| Episode Info | Transcript | Gallery |
| Dora Saves Fairytale Land | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Airdate | Monday, June 1, 2015 (DVD) Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (Nickelodeon) |
| Season | 8 |
| Episode | 20 15 (US airings) |
| Previous | Outside US: Dora's Night Light Adventure
US airings: Dora's Super Soccer Showdown |
| Next | Outside US: N/A US airings of Dora the Explorer: Dora's Night Light Adventure |
Dora Saves Fairytale Land is the last TV special and the series finale of Dora the Explorer prior to Into the City being made and "Let's Go to Music School" got produced and broadcasted in the United States. It is also the 20th episode (15th in the US) of Season 8, and it was a sequel to "Dora's Fairytale Adventure".
Characters present
- Dora
- Boots
- Map
- Backpack
- Fairytale Land Gate (no longer anthropomorphic)
- King Lion
- Queen Lioness
- Dwarves
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Cinderella
- Jack And The Beanstalk
- Frog Prince
- Aladdin
- Fairy God Mother
- Frog Princess
- Swiper
- Big Bad Wolf
- Mami Red Bird
- Baby Red Bird
- Witch (Fairytale Land)
- Silly Broomstick & Wand (Wand no longer anthropomorphic)
- Swiper's Horse
- Mean Giant
- Goose
- Ivy Vine Wall
- El Mago
- Fiesta Trio
- The Three Little Pigs
Summary
Dora and Boots return to Fairytale Land to help the King and Queen when Fairytale Land was losing its magic. To save the Ivy Brick Wall, they needed to get magical water, but it‘s surrounded by the legion of fairytale villains from different fairytales; including Swiper. Will Dora and Boots save Fairytale Land?
Recap
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Places
- Windy Forest
- Giant's Cave
- Dragon Flowers
- Sparkling Lake
Songs
- Save the Magic
- I'm the Big Bad Wolf
- Everybody Wants My Goose
- Giant Dance
- I Am El Mago
- Ring, Ring, Ring
- Brilla, Sol
- We Did It! (extended)
Items in Backpack (clockwise from the top right)
- The Magic Hairbrush (1st correct item in Windy Forest)
- The Musical Box (2nd correct item in Giant's Cave)
- The Red Ring (3rd correct item in Dragon Flowers)
- The bag of Sun (4th correct item in Sparkling Lake)
Trivia
- This episode is a sequel to "Dora's Fairytale Adventure".
- Dora mentions a time about saving Sleeping Boots in "Dora's Fairytale Adventure".
- Guest star Chita Rivera reprises her role as the Witch of Fairytale Land.
- Unlike in the said episode, Dora reverts to her casual outfit at the end of the episode after exiting Fairytale Land, just like in "Dora Saves the Snow Princess" and "Dora In Wonderland" respectively.
- Despite this episode being called a sequel to the original, this episode contains some inconsistencies that don't add up to the original.
- One of the most notable inconsistencies is that back in "Dora's Fairytale Adventure", the Witch of Fairytale Land ended up loosing her powers and would never be seen again. But in this episode, her powers are restored and has returned to Fairytale Land, with no backstory on how that happened.
- Both the Fairytale Land Gate and Wand are no longer anthropomorphic.
- One of the Dwarves (specifically the Worried Dwarf) had wrinkles on his face in "Dora's Fairytale Adventure", making him look a bit older. But in this episode, his wrinkles on his face are gone, making him look more younger.
- Jack and the Beanstalk is given a complete redesign.
- Another big inconsistency is that back in "Dora's Fairytale Adventure", as well as in "What Happens Next?", "Dora Saves the Three Little Pigs", and "Super Babies Dream Adventure", there was another giant (commonly known as the Giant-Giant) that appeared before the Mean Giant.
- However, unlike the Mean Giant, the Giant-Giant was actually very friendly and more kinder with both Dora and Boots. The Giant-Giant started out mean in his debut episode "What Happens Next?", but after Dora and Boots used their imaginations to change his attitude right away to happy and positive, he became much more friendly with everyone and remained that way in all of his later appearances. The Giant-Giant is also slightly bigger than the Mean Giant in terms of size.
- Later on in the series, before this episode premiered, four more giants have appeared throughout its run. These four other giants are also kind and friendly with Dora and Boots.
- In the aforementioned "Super Babies Dream Adventure", the Giant-Giant has a baby brother who like himself, is a giant as well.
- A different giant that is a female appears in “Dora’s Hair-Raising Adventure”, though based on their skin tone and personality, it is likely that they could be related with one another (wife, mother or sister). If she's the Giant-Giant's wife, it would also make her the stepsister of the Baby Giant from "The Super Babies Dream Adventure." On the other hand, if she's his mother, it would instead also make her the mother of the Baby Giant. Furthermore, if she's his sister (most likely she is), it would instead also make her the biological sister of the Baby Giant.
- A set of twin giants appeared in "Dora Saves King Unicornio", and their character models are exactly the same as the Giant-Giant, recolored to distinguish them from the aforementioned character.
- Later on in the series, before this episode premiered, four more giants have appeared throughout its run. These four other giants are also kind and friendly with Dora and Boots.
- Based on their respective personalities, the Mean Giant is probably based off of the giant from the English fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk, whereas the much friendlier Giant-Giant (along with the four other giants) is probably based off of Paul Bunyan from the American folklore of the same name.
- However, unlike the Mean Giant, the Giant-Giant was actually very friendly and more kinder with both Dora and Boots. The Giant-Giant started out mean in his debut episode "What Happens Next?", but after Dora and Boots used their imaginations to change his attitude right away to happy and positive, he became much more friendly with everyone and remained that way in all of his later appearances. The Giant-Giant is also slightly bigger than the Mean Giant in terms of size.
- The Explorer Stars (especially Fairy Star) don't appear in this episode to help Dora and Boots and the Star Pocket has not appeared in Seasons 7 and 8.
- This is the 30th instance where Dora and Boots returned to where they started after reaching the final destination on the map, something that first occurred in Three Little Piggies.
- This is the first double-length episode since Dora Saves the Mermaids (and the only post-Season 4 double-length episode) to use the standard opening sequence.
- This episode was initially released as a DVD exclusive in June 2015, but was held back on television in the United States until July 7, 2019 in Dora's Magical Movie Night on Nickelodeon, over four years after its premiere, to commemorate the release of Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
- Colombian musician and singer-songwriter Juanes and former American football wide receiver Victor Cruz are guest voice actors for El Mago and the Mean Giant respectively.
- Additionally, as mentioned earlier, guest star Chita Rivera reprises her role as the Witch of Fairytale Land.
- Although it aired on DVD in 2015 and on TV in 2019, it was actually produced in 2014, according to the credits.
- The Travel Song is not featured in this episode, Dora and Boots will no longer sing it again until Dora and Friends: Into the City! episode "Return to the Rainforest" with new lyrics and different instrumentals.
- Though Isa, Benny and Tico did appear in "Dora's Fairytale Adventure" but they don’t appear in this episode.
- The Mean Giant's wearing a shirt with the number 80 on it, with 80 being the number of his voice actor.
- There are several different antagonists in this episode such as the Witch of Fairytale Land, El Mago, the Big Bad Wolf, Swiper, and the Mean Giant.
- This is the final Dora the Explorer episode in which Dora and Boots successfully stop Swiper since they were unable to stop him in the previous episode "Dora's Night Light Adventure", they finally had their chance in this episode.
- This is the second episode that Swiper is in Fairytale Land. The first time was in "Dora Saves the Three Little Pigs".
- Dora and Boots stop Swiper twice in this episode.
- This is the the second and last episode featuring the Witch of Fairytale Land from “Dora's Fairytale Adventure”, who's technically Swiper's replacement antagonist, however, both of them appear in this episode.
- The Witch's wand however is no longer anthropomorphic and her silly broomstick doesn't have his buck teeth sticking out.
- This is the second and last episode featuring El Mago from the Season 1 episode Te Amo, who was technically Swiper's replacement antagonist. However, they also both appear in this episode.
- This is the final Dora the Explorer episode in which Dora and Boots successfully stop Swiper since they were unable to stop him in the previous episode "Dora's Night Light Adventure", they finally had their chance in this episode.
- Dora makes her hair grow just like in "Dora's Fairytale Adventure" which makes her look like Rapunzel.
- However, unlike in the said episode, Dora's hair completely reverts back to its normal length upon the magic wearing off due to cartoon logic.
- This is the only episode in which Dora and Boots' life jackets are dark orange instead of orange or yellow.
- This is the last episode of the series by initial release date.
- This is the final Dora the Explorer episode in which Dora and Boots sing "We Did It!". They’ll later sing a new version of it with elements from "All for One" in Dora and Friends: Into the City! episodes Return to the Rainforest and Dora's Rainforest Reunion.
- The DVD premiered exactly 9 years after Baby Jaguar's Roar premiered.
- This is the first episode to premiere in 2019 (in the US).
- This is the first episode to use the 2017 Nickelodeon Productions logo.
Goofs/Errors
- When Dora wound up the music box prior to do the Giant Dance, Dora forgot to open it, nor did it open by itself, so everyone ended up dancing it with the box closed, but with the music still coming out of it.
- It's unknown how Swiper and the Fiesta Trio got to Fairytale Land.
- Also, this is the third time that the Fiesta Trio somehow got to Fairytale Land, first two being Dora's Fairytale Adventure and Dora Saves the Three Little Pigs.
