Saturday, March 21, 2009

From Dora the Explorer to "Sexy Dora"?

This is a video, supposedly from CNN,, discussing the recent announcement that Dora the Explorer would be revamped to a tween version.

The prospect of a "Sexy Dora" predictably raised an uproar on the Internet -- after all, Dora the Explorer as she is right now is a good role model for kids: smart, spunky, and still a kid -- not rushing to become a teenager, wear makeup, meet guys, etc.

Theories about the tween Dora being "sexy Dora" in the mode of Barbie and obsessed with fashion ala Bratz were of course (come on, right?) unfounded.

Tween Dora will be just a bigger, older Dora -- one more suited to the tween market. No idea what happens to Boots, Backpack and the rest of the gang. I assume Diego will also get the same treatment.

The truth -- and this is really where the concern should be -- is that this is an attempt by Mattel and Viacom to keep their hands in our wallets. "Keep the parents buying Dora toys and accessories hooked until they turn twelve" seems to have been the mandate. And this is the response.

And this was pretty obvious, at least to me, since my child grew up with Dora (and Blue and Diego) --- but of late has been preferring Disney Princesses. And no, we wouldn't want that now would we, right guys from Mattel / Viacom?

In my case, that's five more years of money that could have helped finance Disneyland --- that's now apparently going to the Viacom empire.

(Showed the tween Dora to my daughter and she said "she looks good -- but I like the old Dora better". Will keep y'all posted.)

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By the way, the ladies interviewed in the clip seem a bit off their rockers, don't you think? What kind of moms are these? Tried to find them on the net and they don't seem to exist.

Also, the video appears to have been made by CNN but it feels like a video from The Onion. It doesn't matter though since the ruckus WAS real even if the video might not be.

1 comment:

Past Expiry said...

Check out this cartoon about Dora the Explorer!
http://pastexpiry.blogspot.com/2009/04/cartoon-tween-dora-explorer.html
*CARTOON*
Feel free to post on your blog or "tweet"

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