One of Nickelodeon’s most iconic characters is headlining a new series — this time in CG. “DORA” premieres this Friday April 12th on Paramount+. Executive Producer and showrunner Rich Magallanes explains what goes into making sure the returns of Dora, Boots and Swiper are satisfying for fans of the original Dora the Explorer show and a new generation of families. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: Congratulations on the series. I’ve watched a couple episodes and it brought me right back to when I was young. It’s going to be a big hit.

Rich Magallanes: Excellent. Goal achieved! We’re done.

JM: (laughs) And speaking of goals and touchdowns, Dora and Boots had a big impact at this year’s Nickelodeon telecast of the Super Bowl. Did you get a lot of reaction from it?

RM: Yeah. People in general are just excited to see Dora back and that was such a phenomenal showcase for Dora to come back out… give a little bit of schooling, if you will. (laughs) We were a little concerned at first ’cause we’re like, “These are big words and this is some heavy teaching. But she pulled it off. She’s great.

JM: It was hilarious and huge on social media. That was an amazing Nickelodeon telecast. The original Dora series was one of the most popular ever for Nickelodeon. What kind of an impact did it have on you when it first aired?

RM: Before I came back on this show, I was at Nickelodeon for a little over 18 years. It had always been part of my upbringing at Nickelodeon. It was always ever present. Dora is one of the pillars of Nick Jr. And you could not avoid it. Not that I wouldn’t want it to, but I’m just saying she was always there. And it’s a phenomenal show. It’s a worldwide franchise, and it’s popular from kids to adults — and it has a pop culture sort of following. I’ve known so many people that have approached me even to today and say, “Oh man, I grew up watching Dora. I actually started learning Spanish from Dora”. Or people who speak Spanish were saying the opposite: “I started learning English from Dora.” It’s awesome. It’s such a great feeling to hear that feedback and to have it still be ever present today with that.

JM: So when it comes to this new Dora show, how did you want to approach shaking up some of the core elements, like the theme song, but not twisting them so much that it’s going to make the diehard fans upset?

RM: It’s really important that you take the care to do the research, the analysis, and really dive deep into what makes this brand what it is, and why fans love it the way they do — and then to take that and extend it, to stretch it out a little bit. So you keep the core values, you keep the integrity of Dora, you keep all her friends and her family around her. And you want to expand it a little bit. So we decided to get a little more character driven… up the ante in terms of adventure. The music is phenomenal. And we have all her friends… introducing new friends… new locations. We’re going to new places that are exciting. So it’s sort of like, “How do you hit that reset button or that Let’s Go button, after being dormant for a little bit of time?”

JM: You do such a wonderful job with the movement. I could tell in terms of the activities, where we go, and how we get there, there is a lot of movement to the show. Was that one of the main goals for you to have this really move?

RM: Absolutely. Today, kids are consuming content in a much different way than they were five or 10 years ago. So we had to increase the pacing, step it up a little bit and keep the attention going. Also, we’re doing 11-minute episodes now. So the storytelling is a lot quicker. We’re getting through things faster, but not too fast. We’re still cognizant and relatable to our preschool audience. But again, stretching it up a little bit. So we’re going a couple of years older as well. So the older kids can still hang on and the younger kids can appreciate that and look forward to something. But yeah, keeping that pacing alive was really important.

JM: And you have a lot going for you when it comes to what you want to accomplish because every episode, like it was with the first show, it’s about a certain mission, a certain goal that Dora has, and a lot of problem solving. How do you approach balancing the problem solving skills and what you want kids to to get out of those with the missions in these storylines?

RM: I’m smiling because there’s so many rules to Dora. I didn’t realize it in the beginning when you start writing these episodes and start working them out and so forth. There’s a lot of check marks, a lot of checks and balances to hit. You got to constantly come back to, “What are we doing? What are we doing? Don’t get lost in one element of being on an adventure or another element of trying to do interaction or teach Spanish or explore a new world.” Dora, Dora, Dora. You got to come back to the core character — what she’s all about and how she relates to our audience. And it’s really about that at the end of the day. I find it very challenging. It’s exhausting and exhilarating all at once, but it really is a ride. You’re really running through the rainforest with this little girl and all her friends.

JM: The personalities of Dora and Boots really come through. There’s an episode with Boots and Lolito the bird. Boots is so energetic, and happy, and curious, and observant. And I’m sure that — just like you have that checklist of what you want to do with the storylines — there is this checklist of making sure that Dora and Boots really come across with their personalities.

RM: Yes, absolutely. I’m so glad you watched all these episodes. It’s great. Yeah, we had a lot of fun with those. We’re really trying to keep it relatable to the audience and at the same time keep them entertained. At the end of the day, this is about entertainment. We’re not trying to make it a homework assignment. We’re not trying to make you walk away and remember everything that happened. However, if you walk away, you feel good, you feel positive, you feel overall energized… that’s the goal. That’s the thing. It’s just to make sure that everybody feels good at the end of the day. But yeah, we wanted to ramp up the comedy as well. That’s part of the pacing. It’s part of the relatability. It’s part of the entertainment value. And we felt like Boots is a great character to ramp up comedy. He’s a funny monkey, you know? So let’s have fun with him. Let’s play a little bit.

JM: I have a six-year-old cousin, and I think he and Boots are gonna get along really well.

RM: (laughs) I agree.

JM: That fun, energetic vibe — and you have to have that connection with the viewers. What was so groundbreaking about Dora and Blue’s Clues and several of the Nickelodeon shows from when I was younger is staring directly into the camera. That connection. Asking the viewers — the kids — to respond and call out… and you bring that back here, which is so important.

RM: Yeah. The interaction is one of the main objectives of the series. It’s not just Spanish interaction. Dora always knows the audience is there, and the audience is in on the ride. And that’s another thing that we want to make sure that you feel like you’re actively involved in the journey. You’re not just watching this show happen. You’re actually in her footsteps or you’re side by side with her along the journey, along the adventure. So that’s everything that we wanted to achieve in this new series.

JM: And there is something new with Map. It’s Map Snap. There’s a photo aspect of it now, which blew my mind.

RM: Yeah. Map was another interesting character that we took a deep dive on because we came to realize a lot of kids nowadays may not know what a map is — a paper map. Everything’s about GPS. So we upgraded her a little bit. She still helps you find your way and tell you where things are. And she’s a she. We have a lot of fun with Map.

JM: That’s great. Love, love seeing a lot of the other characters come back and new characters. And of course, “Swiper, no swiping!” That phrase has been with Dora for a couple decades.

RM: People are so excited to see Swiper come back. He’s one of the main cast — he’s our antagonist but at the same time he’s relatable in another way. Everybody knows a Swiper, and the fact that he can really empower Dora to stop him from doing things that are not the right thing to do — impede an adventure or set us off on another track. But Dora is there to keep us streamlined and to keep us on the straight path. With Swiper we have a lot of fun with him too. We’re trying to build up his personality, his character a little bit more, get a little deeper with him.

JM: There is a phrase that Dora’s abuela says, “You’ll never know if you don’t try.” How would you apply that to your work on this Dora series?

RM: Oh, man. It’s all about taking positivity and making that into a kid speak. I wish a lot of times, like when I was a kid, somebody had been there for me to say, “Hey, it’s going to be okay. You can make this happen.” And that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to let kids know that anything and everything is possible if you put your mind to it — you put your thoughts to it. If you have good, positive thoughts. And that’s kind of what Dora’s all about. She doesn’t have all the answers, but she’s confident yet, not cocky. She will figure things out and she’s not afraid to explore. It’s giving kids the confidence to think the way they want to think — the way they should think… the way they should individually be.

JM: I love that messaging. That’s awesome. So Rich, if you had the chance to explore anywhere in the world with Dora and Boots, where would you want to go?

RM: Oh man, that’s so tough. I mean, with or without Dora, I want to explore everywhere. There’s so many places. Honestly, right now I’ve been checking out Brazil a lot. This show brings so many things to you from all the different Latin cultures and backgrounds and we’re celebrating all of it together — and not trying to call any specific culture out or Latin country or territory. We’re just trying to bring it all together and celebrate it. And that’s with everything — with our music and our voiceover actors and our writers and everybody coming together. We’re sort of a big giant melting pot.