Nick Jr.s Dora the Explorer takes kids on a musical journey through the Seven Seas with the one-hour special, DORAS PIRATE ADVENTURE, airing Jan. 17, 2005, at 11:00 am on Nick Jr. In the show, Dora and her friends cant put on a pirate show until they find their missing treasure chest of costumes. The storyline is also the basis of the brand-new version of the theatrical presentation Dora the Explorer Live!, a co-production between Nickelodeon and Clear Channel Entertainment.
In DORAS PIRATE ADVENTURE, Dora (Kathleen Herles), Boots (Harrison Chad), Diego and the rest of their pals are planning to put on a big musical pirate show until the Pirate Piggies sail in and take their treasure chest filled with costumes. Dora and her friends sail across the Seven Seas and through the Singing Gate on their way to Treasure Island, all the while singing loads of tunes for kids. Actor/comedian John Leguizamo is featured as the voice of the Pirate Pig Captain and singer Howie Dorough voices the Singing Bridge character.
While done in extremely simple, limited animation, the show resonates with kids, reaching them in a slow, easy-to-learn and friendly manner with colorful, well-designed characters. This special was obviously crafted to translate readily as a musical for live performances and doesnt quite feature quite so many language lessons as the regular series.
Hitting the road in Jan. 05, Dora the Explorer Live! is entering its third touring season. The show is scheduled to travel to more than 40 cities, including a return engagement at New York Citys legendary Radio City Music Hall, where it was the highest-grossing family show in the history of family attractions at the venue.
Dora and her friends lets put on a show enthusiasm combined with the joyful music and exciting journey to the Treasure Island makes DORAS PIRATE ADVENTURE an hour of fun that will delight viewers, said Brown Johnson, evp, Nick Jr. The storyline is a natural to translate from the television screen to the stage for the upcoming Dora Live show, and we look forward to bringing Dora and her friends up close and personal to audiences around the country.
DORA is also the subject of a yearlong exhibit at the Childrens Museum of Manhattan. The first-ever Dora the Explorer interactive exhibition opened on Dec. 11, allowing guests to visit Doras authentic Latin American-inspired house, the environment of the Rainforest Maze and the three-dimensional number pyramid. The exhibit encourages kids will overcome obstacles, solve problems and puzzles and find journey through Doras adventurous world, which features content in both English and Spanish.
DORA THE EXPLORER, which airs at 9:00 am and 11:30 am weekdays on Nick Jr. and weekends on CBS (check local listings), is a play-along, animated adventure series starring Dora, a seven-year-old Latina heroine whose adventures take place in an imaginative, tropical world filled with jungles, beaches and rainforests. In every episode, Dora and Boots invite the audience to participate in an exciting adventure, where each step of their journey consists of a problem or puzzle that Dora and the audience must think their way through in order to solve the next problem. In each episode, Dora teaches a Spanish word or phrase to the viewers and then asks them to use it to solve a problem and forge ahead. The story always ends with a We Did It! anthem.
DORA THE EXPLORER was created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh and Eric Weiner. Gifford serves as exec producer, with Walsh as co-exec producer and Weiner as producer and head writer. Gifford was exec producer/writer on the special, Walsh was producer and with Weiner who also served as exec story editor. DORAS PIRATE ADVENTURE was produced by Nick Jr. Productions with George Chialtas as animation director while Jeff deGrandis was supervising producer.
Nick Jr. is a specially designed programming block airing on Nickelodeon weekdays from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm and weekends on CBS (check local listings). Completely dedicated to preschoolers ages 2-5, Nick Jr.s Emmy, Peabody and Parents Choice Award-winning programs are curriculum based, fun and commercial free.
