Dora the Explorer (partially found unaired pilots of Nick Jr. animated series; late 1990s)

The series' title card.

Status: Partially Found

Dora the Explorer is an educational children's show created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes, and Eric Weiner that ran from 2000 to 2015. It's one of the longest-running Nick Jr. shows, with over 140 aired episodes across its entire run. Additionally, there is an unaired pilot episode that was made to sell the show, and a test animation.

Synopsis

Not much is known about the pilot. The plot appears to be the same as the episode "Beaches". Dora's final design is shown in the test pilot, while Boots looks entirely different, more closely resembling the Grumpy Old Troll. Benny (Benito) and Tico are also present.

Availability

On August 21st, 2018, Lost Media Wiki Discord member InfiniteGates found the last few minutes of the pilot on the official Funline Animation website. This clip appears to be of much lower quality than the other clip below, however, and could possibly be from a different pilot for the show.^[1]

On May 25th, 2023, YouTubers Riley Power and Evangeline found a 10th anniversary video interview with the creators of the show, in which clips of the pilot appear.

On June 28th, 2023, Riley Power found an NPR interview from 2008 with one of the creators of the show, that included the audio for the pilot theme and opening lines. It’s lined up with the episode the pilot was eventually made to "Beaches."

On October 28th, 2023, the official Funline Animation Website released "Be the Explorer_1" which features higher-quality clips from the pilot.