Amazon.com reviews for
"Dora the Explorer" (2000) More at IMDbPro »

Dora the Explorer - To the Rescue (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Similar to the interactive environment of Blue's Clues, but geared toward a younger audience, comes Dora the Explorer, a fully animated Nick Jr. cartoon. Like all Dora episodes, To the Rescue resembles a computer game (sans mouse and cursor) to teach Spanish, number and object recognition, deduction, reasoning, and early math skills. Its host is a girl, not much older than her viewers, with a sunny disposition, bilingual abilities, and a no-nonsense approach to problem solving; in other words, a worthy role model for toddlers and preschoolers who willingly play along with the show's format. In the first of two 25-minute segments, Dora discovers that three award-winning piglets have escaped from their pen. She enlists the help of viewers to rescue them before Swiper the Fox swipes their blue ribbons. "I need your help," she explains. "If you see the fox, yell 'Swiper'." And yell they will. They'll also choose items from her backpack, count piggies, and steer the swine clear of danger. The second segment charges viewers to help Dora return a lost baby bird to her mother, who lives in a hard-to-find little blue tree. But first, they must select an object from Dora's backpack to help dry the wet bird and then locate the tree on her map. Children will learn a handful of Spanish words as they successfully resolve the dilemmas, and can shake out their wiggles with "The Monkey Dance." Parents should be mindful that Dora is meant for the ages 5-and-under crowd. Older kids will find it repetitive, predictable, and slow-going--the very qualities that make it a winner for its intended audience. --Lynn Gibson

Dora the Explorer - Swing into Action (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Dora the Explorer is a Nick Jr. cartoon adventure aimed at young preschool children. The setting is a simulated computer game--flush with interactive pauses, colorful animation, repetition, and song--in which Dora and her monkey friend Boots journey through natural settings while solving small dilemmas. Dora is bilingual, speaking primarily English and offering a new Spanish word or phrase every episode. The series teaches children simple concepts and aids in the development of memory and problem-solving skills. In "Sticky Tape," Dora's friend Benny needs some sticky tape in order to mend a hole in his hot-air balloon and prevent it from crashing into Crocodile Lake. Young viewers are charged with helping Dora and Boots find the sticky tape in Dora's backpack, then delivering it across a windy river and over a slippery rock to Benny--all the while preventing Swiper the Fox from swiping the tape. In "Berry Hunt," Dora and Boots's excursion to pick blueberries leads them across the river, through a prickly forest, and into Swiper the Fox's homeland on Blueberry Hill. Their journey is relatively uneventful until they're forced to outsmart Swiper the Fox and a blueberry-loving bear. While parents are likely to find this 48-minute Dora the Explorer pedantic and repetitive, children 2 to 5 years old are fascinated by the show and will actively participate by singing along, shouting answers to Dora's questions, and offering a warning cry whenever Swiper the Fox appears. The series is quite similar to the popular Blue's Clues--in both, viewers help the main character fit together bits of information to solve a puzzle or complete a journey--but Dora the Explorer is aimed at a slightly younger audience. --Tami Horiuchi

Dora the Explorer - Wish on a Star (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Bilingual Dora and her monkey friend Boots have places to go and rescues to make, but they need the help of their young viewers in this delightful Nick Jr. program designed to simulate computer software. Although it can't be truly interactive, of course, toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy the pauses as Dora waits for them to count or speak Spanish before moving on. In "Little Star," the brown-eyed heroine and her primate amigo come upon a weeping fallen star and make the journey to a hilltop, returning it to the heavens. In "Wizzle Wishes," the friends are reading a storybook when one of the characters leaps from the page in pursuit of three wishes. They must catch the runaway wishes in order to get Wizzle home, but first they have to deal with Swiper, the klepto fox who beat them to it. Children learn a simple Spanish word each 23-minute episode (salta and cuidado, respectively) as well as repeatedly hearing the basics (hola, muy bien). As with any computer game, Dora is aided and thwarted by a series of characters children will love to anticipate, including her singing anthropomorphic map, the crusty bridge troll, and the shy, Spanish-speaking squirrel. Ages 2 to 6. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Dora the Explorer - Dora Saves the Prince (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Dora sticks to the formula that finds kids flocking to her Nick TV show in this double feature, making it a foolproof proposition for a fuss-free 50 or so minutes. The title episode catches up with the plucky, huge-eyed Latina as she and Boots rally to rescue a banished prince. Along the way, they enlist preschoolers' help to abre (open) forbidding gates and doors and count to three in Spanish. "El Coqui" keeps the same helpers spellbound as they finagle, with Dora, through three obstacles to return a lost frog home. An improbable array of skill builders factor into these shows (math, Spanish, map reading, and others), but they're all as easily evidenced as they are effective. In the end, Dora not only saves the prince, she also saves parents from concerns that cartoons like hers will turn their kids' brains to mush. --Tammy La Gorce