The story behind TV’s first Latina protagonist, Dora the Explorer

Although these days it’s very common to have both television and the arts acknowledge Latino pride, and that movies, series and cartoons reflect the diversity of the US population, in 1999, when the pilot of Dora the Explorer was aired, having a Latina girl as the protagonist and a role model for Latino kids born in the US was quite an innovation. 

Mariana Díaz Wionczek, director of Research & Development for Dora the Explorer, has said that “at the time Dora was being developed, the Latino population was the fastest growing in the US and also there was underrepresentation of Latino characters, of good role model, on TV, especially on children’s TV.” In fact, the seven-year-old Latina girl, Dora Marquez, was created to represent all the Latino identities, and that’s why she’s been called “Pan Latina.”

The series was aired for 19 years, from 2000 to 2019, on Nickelodeon. The main character, Dora, goes on adventures carrying a talking purple backpack and a map. She’s accompanied by a monkey named Boots. They both have to solve puzzles and riddles, but she often asks for the help of the viewers to find the solution. 

Dora would mix, like most Latinos, English and Spanish, and to give her a voice there were three female young voice actresses, all from Latino descent. We emphasize this, because we have all seen shows where a Latino character is played by a person who’s painfully not fluent in Spanish. 

The first voice actress, who played Dora from 2000 to 2007, was Kathleen Herles, born in the Queens borough of New York City, with both parents from Lima, Peru. When she went to college, she was replaced by Caitlin Sanchez, who’s a third generation American Cuban, born in New Jersey. She gave her voice to Dora from 2008 to 2012, until Fátima Ptacek took over. 

Ptacek is an American film and television actress and model, and a human rights activist. Her mother is Ecuadorian, and her father has Colombian, Czech, Irish, and Norwegian roots. She has made fun of this, saying “I’m kind of like a mutt.” 

In an exclusive behind the scenes by Valery Ortiz for American Latino TV, celebrating American Latino Pride, Fatima Ptacek said it was an honor to be able to “put a smile on millions of kids’ faces. I think that’s my favorite part,” “I feel I have a connection with those kids as well as with her, because I’m stepping into her shoes and now, I feel like I’m passing that legend of Dora,” said the young actress in 2013.  

In that same video, Diaz Wionczek pointed out that the second language is seen as a “cool thing” but almost as a necessity and that “Dora reflects that building bridges between people”. She declared that “I think what makes Dora so relatable has to do with her essence as a friend, as a smart girl who solves problems, who asks for help. And the fact that she’s Latina has a huge impact on the image of Latinos.” 

Initially, the character wasn’t going to be Latina, but after an executive at Nickelodeon attended a conference about the lack of Latino representation, the creators- Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner- were asked to include this element.  Eventually they realized it was a great opportunity and so a Latino protagonist was born.

For those who grew up watching Dora the Explorer and now feel a little nostalgic, there’s some good news. Paramount+ has created an animated preschool series that will premiere in 2023 with Dora as the heroine, along with all the other characters, but will have a twist in the storytelling in order to bring it up to date.