Señor Tucán (character find segment; unlisted in credits)
Big Red Chicken (cameo in book during Backpack's segment; unlisted in credits)
Wizzle (cameo in a book during Backpack's segment; unlisted in credits)
Summary[]
Once upon a time, a mean witch banished Prince Ramon to the High Tower. When Dora and Boots read about it in their storybook, they immediately leap into the pages to save the prince! But they'll need your help to find the High Tower, watch out for Swiper, AND get past the witch together! Are you ready?
Plot[]
Dora has a special book she'd like to read to Boots. She takes the special book out of her backpack. It has a prince on the front cover, and the title of the book is "El Príncipe y la Bruja," which is Spanish for "The Prince and the Witch." Boots tries to open it, but he can't. Dora tells Boots it is a magic book and when they want to open the book, Dora and Boots have to say "abre", which is Spanish for "open". After saying it, the book magically opens, and Dora starts reading:
Once upon a time, there was a young prince named Prince Ramon who was playing with his ball. He bounced it, spun with it, and even kicked it. Prince Ramon kicked the ball once, and it went very far. He kicked the ball a second time, and it went very, very far. When he kicked the ball a third time, it went so far away that it landed in "El bosque de la bruja" (the witch's forest). Prince Ramon wasn't supposed to go into the witch's forest, but he wanted to get his ball back. He couldn't find it anywhere, and when the witch caught Prince Ramon in her forest, she closed the big gate and banished him to a high tower as punishment for breaking her rule. The witch whispered, "Abre," so Prince Ramon couldn't hear, and the tower door opened. Inside the tower, the prince and the witch climbed 12 steps up to another door at the top. The witch whispers "Abre" again to open the door, and locked the prince in a small, dark room behind the door, and then she walked away. Prince Ramon was trapped in the tower and couldn't get out, so he started calling for help. Many people from near and far tried to get the prince out of the tower, but nobody knew the magic word to open the tower door.
Luckily, Dora knows the magic word and decides she'll rescue the prince, with Boots's help, of course! Dora and Boots have to say "Abre" to open the book again, and then they jump into the book. But Dora and Boots don't know how to get to the high tower, so they check the Map for the way. He says that they'll have to go through the big gate and across Crocodile Lake to get to the High tower. Map also warns them to watch out for the witch along the way.
As Dora and Boots came upon the gate, it was shut closed. Boots tried to pull the gate open, but it didn't work. So, they decided to use the magic word, "Abre" to open the gate. In no time, they made it through the gate. Suddenly, Dora and Boots saw the witch behind the tree. They had to close the gate fast. They put their hands out in front and as they pushed the gate closed, the witch got bounced back from the gate. Not only did Dora and Boots go through the gate, they also just entered the witch's forest and Boots remembered that Prince Ramon lost his ball somewhere in the forest. Dora and Boots found Prince Ramon's ball by a tree. But then, Swiper was nearby and Dora feared that he might try to swipe Prince Ramon's ball! Dora and Boots stopped Swiper by saying, "Swiper, no swiping!" three times and he snapped his fingers, says, "Oh, man", and ran away. Dora and Boots decide that they should put the ball in Dora's backpack for safekeeping until they give it to Prince Ramon.
After that, Dora and Boots made it to Crocodile Lake. "But how are we going to get across?", asked Boots. Dora told each crocodile to close their mouths by saying the Spanish word, "cierra". Each crocodile took their turn closing their mouths. Dora and Boots jumped on the crocodiles like stepping stones and a bridge and they made it across in less than a minute. Suddenly, they saw the witch jumping on the crocodiles. Dora and Boots stopped the witch from getting across to the other side by having each crocodile open its mouth. They told each crocodile, "abre" and the witch bounced on each crocodile going backwards and then the witch flew far away going backwards. So far, Dora and Boots have gone through the big gate and across Crocodile Lake. They were so close to getting to the high tower to rescue Prince Ramon. Dora and Boots get there in no time.
They told Prince Ramon they were here to save him. He was glad, but then he mentioned that they had to use the magic word to open the tower door. Luckily, Dora & Boots knew the magic word and it was "Abre". They said it and sure enough, the tower door opened. Dora and Boots went into the tower and the tower door closed behind them. As they got in, it was dark and the steps were taken away. Boots flipped on a light switch and the steps were in a pile. Dora and Boots counted out twelve steps. The first time they counted the twelve steps, it was arranged horizontally. When they counted the twelve steps again, they were put back into place. Dora and Boots climbed the steps to the door at the top. Boots tried pulling the circular handle, but the door wouldn't open. So, they had to say, "abre" once more to open the door to set Prince Ramon free.
Now that Prince Ramon is out of the tower, their journey isn't over just yet. Dora and Boots had to give back the prince's ball. It wasn't just any ordinary ball, it was a magic ball. Dora gets out the prince's "magic" ball from her backpack. After that, the witch saw that the prince was out of the tower and thought the prince had to be put under a spell. But Prince Ramon decided to give the witch payback and teach her a lesson and have a little revenge by locking her in his magic ball. The witch wanted to escape the ball, but Prince Ramon refused to let her out. He didn't want to let her out because she risked casting a spell on him, Dora, Boots, or anyone else. Then Dora makes a deal with the witch. She says that they'll let the witch out of the ball if she promises to be a good witch from now on. The witch felt embarrassed and humiliated but she didn’t want to be trapped inside the ball so she decided to keep her promise and become a good witch. So, Dora, Boots, and Prince Ramon let the witch out of the prince's ball by saying, "Abre" one last time. The witch was released from the ball and landed on solid ground and the witch hugged them. Dora and Boots saved Prince Ramon and the witch turned nice and was no longer mean. The episode ends with Prince Ramon and the Witch playing catch and having fun with the magic ball.
The grass and trees where Dora and Boots read the Prince Book
Witch's Forest (also known as "El Bosque de La Bruja")
Items in Backpack (Clockwise starting from the top right)[]
First segment[]
Pink book with a picture of girl on a hill
Big red book (with a new look; picture of Big Red Chicken)
Yellow book (also with a new look; picture of the Wizzle)
Blue book with a picture of Señor Tucán
Purple book with a picture of Prince Ramon (correct item for Dora and Boots)
Second segment[]
Purple ball with a blue diamond on the center
Blue ball with a yellow triangle on the center
Red ball with a pink square on the center
Dark blue ball with a green rectangle on the center
Orange ball with a darker orange circle on the center
Prince Ramon's Magic Ball (magenta with a goldenyellow star on the center; correct item for Prince Ramon)
Releases[]
This episode and El Coquí can be found on the VHS with the same name. They also can be found as bonus episodes on the Pirate Adventure DVD.
Trivia[]
In airing order, this is the final appearance of Dora's "Season 1, Version 5" look. She will appear in her "Season 1, Version 3" and "Season 1, Version 6" looks once more in Backpack! before the first Season 2 episode in general, Lost Squeaky, in which both her face and appearance change to match her promotional image.
This is the second episode (first in production order) where Dora and Boots had to jump into a book to start their adventure.
This is the first episode where Boots does not yell "Say Backpack! Say Backpack!" at all, not even once.
However, in Wizzle Wishes and Backpack!, Dora and Boots checked Backpack more than once and Boots yelled "Say Backpack!" the first time they checked her only. The second time in first aforementioned episode and the other 5 times in the second aforementioned episode they checked her has Dora saying "You have to say Backpack" while Boots not saying anything.
As Dora reads the story to Boots, one of the locations in this episode (Big Gate), the sub-place (Witch's Forest), and the High Tower can be seen way before they even started their adventure and Map even showing them.
This is the last episode in both airing and production order to use a solid blue sky background during the Favorite Parts segment.
As Dora and Boots sing We Did It, the Witch and Prince Ramon are playing catch with the magic ball.
"Abre" the Spanish word for open, was used many times when they had to open a book, the big gate, the crocodile's mouths, the tower door, the cage door and Prince Ramon's magic ball.
It is unknown how Swiper and the Fiesta Trio got into the book.
However, they may have jumped in while no one was looking.
Map warns that Dora and Boots had to watch out for the witch on their adventure. It will happen again in the Season 5 episode Dora Saves The Snow Princess.
Benny, Isa, and Tico don't appear in this episode.
A picture of Dora and Boots securing the witch inside Prince Ramon's magic ball will later be seen in the Season 2 episode "To the Monkey Bars".
During We Did It!, Dora and Boots' dancing and the close-up of Backpack and Map were recycled from Backpack.
After Dora and Boots stop Swiper, Dora doesn't thank the viewer saying "Thanks for helping us stop Swiper", if the viewer would say "Nicely done, everyone!". Instead, Boots immediately throws Prince Ramon's ball in Dora's Backpack.
When Prince Ramon locks the Witch in his magic ball to see how she likes it (because Prince Ramon never liked it when the witch locked him up first), this is technically payback and revenge on her locking him in the High Tower. However, the only reason why she locked him up is because she didn't like him trespassing into her forest even when he's only looking for his ball.
Although Map told Dora and Boots that they had to watch out for the Witch on their adventure to the High Tower to save Prince Ramon, Swiper somehow got into the book and he should've also been someone for them to watch out for since he's in the book too. Map did not mention they had to watch out for both enemies on their hands.
This is the first episode where two or more antagonists (which are Swiper and the Witch) appear.
Unlike most antagonists (not counting the aforementioned Swiper), the Witch actually reforms herself and is forgiven by Dora, Boots, and Prince Ramon for her actions.
When the viewer checks Backpack for the book, two of the books happen to include books from previous episodes with cover being a different design. The books are The Legend of the Big Red Chicken, but unlike its appearance in the episode of same name, this book is normal sized and has Big Red Chicken on the front and Wizzle Wishes but with the book having Wizzle on the cover rather than a star.
Just like in The Legend of the Big Red Chicken, the book that Dora reads to Boots is in Spanish and she reads it to him by translating the words in English. However, the actual Spanish words can be heard in the Spanish version of the episode.
When Dora checks Backpack for Prince Ramon's magic ball, the other balls don't come out of her, nor spin around, they're already just immediately showing around her instead.
Dora and Boots' new walking animations used for the rest of the season.
The walking animations in the Travel Song when Dora and Boots say where they need to go are recycled from El Coquí (airing order), while the animation of Dora and Boots saying "Come on, vamonos!" and "Where are we going?" are recycled from Backpack. Both animations will be used in all subsequent Season 1 episodes. In production order, this is their first appearance.
When the Witch appeared when Dora and Boots went through the Big Gate, it is unknown what would happen if they did not close the gate. It is possible that the Witch would banish them to the High Tower and lock them in the same room as Prince Ramon.
It is theoretically possible that the witch hired Swiper to swipe Prince Ramon's ball so he couldn't trap her inside once Dora and Boots freed him.
This is one of few episodes that premiered on Nickelodeon instead of the Nick Jr. block.
This episode aired on the Nick Jr. block just 2 days before Halloween 2001.
This is the final episode to premiere in 2001.
This is the first episode in which the title starts with "Dora Saves the...", which technically spoils the episode.
This marks the second and last episode (first in production order) where Dora and Boots just say "Whee!" when jumping into a book; in Quack! Quack!, Save the Puppies!, and ¡Por Favor!, they counted to 3 before jumping, and starting with The Mayan Adventure, they advise the viewer to help them jump.
When Backpack was checked the first time, she only had books. But when she was checked the second time, she had nothing but balls with different shapes on it.
It is possible that when Dora and Boots jumped into the book, the books magically turned into balls.
When Dora tells the viewer to stand up jumping over the crocodiles, she just says "stand up" without saying "please".
It is unknown how the picture of Dora and Boots securing the witch in the magic ball was seen in Dora's photo album when no one was seen taking the picture.
In real life, one can't jump into a picture book. If he/she tries to, he/she is literally jumpingon the book (although it does not apply here due to cartoon logic).
When Dora and Boots were looking for the big gate, there are no trees or bushes along the path, but during the Travel Song, there were trees and bushes.
In real life, the prince could have died from severe starvation and dehydration because of how long he was stuck in the tower. He may not have eaten anything while he was trapped there.
