Dora Reunites With Boots, Backpack & Her Rainforest Friends in a Special Episode on Nickelodeon

It was a little disheartening last year to see Dora the Explorer grow up after all of the hours our family had spent watching her adventures on television as our kids grew through their preschool years.  Just as our kids grew up and moved on through life, Nickelodeon decided it was time to expand upon Dora's adventures through a spin-off television series called Dora & Friends: Into the City.  In this new series Dora gave her best friend Boots the boot and left the rain forest to embark on new adventures in the big city with a brand new group of friends.  Instead of her dependable Backpack and paper Map, Dora now uses a magical charm bracelet and a smartphone to solve puzzles and get out of jams during her adventures.  Instead of cartoonish animal sidekicks like Benny, Isa and Tico, Dora has some human counterparts from her Playa Verde school that include Kate who is fond of drama, music loving Emma, bookworm Naiya, and soccer playing Pablo.  Kids grow up and I can see how it was time for Dora to move on.

As Dora and Friends: Into the City begins its second season, Nickelodeon is incorporating into the show that Dora hasn't forgotten about her old amigos.  Our family had a chance to pre-screen the first of three special episodes that will air throughout the season which reunite Dora with Boots, Backpack and her rainforest friends from Dora the Explorer within the new show before the episode was broadcast on Nickelodeon.  In the episode "Return to the Rainforest", Boots arrives at Dora's new home for a visit.  Unfortunately, he lost Backpack and Map on the way -- so Dora and her new gang of friends head to the rainforest with Boots to search for them.  Turns out Swiper swiped them and it takes Dora's new friends working with Benny, Isa and Tico to get them back.

It was a bit nostalgic watching this episode with my twins that are now first graders who like Dora have grown up and moved past Dora the Explorer but still have cherished memories of enjoying that show during their preschool years.  Our family really enjoyed taking a half hour to go back in time and enjoy an adventure with these beloved characters and see how they've fared as Dora has moved on with her life in the big city.  If your kids grew up watching Dora the Explorer this is a fun episode that provides a nice connection bridging the two series together and to be honest provides some closure to move on from the original show.  You could almost treat this episode as a nice series finale to Dora the Explorer if you wanted to look at it that way.

The problem with Dora & Friends: Into the City is that it doesn't realize who its audience is so in trying to appeal to children from preschool through elementary school it really isn't that appealing to any of these kids. My kids will watch part of a Dora & Friends episode but lose interest because they say it is too babyish while some of the content is obviously too advanced and has too mature of of a pre-teen twist to it to be a good fit for younger preschool viewers.  I've found the last few years from monitoring my children's television viewing that there really is a real gap in quality programming for the kindergarten to third grade age group that Dora & Friends could really fill and be successful with. The brand already has a base of preschoolers and their parents who would readily transition to the show.  Yet the show seems to want to replace Dora the Explorer catering to a preschool audience  trying to hold onto that demographic for as long as they can rather than expand to cater to a new age group.  To be honest, as a parent I just haven't been that impressed with this new series and Dora & Friends isn't a show that my 6 year old twins normally request to see.  It will be interesting to see if this new series follows the lead of its main character and begins to develop into a mature product for a slightly older children's audience or it continues to flounder hanging onto the brand's former glory with the preschool crowd.

Despite my overall criticism of the new Dora series, "Return to the Rainforest" was well done in meshing the two cast of characters together.  My kids enjoyed seeing Boots, Benny, Isa and Tico again and watching them interact with a grown up version of Dora.  They also really enjoyed singing along with Kate, Emma, Naiya, and Pablo.  My daughter also thought it was awesome that one of Dora's new schoolmates was able to sew and used that skill to repair a damaged Backpack with no help from a parent.  So my kids laughed, they sang, they thanked me for sharing this episode of Dora & Friends with them.

This first special, “Return to the Rainforest,” premieres Friday, Sept. 18, at 12:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon with the remaining episodes rolling out later this year. In the later specials, Dora treks to Rainbow Rock with Boots; saves the show at an enchanted night circus; and even comes to Swiper’s rescue.  It will be interesting to see if the Dora the Explorer characters continue to be charming in the future episodes as they interact with Dora's more mature new friends or if this meshing of the two shows just becomes a bit tired making viewers weary of them. 

It does appear as if the producers at Nickelodeon are tilting the new series towards being geared now towards preschool audiences as Dora and Friends: Into the City! specials will each feature exclusive multiplatform content which includes a big focus on using the NickJr website and the launch of a brand-new Dora app specifically for preschoolers. The Dora Back to the Rainforest app will allow kids to play and learn as they travel to the rainforest to help Dora and Boots find Backpack and return him safely home. Along the way, kids will encounter story elements and characters from all three of the special episodes, earn and collect charms for Dora’s bracelet and play min-games that help Dora and her friends complete their journey. The app will be available soon on iOS and Android.

For more information, visit nickjr.com/dora-and-friends

Dora gives Boots the Boot

Nickelodeon's popular Dora the Explorer franchise is getting a reboot this summer with the debut of a new television series titled DORA & FRIENDS: INTO THE CITY!  Coming in August, Dora & Friends has a more grown up version of the character moving from the jungle to the city.  This new tween Dora is ditching her trusted backpack for a smartphone with a map app and abandoning her monkey pal Boots for a new group of kid friends from school.  Dora and Friends will air during the Nickelodeon preschool block of programming on the cable channel's week day schedule.

Nickelodeon promises new city, new friends, new adventures in its synopsis of this new series:

Together, all for one! Get ready for big adventures with Dora and Friends: Into the City! Dora's moved to a beautiful pan-Latino metropolis by the sea called Playa Verde, entered a diverse new school, and is busies than ever.

She's also found a new group of friends - Alana, Emma, Naiya, Kate, and Pablo - with a shared passion for learning and exploring who join her on new pop/rock-infused adventures in the city.   But this is no ordinary city.  Down side streets, in the park, even under the school there are portals to magical worlds filled with surprises, obstacles and villains waiting to test our friends with curricular challenges and exciting emotional stakes!

Armed with an ancient magical charm bracelet, a trusted Mapp App, and the strength that comes from working with bright, funny and loving friends, Dora invites preschoolers to join her in saving the day, solving problems, speaking Spanish, and giving back to the community.

This show at first glance seems like a nice effort to refresh a popular brand that has become somewhat dated and tired after a 14 year run.  Now I admit not having seen the show yet and it may be that I'm just being a grumpy old troll but this new series does irk me a little bit.  Children grow up fast enough as it is, do we really need to be infusing tween elements into stories aimed at preschoolers.  This series looks like a nice step-up to keep Dora's fans tuned in through kindergarten and elementary school (7 - 11 years old) but should it really be marketed to a 3-7 year old preschool audience.  In that vein maybe the next brand revamp could have Elmo reach out to preschoolers in a Sesame Street spin-off from a Monster High School.  

Preschool now is what kindergarten was when I was a child.  Kindergarten used to be a half day adventure that included a snack, playground time and a nap while learning your numbers and letters.  Now children come out of full day session knowing reading and math skills.  It just seems to me that this new Dora show continues a societal trend that pushes kids to act older and more mature at younger and younger ages.

Dora the Explorer has been a big part of my children's preschool years.  Our house has been littered with DVDs, toys, and books featuring Dora's adventures with her friends Boots the Monkey, Tico the Squirrel, Isa the Iguana, Benny the Bull, and Swiper the Fox.  Learning basic skills with a map and a backpack reinforced the elementary nature of learning.  Now Boots, along with his animal buddies and the map and backpack, are getting the boot.  They are being replaced with fashionable children with smart phones living in the city. Along with the valuable messages this franchise provides to children (value learning, imagination, multi-culturism) it appears it will also be throwing in themes involving fashion, shopping and make-overs that you have to ask are they really appropriate for an audience of 3-7 year old children?

Dora isn't the first cartoon character aimed at young children to get a modern tween make-over.  Recently, Strawberry Shortcake did the same thing with characters who have a focus on being popular, being fashion conscious and always chatting on a cell phone....what some parents have called a "berry disturbing make-over."  While as parents we may not be able to control what media and toy companies produce, we do have the power to control what we allow our children to watch and play with.  To be fair, I will probably screen Dora & Friends for my kids to get a better appraisal of the show and my initial reaction to it, but as of right now I'm leaning toward having the TV turned off to this program for my 5 year old twins until they are a little bit older.  Sorry Dora, but it looks like you are going to join SpongeBob Squarepants on the blocked list.