Dora grows up

When we were at the Bohol Bee Farm last summer, we took my two-year-old niece Keona down to the cliffside two-level deck to check out the view of the sea. She ran up the stairs to the upper deck, grabbed onto the railing, peered out into the ocean and called out, “Help! Help! Ayudame!” several times. We were at a loss as to what that was all about, but she seemed to have a nice little fantasy scenario going on, so we just delighted in her antics and let her be. It wasn’t until I chanced upon her watching one of her many Dora the Explorer DVDs that I discovered she was actually playing out a scene from the episode Dora Saves the Prince.

It was at that moment that I became a fan of adventurous, bilingual, little Latina heroine who lives in a computer world with her little monkey friend.

In Dora Saves the Prince, Dora and her friend Boots go on a storybook mission to save Prince Ramón—and yes, you have to pronounce that with a rolling R—from the wicked witch who captured him. The wicked witch has trapped Prince Ramón in a stone tower, and he looks out the window, calling out—guess what?—“Help! Ayudame!”

Keona, needless to say, is a real Dora fan. Last Halloween, she went trick or treating wearing a Dora outfit, complete with a singing Backpack. (She had two, actually; the hard plastic battery-operated Backpack she got from my older brother and a same color cloth backpack for the treats.) To top the look, she had a little Boots stuffed toy strapped on her arm.

She’s been to a “meet and greet” too. When Nickelodeon brought Dora over to the mall near our house, she patiently lined up to have her picture taken with the big Dora mascot. She was too star-struck to move—my mother insists “terrified” is a better word, since she wasn’t really expecting to see a giant-sized Dora—but, still, she lined up for a second Dora moment.

It amazes me to see what watching Dora has done for Keona, as I had previously believed children would really gain nothing from watching TV. She would point at a star and say, “Estrella.” She would pick out the color orange and say “Naranja.” When needing help from her nanny she would cry out, “Ayudame!” After successfully carrying out a task—like getting her plastic bottle of Bubble Maker from a high spot on the shelf—she would say, “We did it! We did it, Auntie!” When she wants to find something, she orders her Mommy to, “Say ‘map!’”

So you can understand why I was a little bit concerned when I first saw “tween” Dora merchandise while Christmas shopping last year. I hadn’t heard any news about it, and the merchandise had that “pirated” look (and it most probably was, judging from the timeline of events), so I brushed it off as a spoof. In February, however, too much parental outrage and controversy, TV network Nickelodeon and toymaker Mattel announced that, indeed, the little girl has grown up.

Dora’s tweenage self moves to the big city (what, from her computer?), attends middle school, and has a fashionable new look. She wears a flowery tunic, purple leggings, and sandals. She grew out her hair and is—gasp!—wearing what looks like lip gloss. She’s around 9 years old, starting to be a looker with shapely legs, and I’m not sure she’s keeping her animal friends because I read somewhere that she’s going to be solving environmental and academic mysteries with her girlfriends.

When the announcement came out, worried parents started online petitions and protests against the makeover. Many argued that the vamped up Dora will no longer be a great role model for their daughters, expressing concern that the franchise could go the way of Bratz and Barbie. I get this concern, because it’s hard enough to find something fun and educational for toddlers these days.

Nickelodeon, on their part, insisted in a statement that, “The reason for creating this new Dora line is to offer an alternative to moms who want their daughters to stay little girls a little longer.” In fact, as of now, there’s no specific word on a new cartoon series, which also means that the preschooler Dora the Explorer isn’t going anywhere.

What has been confirmed, though, is that the new Dora line, called Dora’s Explorer Girls, is going to focus on online play. The tweenage Dora is actually an interactive, customizable doll that girls can plug into the computer to gain access to her brand new, interactive online world—and it’s promising “the most unique interactive experience yet,” so says an article on chipchicklets.com.

I’m thinking it will be a magically-transforming doll, plus an online community with an evolving storyline. Sounds interesting enough. Still, I’m crossing my fingers it will be age-appropriate, even for tweens.

I’m also crossing my fingers the Little Einsteins don’t grow up.

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