Could have been much much worse.
Posted on 03/16/2009 12:16:42 PM PDT by presidio9
When toy maker Mattel, working with Nickelodeon, announced earlier this month that a "tween" version of Nick's beloved "Dora the Explorer" cartoon character would be unveiled in the fall, the response was overwhelming ... overwhelmingly negative.
Dora the streetwalker. A sexed-up version of a children's icon. A poor example for kids.
Those were just some of the terms tossed around the blogosphere after Mattel released a silhouette of the "new" Dora, whose image was drastically changed from the endearing tomboy look Dora fans grew to love, with her bowl-cut hairdo, T-shirt and red shorts. This new Dora appeared to have long flowing hair, and was wearing what seemed a scanty skirt, emphasizing her long, shapely legs.
"Did Mattel turn Dora the Explorer into a Tramp?" read one headline from The Huffington Post.
But not so fast.
Mattel and Nickelodeon both say there are two major misconceptions about the new Dora, which is not replacing the "Dora the Explorer" cartoon, but will be a new interactive doll aimed at 5- to 8-year-olds.
"People care so deeply about this brand and this character," Leigh Anne Brodsky, president of Nickelodeon Viacom Consumer Products, says. "The Dora that we all know and love is not going away."
"I think there was just a misconception in terms of where we were going with this," Gina Sirard, vice president of marketing at Mattel, says. "Pretty much the moms who are petitioning aging Dora up certainly don't understand. ... I think they're going to be pleasantly happy once this is available in October, and once they understand this certainly isn't what they are conjuring up."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Dora the Explorer is great. I’d prefer they didn’t mess with it?
I predict my son will like the “new” Dora better.
Dora was designed to make Illegals more acceptable to Americans.
Could have been much much worse.
Dora is idiotic. I hate the fact that it draws my daughter’s attention. I try to avoid having her it.
Here’s a pseudo-script:
(NOTE: Dora is on the verge of yelling EVERY line.)
Dora: We need to go to Grandma’s house to get some cookies. Let’s ask Map how to get there. Everyone say “Map.” Louder! “MAP!” LOUDER! “MAAAAAAAP!”
(inane map song)
Dora: Look, to get to Grandma’s house, Map says we need to go around the muddy-mud, over the hilly-hills, and past the rocky-rocks. Yes, I’m so incredibly creative that EVERYTHING is described with the adjective form of itself.
(Some stupid monkey shows up and sings a stupid song.)
Dora: Look - it’s the muddy-mud! How will we get past it? [Short pause.] I know, let’s - *gasp* - WALK AROUND IT! [Wow - Dora’s problem solving skills are off the chart!] Can you HELP me walk around the muddy-mud? Say “camina!” [Because you can only do something as simple as walking if you first say the word in Spanish.] Louder! CAMINA! LOUDER GRINGO! CAAAAAAMIIIIIINAAAAA!
And so forth. Sigh...
Dora is an illigal alien, an undocumented!
"Asking" map doesn't sound like it teaches any skills. Plenty of people "ask" Mapquest, Rand McNally, or other sites.
But ask those same kids/adults to find a street on a map and you may have better luck getting them to properly fold the map back up.
I suppose that along with ‘cougar’ Barbie we’ll soon have the same with Dora.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjDmCEJokZs - [cache] - Live
Not an anchor?
Map Song
If there’s a place you got to go
I’m the one you need to know
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
If there’s a place you got to get
I can get you there I bet
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
(yes, 12 times)
I keep waiting to hear directions from the map that go like this:
First swim across the big river.
Then go through the desert.
Then we get to America!
I agree. I feel like starting a group called “leave Dora alone”.
>> This new Dora appeared to have long flowing hair, and was wearing what seemed a scanty skirt, emphasizing her long, shapely legs.
Good grief. That’s “sexed up”, streetwalker, etc? Its a shirt, not a skirt. My 4-year-old daughter has several, and they’re not at all revealing. And, as fathers go, I’m pretty hard on my little girl regarding her wardrobe.
SnakeDoc
Now that’s funny right there...
What struck me is that Dora is going to teach them to be “enviomentalists”. How awful is that? She’ll probably be talking about “gorebul warming”.
Nik and Disney are the devil to young kids....
And their poor parents.
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