Dora and Friends: Into the City!

Did You Know?

• In Southeast Asia, the series debuted on March 16, 2015, on Nickelodeon in Singapore.
• The series aired on TVNZ in New Zealand in 2024.
• In India, the show airs on Nick HD+.

Premise

Dora is ten years old and lives in Playa Verde, California, where she goes to school. She has five close friends: Emma, who loves music; Kate, who is into art and theater; Naiya, a very smart girl who enjoys reading; Alana, who is passionate about sports and animals; and Pablo, who loves soccer and having fun. Together, they form the Explorer Girls, with Dora as their leader. They team up to explore their city and uncover its hidden secrets. Dora carries a magical charm bracelet that lets her pass through obstacles, and she uses a smartphone with an app version of the Map from her earlier adventures. All the characters speak both English and Spanish, but the show uses simple Spanish phrases and commands instead of the single words from Dora the Explorer.

In the second season, familiar faces from the original series come back as guest stars in certain episodes. These include Boots the Monkey, Benny the Bull, Isa the Iguana, Tico the Squirrel, Swiper the Fox, and the Big Red Chicken. One special episode, "Return to the Rainforest," has Dora going back to the rainforest in Mexico. She needs to rescue Map and Backpack after Swiper takes them from Boots, and then a strong wind carries them away. At the end of that episode, Backpack gets torn apart by a cliff on Tallest Mountain, but Kate repairs and redesigns it. The special also introduces a young flower named Bud, who lives in Isa's garden and has heard all about Dora's past adventures. Kate sews Bud into Backpack as part of the repair, and Bud is happy about it because he gets to join Dora and her friends on their journeys. Bud helps Backpack find and retrieve items stored inside for Dora. After the events of "Return to the Rainforest," Map returns later in the season and replaces Dora's map app. In another episode, "For the Birds," older versions of Diego, Alicia, Baby Jaguar (now called just "Jaguar"), and the Bobo Brothers from Go, Diego, Go! appear. The series also had guest appearances from Megan Hilty and Christina Milian.

Pilot special

A 43-minute pilot, Dora's Explorer Girls: Our First Concert, debuted on August 7, 2011. The story follows Dora and her friends, who have five tickets to a Shakira concert but lose them and must recover them before showtime. Chris Gifford wrote the special, with Henry Lenardin-Madden directing. The voice cast includes Stephanie Joy as Dora’s speaking voice, Karina Padura as her singing voice, and Shakira as herself.