What's Up, Dora?

Dora the Explorer is in the news again!  The last time I blogged about her was when the Tween Dora was going to be launched.  That was just early last year.  Remember that?  Does anyone know if the Tween Dora ever took off?  My daughter just stuck to the original Dora books and DVDs so I didn't bother to find out.

(photo from the 2008 press release)

(more recent photo of Caitlyn Sanchez)

This time, Dora the Explorer got in the news because Caitlyn Sanchez - the human behind young Dora's voice - was suing Nickelodeon, MTV, and Viacom for hundreds of millions that she and her family believe Caitlyn were swindled of by being forced to sign her contract in less than a half hour's time without being given an opportunity to consult with an attorney.  It was a sign now or lose it moment for the 12 year old.  

Wait!  Isn't that how a lot of opportunities in life come by?  Does that mean I should sue my former employers who made a fortune in their businesses by paying a college student (like I was at the time) minimum wage?  

I don't mean to mock the poor girl, but come on now.  Some opportunities come with a cost and sometimes the results just aren't fair.  But like the saying goes - you win some, you lose some.  And if there were any doubts before, why didn't her family consult an attorney to amend the contract sooner?  Now it just makes her look like she's trying to dig deeper into Daddy's pockets because the allowance just wasn't enough.  Sorry, girl!  I do hope you get your fair share.  Unfortunately, the media attention you're getting from this isn't really making you look good.

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Dora the Explorer Grows Up

I love cartoons...and I often buy some of my cartoon favorites on DVD and watch them with my kids on our home theater system. Don't laugh - that's pretty fun to do! Anyway, there's been a lot of talk about children's favorites growing up - particularly Dora the Explorer, best known as the tomboyish travelling bilingual little girl. I've been searching for positive feedback about the supposed grown up image of Dora that Mattel developed. I saw the image and didn't think there was any problem with the new Dora. Besides, it's not like the young Dora is going away. She'll still be around, teaching our youngsters a little Spanish and English as she travels around different places.

Here's the original Dora the Explorer that we've come to know all these years:


Originally, many parents were afraid that the new Dora was going to become a streetwalker or be start going the way of Barbie who I hear is getting tattooed. But here's the image that was released of the new Tween Dora:


Here are a few related articles I found explaining the new image and the reason behind the change.

New Tween Dora Causes Uproar Among Parents
After Dora Uproar, Nick and Mattel Soothe Parents

Added 04/06/09: So PastExpiryCartoons posted a link to this in my comments (don't know if you read comments on blogs). I thought I'd add this because you really have to have an open mind to appreciate the humor behind this. Or you can look at it and understand why parents get into such a hubbub about change to their children's beloved characters.





Courtesy of Past Expiry Cartoon