Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure is the special hour-length second Christmas episode of the Nick Jr. animated series Dora the Explorer. It was first released on DVD on November 3, 2009, and subsequently premiered on Nickelodeon on December 6, 2009, at 8pm ET/PT.
Synopsis
The plot is loosely based on Charles Dickens' classic holiday story A Christmas Carol.
This episode starts on the North Pole, where Santa Claus has two lists, one with nice people and the one with naughty people. Santa tells the viewer about the lists, saying that he thinks that the viewer is on the nice list. His elves can't believe that they saw the naughty list, because the people on this list will not get any presents or toys for Christmas. Then he decides to tell about how much Christmas is usually giving instead of taking away. And they decide to read a story about the spirit of Christmas. On the first page, the elves noticed a fox inside the ornament. The viewer answers it was Swiper. Now Santa is thrilled that he or she is very good at this game. Then he tells the story about the time all the friends were decorating for Christmas and see two of them all dressed up on their best clothes - Dora and Boots. Dora says hi to the viewer in Spanish and introduces herself. The best party of the year is Nochebuena.
The best part of Nochebuena is when they have goodies, wear fancy clothes, share toys, and give presents to friends. But they know someone who doesn't get presents because he swipes them, especially on Christmas - Swiper. Boots tells the viewer that if Swiper never stops swiping on Christmas, he might get put on the naughty list and will never get any presents. Swiper then puts on a reindeer mask and runs like one, but Dora and the viewer aren't fooled. Swiper grabs the ladder and climbs to swipe the star off the top of the tree tree. But after he does so, the tree began to wobble, causing him to throw the star into the sky. All the friends watch as the tree tips over and are afraid that it can fall into the food and the gifts. Luckily, Santa rescues the tree back upright and Swiper climbs down off it as the friends cheer. After the blue cursor clicks the tree's star in the sky, it is about to fly to the viewer, who finally catches it. It's returned back to the top of the tree as the friends cheer for the viewer.
Later, Santa returns, feeling very upset for what Swiper has done. Swiper just never seemed to learn and is now on the naughty list. Now he walks away, feeling very sad because he went way too far. But Dora really has to do something to get him off the naughty list and really wants to help him. She's usually a good friend and always believes he can change at the end.
The true spirit of Christmas is what Swiper has to find because is Santa sees that he does so, he may change his mind. So he gets a card that's missing four ornaments and the star; if he fills on one each time, he will be learning the true spirit. To get all four ornaments, he and Dora must go back to the past, then to the future, and then back to the present to show it to Santa. Dora always knows that Swiper can learn the true spirit of Christmas. He's sure of it, but they have to find a way to get back to the past and into the future. And Santa knows who can help Swiper get off the naughty list. Time travel is always bumpy and thinks the Grumpy Old Troll can help.
Dora and Swiper travel to the Christmas Forest and sing "There's No Swiping on Christmas". This time, Dora doesn't think that Swiper understands. He sneaks upon a cat who's having fun playing with his favorite yarn toy. Dora and the viewer have to stop him from swiping cause it's not the way to go. So the viewer says, "No, Swiper, No." Then after he doesn't learn again, he sneaks upon a pig who's trying hard to find out what's inside a box. After that he sneaks upon a seal who's playing with his toy ball. He just didn't mean to because he forgot he is not supposed to swipe. Finally, they arrive at the Troll Bridge. And the Grumpy Old Troll popps out and sings his own song. Dora and Swiper can't go over his bridge because they have to travel through time. Before they can do so, they have to answer his three riddles:
- This reindeer can be seen where ever he goes. He can light up the sky with his shiny red nose. (Answer: Rudolph.)
- He's got a button like nose and coal like eyes and he's a snowman. (Answer: Frosty.)
- He's got a white beard and rides on a sleigh. He also says "Ho ho ho" while delivering gifts to people around the world. (Answer: Santa.)
Swiper tells the Grumpy Old Troll that Santa can't deliver presents to him because he put him on the naughty list, which doesn't look good. The Grumpy Old Troll gestures that they can travel through time like he said he would and gives them time-traveling capes that they must shake. They both thank the Grumpy Old Troll and go to travel back in time.
After they arrive in the past, the younger Grumpy Old Troll arrives and threatens them to go over his bridge, but they can't because they have to do something else to get Swiper off the naughty list. Now the Young Troll giggles. And so, Dora and Swiper return to the forest just to make sure that Swiper learns and never swipes along the way. This time, he does understand. They pass by several baby animals, whose gifts Swiper resists the urge to swipe. Soon, he and Dora see a whole bunch of babies sitting in their cradles. Baby Isa has a flower, Baby Tico has a toy car, Baby Boots has a banana, Baby Benny has a cap, and Swiper see himself as a baby too. All of a sudden, Baby Swiper swipes the others' presents. Swiper can not believe he made them cry on Christmas. So he takes their presents from Baby Swiper and returns them back to the them. He must find a way to make them feel better.
Dora always knows the way and wants someone's help. She knows a song that makes her giggle. It's a really silly song when they wiggle, jiggle, and sneeze. After doing so, Baby Boots giggles. They do so again, and all the babies giggle. Suddenly, a jingling noise appears. Swiper gets the second ornament, leaving two more to go. Now he and Dora are going to travel forward in time to make sure he learns the true spirit and then gets off the naughty list. When they were about to shake their capes he realizes that his disappeared. Baby Swiper has it. He swipes it when Swiper was giving the other babies presents back to them. Finally, Swiper gets it back, after shaking capes, they travel to the time when they were little.
Dora see herself as a toddler when she got a rocking horse for Christmas. Toddler Isa plays her bongos, Toddler Benny plays his toy car and Toddler Tico rides his new tricycle. Then she saw Boots with his baseball mitt. Now, Swiper sees himself as a kid. He got a bunny for Christmas and still has it by the time he grew up. Little Swiper sang his own Song about his bunny. He was happy on Christmas Eve, but still swiped on Christmas. Little Swiper swiped all the presents from the other toddlers and throws them away. Now Swiper has to give them back. First, he finds them. He tries really hard carrying them despite how heavy they are. Finally he returns them back to the toddlers who cheer. Suddenly, a jingling noise appears again. He gets the third ornament.
Dora and Swiper next travel to the future, where Dora sees herself as a teen. She's looking at the tree which is not decorated for the party. She thinks that in the future, there's no Christmas party and she has to ask her something. But it's much too hard to explain. Swiper learns not to swipe on Christmas because he's learning the true spirit, and if he can do that, Dora and her friends can have their Christmas party. She misses it so much.
Swiper has to learn and he doesn't want the party to end, when suddenly, a rustling noise comes from behind the bushes. It is Older Swimper, going to swipe the time-traveling cape from Swiper. Swiper tries saying, "Swiper no swiping," to his future self, but it doesn't work. In this future, Swiper doesn't listen because after he got on the naughty list, he did not stop swiping no matter what; this is the reason why they stopped having the party. But he doesn't want to let it happen and really wants it to change but he can't because he forgot about his cape. Then Older Dora mentions many friends who can help. They see Older Boots, Older Benny, Older Isa, and Older Tico. They can help if Swiper learns the true spirit of Christmas. They decide to get his cape from Older Swiper, but they don't know where to find him. So Dora and Older Dora tells the viewer that they don't know which way to go. The viewer mentions Map. After that, he and Older Map zoom to the air singing their songs. Older Map asks the viewer where Old Swiper is. He is at the castle. So they want the viewer to tell Dora that Older Swiper lives in it. So the viewer tells Dora that Old Swiper is at it. They takes the path with wrapping paper on it. They can't believe there;s a lot of litter there. But Swiper wants to clean it up. They always remember to sing that song when they cleaned up their room. In English, they say, "Clean up." In Spanish, they say, "Recoge." So the viewer sings "Clean up" in Spanish. They clean up all the wrapping paper from the path. When they get in, it's pretty dark in here. So they run upstairs just to check up on Older Swiper. He's feeling lonely. He's surrounded by those presents, is also sad, really dislikes Christmas, and sleeps. Swiper's cape is purple so they have to look for purple stuff. There's a ribbon on Isa's flower pot, Benny's baseball hat, Tico's basket of nuts, Boots' Nochebuena bow tie, Dora's favorite bear, and Swiper's cape. Now he feels thrilled that he got it back. Suddenly a jingling noise appears again. Swiper got the fourth and last ornament because he's learning the true spirit. Then they heard a noise far away. It's Santa. If he comes here, he comes back to the party.
Swiper doesn't want to end up like his older self, all alone on Christmas with no friends, so he decides to change. He and Dora shake their capes together and finally return home to the present. Dora's friends are so glad they're here at the same time. Then Santa comes again. He gave Dora's friends all their presents---except for Swiper. He got all the ornaments, but still did not get the star. He has to find another way to learn the spirit before Santa changes his mind. He always knows that Christmas is a time for giving, not taking away. But he has to go because he has something to show Dora. When he comes back, he has the toy bunny from the little fox which he wants to give to her. She doesn't want it. So he decides to share it instead. It is always good to share on Christmas. All of a sudden, a jingling noise comes again. The star appears. Santa comes back and feels happy that Swiper learned the true spirit of Christmas. He is taken off the naughty list and put back on the nice list. He and Santa hug each other. Now he can have presents. After Santa leaves, he sees a whole bundle of them and feels proud that he's off the naughty list. So now, they start the party once again. It's usually the best time of the year. And so, Swiper finally learns the true spirit of Christmas and got off the naughty list. The elf loved the part when they traveled through time, the second one loved their capes, the third one loved it when the wiggled, and the last loved it when they sang their party song. And so Santa asks the viewer what he or she loved. Then they all cheer what the answer is.
Merchandise
A soundtrack to the special was also released; it was printed versions of the special in both English and Spanish.
Songs
- "Nochebuena"
- "No Swiping on Christmas"
- "Shake Shake Shake"
- "Wiggle Wiggle"
- "Funny Bunny"
- "We're the Maps"
- "Recoge"
- "Nochebuena" (Reprise)
Trivia
- The special notably marks the first appearance of the 16-year-old Dora, in which her design is used for the basis of the Dora Explorer Girls special, the second spin-off Dora and Friends: Into the City, and the 2019 theatrical film Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
Edits
- When the special was broadcast on TV and streamed on Paramount+, several scenes and lines were cut:
- Most of the elves' panicking after Santa shows the Naughty List, as well as the Spanish Elf girl saying "La lista de los que se portaron mal!" and "Por favor, Santa?" were removed, and only the "Ahi esta!" and "The naughty list!" are shown in the TV airing.
- Henry the Elf doesn't say "Here you go, Santa" after giving the book to him.
- Santa and the elves don't applaud after he rhymes name with game.
- Dora and Boots don't explain anything about their Christmas outfits, and Dora doesn't say "Everybody loves Nochebuena".
- Boots, Benny, Big Red Chicken, and Isa don't say "Yeah", "Sure", "He can do it", or "I don't know".
- Santa does not ask Dora and her friends if they were okay and they do not reply with positive result.
- Boots and Tico don't say "It will be nice not to have the presents swiped" and "Santa no como ranticolcolsa".
- Dora and Swiper do not ask the Grumpy Old Troll.
- The present and old Maps do not sing the full version of "We're the Maps!". Instead, they sing the shortened version
- One of the elves do not do the Wiggle Jiggle Sneeze Dance after saying he liked that part.
Availability
The special made its debut on DVD (released by Paramount Home Entertainment) on December 6, 2009. The DVD contained two music videos, "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and a behind-the-scenes featurette of Young People's Chorus.
Cast
Voice actress/actor | Character(s) |
---|---|
Caitlin Sanchez | Dora Márquez (Present & Older) Littlest Girl Elf |
Regan Mizrahi | Boots Littlest Boy Elf |
Maya Barrera | Sweetest Elf |
Jean Carlos Celi | Tico Elves |
Harry Chase | Santa Claus |
Chris Gifford | Big Red Chicken (Present) Grumpy Old Troll (Present & Young) Really Old Elf |
Matthew Gumley | Benny Henry the Elf Young Boy Elf Animal SFX |
Lenique Vincent | Isa Young Girl Elf Animal SFX |
Marc Weiner | Map (Present & Future) Swiper Fiesta Trio |
See also
- "A Present for Santa"
- Go, Diego, Go! - "Diego Saves Christmas!"
External links
- Dora the Explorer Wiki: Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure
- "Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure" at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure at the Internet Movie Database
- Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure recap at TV Tropes