Paramount Studios presents

Dora the Explorer: Dora's Christmas! (2004)

"Where are we going?
North Pole!"- Dora (Kathleen Herles), Boots (Harrison Chad)

Stars: Kathleen Herles, Harrison Chad, Marc Weiner, Sasha Toro, Muhammed Cunningham
Other Stars: Jake Burbage, Ashley Fleming, Maria Muratore, Eileen Galindo, Kalani Coba, Esai Morales, Howie Dorough
MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nothing objectionable)
Run Time: 01h:38m:00s
Release Date: 2004-10-26
Genre: family

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
A-	A-	A-	B	C-

 

DVD Review

Nick Jr's bilingual, travelling little girl and her simian sidekick Boots are back and in a holiday mood on Dora the Explorer: Dora's Christmas!, Paramount's latest compilation of episodes from the immensely popular children's series.

A Present for Santa

After exchanging presents, Dora and Boots wait under the tree for the jolly old man. Unlike most "tiny tots with their eyes all aglow," they don't find it at all hard to take an unplanned Christmas Eve nap. Upon awakening, they find St. Nick forgot his' gift! What to do? Call upon Super Map, of course, as they set foot to the North Pole—with our help, of course—so stop shaking those gift boxes and come on! In addition to battling the elements, you'll have to help be on guard for last minute surprises and the ever-sneaky Swiper.

In addition to this charming holiday-themed outing, three other Dora adventures also await:

¡Irapido Tico!

Boots is all excited over the impending arrival of his new toy, a super-duper fire truck. But his smile gets turned upside down when the package arrives with nothing but packing materials and a hole inside the box. Cue Super Map, Backpack, and Tico to the rescue as the search begins.

Quack! Quack!

Objects in a coloring book come to life as a mother duck watches her new offspring unhatch—all except one unlucky duckling who gets blown back a few pages by an unwelcome burst of wind. Taking a cue from Dragon Tales and Blue's Clues, Dora and Boots jump inside to help the wayward little ducky find his way back to his kin. A fun, creative episode, especially in the animated backgrounds, which faithfully replicate the slightly edgy textures of your typical coloring book.

School Pet

It's unofficial "take your monkey to school" day as Dora lets Boots tag along to see her classroom. Upon examining her drawings on a bulletin board showing Dora with her school pet Mimo, Boots can't wait to meet him. But an empty cage and a nearby open window give the indication that the little hamster went out for a springtime stroll.

Can you say "Finding Mimo"?

From its colorful characters, patient yet energetic storytelling and great audience participation techniques, Dora the Explorer is one of Nickelodeon's most winning programs for its target age group; Dora's Christmas! is one of the best in Paramount's ongoing series of companion DVD releases.

Of the four episodes, the holiday-themed Santa is the most impressive visually of the bunch, no doubt to the increased attention to color and wanting to make a genuinely good-looking outing for repeat playings for years to come. Only ¡Irapido Tico! is a hair shy of being as good visually as the others. Audio is pretty basic and not very expansive in terms of audio in keeping with many children's series. Not exactly "ooo!", but serviceable enough.

Rating for Style: A-
Rating for Substance: A-

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Grade: A-
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English (Stereo), Spanish (Stereo)	yes

Audio Transfer Grade: B 

Disc Extras

Static menu
Subtitles/Captions in English with remote access
1 Other Trailer(s) featuring Blue's Snacktime Playdate, Dora's Pirate Adventure, Nick Jr. Baby Video Sneak Peek, Generic Peanuts Trailer, Candy Land, Weebles
Packaging: Keep Case
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extra Extras:

1. Santa's Super Scavenger Hunt

Extras Review: Extras are slight (trailers for additional Paramount kiddy-based products, a text-based, holiday-themed Scavenger Hunt), but with nearly two hours of cartoon edutainment, it's hard to be humbug.

Extras Grade: C-
 

Final Comments

Dora the Explorer: Dora's Christmas! will make a terrific stocking stuffer for young fans of the show; a DVD gift that will keep on giving into next December.

And it doesn't need assembly or batteries.

Jeff Rosado 2004-10-26