Go, Diego, Go!
Dora’s adventurous cousin gets his own series

By
MARI CLAUDIA JIMENEZ
Special to HispanicOnline.com

Like a pint-sized Indiana Jones, Nickelodeon’s popular TV heroine, Dora the Explorer, has captured the minds and imaginations of millions of pre-school tots—and their parents—both in the United States and abroad.

Consider this: Dora is seen in more than 74 countries in 15 languages. Licensed merchandise—75 percent of which is bilingual—has brought a total of $3 billion in retail sales since 2001, $1 billion in 2004 alone. Beyond the small screen, Dora comes alive in her own theatrical production, Dora the Explorer Live!, and has her own exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, as well as a traveling mall exhibit, “La Casa de Dora,” complete with interior courtyard and a terracotta-tiled roof.

Without question, Dora has transcended the world of commercial television to become a social phenomenon. And now her creators are spinning off a new series they hope will match Dora’s success.

An immediate hit since his debut on Dora the Explorer in October 2003, Dora’s older cousin Diego will leap into his own interactive action-adventure series with Go, Diego, Go!, which debuts on Tuesday, September 6, on Nick Jr.

Hispanic talent
Like with Dora, Go, Diego, Go! features plenty of Hispanic talent, from its head writer Ligiah Villalobos to George Noriega, composer of Diego’s soundtrack. Ten-year-old Jake Toranzo-Szymanski, of Puerto Rican descent, will be the voice of Diego, while 14-year-old Colombian-born Constanza Sperakis is featured as the voice of Alicia, and Academy Award-nominated actress Rosie Pérez lends her voice to Click, a camera with a knack for locating lost animals.

Jake Toranzo-Szymanski, Voice of Diego Ten-year-old newcomer Jake Toranzo-Szymanski stars as the voice of Diego in the new animated Nick Jr. series Go, Diego, Go!. He has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, Blue’s Clues and the film Martin and Orlove, as well as several commercials and voiceovers. Jake also stars as the voice of the title character in the upcoming animated feature film Yankee Irving, which was the final film directed by the late Christopher Reeve. Yankee Irving is the Depression-era story of a poor boy who befriends Babe Ruth. Jake will also be featured in the upcoming animated film The Ant Bully. An avid sports fan, Jake loves baseball, soccer, basketball, skateboarding and snowboarding. He also enjoys traveling, especially to visit his abuelo and other relatives in Puerto Rico. Jake lives in New York’s Rockland County with his parents, Giny and Joey, and his younger sister, Ava.

“A few years ago, we decided to reach out to Latinos,” says Marjorie Cohn, executive VP of programming for Nickelodeon. “It started with our commitment to representing the audience that watches Nick, to be relevant and authentic. We couldn’t afford to ignore them.”

The goal was to create hit shows and characters to which everyone could relate, regardless of culture or skin color. That goal was realized in 2000, when Nick premiered The Brothers Garcia and Taina for tweens and teens, and presented Dora the Explorer for the younger crowd.

“Nickelodeon has gone out of its way to capture the Latino audience by being authentic, and by embracing culture and language in our programming mix,” says Herb Scannell, vice president of MTV Networks (which includes Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Noggin, and Spike TV), and the force behind Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego Go!

“Expanding our universe of talent within the Latino creative community is a priority for me, and we’ve only just begun,” adds Scannell, himself of Puerto Rican origin. “I want Nickelodeon to be known as a place that seeks out Latino voices and points of view.”

Meet Diego
And who is Diego? Why are children going to love this new character as much as they “aDore-Dora”?

For starters, 8-year-old Diego is an animal rescuer and nature expert who has the unique ability to talk to animals. Like Dora, he is fully bilingual and just as intrepid, a “rough-and-tumble” adventurer whose world is authentically Latin American—and filled with high-tech gadgetry. His sidekick is his 11-year-old sister Alicia, a computer whiz who can also easily switch between speaking English and Spanish.

“Diego was embraced by viewers from the moment he appeared on Dora the Explorer two years ago,” says Brown Johnson, executive creative director for Nickelodeon Preschool Television. “Diego is athletic, fearless and determined—all qualities that will make him a true preschool action hero with a heart.”

Authentic setting
According to the show’s creators and executive producers, Chris Gifford and Valerie Walsh, the same team who created Dora the Explorer, the show takes much of its inspiration from the rich environment of Latin America, from lush jungle rainforests to snow-capped mountains.

The producers have taken special care to be faithful to the setting. The animals appearing in Go, Diego, Go! are indigenous to Latin America and are seen in their authentic habitat, with featured species including the chinchilla, sloth and condor. In fact, every animal on Go, Diego, Go! is researched and its traits authenticated by science education consultant Mario Castellanos, project director of science outreach for the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.

Each episode is also flavored with Spanish words, Latin American music, folktales and traditions, all giving the audience the opportunity to experience Diego’s culture.

Selling Diego
While Nickelodeon has evidently taken care to ensure that Go, Diego, Go! meets the quality standards that have earned Dora numerous awards—including the Peabody, ALMA, Imagen and several Daytime Emmys—it remains to be seen whether Diego can duplicate Dora’s commercial success.

Nick executives have already launched a series of initiatives to make sure Diego stays front and center in consumer markets, including a complete line of licensed merchandise featuring Diego’s cast of colorful characters: Diego, Alicia, Click, Diego’s companion Baby Jaguar, his Rescue Pack, which can turn into any type of transportation Diego needs, the Bobo Brothers, a pair of mischievous spider monkeys, Sammy the Sloth, Linda the Llama and Tuga the Leatherback Sea Turtle.

"We have seen tremendous success with Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues, and now we have even more shows to expand our preschool portfolio,” said Leigh Anne Brodsky, president, Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products, unveiling the line last June in New York City.

Beyond the slew of merchandise, Nickelodeon has launched TurboNick, a broadband video platform available on Nick.com that, for the first time, allows kids to watch full-length shows online at any time, as well as music videos and video clips of their favorite Nick Jr. series, including Go, Diego, Go!

Following its prime-time debut, Go, Diego, Go! will join the regular Nick Jr. line-up on Wednesday, September 7, at 11:00 a.m., and make its Nick Jr. on CBS debut on Saturday, September 17.

Of course, Latino families being so close, look for Dora the Explorer herself to make guest appearances in several episodes.

“I believe Nickelodeon’s been No. 1 in cable for eight years running because our screen is as diverse as the country itself,” says Scannell. “That is an indication of the opportunity out there for all businesses, both in and outside of the media world—and Latinos are a driving force in that diversity.” HOL

Rosie Pérez, Voice of Click Academy-Award nominated actress Rosie Pérez is featured as the voice of Click, a high-tech camera that is also an animal locator. Rosie has appeared in many feature films, including Do The Right Thing, White Men Can't Jump and Fearless, for which she received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. She is also the National Spokesperson for Comite Noviembre Puerto Rican Heritage and active with Working Playground, an arts education organization that brings dance, theater, film, poetry and fine arts to students in New York City's Harlem, the Bronx and Lower East Side. Constanza Sperakis, Voice of Alicia Fourteen-year-old Constanza Sperakis is featured as the voice of Alicia in the new animated Nick Jr. series Go, Diego, Go!. Born in Colombia, she moved to New York when she was 7 years old. Fully bilingual, Constanza has been featured in voiceovers and commercials, in both English and Spanish, in the United States and internationally. Constanza attends eighth grade at the prestigious LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in New York City, and she enjoys writing, art, and spending time with her friends. Constanza lives in New York City with her parents, Yolanda and Nicholas, and her dog, Cookie.