Dora Gets a Makeover- Swiper No Swiping

I was in bed last night and actually awake for the news due to the time change, when a story that had nothing to do with the economy, a shooting or the Octumom came on. It was a story about Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer. My ears perked up. It seems that Dora is getting a makeover. 

 

I do not have girls, but this show was Ty's absolute favorite, refused to watch anything else, show for about a year. When he was two, I found him in front of his closet door saying over and over, "abre, abre" which is open in Spanish. He had learned this from our dear Dora. I have pictured her below. I love that she is so innocent and that her toddler belly hangs out a little bit, not sexy style like some of the other characters we see on Nick and Disney channel. This is a preschool age level show and I find her image appropriate. 

The story on the news indicated that the marketing machine has discovered that Dora's image could be made more lucrative by giving her an upgrade.  They released the silhouette below to show what her new makeover will look like. I know that we are an image obsessed culture and that we are really into makeovers, but come on, this is a show for young children. Below you will see Dora grown up.

I have to say that she certainly does look pretty, but does she look like the children the show is written for? Does she look like a preschool kid? The argument given by the producers is that she needs to grow with her audience to keep their attention. I hate to break it to them, but this is not going to work. They need to realize that as children get into elementary school, Dora will not be able to compete with Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers, Drake and Josh, or any of the other shows geared toward that elementary school age group. Unless, of course, they completely leave their preschool audience behind and re-create the show to gear it toward an older audience. There is only so much of "backpack, backpack" and "swiper no swiping" and the repeated lessons that older kids can endure. 

 

So I say, leave cute little Dora alone. Don't mess with what is working. We already have enough images of young girls who look like this in the media. As Dora is now, she nearly stands alone as a realistic representation of a child. I see swiper peeking his head around the tree ready to snatch her, so in unison let's say, "SWIPER NO SWIPING."