‘DORA the Explorer” is being turned into a live-action TV movie – another big step for Nickelodeon’s animated heroine.
“We’ve been making ‘Dora’ for almost 10 years . . . and I think all of us always had the dream of giving her a live-action adventure,” says Brown Johnson, Nick’s president of animation.
“It’s like that scene in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ with that giant boulder chasing Indiana Jones,” Johnson says. “We see Dora like that. She should have those types of adventures.”
The animated “Dora the Explorer” has been a huge hit among the 2-to-5-year-old set since premiering in 2000. It’s won acclaim for its storytelling, which interweaves educational elements into each plotline.
The show follows enthusiastic 10-year-old Dora, a bilingual Latina girl, and her pet monkey, Boots, as they travel the world and invite viewers to participate in their adventures and help them solve different puzzles.
The show’s been a marketing bonanza for Nickelodeon, which has spun “Dora” off into a lucrative merchandising business and a live stage show.
Johnson says Nick will likely hold a national casting call for the live-action Dora – who will be a little older in the movie to corrall a family-oriented audience.
“It will be really fun to hold open auditions,” she says. “We get so many photos from parents sending in pictures of their kids and saying, ‘My daughter looks so much like Dora.’
“Our first priority is to cast someone who’s Latina and bilingual,” she says. “We’ll cast someone between the ages of 10-13.
“She’s out there,” Johnson says of the lucky actress who’ll eventually be chosen. “I keep trying to think of celebrities I’d like to cast.”
As for Boots, and Swiper – the wily fox who swipes things and throws them elsewhere (but never steals) – well, that’s another story.
“We haven’t quite figured that out yet,” Johnson says. “My dream would be to have a great CG [computer- generated] Boots. We have lots of ideas for Boots and Swiper.”