Star-catching

Star-catching is a temporary segment introduced in Dora the Explorer, used throughout Season 3. In it, Dora and Boots would encounter stars who would help them along the way; and they instruct the viewer to help catch them. Once caught, they go into the special Star pocket on Backpack.

One of the stars caught is an "Explorer Star" with a special talent or ability, which can be used to help Dora and Boots solve a problem or get past a location.

In an episode that features star-catching, during the Map segment after Map's explanation of the three, four, or five places, stars would appear and dance around, being noticed by the Fiesta Trio (when they say, "(Ooh(, stars)!) ¡Estrellas!") before Map reminds the viewers to look out for them along the way, with the tagline "Try and catch stars along the way!", or sometimes "And don't forget to look for stars along the way!".

At the end of the star-catching episodes, following the Favorite Parts, Dora and Boots (sometimes joined by another character) would count up the stars they caught throughout the episode, and the stars fly away until the next episode.

Trivia

• Usually, the number of stars caught (including the Explorer Star) would range between the most being 7, the middle amount being 6, and the least being 4. On three occasions, 5 stars were caught, while 8 were caught on one occasion. The most amount of stars caught all-together was 12, occurring in Star Catcher.
• This segment/sequence is similar to the Nintendo game series and anime Pokémon. Which has catching creatures and using them.
  • The difference is that you catch Explorer Stars by two hands, while you catch Pokémon by throwing Poke-balls at them.
  • The similarities are:
    • Explorer Stars and Pokémon
      • Both are extraordinary creatures that take form of different things.
      • Both sometimes repeat their names.
        • Teletubbies and Tiddlytubbies from their namesake show and Yoshis from Super Mario also have this trait.
    • Star pockets and Poke-balls
      • Both are used to store the creatures.
• The Lost City was the first episode with star-catching (Star Catcher was the first chronologically), while To the South Pole (or Best Friends if counting the Noggin premiere) was the last.
  • However, Dora Had a Little Lamb was the first episode with star-catching in production order, while the last was Dora's Fairytale Adventure.
• In airing order, the first Explorer Star caught was Woo-Hoo (in The Lost City) while the last was Helada (in To the South Pole, onscreen) or Spy Star (in Super Spies 2: The Swiping Machine, offscreen before the start of the episode).
  • If counting the Noggin premiere of "To the South Pole", then Rocket (in "Best Friends") was the last caught onscreen.
  • In production order however, the first was Glowy Star (in Dora Had a Little Lamb) while the last was Fairy Star (in Dora's Fairytale Adventure, onscreen) or Sliparooni (in The Shy Rainbow, offscreen before the start of the episode).
• Dora's Fairytale Adventure was the only episode where Dora doesn't put the stars in the star pocket. Instead, the stars just flew away and never came back. Due to this, no star count was featured at the end of that episode.
• Usually, the stars appear before or while Dora and Boots are passing through the first or second locations, but sometimes it could be earlier or later.
  • In The Lost City and Dora Had a Little Lamb, the stars immediately appear right after Dora asks the viewer if they see the first location, making those episode their earliest appearances.
  • What Happens Next?, The Super Silly Fiesta, and Dora's Fairytale Adventure are the only episode where the stars don't appear until Dora and Boots arrive at their destination; the second mentioned marks the latest time the stars appear before the final segment.
• Little Lamb, Red Rooster, Puppy, and Pingüino are the only minor characters on the show to catch stars.
• Dora's Pirate Adventure and Dora's Fairytale Adventure are the only double-length episodes to feature star-catching.
  • Also, the first said double-length episode is the only one to use the normal star-catching format where the stars get put into the star pocket and the only one to feature a final star count in the ending scene.
• In some episodes, the amount of stars caught correspond to a specific element in the episode:
  • In The Lost City, four stars were caught, most likely to refer to four lost items needed to be found at the Lost City besides Dora's teddy bear, Azul's new whistle, and Boots' blankie (Benny's baseball bat, Isa's wheels for her scooter, Tico's car keys, and Swiper's glove).
  • In Meet Diego!, six stars were caught, likely to refer to the six missing ladder rungs in the rainforest.
  • In Stuck Truck, six stars were caught, likely to refer to the six trucks Dora and Boots met (10-Wheeler, Giant Crane, Bulldozer, Rojo, Tow Truck, and Ice Cream Truck).
  • In ¡Por Favor!, seven stars were caught, likely referring to Dora and Boots using a rhyme associated with "por favor" seven times throughout the episode.
  • In The Big Potato, seven stars were caught, most likely to refer to the seven keys that are needed to unlock the Golden Gate.
  • In Baseball Boots, four stars were caught, likely referring to the four main bases in baseball (first base, second base, third base, and home plate).
  • In The Fix-it Machine, five stars were caught, likely referring to the five things that needed repairing (Boots' boot, Tico's tire, Benny's boat, Mr. Troll's pants, and Map's map).
  • In Dora's Pirate Adventure, seven stars were caught, likely referring to the 7 Seas.
  • In The Super Silly Fiesta, seven stars were caught, most likely referring to the seven juggling balls that Benny had and Swiper swiped.
  • In Louder!, four stars were caught, likely referring to Red Rooster using his "Cock-a-doodle-doo" to wake up four creatures in the forest (The frogs, El Bote, the pigs, the sun).
  • In Best Friends, five stars were caught, likely referring to the fact Dora and Boots had to do five things total before meeting up on Rainbow Rock (Dora picking strawberries, Boots getting chocolate, Dora unlocking the gate, Boots swinging over the crabs, both climbing up Rainbow Rock with a rope)
• Normally during the final star count, Dora would instruct, "Count with me (in Spanish)!" before the tallying of the stars. However, there are a few times this was different.
  • In Roberto the Robot, she says, "Let's count them!"
  • In Save the Puppies!, she says, "How many stars did we find?"
• Star Mountain is the only Season 4 episode to feature a star count.
• In some episodes, some stars have different colors that correspond with different elements or the episode's theme:
  • In Meet Diego!, the stars were red, orange, blue, yellow, and indigo, corresponding to Dora's backpack, Boots' tummy and boots, Rescue Pack and Diego's shirt.
  • In Boo!, the stars were orange and black to coincide with the Halloween theme.
• In Dora's Pirate Adventure, the stars' colors are different than what they were at the beginning. Originally, there were two red stars, a silver star, a gold star, a purple star, and a dark blue star. At the end of the episode, there are two red stars, an orange star, a yellow star, a blue star, and a purple star.
• The Fix-it Machine and Boots' Cuddly Dinosaur have the stars fly up close to the camera when Dora and Boots count them.
• The Season 4 episodes Dora's Got a Puppy, The Shy Rainbow and Super Spies 2: The Swiping Machine are the only ones that Dora and Boots caught an Explorer Star before the start of the aforementioned episodes.
  • Said episodes are also the only Season 4 episodes where the star pocket was used.
• It is most likely removed and the star-catching segment is also retired in Season 5-onwards to prevent too much time and travel costs.
  • The star-catching was also likely criticized by some older viewers.

Usual phrases

Used by the stars

• "(laughing)"
• "Here I am!"
• "Here we are!"
• "Try and catch us!"
• "Can't catch us!"
• "Catch us, catch us!"
• "The star pocket!"
• "Yippee!"
• "Yahoo!"

Used by Dora and Boots

• "I hear stars!"
• "Do you see stars?"
• "Stars!"
• "¡Estrellas!"
• "(Explorer Star) can help us along the way!"
• "If we can catch him/her!"
• "We need to catch the stars/them!"
• "Reach up to catch the stars!"
• "Reach up!"
• "Catch 'em, catch 'em, CATCH 'EM!"
• "(Yay!) We caught them!"
• "And we caught (Explorer Star)!"
• "Let's put them in the star pocket."
• "Good star-catching!"