day 109

dora the explorer gets a makeover 

after ten years on the air, nickelodeon has decided to revamp the series that helped to make their "nick jr" block popular again.  starting with the new season, the currently child size dora will, like her audience, move into tweendom.  everyone's favorite explorer will also move into the "big city," where there will be plenty of new adventures for her to experience in middle school.  this sounds a lot like when nickelodeon decided rugrats should become "all grown up."  the big part of this new initiative is the dora fashion doll, which will be released this fall.  the doll will be interactive, with girls having the ability to plug the doll into the computer. online, they'll be able to play around with an online version of the doll.  now, here's the cool part: when you change your doll's features online, the doll itself will change right before your eyes. you'll be able to change her hair length, eye color, and jewelry.  the hair length part is the thing that would freak me out.  mattel will release the doll this fall alongside disney - they're trying to corner the market that's missing since their acquisition of the bratz dolls - and her look will be kept a secret until then.  apparently the focus groups love the "mystery aspect."  is this a good idea? i don't know.  obviously it will expand her audience, but i don't know how the show will translate.  how do you make bilingual education interesting to middle schoolers?