Tween Dora?

[Ilikemuppets]

OMG I love(d) "The Busy World Of Richard Scary" when it used to be on here! And I love Arthur as well, I am sure you meant Arthur instead of Author.

Yeah, that's what I meant. Good looking out!

 

[Drtooth]

Well this isn't a company but I admired that Lazy Town show for encouraging exercise and activeness. Plus it could be very funny and not just preachy.

Lazy Town looked like a Nightmare Version of a European Kid's show... I really think it did. I could almost picture it as part of a Tim Burton movie.... actually, anyone ever see the movie "Spy Kids?" It reminded me of that show the villain had.

But I have to say Dora and Blue's Clues are what's wrong with kid's educational television. They are unenjoyable by anyone over the age of 5, they don't have any snide humor or anything that challenges kids, or gets stuck in their memory for years, making them one day say "OH! NOW I get it!" And that's the best thing you can do for a kid's show. SS, even the Elmo-centric 2 year old focused version of itself manages to make snarky little asides... Grover playing with a Marionette and saying "It must be fun to be a puppet" or the Preschool Musical skit. That wasn't a parody, that was Disney getting Pwned!

Shows like Curious George and Arthur (which basically is like the Simpsons for young kids to me) have that sort of wit about them, and that's what makes Dora great. Dora is essentially a computer game that's on television, and you're watching someone else play it.

And I feel making an older version of her makes about as much sense as making a cartoon called "Adventures of War and Peace: Sharing and Caring in Russia." You're trying to get an audience that doesn't like or even care about the project. If they make money off of it, fine... I just don't think this will.

On that subject I do not see how this is like Rugrats, All Growed up. I mean, sure, that series was inadvisable, but they had a nice "What if?" situation (that frankly worked better as a special). You saw the characters' personality manifest as older kids with a working understanding of the world (something they didn't have before). Of course, it was during Nick's tween toon phase, where they also had Rocket Power (the one and only Nicktoon I'd admit to truely hating) and As Told by Ginger... so basically, you got the same show with different characters... plus, the appeal of Rugrats was when they were kids, exploring the mundane world of the adults, especially when the audience gets to see the interactions between the adults. Remember, Tommy and Angelica thought the Grand Canyon was a wall of tires in a garage.

 

[CensoredAlso]

they don't have any snide humor or anything that challenges kids, or gets stuck in their memory for years, making them one day say "OH! NOW I get it!" And that's the best thing you can do for a kid's show.

Exactly, I think parents mean well, but I don't think they're thinking ahead enough when it comes to the programs their kids watch.

 

[Redsonga]

Lazy Town looked like a Nightmare Version of a European Kid's show... I really think it did. I could almost picture it as part of a Tim Burton movie.... actually, anyone ever see the movie "Spy Kids?" It reminded me of that show the villain had.

I love Lazytown, the whole look and the songs were energetic and nice to me ^.^. It was like a fresh cup of juice in the morning that said 'Hello world!'..Of course I can see how someone who is not a morning person might hate it :3. I would not call it any scarier than a Dr. Seuss world though (which I also like, so I guess there is no accounting for taste ).
I think you can like 'lesser' shows and deeper shows like Fraggle Rock each for their own good points without losing anything. The trouble becomes when little ones only have whatever is been shown on tv to draw upon and nothing like the big DVD collections some of us have

 

[Drtooth]

That said, I'd be willing to think twice about that Gabba Gabba Hey thing...Not so much that one of the members of Devo came up with it, but one half of my favorite internet animation team reportedly animated a sequence for them.

One of the people behind This brilliant cartoon that expresses how I feel about Kid's shows today...

 

[bazooka_beak]

^ LOL! "All right dumb children, find The Cheat!" XD

 

[Redsonga]

*lol* Well, say what you want about 80's shows but they never made us find 'hidden' things that weren't even hidden . Our hidden things were behind our flashcards, gosh darn it !
....
....
.....Now I miss Mr. Rogers ;.;

 

[Drtooth]

*lol* Well, say what you want about 80's shows but they never made us find 'hidden' things that weren't even hidden . Our hidden things were behind our flashcards, gosh darn it !
....
....
.....Now I miss Mr. Rogers ;.;

I like how in the Where's Waldo (or Where's Wally, if you're from the UK) cartoon they managed to get that "Find the thing in the background" bit animated in the show, all the while making "Where's Waldo" puzzles before the commercial break. But it was never "WHERE ... IS ... WALDO ... HIDING? Is... HE ... HIDING... OVER .......... THERE?"

That sort of thing would work, again, with a computer game... not a TV show. I think Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers really got the interactive bit down right. They both treated the audience as their guests, talking directly to them at points. I mean, granted, Mr. Rogers was never that Micro machines guy who could say 90 words in a second... but he came off as a kindly uncle of sorts... Sesame Street treats the audience as visitors that are witnessing the events happening... and sure, every so often, they'd tell you to get up and dance. And when a Muppet tells you to get up and dance, Brother, you get up and dance!

 

[bazooka_beak]

I like how in the Where's Waldo (or Where's Wally, if you're from the UK) cartoon they managed to get that "Find the thing in the background" bit animated in the show, all the while making "Where's Waldo" puzzles before the commercial break. But it was never "WHERE ... IS ... WALDO ... HIDING? Is... HE ... HIDING... OVER .......... THERE?"

Yeah, it would be much less irritating for the show to say "Can you find (blank)?", then cut to commercial, then come back saying "Did you find (blank)? There it is!"

I have young cousins but thank goodness they're too old for Dora (her YELLING HER LINES doesn't do my ears any favors ). Though, with Dora's "tween" makeover that may not be true anymore.

 

[The Shoe Fairy]

I like how in the Where's Waldo (or Where's Wally, if you're from the UK) cartoon they managed to get that "Find the thing in the background" bit animated in the show, all the while making "Where's Waldo" puzzles before the commercial break. But it was never "WHERE ... IS ... WALDO ... HIDING? Is... HE ... HIDING... OVER .......... THERE?"

That sort of thing would work, again, with a computer game... not a TV show. I think Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers really got the interactive bit down right. They both treated the audience as their guests, talking directly to them at points. I mean, granted, Mr. Rogers was never that Micro machines guy who could say 90 words in a second... but he came off as a kindly uncle of sorts... Sesame Street treats the audience as visitors that are witnessing the events happening... and sure, every so often, they'd tell you to get up and dance. And when a Muppet tells you to get up and dance, Brother, you get up and dance!

*Listens to crazy preacher* Testify I shall to ma' Muppet Dancing Commitment!

I do like the style of Where's Wally, they got it right I agree, too bad there were never many episodes made.