Nickelodeon's 'Dora The Explorer' Reboot Push Begins With Theatrical Short

'Dora and the Fantastical Creatures' will run in front of when its theatrical release begins September 29

It's a somewhat early return for Dora the Explorer and Boots the Monkey as she heads back to the big screen in a new theatrical short Dora and the Fantastical Creatures, which will be released in front of Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie on Friday, September 29.

This will be the public's first chance to see the rebooted and redesigned Nick Jr. Latina heroine before the launch of the new CG-animated series Dora (yes that seems to be the settled name) headed to Paramount+ in spring 2024 in the United States. Internationally, Dora will stream day-and-date on Paramount+ and air on Nickelodeon channels in all markets where available. It brings the reboot back into the calendar year it was originally targeted to premiere in, and the franchise back to theaters after 2019’s live action film Dora and the Lost City of Gold.

In Dora and the Fantastical Creatures, Dora, now voiced by Diana Zermeño, and Boots, now voiced by Asher Spence embark on an incredible adventure to the land of alebrijes, the most magical and colorful creatures in the rainforest. There, they must band together against Swiper, voiced by Marc Weiner reprising his role from previous Dora media, to save the beloved alebrijes and their Copal Tree Celebration. Also starring in the short are Pokémon's Anairis Quiñones as Luna Arcoiris; Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies's Danny Burstein as Sol; and Kate del Castillo as Ale. Following the debut of the short, ancillary Dora content will be made available across Nickelodeon platforms, Paramount+ and Noggin. 

In the new Dora series, Quiñones takes on additional roles including Map and The Fiesta Trio's armadillo, while Burstein takes on the roles of the Grumpy Old Troll and The Fiesta Trio's frog and marmoset. Justice League and Wizards of Waverly Place's Maria Canals-Barrera will voice Abuela, and Katarina Sky is the voice of Backpack. The series also features Donovan Monzon-Sanders as Tico; Tandi Fomukong as Isa; Quintún Muñoz as Benny the Bull; and co-creator Chris Gifford as Big Red Chicken, reprising his role.

In conjunction with the announcement of the short, the Bubble Guppies YouTube channel has been rebranded in favor of the Dora franchise, labeling it Dora & Friends.

The rebrand came with a new channel trailer, which is over a minute longer than the Fantastical Creatures trailer, and gives the best look yet at the series, as it contributes all of the footage, with the original series and its spinoffs Go Diego Go! and Dora and Friends: Into the City all entirely absent. Some of it, namely the part where the title appears even seems to come from the intro sequence. Along with wrangling clouds, washing hands and faces and carrying cakes, the trailer showcases very familiar scenarios we've come to know from the series. And that includes its characters. The Grumpy Old Troll, Tico the Squirrel, Isa the Iguana and Benny the Bull are all shown off in the new style for the first time, absent from the aforementioned short.

Even with the premiere of the reboot at least six months away, Paramount and Nickelodeon are going all in. Dora the Explorer-related content had been on the Bubble Guppies channel for at least a few years, but with the series having ended quietly in June, it is clear they're ready to turn attentions to someone else in the Nick Jr. family ready to be active again. Many of its higher-performing Bubble Guppies videos, in the millions to dozens of millions, remain public. Nickelodeon has previously rebranded the America's Most Musical Family channel to Nick Music, the Henry Danger channel became one for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Nickelodeon Animation Studio channel became Nickelodeon Cartoon Universe, which rebranded again last month as Nicktoons, and there's a case that NickRewind's lifetime as The '90s Are All That, The Splat, and NickSplat fall into this too.

Dora and the Fantastical Creatures is produced by Nickelodeon Animation. William Mata is directing from a screenplay by Alejandro Bien-Willner and a story by Bien-Willner and Sean Gill. Production is overseen by Eryk Casemiro, Executive Vice President, Global Animated Series at Nickelodeon. Miriam Ritchie and Marielle Kaar serve as Nickelodeon's Executives in Charge of Production for the short. Dora the Explorer is created by Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner. Its trailer can be watched below.

Cast Source: PR Newswire