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

The series title card.

Status: Partially Found

Dora the Explorer was 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 are two unaired pilot episodes that were made to sell the show, a test pilot and one referred to as "Pilot Episode" which was finished on June 12th, 1999.

Not much is known about "Pilot Episode". The plot is allegedly about Dora and Boots' journey to a giant cupcake. Many other characters from the show were also reportedly in the pilot, including Backpack, Map, Swiper, Benny, Isa, Tico, Grumpy Old Troll, Mami, and Papi. The only other known info is that Dora and Boots had different designs. Dora simply had a slight outfit change (purple shirt and blue pants), while Boots had purple skin, a lighter purple face, and green shoes.

While this pilot hasn't been found, some of the other test pilots have, albeit without sound. Dora's final design is shown here, while Boots looks entirely different, more closely resembling the Grumpy Old Troll.

Gallery

Test pilot footage.