Feliz Cumpleaños, Dora! "Dora the Explorer" Turns 10

Aug. 12, 2010— -- Every preschooler's favorite bilingual heroine is turning the big 1-0 this weekend. The hour-long special, "Dora's Big Birthday Adventure," will air on Sunday, August 15. Dora Marquez, the animated star of Nickelodeon's Peabody award-winning cartoon, "Dora the Explorer," has become a cultural phenomenon since the show was launched in 2000.

Aside from her own TV show, Dora's smiling face can be seen splashed across the internet, on clothing and school supplies, even on food packages and DVDs.The young Latina character brings in billions of dollars in merchandising revenue and delivers top ratings for the kids TV network Nickelodeon every year, impressive for any TV series hitting the 10-year mark, let alone a cartoon.

While this enthusiastic young Latina character seems like a simple idea, creating Dora was far from child's play.

Show creators Val Walsh and Chris Grifford said when the show launched 10 years ago, the thought of using a female Latina character as the hero was unheard of. Several different ideas were thrown onto the drawing board before Dora became the star.

"There were so many original characters. First she was a bunny, then she was a Martian, then it was -- it was a boy bunny, actually," Grifford explained.

"We came up with this girl character. Her name was Tess, and then her name was Nina and the Nick execs said 'what about if she was Latina?'" Welsh continued. "We said 'we don't know. That's a really great idea. How would we do that?'"

The duo brought in cultural advisors, including Carlos Cortes, a University of California, Irvine professor, and soon Dora was born as the first animated Latina character in a leading role.