Dora the Explorer

Nick Jr is celebrating the festive season with premiere episodes, specials and marathons. So while you prepare for the silly season, the kiddies can be safely entertained!

Dora’s Enchanted Forest Adventures trilogy will start on Saturday December the 3rd, 10th and 17th at 3.45pm

Umizoomi will have new premiere episodes from December the 5th to 9th at 10am.

Bubble Guppies will have a marathon, with some new episodes on Saturday the 17th and Sunday the 18th, from 10am to 11.30pm.

All new episodes of Jim Henson’s Dinosaur Train will air at 3.30pm from the 12th to 16th of December.

From 6am to 8pm on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Nick Jr will show the magic of Christmas with all their favourite friends such as Dora, Diego, Wubbzy and Peppa Pig.

Newton to be released from psychiatric facility 

Former Underbelly actor Matt Newton is likely to be released before Christmas from the psychiatric facility he has been in over the past three and a half months. Newton, who played Kiwi drug king Terry Clarke on Underbelly, was admitted to the clinic after a series of indiscretions involving alcohol and drugs, losing his hosting job on The X Factor along the way.

Jeremy Irons signs on for Law & Order: SVU guest spot

Veteran British actor Jeremy Irons has been confirmed for an appearance on drama series Law & Order: SVU. The Academy Award-winning actor will play a therapist in the episode which is due to begin filming next month.

Dora the Explorer voice actress drops lawsuit

The 14-year-old actress who lends her voice to Nickelodeon character Dora the Explorer has dropped her lawsuit against the network after initially suing them over unpaid work on the show. Caitlin Sanchez claims she was owed millions of dollars for her promotional work and guest appearances but has decided against pursuing the case in court.

Simpsons producers deny Fox rift

Producers of The Simpsons have denied that there is any serious feud between them and the show’s network Fox after taking a series of digs at Fox News in recent episodes. Slogans such as “Fox News: Not Racist, But #1 With Racists” appeared on Fox News helicopters sparking rumours that a rift had opened between the two parties.

The voice actor who provides the voice of Dora The Explorer is filing a law suit against Nickelodeon over pay issues.

14-year-old Caitlin Sanchez has enlisted the help of her lawyer to get back what they believe is tens of millions of dollars worth of earnings.

They are accusing Nickelodeon of duping her out of profits from merchandise and public events and tricking her into signing a “bizarre, impenetrable, unconscionable” contract.

“She is not suing to stay on as Dora,” Sanchez’s lawyer said.

“She is suing because they paid her nothing for residuals, a few thousand dollars for merchandising and ended up making her spend most of her time – uncompensated – promoting the $11 billion Dora brand rather than performing as a paid actress.”

Nickelodeon has said they have let Sanchez go because she was hitting puberty and her voice was no longer suitable for the role of Dora.

Source: Stuff

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. Don’t forget her back pack and map with their own catchy tunes: “back pack, back pack…” and “I’m the map, I’m the map…”

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 the occasion.

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 Anniv

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.