DVD Review: Dora The Explorer, Dora’s Fantastic Gymnastics Adventure

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Little girls get excited about the gymnastics events in the Summer Olympics. They marvel at the motions made on the uneven bars, the dynamic tumbles of the floor exercises and the twirls on the balance beam. In certain countries, a preschool girl is sent off to training camps to become future Olympians. Thus it’s no surprise that Dora the Explorer would tap into the sport with Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Fantastic Gymnastics.

The main adventure focuses on Dora looking for her rainbow ribbon to start the big gymnastics. Swiper the Fox took it. What a pesky creature. She and Boots the Monkey must head cross country to help other gymnastics related animals in order to get her ribbon back from Swiper. There are pauses in the storyline so your kid can chime in the answers. Boots the Monkey is rather freaky looking with his red headband. “A Ribbon for Pinto” has Dora take her favorite pony to a horse show. She wants Pinto to win a blue ribbon. They have to ride cross country to the event. Doesn’t that take something out of the horse? Swiper almost ruins the fun. “Swiper’s Favorite Things” is more exciting than “Oprah’s Favorite Things.” The chronic thief loses a bunch of stuff when leaving the top of Blueberry Hill. He now needs her help after being such a pain to her over the years.

Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Fantastic Gymnastics is the type of show that appeals to a small child. This is the perfect thing to run on the DVD player in the car. Dora’s work on the various gymnastics tasks might inspire a future gold medal winner on the vault.

Video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers are fine with the rather simple motion animation. The audio is Dolby Digital Stereo. The levels will allow your kids to think that Dora and Boots are speaking directly to them. The episodes are Closed Captioned.

There are no bonus features.

Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Fantastic Gymnastics celebrates the various activities covered under the gymnastics banner. This is a fine way for little kids to see what must be done to perform on a balance beam.

Nickelodeon and Paramount Home Entertainment present Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Fantastic Gymnastics Starring: Dora, Boots and Swiper. Contents: 3 episodes on 1 DVD. Released: July 31, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.