“Dora’s Rescue in Mermaid Kingdom,” premiering Friday, March 16, at 10am (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon

LATINA SUPERSTAR THALIA GUEST STARS IN NEW 
DORA THE EXPLORER SPECIAL, “DORA’S RESCUE IN MERMAID KINGDOM,” 
PREMIERING FRIDAY, MARCH 16, AT 10AM ET/PT ON NICKELODEON

L-R: Boots, Dora, Maribel, Maribel’s Mami (voiced by Thalia)        
Credit: Nickelodeon 

NEW YORK, March 9, 2012 – Nickelodeon invites kids to join Dora and Boots on an exciting aquatic adventure in the brand-new half-hour special, “Dora’s Rescue in Mermaid Kingdom,” premiering Friday, March 16, at 10:00 a.m. (ET/PT).  Latina superstar Thalia makes a splash as the voice of a mermaid trying to reconnect with her lost child.   Nickelodeon recently debuted the seventh season of the hit preschool series that teaches kids Spanish, with 11-year-old New York City native Fátima Ptacek starring as the new voice of Dora.  The Emmy Award-winning Dora the Explorer is the most-watched preschool program on television.  

“I was thrilled to play a role on Dora the Explorer, a show that has touched the lives of many children around the world including my own child,” says Thalia.  “Dora is such an iconic and important Latina heroine, and I’m proud to now be a part of the show’s ever-growing legacy.”

In “Dora’s Rescue in Mermaid Kingdom,” Dora and Boots are at the beach when they find Maribel, a little lost mermaid, who needs to get back to her mommy (voiced by Thalia) in the Mermaid Kingdom. Dora uses her mermaid charm necklace to transform into a mermaid and turn Boots into a sea monkey.  Together the three set off on an underwater adventure through the octopus’s garden, past the ocean rocks to Mermaid Cove where Maribel will have to sing to bring all the mermaids together so she can find her mommy.

Nickelodeon's award-winning website for preschoolers and their parents, NickJr.com, has dozens of ways for kids to play and learn with Dora under the sea.  Kids can help Dora navigate through the ocean to get Maribel the Mermaid back home playing Dora's Mermaid Adventure Game and create an amazing underwater adventure with Dora and her friends when they print and color Dora's Mermaid Kingdom Coloring Pack.

Dora the Explorer is a play-along, animated adventure series starring Dora, a seven-year-old bilingual Latina heroine whose adventures take place in an imaginative, tropical world filled with jungles, beaches and rainforests.  Dora explores her world just as preschoolers do every day, and the show is designed to actively engage its audience in an interactive quest using a variety of learning techniques. 

In every episode, Dora and Boots invite the audience to participate in an adventure, where each step of their journey consists of a problem or puzzle that Dora and the audience must think their way through in order to solve the next problem.  Dora is proudly bilingual and uses her knowledge of English and Spanish to communicate with her friends, overcome obstacles and reach her goals.  In each episode, Dora teaches a Spanish word or phrase to the viewers and then asks them to use it to solve a problem and forge ahead.  Dora the Explorer was created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh and Eric Weiner. 

Nickelodeon, now in its 32nd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 17 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).