Dora the Explorer/Headscratchers


 * Why are parents going insane over a teaser silhouette for the "new" Dora?
 * Here's the picture. It doesn't look overtly sexual to me, but parents have already made the comparison between new Dora and Bratz.
 * Apparently older and prettier = WHORE. *facepalm* I'd hate to see how these parents would react when their daughters hit puberty.
 * And here's the new design in full. THAT HARLOT, SHE'S SHOWING HER ANKLES!
 * In their defence, this is the generation of parents that has seen their kids grow up with Bratz. I can't blame them for being paranoid.
 * What about Diego? Will he grow up too?
 * I read that they went insane over the design because they thought it is Out of Character for Dora to like fashion instead of adventuring. They said that Dora would rather spend her life adventuring and helping people than shopping for new clothes.
 * It is out of character for her, horribly so. There's nothing that says Dora can't grow up to be pretty and still love adventuring. Dress her for the outdoors, a nice pair of hiking boots and more mature backpack--maybe one that doesn't talk--and voilÃ  . Role model.
 * Isn't she technically still an adventurer (as in she solves mysteries now)? Also, she lost all her old friends for a bunch of human ones, which made the fans mad.
 * This parent thinks the original Dora is cuter, and the new one is entirely forgettable. 'nuff said.
 * Why are we getting a new Dora?
 * You'd think after ten years Dora would fade into oblivion, but no, now she's going to be aged by five years or so. Nobody's going to watch it, the kids who used to watch Dora have outgrown her, and I doubt she'll appeal to little kids.
 * Speak for yourself. The new Dora has a line of toys and a website featuring her now. She might never be as popular as the original Dora, but she's got a fanbase.


 * Why did they get rid of Dora's animal friends and give her a group of friends that has unusual diversity for Mexico? I can't fathom where they thought it was a good thing.


 * Why did Diego get his own series?
 * So that Nickelodeon could appeal to the boys. It's like how they created She Ra Princess of Power as a Distaff Counterpart to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
 * Dora is a Greek name! Unfortunately it's mine, you can imagine the suffering I've had to deal with since middle school and that wretched show started.
 * This Troper always believed her name was a pun on the Spanish word "exploradora."
 * It is. They even sing that in the theme tune.
 * Huh, I always thought it was short for Computadora, since the show takes place in a computer game with No Fourth Wall.
 * It's also a Spanish name. I know more than one Dora here in Spain. It can be short for female names like Teodora or Adoracion, although I admit neither of them is very common nowadays.


 * I just watched the episode where they had to get to the south pole. They apparently took a magical airplane from South America (I presume that's where they live), to the ice pack. They had to get over water filled with icebergs, then a huge snowy mountain. Why the fuck didn't they just fly the plane the whole way?
 * It's Dora. This is the girl who can't see a mountain three feet in front of her!


 * I'm watching the series in the original English audio track for the first time, thanks to the wonders of digital TV and its multiple audio channels, and there is something that bugs me a little. If Dora is suposed to be Mexican or Mexican/American, why she has an English accent when she speaks Spanish but no Spanish accent when she speaks English? Other hispanic characters in the show, like Tico, have a correct Mexican accent when they speak Spanish, but Dora Herself has a clear English accent, and when she tries to sound more Spanish, overdoes it with an exagerated strong "r" sound ("Grrrasias"). They couldn't hire a real hispanic voice actress for the role?
 * This Troper was born and raised Hispanic. She was also raised in America. Ergo, she completely lost her accent and it was replaced by a Californian one, which heavily sept into her Spanish.
 * And note that some other characters don't understand English and Dora exhorts the audience to call out to them in Spanish. Dora speaks both English and Spanish, but with an English accent. This does seem to mean she is of a Hispanic background, raised in the English speaking world, now living in Mexico. Makes a lot of sense - and this troper only realized it now after a couple of years of watching Dora with his son. Cue a future Dora The Movie expanding on this background? (This change added May 24, 2010. Noting the date to see if the prediction proves correct!)
 * During the Fairytale Dora special thingy, Dora must wake Boots up before all the leaves fall off this wall. What happens when that happens? They never say. I assume Boots will be put in a permanent sleep.
 * Maybe that's why Dora lost her animal friends and grew up...
 * They never get rainbows right. Never. Most of the time, they only have four or five bands of color, and the order is completely random - red-green-orange-blue-yellow or the like. Not the sort of thing one wants to see in an educational show.
 * Dora has gotten older and In "Dora's Christmas Carol adventure" when she appeared older, Boots appeared older too (mostly just a outfit change and maybe a few inches taller but it was something. Reason I bring this up is because last night they aired the first episode/special of "Dora's Explorer Girls" and Boots DOES INDEED show up but he hasn't aged a day even though Dora looks older...of course he only showed up at the very end but still, what exactly happened?
 * The older Dora and Boots from the Christmas special were from an alternate future. Dora stopped that future when she reformed Swiper, so that future never happened. The Dora and Boots from Explorer girls are from a different future, so look different.
 * Why can't Swiper just put in earmuffs, or earplugs to stop himself from hearing the words "Swiper no Swiping"?