wanted”, featuring a Dora Passport, (www.nickjr.com.au/dorapassport).

A national live stage show, “Dora the Explorer: Search for the City of Lost Toys”, also launched in March and has been delighting preschoolers all around the country. And now, for her birthday month in August, “Dora’s Big Birthday Adventure” is a very special 10th Anniversary movie‐length episode premiering on Nick Jr. on Saturday August 21 at 5pm. It will feature adorable cameos from characters seen throughout the series, who all come together to help Dora celebrate her big day. The special is the final episode of the Magic Storybook Trilogy and a nod to The Wizard of Oz, as Dora and Boots need to get home for Dora’s birthday party with all her family and friends. There’s no place like home!

Preschoolers will love helping Dora and Boots work their way back, step by step, for th

Another way little ones can celebrate all things Dora is by playing “Dora’s Great Big World” online game, launching in August on www.Nickjr.com.au. Preschoolers will be able to explore Dora’s rich and colourful world, with magical lands featured in special episodes such as the beautiful Crystal Kingdom (Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom premieres Saturday July 3 at 5pm on Nic Jr.). Different lands in Dora’s Great Big World will be revealed in stages, continuing throughout Dora’s 10th Anniversary.

A range of Dora Birthday apparel (exclusive to Kmart) will also launch in Australia in August to mark the 10th Anniversary.

10 A‐Dorable Fun Facts:

1. Dora was the first Nickelodeon preschool character to appear online and the first animated Latina in a lead role on television.
2. The inspiration for the name Dora Marquez was exploradora, the Spanish feminine word for explorer, and the acclaimed writer Gabriel García Márquez.
3. 14‐year‐old Caitlin Sanchez has been the voice of Dora since September 2008. Kathleen Herles was the original voice of Dora from 2000 ‐ 2008.
4. Dora the Explorer has been honoured with awards including the Peabody, NAACP, ALMA, Imagen, Latino Spirit, Gracie Allen, Parents’ Choice Award, the Television Critics Association award and 15 Daytime Emmy nominations.
5. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt helped prepare their older children for the birth of their twins by showing them an episode of Dora the Explorer where Dora’s mom has twins. (Source: People Magazine, Aug. 18, 2008)
6. Every episode of Dora the Explorer is screened by at least 75 preschoolers before it airs on TV. A different group of preschoolers is used for each round of testing.
7. Approximately 300 people work on Dora the Explorer and it takes over a year to produce a single episode of the show.
8. Rosie Perez, John Leguizamo, Cheech Marin, Hector Elizondo, Chita Rivera, Esai Morales, Paul Rodriguez, Richard Kind, Susie Essman, Ricardo Montalban and Howie Dorough have guest‐starred on episodes of Dora the Explorer.
9. Dora the Explorer is the number one preschool property in Australia after only 6 years.
10. Since its on‐air launch on Aug. 14, 2000, Dora the Explorer has emerged as a global phenomenon and ranks among the top‐rated shows in nearly every major market in the world.

ABOUT DORA THE EXPLORER
Dora the Explorer, created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner, is a play‐along, animated adventure series starring Dora (voiced by Caitlin Sanchez). Dora is a seven‐year‐old Latina heroine whose adventures take place in an imaginative, tropical world filled with jungles, beaches and rainforests. With her pet monkey Boots, she explores the world around her and asks viewers for their help to solve problems. The show is designed to actively engage its audience in an interactive quest using a variety of tested learning techniques.