Here's something that may come as a surprise: Dora the Explorer turned 25 yesterday. Not 25 years old. The show originally debuted on Nickelodeon on back on August 14th, of 2020.
Back then, she was introduced as a seven-year-old Latina girl . . . who likes sports, family, exploring the world, and her friends.
But she wasn't going to be a girl, originally. The first plan was for her to be a BUNNY IN THE WOODS. Other early ideas included making Dora a CAT. And she almost had a "little mouse that lived in her pocket."
It was Nickelodeon's idea to make her a Latina GIRL. The creators loved it, and brought in Latino writers and supervisors as well as experts in Latin culture to help them. They even traveled to Latin America themselves to learn firsthand.
Over the past 25 years, "Dora the Explorer" has been translated into 32 languages, and has been seen in more than 150 countries around the world.