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CANOE

File:Canoe logo.png
URL	canoe.ca
Type of site	Web portal
Available language(s)	English, French
Owner	Quebecor Media
Launched	March 4, 1996
Alexa rank	3,141 (June 2012[update])[1]

Canoe.ca is a Canadian portal site and website network, and is a subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The phrase Canadian Online Explorer appears in the header of the English version of the site; the name is also evidently a play on words on canoe (or canoë in French).

Canoe.ca is a provider of news, entertainment and services, and is in the top 100 domains in Canada in terms of traffic according to Alexa Internet. The Canoe Network attracts over 7.7 million monthly visitors and includes separate English and French portals at en.canoe.ca and fr.canoe.ca, information verticals like Cnews, Slam!, Jam! and Lifewise, as well as the Sun Media newspaper sites. Canoe.ca also offers online services in the fields of employment and continuing education (Jobboom.com), housing (Homes-Extra.ca), automobiles (Autonet.ca and ASL Internet), personals (reseaucontact.com), social networks (space.canoe.ca), classified ads (classifiedextra.ca) and advertising solutions (canoeklix.ca).

It has been in operation since March 4, 1996.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Canoe site
• Corporate profile

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Greg Frewin (born May 21, 1967 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) is an illusionist and "World Champion of Magic".^[1] His awards include First Place at the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM); The Gold Medal of Excellence, also from the IBM; First Place at the Society of American Magicians' annual magic convention competition; and first place at FISM, the "Olympics of Magic", which were held in Yokohama, Japan.

A command performance for Prince Rainier in Monte Carlo along with over 35 TV appearances world wide attest to this magician's notoriety, Greg is recognized by his peers all over the world as "The International Grand Champion of Magic".^[2]

Frewin has appeared on stages all over the world, including Caesars Palace, Tropicana and the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas. He is currently signed to a 20-year performance contract at the Greg Frewin Theatre in Niagara Falls, Canada.

In 2009 Frewin won the World Magic Awards Magician of the Year.

Frogwater Media Inc [1] in association with CBC produced a Holiday Special called Greg Frewin Magic Man Home for the holidays in 2009

Awards[link]

• Niagara Falls Misty Award " Attraction of the Year - 2005 [2]
• Canadian Association of Magician - Magician of the Year (first ever)[3]
• 1st place Stage International Brotherhood of Magicians
• The Gold Medal of Excellence awarded by the International Brotherhood of Magicians
• 1st place Stage Society of American Magicians
• 1st place at FISM
• 2009 Magician of the Year - World Magic Awards [4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Greg Frewin Theatre
• Greg Frewin's personal website
• Greg Frewin Promo Video

This magic-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2008)

Nuno Bettencourt
Background information
Birth name	Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt
Born	(1966-09-20) September 20, 1966 (age 45) Praia da Vitória, Terceira, Azores,  Portugal
Genres	Heavy metal, hard rock, funk metal, alternative rock, glam metal
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, piano, organ, cello, drums
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Extreme, The Satellite Party, DramaGods (Population 1), Mourning Widows, Rihanna, Steel Panther, Guitar Wars, Dweezil Zappa
Website	www.nunobettencourt.com
Notable instruments
Washburn N-Series Guitar

Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt (born September 20, 1966) is a Portuguese guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for his role as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme whose hits include the acoustic ballads "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted". The songs reached #1 and #4, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1991.

He has since recorded a solo project called Schizophonic as well as with bands he founded including Mourning Widows, Population 1, DramaGods, The Satellite Party (headed by Jane's Addiction's then-former frontman and Lollapalooza co-founder Perry Farrell), and then reunited with Extreme to record new music and tour.

Since 1990, Bettencourt has had his own line of custom guitars designed by Washburn Guitars. His line is known as the N-Series, and is currently promoting the Washburn N4.^[1][2]

Musical style[link]

As a guitarist and songwriter, Bettencourt draws from an eclectic variety of styles and influences. However, his most prominent work has been in the realm of rock and heavy metal guitar despite his most popular commercial hits being acoustic songs. Bettencourt's technical guitar playing is influenced by many different guitar players who have key attributes in their playing, that have rubbed off on Nuno such as Eddie Van Halen, Al Di Meola and Jimmy Page, while his solos and sense of melody are influenced by Brian May of Queen. He is particularly adept at arpeggios articulated via string-skipping tapping. One of the strongest elements in Nuno's playing is his sense of rhythm, often using a very loose wrist technique to execute fast triplet picking licks to create a funky sound to his rhythm playing and also his use of poly-rhythms to blur bar lines and create a unique sound.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Nuno Bettencourt was born on September 20, 1966 in Praia da Vitória, Terceira, Azores, Portugal, to Ezequiel Mendes Bettencourt and wife Aureolina da Cunha Gil de Ávila. Bettencourt's family, parents and brothers Luís and Roberto moved to Hudson, Massachusetts when he was four. Bettencourt lived on Main Street in Hudson for 21 years.

Initially, Bettencourt had little interest in music, preferring to spend his time playing hockey and soccer. His first instrument was the drums and he played them exclusively until his brother, Luís Gil Bettencourt, began to teach him how to play guitar.

While Bettencourt was slow to adopt the instrument under his brother's tutelage, his skills quickly developed when he began teaching himself, and he has mentioned in many interviews that he would skip many school days to practice upwards of 7 hours a day. In his sophomore and junior years of high school, Bettencourt dropped out of sports so he could focus on playing guitar. He would eventually drop out of high school for the same reason.

As a guitarist, one of Bettencourt's earliest influences was Eddie Van Halen. However, as he developed his craft as a guitarist and songwriter, his influences expanded to embrace The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Prince, Queen, Pat Travers, Paco de Lucía, Al Di Meola.

Extreme[link]

Unable to make a dent in the music world with his Boston-based hair-metal act Sinful, Bettencourt rose to international prominence as a guitar player after he joined the Boston-area group Extreme in 1985. Signed to A&M Records shortly after Bettencourt joined the group, the band released its debut record, Extreme, in 1989.

In 1990, Extreme released their most critically acclaimed album, Pornograffitti, which included the hits "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted". The album also has one of the most impressive guitar solos to date, The "Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee" an interpretation of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee", which is the intro guitar solo to the Track "He-Man Woman Hater".

The band followed up with III Sides to Every Story in 1992. Nuno composed and arranged the brass and string sections for this album and the full orchestra on III Sides to Every Story.

In 1993, Bettencourt co-wrote and produced "Where Are You Going" for the Super Mario Bros. movie. He also joined Robert Palmer in the studio to record Palmer's album Honey.

In 1995, Extreme released the album, Waiting for the Punchline, but the band broke up in 1996 when Bettencourt expressed his desire to follow a solo career. Shortly after, singer Gary Cherone went on to become the lead singer of Van Halen.

In 2007, the band reformed with the original line up (with the exception of Paul Geary) to begin work on a new album, Saudades de Rock, released on August 12, 2008, and subsequent tour.

Extreme hiatus period[link]

In 1997, Bettencourt released his first solo effort, Schizophonic, which he had been working on for five years. The album received good reviews but did not sell well.

On December 16, 1997, Bettencourt's new band - Mourning Widows (whose name was inspired by a writing he had seen on a church wall back in Portugal), had a self-titled debut album released in Japan on Polydor Records. It sold 45,000 in the first month. The band featured Roberto Carlos' son Donovan Bettencourt on bass and New York drummer Jeff Consi.

In 2000, Mourning Widow's follow-up, Furnished Souls for Rent originally released in Japan, and then in the U.S. Both Mourning Widows releases cultivated a strong following in Japan and the New England region of the U.S.

In 2008, Bettencourt was featured on the soundtrack for the motion picture Smart People. Bettencourt is credited on the cover on the soundtrack as well. The soundtrack also features the Gary Cherone track, "Need I Say More", and Baby Animals selections. The album was released by Hollywood Records and is available on iTunes.

In 2009, Bettencourt was featured in a song and video called "Best Night Ever"^[3] by Marshall Eriksen, a character on How I Met Your Mother. The video was a parody of Extreme's "More Than Words" video, in which the entire main cast of How I Met Your Mother made appearances.

Population 1 and DramaGods[link]

Bettencourt formed the recording entity Population 1 and released the self-titled and self-produced 2002 release, Population 1, on Universal/Japan and YBM/Korea. In support of the Population 1 (which featured him playing all instruments on most tracks), release in Japan and Korea, Bettencourt assembled a band with Joe Pessia on bass, Steve Ferlazzo on keyboards and back-up vocals, and Kevin Figueiredo on drums and back-up vocals. Steve Ferlazzo was also featured in Cherone’s next band carnation effort after Van Halen’s breakup,(Along with Pat Badger and Mike Mangini from Extreme)Tribe of Judah.

In 2004, Population 1 released Sessions from Room Four as well as an east coast tour in the fall of that year. Due to legal issues, the name Population 1 was dropped in 2005 and the band was renamed to Near Death Experience, then again, renamed to DramaGods.

DramaGods released their first album in December 2005 available as an import via Victor Entertainment (Japan). The band then made their record available as a digital download on iTunes in early 2006.

DramaGods are currently seeking a record deal for release of their first album under the new name in the U.S. After an explosive debut on the increasingly popular The Late Late with Craig Ferguson, the band (still called 'Population 1' at that point), later appeared on the social networking website MySpace, featuring videos and songs from the aforementioned Dramagods album, entitled Love.

Nuno decided to make the album available through iTunes before procuring an American record deal.

Bettencourt frequently toured with DramaGods in Japan where they appeared at the Udo Music Festival along with KISS, Santana, Jeff Beck, The Doobie Brothers, Alice in Chains, The Pretenders, Ben Folds Five, and others in July 2006 shortly after Bettencourt took part in a three date reunion tour with Extreme in New England.

Other works[link]

Guitar Wars[link]

Nuno Bettencourt's playing has been featured at 2004 on the Universal/Japan CD and DVD release of Guitar Wars featuring solo and collective performances of Bettencourt with many others, including Steve Hackett (Genesis, GTR), Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and Mr. Big/Racer X guitarist Paul Gilbert.

The Satellite Party[link]

The Satellite Party is Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell's new project which featured Bettencourt as lead guitarist (Nuno left the band in July 2007, citing disagreements about the direction of the live show), along with DramaGods drummer Kevin Figueiredo, bassist Carl Restivo (who also played with Extreme in the Azores in 2004), and Etty Farrell on backing vocals. An earlier lineup of the band with Perry Farrell, Etty Farrell, Nuno, Kevin Figueiredo, and Steve Ferlazo (Dramagods) on keyboards performed at the 2005 Lollapalooza festival.

Bettencourt helped produce Ultra Payloaded, the debut album by Satellite Party released on May 29, 2007 on Columbia Records. On June 29, 2007, they performed alongside Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon and Incubus in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. In late July 2007, Nuno Bettencourt and Drummer Kfigg departed Satellite Party.

[edit] Criss Angel Mindfreak

The latest CD from magician Criss Angel contains a song on which Bettencourt appears and was released in June 2006. Sully Erna, Vince Neil, Shannon Larkin and Bettencourt join Angel in the video for the track "MF 2" which was shot atop the Aladdin parking garage.

Other artists[link]

Bettencourt is still active in the music industry. According to former Journey lead singer Steve Perry, Bettencourt has teamed with him to write and arrange songs. He also has writing and recording engagements with Maverick Records' Tantric (Bettencourt co-wrote Tantric's hit single "Hey Now"), Hollywood recording group BB Mak, Toni Braxton, and numerous others. Nuno announced in November 2009 that he will be touring with Pop Superstar Rihanna on her next world tour as her lead guitarist, having appeared alongside her in several TV shows and other performances. Nuno also stated that Extreme will continue.

Nuno has also collaborated with his wife Suze DeMarchi and with all of her Baby Animals bandmates. On Baby Animals second release, Shaved And Dangerous (July 1996), Nuno produced a few songs and co-wrote Because I Can, which he can clearly be heard playing guitar on as well. Additionally, on Nuno's first solo release, Schizophonic (1997) all members of Baby Animals appear. Suze sings background with Nuno on the single Crave. Dave Leslie (guitar), Frank Celenza (drums) and Eddie Parise (bass) all join Nuno on the track Two Weeks In Dizneeland. Nuno also contributed greatly in writing, recording and producing Suze's solo debut from 1998, Telelove.

Nuno also produced Dweezil Zappa's 1991 release on Barking Pumpkin Records, Confessions. In this record, Nuno sings lead vocals for the first time on a semi-ballad entitled The Kiss, as well as playing guitar and singing background vocals on some other tracks. Extreme members Gary Cherone and Pat Badger also contributed.

Nuno also played guitar on a song featured on the CBS series 'How I Met Your Mother', and it is also on the website www.itwasthebestnightever.com.

Nuno was the lead guitarist for the R&B artist Rihanna for her Last Girl on Earth Tour.

Nuno was also the lead guitarist for the R&B artist Rihanna for her Loud Tour.

Personal life[link]

On August 27, 1994, Bettencourt married singer Suze DeMarchi at the Igreja de São Miguel Arcanjo, Igreja Matriz de Vila Franca do Campo (São Miguel Island, Azores). They have two children together: Bebe Orleans (b. February 2, 1996) and Lorenzo Aureolino (b. August 12, 2002). DeMarchi moved to Sydney from Los Angeles with their children. She informed the greater public about their separation (as of 2009) in October of 2011 in an article: http://themusic.com.au/sfg/interviews/1539/baby-animals.

Bettencourt cites Italian food as his favorite cuisine. His guilty pleasures include Sushi and Butterfinger bars (Music Choice).

Washburn Guitars[link]

In December 1990, Washburn Guitars unveiled the Washburn N4 Nuno Bettencourt Signature Series - a series of Bettencourt-designed guitars which endures today.

The Nuno Bettencourt models are flagshipped by the American hand-made Washburn N4. The Washburn N4 guitar is a small reverse headstock super-strat which features the unique Stephen's Extended Cutaway neck joint for easy access to the higher frets. It also contains Bill Lawrence and Seymour Duncan pickups, and a Floyd Rose licensed tremolo. The production budget model of this guitar which is built in China is known as the N2 and features a standard bolt-on neck. The N3 was a short run Korean reproduction of the Washburn N4 using Washburn stock pickups. The original N2 and N3 guitars were prototype guitars built for Nuno. The N2 lacking the Stephen's Extended Cutaway and the N3 using a Bill Lawrence L500-R in the neck rather than the Seymour Duncan 59. Other models include The N5 and N6. Nuno has also endorsed several Washburn acoustic models. As well as a line of 'set-neck' electric guitars Including the P- Series which was released in various models with a more retro, deep cutaway style.

Discography[link]

References[link]

1. ^ "Nuno Bettencourt Washburn Guitars". http://www.washburn.com/artists/bettencourt.aspx. 
2. ^ "N-Series Guitars". http://www.washburn.com/products/electrics/nseries/index.aspx. 
3. ^ "Best Night Ever". Itwasthebestnightever.com. http://www.itwasthebestnightever.com/. Retrieved 2012-02-28. 
4. ^ "T.M. Stevens - Africans In The Snow (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. http://www.discogs.com/TM-Stevens-Africans-In-The-Snow/release/1744741. Retrieved 2012-02-28. 
5. ^ Silva, Steve (June 25, 2007). "Music from the Mound". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2007/06/music_from_the.html. 

External links[link]

• Official site
• Nuno Bettencourt at the Internet Movie Database
• Nuno Bettencourt at Allmusic
• Nuno Bettencourt at Discogs

This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help improve the article by updating it. There may be additional information on the talk page. (December 2011)

Dora the Explorer
Logo
Genre	Children Adventure
Created by	Chris Gifford Valerie Walsh Valdes Eric Weiner
Directed by	George S. Chialtas Gary Conrad Henry Lenardin-Madden Sherie Pollack Arnie Wong
Voices of	Caitlin Sanchez, Kathleen Herles, Fatima Ptacek as Dora the Explorer Harrison Chad, Regan Mizrahi as Boots the Monkey Marc Weiner as Swiper Sasha Toto and Alexandria Suarez as Backpack
Theme music composer	Joshua Sitron Billy Straus
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English Spanish (Teaches Spanish)
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	118 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Chris Gifford
Editor(s)	Gayle McIntyre Karyn Finley Powell David Wigforss
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Nickelodeon, Nick Jr
Original run	August 14, 2000 (2000-08-14) – present
Chronology
Related shows	Go, Diego, Go!

Dora the Explorer is an American animated television series created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh, and Eric Weiner. Dora the Explorer became a regular series in 2000. The show is carried on the Nickelodeon cable television network, including the associated Nick Jr. channel. It aired on CBS until September 2006. A Spanish-dubbed version first aired as part of a Nick en español block on NBC Universal-owned Telemundo through September 2006; since April 2008, this version of the program has been carried on Univision as part of the Planeta U block.

Characters[link]

Dora Marquez[link]

Dora, the main character, is an eight-year-old girl who embarks on a trip in every episode in order to find something or help somebody. 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.

Dora has a positive view of the characters she meets, failing even to hold a grudge against the mischievous fox, Swiper, who continually attempts to steal items from her party. She acts against 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.

Dora is fond of Boots, who became her best friend when she saved his beloved red boots from being swiped by Swiper.

Dora enjoys sports. She played on a baseball team with Boots and her other friends and was coached by her father (who has never been depicted as having other employment). She loves and excels at soccer. Dora is also a musician, skilled at playing a wooden flute.

The character was voiced by Kathleen Herles until she was replaced by Caitlin Sanchez and replaced with another voice actress Fatima Ptacek.^[1]

Dora is a Latina. Early concepts of Dora had her as a blond girl of European ancestry. The character was originally based on a niece, Lilli, of Rick Velleu, one of the creators of the show.^{[citation needed]}

Boots the Monkey[link]

Boots, the 5-year-old monkey whom Dora met one day in the forest, is her best friend. He is friendly and enthusiastic, and usually wears nothing but his beloved red boots, hence his name. He is light blue with a yellow stomach. His parents look similar, with variations in eyes, height, clothing and fur.

Boots is present with Dora on most of her adventures, and he helps her solve clues and puzzles. He also loves baseball and is on Dora's team. He enjoys riding Rojo the fire truck.

Boots is athletic and energetic. He performs a series of acrobatic flips, somersaults, and cartwheels along the way to their destination. His light weight also makes him easy to carry, even for Dora.

Without guidance from Dora, the viewer, or another character, Boots is quick to take his own, often dangerous or dead-ended, route. Dora often acts as the voice of reason.

Boots "loves" many things. In one episode, he would say many times "I love riddles. Call me 'Mr. Riddles'" or "I love nuts, I love chocolate, I love my ball, and I love, love, love...". Most importantly, however, Boots loves Dora and Dora loves him back, as expressed verbally and physically in numerous episodes. His devotion and love always has Boots more than willing to drop whatever he is doing at the moment for Dora. For her sake, he has even engaged in adventures on his own, assisted by the viewers.

Boots' vocabulary is limited but steadily increasing. Dora teaches him Spanish through memorable songs and phrases.

Boots was voiced by Harrison Chad in the original English version and then, from season five onwards, by Regan Mizrahi.

Swiper the Fox[link]

Swiper is a sneaky fox in a blue mask and gloves, who is the antagonist of the TV series and 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, man!"; 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 states "You'll never find it now! Ha, ha, ha!!," as he throws the item away.

Swiper's motive for theft is patently childish; 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). Until recently, it was 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, for example, that the item in question is a present for Dora's puppy, he will 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 has taken; for example, he had no idea the aforementioned gift was for Dora's puppy. In the episode "Dora Saves the Mermaids", he revealed that he "liked swiping." He has some kind of New York accent, and lives in a burrow on top of Blueberry Hill.

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 has 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 does not do this anymore.

He has only been seen once or twice 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 the robot butterfly, it swiped his mask and gloves and kept them from him for a few humorous seconds.

His grandmother has been mentioned in two episodes: "A Letter For Swiper" and "Swiper the Explorer," and finally made an appearance in "Swiper's Favorite Things." His parents are never seen, and it is unclear whether or not he has any siblings.

Over the course of the series, it is shown that there is 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 is revealed that Swiper does not speak Spanish, and wishes that he did. Over the course of a few episodes and specials, it can be clearly seen that swiper is very shy, such as in Christmas Carol Adventure, when he was nervous and didn't want to ask the Grumpy old troll how the capes worked. If Swiper fails to swipe something, is sad, or gets in trouble, he will utter his catch phrase of "Oohhh Maaann," such as in the episode "Dance To The Rescue," when Elf and Cane initially trick Swiper and trap him in the magic bottle.

The interaction between Dora and the antagonistic fox also reveals the kindness and grace of Dora's character. In one 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, and demonstrated a close, unconflicted relationship between Swiper and the other creatures.

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 will come to her aid in the same manner.

In "Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure," another atypical episode, Swiper's love of swiping ends up getting him on Santa's naughty list, when he fails to heed Santa's warnings about swiping on Christmas. At first, everyone dismisses what has happened, but Dora immediately insists on helping Swiper, as nobody, not even Swiper deserves to be on Santa's naughty list. After asking Santa if she can do something, Santa sends Dora and Swiper on an epic quest through time to help Swiper get off the naughty list. Upon coming back, Swiper initially fails his quest, but everyone then expresses that Swiper is their friend and that they want to share their gifts with him because they care about him, despite all the things he's done. It is at this point Swiper learns the true meaning of Christmas, and tries to give Dora his most prized possession, a stuffed bunny he had since he was really young. Dora refuses to accept it, but suggests that they can share it, and Swiper shares his bunny with her. Upon seeing him share his bunny, Santa returns and puts Swiper back on the nice list. It is then revealed that Swiper shared his gifts and didn't swipe anything every Christmas after that.

Swiper is far from being unable to feel guilty for his actions. In the episode "A Present For Santa", Swiper returns the present that he swiped, upon discovering that it was for Santa. In "Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure," Swiper travels through time and begins to regret his actions in the past and future, including making his friends cry when they were babies, and littering on Christmas Eve. In the episode "Dora's World Adventure", Swiper helps Dora return the friendship bracelets he had swiped all over the world, and was shown to feel guilty once he discovered the magnitude of what he'd done and what he had 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: Fifi the skunk in France, Sami the hyena in Tanzania, Fomkah the bear in Russia, and Ying Ying the weasel in China. All of them act and dress nearly identically 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. Their entrances are also preluded by a sound, only with local music; e.g. Ying Ying has a chau gong playing.

Fiesta Trio[link]

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. The trio are occasionally unable to complete their music as a result of something going on in the scene, such as when they are startled by a bear that is chasing Dora and Boots in one episode.

Backpack[link]

Dora's purple Backpack (originally voiced by Sasha Toro, and currently voiced by Alexandria Suarez beginning with the fifth season^[2]), 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 a lot of extra 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[link]

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 does not 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. Map inexplicably gives up the cape, and his super powers, at the end of the episode.

Isa the Iguana[link]

Isa the 9 year old Iguana is a very close friend of Dora's and an even closer friend of Boots. Isa is a skilled gardener and loves to grow mainly flowers of all kinds. She even presents her mom with a bouquet of flowers she grew herself as a Mother's Day gift.

At times, her problem solving skills prove to be invaluable for her friends and even herself made all the more disposal by her naturally acquired ability to blend into surroundings at will.

Isa also seems to have a bit of a crush on Boots, whom she knew long before she ever met Dora. She greats both Dora and Boots equally but Isa always greets Boots more shyly than Dora. She was first voiced by Ashley Flemming, and is now being done by Lenique Vincent.

[edit] Tico the Squirrel

Tico the Squirrel (who has been voiced by Muhammed Cunningham, Jose Zelaya and currently by Jean Carlos Celi) is a friend of Dora's who lives in the forest and who speaks Spanish and very rarely English (one occasion when he said "You're welcome" in English). He wears a colorful striped vest, and is usually seen driving his little yellow car, although he has been known to travel in a variety of vehicles, from helicopters to boats. He has purple fur, a round body, and small triangular stumps for arms and legs.

Tico's function on the show is to help Dora teach the audience words and phrases in Spanish; Dora has to tell Tico something in Spanish, such as "Faster" or "Look out", and she asks the viewers at home to say it along with her. In some episodes, a different Spanish-speaking character (such as Señor Tucán) appears instead of Tico.

In the episode "Dora's First Trip", it was established that Boots had been friends with Tico before Dora met either of them, despite the fact that Boots and Tico speak two different languages.

Benny the Bull[link]

Benny the Bull (voiced by Jake Burbage until 2009, now by Matthew Gumley) is a friend of Dora's who lives in a barn, loves to eat, and often rides in a hot air balloon. He is mostly blue with little yellow horns, stands on his hind legs, is a little taller than Dora, and wears a blue bandanna with white polka dots around his neck.

Benny sometimes provides Dora with something that she needs on her current quest. In the episode "Swiper the Explorer", Dora needed something for the Baby Fox to drink, and Benny's picnic basket just happened to contain a carton of milk and a baby bottle ("Now, why did I pack that?"). In the episode "Dance to the Rescue", Dora and Boots needed fancy clothes to be allowed into King Bobo's castle, and Benny happened to have a gown and a bow tie in the basket of his balloon.

In the episode "Boots' Cuddly Dinosaur", Benny said that he can not sleep without nine dolls which he calls his "guys."

Despite having the same name, this character is not the same as the mascot of the Chicago Bulls.

Voices[link]

• Dora the Explorer: Kathleen Herles (2000-2004), Caitlin Sanchez (2007–2010), Fatima Ptacek (2012-Present)
• Boots: Regan Mizrahi (2007–2010)
• Backpack: Sasha Toro (2000-2004), Alexandria Suarez (2007–2010)
• Swiper: Marc Weiner (2007–2010)
• Map: Marc Weiner (2007–2010)
• Isa the Iguana: Ashley Fleming (2000-2004), Lenique Vincent (2007–2010)
• Tico the Squirrel: Jose Zelaya (2002-2004), Jean Carlos Celi (2007–2010)
• Benny The Bull: Matt Gumley (2007–2010)
• Big Red Chicken: Chris Gifford (2000-2004)
• Explorer Stars: Christiana Anbri, Henry Gifford, Katie Gifford, Aisha Shickler, Muhammed Cunningham, Jose Zeleya

• Jake Burbage
• Harrison Chad
• Andres Dieppa
• Felipe Dieppa
• Elaine Del Valle
• Eileen Galindo
• Chris Gifford
• K.J. Sanchez
• Adam Sietz
• Leslie Valdes
• Marc Weiner

Guests voices[link]

• John Leguizamo
• Cheech Marin
• Ricardo Montalbán
• Esai Morales
• Amy Principe
• Irwin Reese
• Chita Rivera (Dora's Fairytale Adventure, 2004)
• Antonia Rey
• Paul Rodriguez

Episode list[link]

Plot[link]

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, or, in some double-length episodes, four, places to go, with the final 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.

Dora's Explorer Girls[link]

In 2009, Mattel and Nickelodeon introduced a preteen version of Dora, with four friends named Naiya, Kate, Emma, and Alana, who call themselves the Explorer Girls.^[3] This is the "tween Dora" whose silhouette created some controversy when it debuted at the Nickelodeon website.^[4][5]

Foreign adaptations[link]

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.

• Arabic In the Arabic language version broadcast on the "Nickelodeon on MBC3" block of MBC3, the bilingualism is Arabic-English.

• Cantonese The Cantonese version (Chinese: 愛探險的朵拉; Cantonese Yale: Oi taam hím dīk Dó Lā; literally "Explore-loving Dora") is sold in Hong Kong. The bilingualism is Cantonese-English.

• 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.

• Dutch. In the Dutch language version, broadcast on Nickelodeon and Nick .Jr, the bilingualism is Dutch-English. Starring Voice Actors: Lottie Hellingman as Dora and Dieter Jansen as Boots.

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

• Filipino In the Filipino language version broadcast on ABS-CBN entitled as its English title "Dora, the Explorer". The characters speak Filipino and some English, Dora teaches English in this version.

• German. In the German language version, broadcast on the recently restarted German branch of Nickelodeon, the bilingualism is German-English.

• Greek. In the Greek version called "Ντόρα η μικρή εξερευνήτρια" (or Dora the Little Explorer), broadcast on Nickelodeon and Star Channel, 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).

• Hindi. In the Hindi language version, Dora and the other characters speak Hindi. It is broadcast on Nickelodeon. In this version, Dora teaches the viewers some English words and numbers.

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

• Irish. In the Irish language version, broadcast on the Irish station TG4, the bilingualism is Irish-Spanish, with Dora and Boots speaking in Irish and some other characters speaking Spanish as in the original.

• Italian. In the Italian language version, broadcast on Italia 1 and on Nickelodeon in the subscription of Sky, 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. The version is called ドーラといっしょに大冒険 (Dōra to issho ni dai bōken/Adventures with Dora).

• Korean. The Korean language version is broadcast on Nick Jr in Korea. The title is different it is called "Hi Dora" and is introduced by a real person whose name is Dami - she introduces key English vocabulary for each episode. The episode is primarily in Korean with some English.

• Malay. The Malay language version is broadcast on TV9. The bilingualism is Malay-English. Dora speaks primarily in Malay instead of English, and the secondary language is English instead of Spanish. The original English-Spanish version, however, is also available on Nickelodeon South East Asia via the Nick Jr. programming slot to subscribers of the ASTRO satellite TV service.

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

• Norwegian. In the Norwegian language version, the bilingualism is Norwegian-English.

• Polish. In the Polish language version, broadcast on Nickelodeon in Poland, the bilingualism is Polish-English. The series is called Dora poznaje świat ("Dora explores the world").

• Portuguese. In the Portuguese language versions, Dora a Exploradora, broadcast on RTP2 and Nickelodeon Portugal. At Nickelodeon Brazil, 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 (Dora is exploring).

• Spanish. There are different Spanish language versions for Latin America and Spain. In Dora la Exploradora, broadcast on Nickelodeon in Latin America (and until September 2006 on Telemundo in the USA; since April 2008 on Univisión), 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. Additionally, Univision has added on-screen captions of the Spanish words spoken in English. In Spain, Dora la exploradora is aired on TVE 1, Clan TVE and Nickelodeon; the characters speak mainly Spanish but will have commands and expressions in 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.

• Tamil In the Tamil language version Dora The Explorer, the characters all speak Tamil, with some English interspersed. It is broadcast on a local kids programming channel Chutti TV, a channel run by the Sun Network

• 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[link]

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.

Live-action movie[link]

It was revealed on February 18, 2008, that Nickelodeon would make a made-for-television movie based on the series, but as a live-action/CGI animated feature.^[6] Dora, who would still be of Hispanic descent, would become a ten-year-old girl in this version with other characters computer animated. The movie is expected to be released in 2011.

Makeover[link]

On March 8, 2009, Mattel and Nickelodeon announced that Dora will receive a tweenage makeover, switching from a young age to a teenage attending middle school. Initially, it was announced that the new look would not be revealed until late 2009,^[7] but after a short controversy, the tween Dora was unveiled on March 16, 2009.^[8] The new pre-teen Dora may be used for one of the future seasons.

Dora the Explorer merchandise[link]

This section requires expansion.

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

Toys[link]

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 and Nickelodeon characters, including Dora the Explorer. Nickelodeon responded that they would introduce "third-party monitoring" of all manufacturers of products under its brands.^[9][10][11]

Books[link]

Dora the Explorer series[link]

1. Dora's Backpack (ISBN 978-0689847202)
2. Little Star (ISBN 978-0689847219)
3. Happy Mother's Day Mami! (ISBN 978-0689852336)
4. Meet Diego! (ISBN 978-0689859939)
5. Dora's Thanksgiving (ISBN 978-0689858420)
6. Dora Loves Boots (ISBN 978-0689863738)
7. Dora's Book of Manners (ISBN 978-0689865336)
8. Dora Goes to School (ISBN 978-0689864940)
9. Dora's Fairy-Tale Adventure (ISBN 978-0689870125)
10. Dora's Chilly Day (ISBN 978-0689867958)
11. Show Me Your Smile! (ISBN 978-0689871696)
12. Dora's Pirate Adventure (ISBN 978-0689875830)
13. Big Sister Dora! (ISBN 978-0689878466)
14. At the Carnival (ISBN 978-0689858413)
15. Dora's Costume Party! (ISBN 978-1416900108)
16. Dance to the Rescue (ISBN 978-1416902164)
17. Dora's Starry Christmas (ISBN 978-1416902492)
18. Super babies (ISBN 978-1416914853)
19. The Birthday Dance Party (ISBN 978-1416913030)
20. Dora's World Adventure (ISBN 978-1416924470)
21. Dora Climbs Star Mountain (ISBN 978-1416940593)
22. It's Sharing Day! (ISBN 978-1416915751)
23. Dora Had a Little Lamb (ISBN 978-1416933687)
24. Dora Saves Mermaid Kingdom! (ISBN 978-1416938415)
25. Dora and the Stuck Truck (ISBN 978-1416947998)

Ready To Read series – Level 1[link]

1. Dora's Picnic (ISBN 978-0689852381)
2. Follow Those Feet! (ISBN 978-0689852398)
3. Dora in the Deep Sea (ISBN 978-0689858451)
4. I Love My Papi! (ISBN 978-0689864957)
5. Say "Cheese!" (ISBN 978-0689864964)
6. The Halloween Cat (ISBN 978-0689867996)
7. Eggs for Everyone! (ISBN 978-0689871764)
8. Just Like Dora! (ISBN 978-0689876752)
9. I Love My Mami! (ISBN 978-1416906506)
10. Puppy Takes a Bath (ISBN 978-1416914839)
11. Around the World! (ISBN 978-1416924784)
12. Dora's Sleepover (ISBN 978-1416915089)
13. Dora Helps Diego! (ISBN 978-1416915096)
14. Dora's Perfect Pumpkin (ISBN 978-1416934387)
15. Dora's Mystery of the Missing Shoes (ISBN 978-1416938248)

A Lift-the-Flap Story[link]

• Good Night, Dora!: A Lift-the-Flap Story (ISBN 978-0689847745)
• Where Is Boots?: A Lift-the-Flap Story (ISBN 978-0689847752)
• Let's Play Sports!: A Lift-the-Flap Story (ISBN 978-1416933502)
• All Dressed Up!: A Lift-the-Flap Book (ISBN 978-0689877186)

Treasury books and collection books[link]

• Dora's Ready-to-Read Adventures (ISBN 978-0689878152)

Contains: Dora's picnic, Follow those feet, Dora in the deep sea, I love my Papi!, Say "Cheese"

• Dora's Storytime Collection (ISBN 978-0689866234)

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 (ISBN 978-1416907084)

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[link]

• Dora's Magic Watering Can (ISBN 978-1416947721)

DVDs and videos[link]

Video games[link]

Video games based on the 2000 television show Dora the Explorer were released. In Canada, Cheerios offered free Dora the Explorer the Game CD-ROMs in specially marked packages. However, packages sold in Quebec would only have the French version. Dora the Explorer: Barnyard Buddies is a video game released for the PlayStation in 2003 in the US. It was not released in Europe until 2005 being one of the very last games released on that platform in that territory. Dora the Explorer: Super Star Adventures is an adventure video game for the Gameboy Advance released in 2004. It was developed by Imaginengine and published by Global Star.^[12]

Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet is an action-adventure video game, developed by Monkey Bar Games, published by Global Star Software and powered by Vicious Engine. The game was released for Gamecube in North America on October 13, 2005,^[13] and later in PAL regions on December 16, 2005. The Playstation 2 version was released on PAL regions on December 2, 2005, and later in North America in February 9, 2006.^[14] The game is about Dora and Boots who finds some lost aliens from the purple planet. However, to take them home, she and Boots are required to collect keys to open the space gate, leading to the saturn planet. The game is unique in that it uses pictures and symbols to communicate rather than words. The object of the game is to capture one of the six explorer stars. Each explorer star has a special power such as the ability to be noisy or the ability to create music. In order to capture the star, the player must complete a hide-and-seek activity. These activities include maze navigation, matching games, side-scrolling race games, a "Frogger"-type game, a complete-the-pattern activity and a song playing game.^[15]

Dora Puppy is a puppy simulator were players must help Dora take care of her puppy, Perrito, and help train him for doggie competitions. All the actions are performed by either tracing certain shapes with the stylus or calling out commands into the DS's microphone.^[16] It was developed by Take-Two Interactive for the Nintendo DS and published by 2K Play in North America^[17] and Australia in 2009, and in Europe in 2010.

Dora the Explorer: Dora's Cooking Club is a cooking video game for the Nintendo DS. It was published by 2K Play in 2010.^[18] In the game, players have to chop veggies, stir soups, top pizzas, and more using math skills. They may be sorting cookies into numbered groups or counting out different amounts of ingredients.^[19]

• Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess is a video game that was released for the PlayStation 2 and the Wii console in 2008.
• Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom is a video game that was released for the PlayStation 2 and the Wii console in 2009.

References in other media and parodies[link]

Hip hop artist Ludacris made a few references to Dora in his song "Number One Spot", rapping "Explora like Dora, those swipers can't swipe me".

In an episode of Drake & Josh titled "The Storm", character Crazy Steve is seen watching Dora. He repeatedly yells at her as to why she is asking him questions.

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy makes reference to Dora in episode "Pandora's Lunchbox", where a character bearing a suspicious resemblance and the same name as Dora tries to convince people to open her lunchbox, but her personality is nearly the exact opposite of Dora's, being evil and wanting to plunge the world into never-ending suffering. Billy also describes Grim's favorite show, which is nearly a summary of Dora.

On the series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, imaginary friend Eduardo watches a show named "Lauren is Explorin'".

On Saturday Night Live's TV Funhouse sketch entitled "Maraka", created by Robert Smigel, the Dora-like character is called Maraka, while the Boots-like character is called Mittens. The storyline resembles an episode from Season 2 of Go, Diego, Go!, "Macky the Macaroni Penguin". 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.

On an episode of The Daily Show, during the CNBC controversy, Jon Stewart makes a mock appearance on Dora the Explorer, in response to Mad Money's Jim Cramer's appearances on The Today Show and Morning Joe. In the appearance, Dora casually calls both Cramer and Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough pendejos, and Boots offers to throw feces on both.^[20]

Comedian Brian Regan once poked fun at Dora the Explorer in his stand-up, repetitively singing "I'm the Map!"

Many fan-made parodies exist on YouTube that include Dora dancing the Soulja Boy,^[21] in a music video for "Leam like a Cholo",^[22] and asking Brad Pitt on a date.^[23] These parodies have been very popular, generating over several million views each.^{[citation needed]}

On Bubble Gang, the parody of the show was Chickadora The Exploiter, portrayed by Michael V. and Diego.

On Goin' Bulilit if the casts are on Location, The combined parody of the show and Nora Aunor was Nora The Explorer, portrayed by Chacha Canete.

On Eat Bulaga, the opening number for November 28, 2009 Allan K. as Dora the Rat Killer while he holds the Stuffed Monkey along with Wally Bayola as Spider-Man.

A parody of Dora called 'Doray Alaskadora' is seen on Wow Mali. Doray also makes frequent appearances alongside host Joey de Leon and the monkey puppet Enchong Go.

On Fred: The Movie, when Fred is riding in the car with his dad, his dad turns on a TV in the car. Dora is on the TV.

At the beginning of a Law & Order: Los Angeles episode, the kids watch Dora the Explorer in the car.

On an episode of Cartoon Network's MAD series, the segment "Dora the Explorer in the Road to Recovery" features Dora throwing up on backpack. After, backpack's gurgling voice was saying "I'm the backpack!" and scared Boots. On another episode of MAD called "Are You Karate Kidding Me?", Dre's backpack winds up to be Dora's.

References[link]

	Nickelodeon portal
	Television portal
	Animation portal

External links[link]

• Dora The Explorer on Nick Jr. Australia
• Dora The Explorer On Nick Jr. US
• Dora The Explorer On Nick Jr. UK
• Dora The Explorer on Treehouse
• Dora The Explorer On Nick Canada
• Unofficial British fansite.
• Article on the value of Dora the Explorer as a Spanish learning tool
• Dora the Explorer at the Internet Movie Database

Lars Monsen, adventurer, bushcraftsman, journalist

Lars Thorbjørn Monsen (b. 1963 in Oslo) is a Sámi-Norwegian^[1] adventurer and journalist, famous for his explorations and backpacking expeditions in harsh wilderness. In particular, he became especially known for his thru-hiking trip in northern Canada and Alaska, which was filmed and documented by Monsen himself, and then broadcast on NRK in 2005. He spent 2 years and 7 months on this trip alone.

In 2010 Monsen was expedition leader for the Norwegian program "Ingen Grenser" which is a remake of BBCs Beyond Boundaries. In 30 days they covered 500 kilometers over Cap of the North, some of the participants with severe physical limitations. He is currently living with American-Norwegian artist Trine Rein. ^[2]

Expeditions[link]

His well-documented expeditions include:

• Walking and dog-sledding across northern Canada (2 years and 7 months, going from Kaktovik to Goose Bay). A lot of filming was done during this expedition, the footage was subsequently cut together into the documentary series Canada På Tvers.
• Walking across Alaska (10 months)
• Walking across Norway (12 months)
• Walking across Kodiak Island, Alaska
• Walking across Admiralty Island, Alaska
• Paddling in canoe, twice, through Katmai National Park, Alaska
• Traveling 900 km by foot through Norway, Sweden and Finland
• Walking 90 days in Børgefjell National Park
• Three 1-month trips through Finnmark, Femundsmarka og Saltfjellet for NRK.
• 365 days of wilderness traveling through Norway, Sweden, Finland for a TV show on NRK called Nordkalotten 365.

References[link]

1. ^ Stolt over å være same
2. ^ http://www.vg.no/rampelys/artikkel.php?artid=521962

External links[link]

• Official website

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